The stocks and shares ISA millionaires are buying January 27, 2025 Legal & General is the most-held stock among all ISA millionaires using DIY investing service Hargreaves Lansdown, with fellow insurers Phoenix and Aviva joining the firm for the most popular shares. Funds run by Legal & General also make up half of the top funds invested in by the 1,322 ISA millionaires using Hargreaves Lansdown, [...]
Reeves pledges planning reform shake-up to boost growth January 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to cut red tape for building homes and infrastructure in a bid to speed up planning application approvals. Ahead of Reeves’ speech next week on economic growth, the government unveiled its new Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which will be introduced in the spring and help push its plan to build [...]
WH Smith pursuing sale of high street business January 25, 2025 WH Smith is in talks to sell its high street arm, as the £1.5bn company looks to focus entirely on its travel retail business. The company’s high street operation is made up of about 500 stores, employing around 5,000 people. “WH Smith confirms that it is exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash [...]
Digital 9 Infrastructure: Investec slams ‘shocking’ asset sale January 23, 2025 Investec analysts have slammed the sale of Digital 9 Infrastructure’s assets as part of the investment trust’s wind-down, describing the process as “extremely poor for shareholders”. Digital 9, once a darling of the infrastructure sector, fell into chaos after governance concerns and funding problems emerged throughout 2023. The trust voted to wind down in March [...]
CMC Markets: Firm founded by Lord Cruddas sees shares tank January 23, 2025 CMC Markets’ share price has nosedived more than 12 per cent after issuing a brief trading update to markets. In a stock exchange announcement this morning, the firm said it remained “on track” to deliver annual net operating income in line with previous guidance. “Management also remains confident in meeting its cost guidance of approximately [...]
Workspace: London office provider struggles with customer churn January 23, 2025 Workspace’s problem with customer churn has continued to hit the London-focused firm, with occupancy in its rented offices reducing by 1.3 per cent during last quarter to 86.1 per cent. The flexible office provider completed 273 new lettings over the last quarter, for a total rental value of £6m, it said in a trading update [...]
IG Group extends share buybacks after Freetrade acquisition January 23, 2025 IG Group is set to spend £50m more on share buybacks following its acquisition of trading app Freetrade. In the firm’s six month results to 30 November, the FTSE 250 firm said it would be extending its previous share buyback programme from £150m to £200m. “It is pleasing to show how we can both invest [...]
Wonks think a wave of asset management mergers is inevitable January 22, 2025 Across the European continent, a surge of mergers and acquisitions among asset managers has begun. Yesterday, Italian and French giants Generali and Natixis agreed to a €1.9 trillion (£1.61 trillion) merger to create the second largest asset manager in Europe. Meanwhile, BNP Paribas recently bought out AXA’s investment arm, and rumours continue to swirl about [...]
Saba Capital falls at first hurdle in activist trust campaign January 22, 2025 Saba Capital’s first battle over the board of a UK investment trust has failed, with investors widely rejecting its attempt to unseat the board of a targeted trust. In a shareholder vote today, 65 per cent of Herald trust shareholders voted to kill the activist hedge fund’s proposals, which aimed to depose and replace the [...]
Blackrock trusts agree peace deal with Saba Capital January 22, 2025 A host of Blackrock-run investment trusts have made a peace deal with US hedge fund Saba Capital, amid its activist campaign to take over the boards of several UK trusts. In a series of stock exchange announcements, the Blackrock trusts said that they had made an agreement with Saba to be left alone by the [...]
