Economy on red alert with yield curve close to inversion August 16, 2019 | City Talk Both the US and UK yield curves are on the verge of inverting. The yield curve has been a reliable predictor of US recessions over the last four decades, less so in the UK. With only one exception, each time the yield curve has inverted, the US economy has entered a downturn within 18 months. [...]
Value investing will survive Fortnite – and other tech disruptors August 12, 2019 Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf is 16, lives with his family in Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania and last weekend, by virtue of his extraordinary proficiency at a computer game, he became a millionaire. At the end of the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, which took place at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kyle emerged victorious from a field of 100 [...]
Lessons in investing from England’s Cricket World Cup victory August 7, 2019 | City Talk It may not have felt like it at times during the final but England started the Cricket World Cup as clear favourites to win the tournament. Forget the weight of money that tends to distort domestic teams’ odds ahead of a major sporting event. Independent data had England ranked as the top one-day cricket side [...]
Why has the weaker pound failed to turbocharge the economy? August 5, 2019 | City Talk The sharp fall in the pound in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum would help “rebalance the UK economy”, in the words of Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England. But since then, the UK has struggled to improve its trade position and has certainly not seen any boost to GDP growth. [...]
Schroders profit drops amid weak investor sentiment August 1, 2019 Schroders suffered a 14 per cent profit drop despite a rise in assets under management as it warned investors that it sees “headwinds across the industry”. Read more: Janus Henderson struggles to shake client jitters as outflows mount up The figures Profit before tax fell 14 per cent year on year to £319.3m for the [...]
Why we’re at a tipping point for clean energy July 29, 2019 | City Talk Alternative energy sources to fossil fuels have been around for many years. Wind, solar and tidal power have all been harnessed to a greater or lesser extent by numerous countries around the world. But we think that the transition to renewable energy is set to pick up speed rapidly and there are three reasons why. [...]
Up in smoke: Tobacco firms feel burn of disruption July 22, 2019 | City Talk Disruption, whether as a result of new technology, stricter regulations or changing consumer habits, is affecting all sectors of the global economy, as we discussed here. It’s the new normal and the question is no longer which areas are affected; the question now is to what extent they are affected. Read more: Stranger Things vs Mickey Mouse: How the media [...]
Stranger Things vs Mickey Mouse: How the media old guard is adapting to disruption July 17, 2019 | City Talk As I discussed earlier this month, disruption is everywhere (see Five things every investor needs to know about disruption). Incumbent companies have a choice: they can either deny the changes are happening, or they can adapt to the new regime. Faced with the seemingly inexorable rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, [...]
Only a fifth of investors held their nerve during 2018 stock market tumble July 15, 2019 | City Talk 2018 was a tough year for investors with sharp falls in global stock markets testing the nerve of investors. New global research shows that only 18 per cent of investors said they stuck with their investment plans during the volatile three-month period at the end of 2018. The findings were part of Schroders Global Investor [...]
Investors forecast returns of 10.7% – millennials expect more July 10, 2019 | City Talk Investors expect total annual returns of 10.7 per cent over the next five years, according to a major new global study. Regionally, returns expectations were highest in the Americas, at 12.4 per cent. In Asia, investors expect 11.5 per cent and the figure was lowest in Europe at 9.0 per cent. The returns include growth [...]