Nasty double whammy for investors May 18, 2010 WITH all the focus on growth and the deficit, too little attention has been paid to inflation. Yesterday’s disastrous figures show how unwise this has been. The rise in the official consumer price index inflation to 3.7 per cent is bad enough – but I suppose it can be tolerated, given the ending of quantitative [...]
Caribbean is back on investors’ hot list March 18, 2010 IF you’re considering a spot in the Caribbean that will be both beautiful and a savvy place for your cash, the island of St Lucia is as good as it gets. Its natural beauty is considered by many to be the most intense in the Caribbean – and it also has a strong local culture [...]
Fall in love with lava in wild and woolly Iceland July 25, 2010 THIS year Iceland became infamous for the deeply inconvenient glacial eruption of “that” volcano – Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced “AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh”). Its extraordinary qualities as a country were overshadowed by the chaos of grounded planes. Yet it is starkly beautiful and untamed, overflowing with adventure, history and plenty of volcanic action (brilliant to watch when it doesn’t spoil [...]
WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 24, 2010 KATE SOLWAY, 30 FUNDS CONTROLLER AT PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM COGNETAS Kate is single and lives in rented accommodation with flatmates. She also owns two investment properties – one a London flat with a mortgage which she rents out, and the other a holiday home under construction in Cape Verde, which she owns outright and will [...]
Shared ownership suits City workers, not just teachers January 28, 2010 LONDON house prices might have risen some 5 per cent since last January but as any first-time buyer will tell you, it is tougher than ever to get on the property ladder. With mortgage approvals still below their long-term average and deposits often as high as 40 per cent, even young professionals earning a decent [...]
Falling Mayfair prices attracting students and the fashionable set July 9, 2009 LONDON’S playground of the super-rich has always been a place that ordinary mortals – even high-earning ones – would rarely consider within their reach. But times have changed, and with them, Mayfair’s rental prices, which have dropped 15-20 per cent since their peak in 2007. Charity Delves, lettings manager at Mayfair estate agent Wetherell, says: [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 13, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES YANZHOU DIGS DEEP IN BID FOR FELIXChina’s largest takeover bid for an Australian company was formally launched yesterday when Yanzhou Coal Mining made a recommended cash offer for Felix Resources worth just over A$3.5bn (£1.78bn). The offer is pitched at A$16.95 a share, valuing Felix at A$3.33bn, but shareholders will also receive A$1 [...]
Bag a bargain and get some late summer holiday action August 16, 2009 THAILANDAnantara, on the north of the island of Mai Khao Beach, is wonderfully tucked away from the main tourist areas of Phuket and Kuoni is now offering seven nights for the price of five, a saving of £366 per person. Each of the 82 villas comes with its own 33 square metre pool, set either [...]
Bang for your buck: what the world’s best business hotels offer June 7, 2009 BUSINESS hotels often promise the world, but they often disappoint. Small things like a slow internet connection, a restaurant that closes early or trouble getting hold of an iron can play havoc with your plans. To work, they have to get so many things right. Let’s face it, you’re only going to remember the one [...]
Buying property on a golf course can be an above par investment July 31, 2008 Look to the States or Morocco for a sporting second home, writes Alex Delmar-Morgan As the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale reached its nail-biting conclusion recently, with Irishman Padraig Harrington pipping veteran Aussie Greg Norman to win the claret jug, many around the country were surely visualising themselves ambling round a gold-course, driver in hand, [...]