As it happened: Stocks reach all-time high; US fires back at ‘surprise’ Iran attacks July 29, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Wednesday and the UK’s blue-chip index surged in early trading to reach an all-time high, brushing off the latest outbreak of attacks in the Middle East. The FTSE 100 hit 10,945 on the market open, eclipsing the previous intraday record of 10,934, achieved in February on the [...]
Keep your politics out of your investments July 28, 2026 I keep telling everyone that you should keep your politics out of your investment portfolio. The market doesn’t care about your politics. That is why I am against ESG investors that exclude certain industries from their portfolio, just like conservative investors who think climate change is a hoax and don’t invest in wind and solar [...]
Man Group shares surge as assets hit record $253bn July 28, 2026 Shares in Man Group surged on Tuesday morning after the group posted record assets under management and a recovery in performance fees. Shares in the FTSE 250 hedge fund increased six per cent to 318p per share. The stock has rocketed 36.5 per cent since January. Core net revenue hit $853m, while core performance fee [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops; Unilever shares soar on decade-best sales July 28, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Tuesday and the UK’s blue-chip index has made strong gains following a peaky start to the day. The markets took a boost yesterday after oil dropped back after reaching two-month highs of more than $100 per barrel last week when the Iran backed-Houthis took responsibility for tanker [...]
As it happened: Stocks rise; oil falls after Trump pauses Iran strikes July 27, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Monday and the FTSE 100 has made a positive start to the week, gaining more than 70 points on the market open after oil prices began to fall from last week’s two-month highs. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, slipped to $90.58 in early trading [...]
As it happened: John Healey named Chancellor as Burnham shakes-up cabinet July 20, 2026 Welcome back to the City AM liveblog. Andy Burnham has become the UK’s newest Prime Minister, succeeding Sir Keir Starmer just two years after his landslide win at the 2024 general election. Starmer visited the King this morning to give him his resignation. In his farewell speech outside Number 10, the outgoing Prime Minister said [...]
Aegon warns red tape is blocking pension investment spree July 16, 2026 Aegon has warned that regulation is holding back some of Britain’s top pension fund managers from pumping cash into the country’s start-ups and unlisted companies. The pension giant, which manages £160bn of assets in the UK alone, was one of 11 companies alongside Aviva and Legal & General to commit to investing five per cent [...]
The Leeds Reforms fixed the plumbing – now we’re turning up the tap for retail investors July 14, 2026 Building on the structural improvements of the Leeds Reforms, the UK now aims to foster a stronger national investment culture through the ‘Invest for the Future’ campaign, says Karen Northey One year on from the Leeds Reforms, the UK has made rapid progress on the mechanics of retail investment. The harder task now is cultural: [...]
Fixing the £100,000 tax trap would be a bold first step – let’s not undermine it by taxing investment more July 9, 2026 Lord O’Neill is right to call for reform of the £100,000 tax trap, but taxing capital gains more heavily could end up costing the Treasury £8bn, says Michael Healy This week, a group of leading economists led by Lord O’Neill called for a fundamental overhaul of the UK’s tax system. Their argument that Britain has [...]
State-backed pension scheme plans to pump £1bn into start-ups July 8, 2026 The UK’s largest state backed pension scheme is planning to invest up to £1bn in venture capital by the end of the decade in a bid to boost returns for its members and fuel economic growth. The National Employment Savings Trust, dubbed Nest, said its plans to expand into high-growth private companies will begin with [...]