‘Mascots don’t move markets’: City grandee pours cold water on retail investment drive Investing The government’s industry-backed investing campaign will fail to usher in a new wave of retail investment unless ministers also promise to scrap the UK’s “hard to defend” tax regime on shares, the boss of a top investment bank has warned. Writing in City AM, Peel Hunt chief executive Steven Fine said that the record haul [...]
Government launches Britain’s largest ever retail investing campaign Investing The government has unveiled its industry-backed push to encourage households to plough their savings into the stock market, in what is set to be the largest retail investing campaign of its kind in Britain’s history. Starring a red squirrel called ‘Savvy’, the Invest for the Future campaign will seek to “drive a step change in [...]
Standard Life snaps up Aegon UK for £2bn to create savings giant Investing Standard Life has snapped up the UK’s largest investment platform Aegon UK in a £2bn deal. The FTSE 100 giant – previously known as Phoenix Group – said the deal would create the UK’s top retirement savings and income business with near 16m customers and £480bn in assets under administration. Standard Life expects an annual [...]
‘Ridiculous’: Torsten Bell under fire over pension schemes bill April 2, 2026 London’s pension industry is in uproar over government proposals to keep what is known as ‘backstop power’ over the precise level of investment from funds in specific UK assets. Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, has become the focus of anger at Whitehall’s attempts to exert a degree of control over where some of the biggest [...]
Business chiefs shift investment plans amid geopolitical tensions February 9, 2026 Top UK company bosses are being forced to shift or ditch their investment strategies amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions. The latest EY-Parthenon chief executive outlook survey – which surveyed 100 UK bosses – showed nearly 80 per cent had switched up investment plans due to developments in international trade policy and wider political pressures. [...]
Autumn Budget: Cash ISA tax free allowance slashed to £12,000 November 26, 2025 In a major policy shakeup, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed a slash to the cash ISA ceiling but over 65s will retain the full allowance. After weeks of speculation, Reeves confirmed the ceiling will be cut from £20,000 to £12,000 as of April 2027, as part of her bid to stop people from hoarding cash [...]
Treasury eyes ISA season for financial advice scheme rollout October 15, 2025 A flurry of fresh financial advice could be aimed at savers as soon as February as the Treasury seeks to fast-track the rollout of its flagship scheme to get more Brits investing in the stock market. In a speech to the Investment Association last night, Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby confirmed the government [...]
Gen Z investors reliant on LinkedIn and TikTok finfluencers for advice May 28, 2025 Gen Z has led the charge in a growing trend of using social media for investment advice, according to new data from Charles Schwab. Over 70 per cent of Gen Z use social media and financial influencers – dubbed finfluencers – when making investment decisions, the data suggests. LinkedIn was valued as the top social [...]
Why are Brits hoarding cash? May 15, 2025 Like Tolkein’s Gollum, Brits like to hoard their assets, opting for the security of cash over equity based investments. Barclays estimates that £430bn in investable funds—cash exceeding six months’ salary—are held in bank accounts rather than funnelled into the stock market. This begs the question: why are British investors so devoted to an asset which [...]
Almost 1 in 5 Brits never heard of Stocks and Shares ISA March 27, 2025 Almost one in five Brits have “never heard” of a Stocks and Shares ISA, while a quarter say that while they’ve heard of the UK investment wrapper, they don’t know anything about it. A survey on the struggles of ISA takeup has revealed that 17 per cent of UK adults had never heard of the [...]