Four fintech lessons from Silicon Valley to London March 17, 2016 I had an eye-opening trip to San Francisco last week, as part of a UKTI mission to showcase the Best of British in fintech. While there, we were fortunate enough to meet with some of the most influential organisations on the West Coast, to educate them on the burgeoning fintech market here in the UK [...]
How China is pioneering alternative finance and P2P lending – an analysis of the first ever Asia-Pacific industry report March 16, 2016 The Asia-Pacific alternative finance market grew 323 per cent last year, to $102.8bn. China was responsible for 99 per cent of that, with four-fold growth to $101.7bn in 2015. Yesterday, the first regional report, Harnessing Potential, was released by Judge Business School and the University of Sydney. I spoke to co-author Bryan Zhang of the Cambridge [...]
How to get a job in banking or finance: LSE, Oxbridge and Cass – these are the universities most finance workers attended March 16, 2016 Finance may be one of the UK's biggest employers – but getting a job in the sector isn't always a straightforward process. But new data from LinkedIn, seen exclusively by City A.M., shows some universities crop up more often than others on finance sector workers' profiles – suggesting if you want to get into the [...]
Budget 2016 predictions: When is it and the key points Chancellor George Osborne will cover in his speech? March 16, 2016 Last year we had three of them. So far we've made it through two months without one, but fear not campers – there's a new Budget in town. This is everything you need to know about this month's fiscal update from the government. When is the Budget 2016 and how to watch live Chancellor George Osborne is [...]
How to push yourself even further March 16, 2016 When I came back from the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992, luckily with six gold medals in my kit bag, I faced this question: what to do differently? How to change if I was to give myself the best chance of success at Atlanta in 1996? It’s something we all face – I’m doing well, but can [...]
Buy to let tax changes: Why a landlord exodus remains unlikely March 16, 2016 The growth of buy-to-let has been among the defining characteristics of the post-crisis mortgage market. Council of Mortgage Lenders figures released this month show that lending to landlords accounted for 17 per cent of all new loans in the third quarter of 2015. With rising property prices, meanwhile, property consultants Savills estimated last year that [...]
How George Osborne’s Budget could still hit pensions – by cutting tax-free cash and restricting the annual allowance further March 16, 2016 For a long time now, the nature of pensions savings has been that contributions are treated as deferred pay. In other words, you get tax relief on the way in and you are taxed on withdrawals. Public statements by the chancellor suggest that he views pensions differently. For him, the issue is not so much [...]
Tighter pension rules and high taxes are pushing investors into venture capital trusts – but can supply keep up? March 16, 2016 Middle class taxpayers will be hoping for some long overdue good news in today’s Budget after years of measures designed to extract more of their hard-earned cash to help pay down the deficit. Indeed, it is estimated that over the last five years there has been a 32 per cent increase in the number of [...]
These are the happiest places to work in the world – Dublin and London top city job happiness index but Colombia is most satisfied country March 15, 2016 Londoners are the second happiest workers in Europe, but anyone wanting greater job satisfaction should head to Dublin. The Irish city ranks top when it comes to how happy people are at work, based on essential factors such as work-life balance, management and the salary and benefits on offer. In Europe, Stockholm is close behind, [...]
From the Personal Savings Allowance and Dividend Allowance to the Help to Buy Isa, how can savers make the most of their Isa this tax year? March 15, 2016 The world of Isas was once a sleepy one. At every Budget, the chancellor would typically increase the amount you could contribute each tax year by some measure of inflation. You had a simple choice between putting that money into a cash or a stocks and shares Isa (or a slightly restrictive combination of the [...]
