Markets await key speech from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on US economy and interest rates amid Federal Reserve divisions March 29, 2016 Financial markets are in limbo today as they stand by for a key speech from the chair of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, on her latest outlook for the health of the US economy. US rate-setters have been deeply divided on how fast interest rates should rise since a shaky start to the year [...]
UK house prices: Bolton, Leicester, Leeds and Birmingham are the worst places to have bought a home this century March 29, 2016 Property owners in London and the south might be sitting pretty with homes earning more than the national salary in a single year. But there are plenty of places in the UK where a bricks and mortar investment at the start of the century would have been a bad punt. Office of National Statistics data, analysed by [...]
Aviva doubles chief executive Mark Wilson’s pay packet to £5.6m in 2015 after Friends Life acquisition March 29, 2016 Insurance giant Aviva has doubled the pay of its chief executive Mark Wilson to £5.6m in 2015, up from £2.6m in 2014 following the acquisition on rival Friends Life. The company posted a 20 per cent rise in operating profit for 2015, along with a 15 per cent dividend hike to 20.8p. Ballooning executive pay packets have been [...]
China’s Legend Holdings on the brink of purchasing a £500m stake in London’s Pension Insurance Corporation March 29, 2016 Chinese investment company Legend Holdings is on the brink of purchasing a major stake in London-based Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC). Legend, which is also the part-owner of computing company Lenovo, is said to be in the final stages of several months worth of talks to buy a stake worth £500m in PIC, which insures the pension schemes [...]
The City of London Corporation gives private parties the green light as law firm Gordon Dadds secures late licenses for the City’s eagerly awaited private members clubs March 29, 2016 Better start saving up, there's a new private members clubs coming to town, and it don't come cheap. International law firm Gordon Dadds has been fighting the good fight for private parties in the City, and has just overseen the successful application for a for a new club's late licence in the historic Devonshire Square. Devonshire Club, the latest [...]
Brent crude and WTI: What $20 per barrel oil would mean for the global economy March 29, 2016 With oil prices trending lower again, what would Brent crude falling as low as $20 per barrel mean for the global economy? A whole host of investment banks, from Goldman Sachs to Morgan Stanley, have previously warned it could fall to this level. If we do get a renewed bout of oil weakness that keeps oil [...]
Buy to let investors scramble to secure home purchases before April stamp duty rise March 29, 2016 Buy to let investors are storming the housing market to beat higher taxes that will come into force in April. In February, 85 per cent of estate agents reported an increase in the number of buy to let investors looking to purchase properties, according to data released by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) released [...]
Take that, banks: The UK’s online financial marketplaces attracted $253m in VC money last year as LendInvest, Transferwise and Funding Circle made their mark March 29, 2016 Financial marketplaces – crowdfunding platforms and other fintech sites – have proven irresistible to the City, it turns out, after figures released today showed venture capital funding for the sector has shot up five-fold in the last two years. Data released today by payment startup Stripe showed investors are backing developers in their bid to reshape how people buy and sell [...]
EU referendum: Everyone on Twitter is laughing at education secretary Nicky Morgan’s speech on Brexit March 29, 2016 Education secretary Nicky Morgan gave a speech today that was presumably intended to rally young people around the government's Remain campaign in the run up to the EU referendum – but the reaction suggests her points fell a little wide of the mark. Morgan warned that the nation's young would be the most affected by a possible Brexit, but some [...]
UK steel crisis: Politicians clash as Tata board meets in Mumbai March 29, 2016 Politicians clashed as the board of Tata Steel met in Mumbai today to decide the fate of thousands of British jobs. Reports suggest the board is discussing the 1,050 UK redundancies announced in January, and whether to back a rescue plan for the Port Talbot plant in Wales. Tata is looking to streamline its business, a move which [...]