Aberdeen dealt blow by shifting sentiment to emerging stocks January 16, 2014 EUROPE’S largest fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management suffered outflows last quarter as investors lost appetite for emerging market and Asian stocks. Customers pulled £6bn from across its funds in the three months ending December leading to net outflows of £4.4bn. Around 70 per cent of the outflows came from equity funds. It follows a pullback [...]
Regulators warn on extravagant hospitality for financial advisers January 16, 2014 THE CITY watchdog yesterday announced guidelines to stop fund providers taking financial advisers to luxury hospitality events over fears it could undermine new rules. In guidelines published yesterday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said advisers and providers should make sure hospitality is not “extravagant” and ultimately improve the end service offered to retail investors. “Now it [...]
High Court rules Google privacy case set for UK January 16, 2014 GOOGLE is accountable under UK privacy laws the High Court ruled yesterday, opening the company up to a lawsuit from British users who allege that Google tracked browsing without their knowledge. The search giant had argued that claimants should have launched their case in the US where Google is based, but yesterday this was rejected. [...]
Intel expects flat sales in 2014 as ailing PC market stabilises January 16, 2014 INTEL last night missed analysts’ expectations as the chipmaker said it expects growth to be flat in 2014 as the PC market stabilises at around 300m units annually. The company reported fourth quarter revenue of $13.8bn (£8.43bn) that was flat compared to the same period of 2012, but above analysts expected $13.72bn. Intel said the [...]
US reduces its stake in Ally January 16, 2014 THE US Treasury Department yesterday announced plans to sell 410,000 shares in auto lender Ally Financial as part of its effort to unwind its financial bailout fund. The Treasury said it expected taxpayers to recover about $3bn from the private offering of Ally common stock at $7,375 per share. The sale would reduce the government’s [...]
J&J sells unit in $4bn deal January 16, 2014 JOHNSON & Johnson said yesterday it will sell its ortho clinical diagnostics unit to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $4.15bn, a year after announcing it was considering spinning off or selling the slow-growing business. The firms said that, if approved, the deal should close in the middle of 2014. In January 2013, J&J said [...]
Inside Track: Bankers wait for pay to rise as bonuses come down January 16, 2014 There’s an episode in John Lanchester’s book, Capital, when the investment banker character Roger fears his bonus will be the same as his annual salary, £150,000. “In practical terms, that would be the same as being dragged out of the office and finished off with a bullet in the back of the neck,” the author [...]
Co-op Group looks to end long tradition of members-only board January 16, 2014 EXECUTIVES in the Co-op Group could be appointed to the board in a bid to improve the expertise of the leadership, the firm said yesterday. In the past the board has been made up of 20 people from the Co-op movement, voted in by the members who own the business. But in the wake of the Paul [...]
Britain’s firms to invest cash piles at long last January 16, 2014 BUSINESS investment is set to bounce back in the UK this year, the European Central Bank (ECB) forecast yesterday. Firms have been cautious since the financial crisis, holding back cash instead of investing while they wait and see when the recovery kicks in. They have also been hampered by a lack of support from banks [...]
American Express profit doubles as US shoppers spend at Xmas January 16, 2014 CREDIT card company American Express’s quarterly profit more than doubled as customers spent more in the holiday season in the United States, its core market. American Express said worldwide spending on its cards rose eight per cent in the quarter ended 31 December, the biggest jump in four quarters. Net income rose to $1.31bn, or [...]
