Fix consumer attitudes to boost stock market participation, say industry experts April 15, 2026 Consumer anxiety over how to invest is the single-biggest barrier to getting more people to enter the stock market, fresh research has found. Targeted support was found most effective when focusing on consumer’s perceived attitudes of investing and the stock market, ultimately increasing investment by at least 30 per cent, according to new findings from [...]
Standard Life snaps up Aegon UK for £2bn to create savings giant April 15, 2026 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 [...]
‘Complex risks’: Jamie Dimon strikes cautious tone as JP Morgan profit beats target April 14, 2026 JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon struck a cautious tone on Tuesday as the Wall Street bank revealed a major bump to its bottom line on the back of a boom in investment banking. The US banking giant recorded a net income of $16.5bn in the first-quarter, up 13 per cent from the same period in [...]
IBM: AI adoption stalls as UK businesses lack clear strategy April 10, 2026 UK businesses are adopting AI at a pace, but many are still struggling to convert that momentum into real, meaningful financial returns. According to IBM’s Race for ROI study, 66 per cent of British enterprises report significant productivity improvements from AI, with 63 per cent of senior leaders citing noticeable efficiency gains post-adoption. There seems [...]
The six reasons why startups fail (and only one is unavoidable) April 10, 2026 Why do so many startups fail? Dr Bernard Bulkin, who has worked in venture capital for 21 years, says there are six main reasons.
Safe havens are tempting in a geopolitical crisis, but fear is not an investment strategy April 9, 2026 With much of the Middle East still upended by the war, the urge to pull back from the markets is understandable. But the evidence, both historical and behavioural, points to a different conclusion, says Liz Ann Sonders As geopolitical tensions continue to dominate headlines and market volatility once again tests investor resolve, the temptation to [...]
The UK’s risk aversion culture is holding back investment April 9, 2026 The UK perception of investment risk is holding back a wave of capital into equities as Brits continue to view the stock market as a casino and squirrel their savings away in the safety of cash. The UK investment sector has become plagued by the widespread, standardised use of risk warnings, which instead of telling [...]
Space stocks lift off as investors eye Space X moment April 8, 2026 Retail investors are increasingly backing the space economy, with new data showing the sector moving to a more established part of long-term portfolios. Figures from Hargreaves Lansdown show Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) investors remained broadly bullish through the first quarter of the year, despite a wobble in March following tensions in the Middle East. Among the [...]
Jamie Dimon eyes high interest rates, uneven lending and IPO dearth in JP Morgan shareholder letter April 6, 2026 One of the biggest names in global banking issued a stark warning about global political uncertainty and the potential threat of higher asset prices on Monday, while pointing to the faltering pipeline for company flotations. Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, added his voice to a debate raging in world financial centres on [...]
UK’s Disruptors, Innovators and Growth Hackers collide as SCALE Tables announced for April Summit April 2, 2026 New roundtable format brings curated, peer-level conversations to SCALE SUMMIT, inviting founders, investors and business leaders to “constructively disagree” to drive growth. SCALE SUMMIT, the UK’s leading event for ambitious, fast-growing businesses, has announced details of SCALE Tables – a roundtable experience running across both days of the Summit, designed to cut through the noise [...]