The sharing economy and VCs: A marriage made through money July 13, 2014 Hitchhiking once meant a compassionate driver picking up a rain-sodden stranger for nothing more than heartfelt gratitude. Today, its modern equivalent is “ridesharing”. Drivers now list journeys on their smartphones and sell seats in advance to offset the cost of petrol. Passengers book a seat online just like booking a train ticket, except that [...]
Gimme 5: Useful websites for entrepreneurs July 13, 2014 ECorner Stanford University’s free resource for entrepreneurs, with over 3,000 podcasts featuring leading businesspeople and experts. There’s also a free app you can download. www.ecorner.stanford.edu Medium The brainchild of Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, Medium is crammed with blogs and accounts from current entrepreneurs. It also offers advice on life and careers more widely. [...]
Thousands walk out over pay and pensions July 10, 2014 THOUSANDS of public sector workers across the country walked out on strike yesterday in dispute over pay and pensions. In the capital, teachers, firefighters and other public sector staff marched on Trafalgar Square. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude thanked staff who did not walk out, adding that estimates suggest half a million people did.
Wall Street-backed insurers and L&G buy out captains’ pensions July 10, 2014 Nearly 40,000 pensioners from the shipping industry have been insured by a Goldman Sachs and Blackstone-backed life company and Legal & General for £1.3bn. Rothesay Life, which is owned by the Wall Street giants, and the UK insurer have bought out members of the Merchant Navy Officers’ Pension Fund, which was founded in 1938 to [...]
Rising UK house prices give pensioners a boost July 8, 2014 Soaring house prices and the strong pound have boosted UK pensioners’ standard of living at home and abroad, a raft of new data showed yesterday. For expats living in the Eurozone, the basic pension increased by nearly 10 per cent in the past year, according to an analysis by Prudential. The strengthening pound pushed expats’ [...]
Convertible equity comes to crowdfunding July 7, 2014 Seedrs, the British equity crowdfunding platform, will begin offering convertible equity to investors becoming the first crowdfunding platform to do so. Advertising technology company Future Ad Labs, which previously gained investment using Seedrs, will be the first to offer new investors the convertible investment. The adtech company is seeking to raise £400,000 through the round [...]
Bullish fund management execs forecast surge in money growth July 6, 2014 THE FUND industry predicts growth of new cash flowing into products will nearly double to nine per cent every year for the next five years, an upbeat survey suggests. The bullish assessment says net new money growth will improve from the current rate of three to five per cent annual growth to reach nearly 10 [...]
Argentina urges US to unfreeze payment of restructured bonds July 2, 2014 ARGENTINA’S government yesterday asked a US judge to unfreeze payment to holders of the country’s restructured debt, in return for opening talks with holdout investors suing for full repayment. A number of holdout creditors – namely hedge funds led by Elliott Management Corporation – refused to restructure their bonds in the wake of the Latin [...]
Pensions body opposes Sports Direct pay plan June 30, 2014 SPORTS Direct faced further calls yesterday to withdraw its proposed bonus scheme to reward its founder Mike Ashley, ahead of a planned shareholder meeting tomorrow. Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) said it had urged its members to vote against the 2015 bonus share scheme, joining similar calls from the Association of British Insurers and [...]
BNP Paribas set to be given six months’ grace before suspension June 30, 2014 BNP Paribas has negotiated terms to water down the record $8.9bn (£5.2bn) fine it is expected to be handed today for alleged sanctions violations in the US. France’s biggest bank has won a six-month stay of execution on its suspension from clearing US dollar transactions, according to the Financial Times. That would give it until [...]
