Nobel Laureate Richard H. Thaler on the end of behavioural finance October 11, 2017 | City Talk Richard H. Thaler, the US economist who elevated the word ‘nudge’ to a political catchphrase, can now add ‘Nobel laureate’ to his impressive biography. In a statement, the Royal Swedish Academy said that Thaler, who won the 2017 prize in economics for his contributions to behavioural economics, “has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic [...]
Wealth manager Netwealth raises £10m in second funding round September 19, 2017 Online discretionary wealth manager Netwealth Investments has raised £10.02m of new capital in a second funding round. Thirteen new investors joined the 28 angels who provided the company its initial capital of £6.57m before the firm launched in May 2016, making total funds raised to date £16.6m. New investors include: Dame Alison Carnwath, chair of [...]
Is a UK house price crash coming? The majority of people think so, survey finds September 17, 2017 The majority of people are expecting house prices to crash as concern grows around the property market. A new survey by YouGov for the Sunday Times reveals more than half think prices will crash within the next five years. And almost a quarter say the same, but within just a two year time frame. House [...]
The London Stock Exchange is shrinking: Why the capital needs to float more IPO boats August 29, 2017 Something strange is happening to London’s equity market. In a word, it is shrinking. Steadily, but surely, and over a long period of time. This threatens to have long-term financial and economic consequences for all of us. This may surprise you since on the face of it everything looks rosy. The FTSE 100 is sitting [...]
This group of pro-Brexit economists says leaving the EU will add £135bn to economy August 20, 2017 A group of economists who backed Brexit have predicted that leaving Europe could add £135bn a year to Britain’s economy. Economists for Free Trade (EFT), formerly known as Economists for Brexit, calculate that a so-called hard Brexit would lead to a surge in national output worth around £5,000 a year for every household on average. [...]
How do markets fail? Blame visible hands July 28, 2017 | City Talk Markets are less perfect than commonly assumed. In the past, I have discussed their inability to price unknowns; the blindness of the assumptions that underlie market activity; that the implicit presumption that market fungibility bears consequences; and that markets are not systemic. How else do markets fail? They have visible hands, not invisible ones. Markets [...]
The UK’s 12 most shorted stocks revealed: Carillion tops the list, with several household names filling in the ranks July 25, 2017 It's not a list which many corporates would be happy to top, but Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management has today released a ranking of the 12 most shorted stocks in the UK. Construction company Carillion topped the list, with 27.2 per cent of its equity having been shorted. High street names such as Debenhams, Marks and [...]
Connection Capital raises £8m from private investors for Volkswagen and Lloyds Bank litigation funder Therium July 19, 2017 Connection Capital, a specialist syndicator of investment funds from private investors, has raised £8m for litigation funder Therium. This largest ever fundraise from Connection Capital, and its third commitment to Therium, will bring the total invested by the firm in litigation funding to £16m. Read more: Woodford-backed litigation funder Burford Capital stands to profit from [...]
Taylor review: Six major report recommendations for changing employment law with the rise of the gig economy July 11, 2017 The government should introduce new laws for a new world of work. That's the recommendation of the Taylor Review, a long-anticipated report into the gig economy and how employment is changing in the modern economy. It's yet to be seen if and how the government might take on such changes. Here are the main points [...]
Initial Coin Offerings: Are they a solution to Bitcoin woes? July 11, 2017 | City Talk Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have taken the fintech world by storm the last few months. ICOs are tokens, typically based on the technology underlying Bitcoin’s more versatile cousin Ethereum, that entrepreneurs sell to investors in exchange for cryptocurrency – typically either Bitcoin or Ether, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. Interestingly, these tokens do not [...]