Fund price war looms as Hargreaves cuts fees January 15, 2014 FUNDS group Hargreaves Lansdown yesterday unveiled a tariff for customers using its investment platform – the opening salvo in an looming price battle between fund supermarkets. The FTSE 100 group, based in Bristol, said customers will pay 0.45 per cent a year on the first £250,000 they invest and 0.25 per cent on investments of [...]
Eurozone GDP hopes boosted by trade data January 15, 2014 WEAK demand across the Eurozone saw the currency bloc’s trade surplus grow towards the end of last year, figures from Brussels have revealed. Exports of goods from the 17 countries that made up the euro area in November totalled €160.8bn (£133bn), Eurostat said yesterday, down two per cent compared to the same month a year [...]
Jupiter inflows up as investor confidence rises January 15, 2014 JUPITER Fund Management said clients added £510m of net inflows at the end of 2013 as more investors bought into its fixed income and equity funds. In a trading statement yesterday, the fund management firm said assets under management in the last three months of 2013 had increased to £31.7bn, with the strongest performance coming [...]
Five banks sign up for payment app Zapp January 15, 2014 FIVE UK banks yesterday said they’d signed up to a new mobile payment facility called Zapp, which allows real-time payments on customers smartphones and tablets through their existing mobile banking app. HSBC, First Direct, Nationwide, Santander and Metro Bank are the first lenders to announce they will adopt Zapp, ahead of its autumn launch. Together, [...]
Heading to Wolf of Wall Street in packs? January 15, 2014 LEONARDO DiCaprio is hitting our big screens this weekend in what is tipped to be the most memorable portrayal of a City bigwig since Michael Douglas brought us Gordon Gekko. And it looks like the City’s firms are keen to see if DiCaprio know his shorts from his securities. Picture houses in and around the [...]
Homes4U: Phone entrepreneur wins approval for mega-mansion January 15, 2014 CHAMPAGNE corks can probably still be heard popping from Phones4U founder John Caudwell’s house. The entrepreneur has won approval for a mammoth extension to his adjacent Mayfair properties which will see Caudwell join London’s ever increasing billionaire’s basement club. The plans will add an additional 938 square meters of space by connecting the two properties [...]
Co-operative comes out top in Stonewall survey January 15, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE has scooped top spot in a Stonewall study into how well private sector employers support gay, lesbian and bisexual staff. The research, which saw housing company Gentoo named overall top employer when including both the public and private sectors, also praised Accenture, EY and IBM for their engagement, support and attitude towards sexuality at [...]
Apple falls out of favour with UK consumers January 15, 2014 APPLE fell out of favour with UK consumers in 2013, losing its coveted spot last year as one of the UK’s top ten brands. In 2012 Apple’s iPad held the No 6 slot on YouGov’s BrandIndex report, but this year the technology giant is nowhere to be found. “Samsung has risen the most places as [...]
Laura Ashley raises £8m after selling entire stake in Moss Bros January 15, 2014 LAURA Ashley parted ways with suit-maker Moss Bros yesterday after selling its entire holding in the company and raising £8m. The womenswear and home furnishings store started building up its stake in 2008, which sparked talks of a possible takeover, but a bid never came to fruition. Laura Ashley is taking advantage of Moss Bros’ [...]
H&M reports good Christmas as starts making clothes in Africa January 15, 2014 SWEDISH budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said yesterday its total sales rose 10 per cent in December, right in line with market expectations. H&M said it would no longer report comparable sales for stores open at least a year, saying total sales were more relevant. December is the first month of H&M’s fiscal [...]