Investors pull out £1bn before General Election April 30, 2015 INVESTORS have withdrawn £1bn from UK equity funds in the run-up to next week’s General Election, according to a new report from Hargreaves Lansdown. Overall net fund sales to retail investors were down by more than half in March compared to the same time last year, according to the fund manager’s report. Laith Khalaf, a [...]
London’s General Election: Isle of political dog fights – battle for Poplar and Limehouse at the edge of the City April 30, 2015 A council estate in the East End is not exactly what you envisage as a typical Tory heartland. But on the Isle of Dogs, in the shadow of the financial district, Conservative General Election candidate Chris Wilford is leading an insurgency he hopes one day will make it so. His is a rebellion triggered by [...]
M&A deal values up despite fear 7 May result could derail market April 30, 2015 CITY dealmakers have not been put off by the General Election, despite the uncertainty caused by the knife-edge vote, analysis from BDO shows today. Almost 500 merger and acquisition deals came through in the first quarter of the year, in line with the volumes seen in 2014. And private equity buyers are even splashing out greater [...]
Crossrail place to open today April 30, 2015 Today marks the opening of Crossrail Place at Canary Wharf, a seven storey structure designed by Foster & Partners, inspired by an old clipper that would have used the dock when it was a heaving maritime centre. Pictured above is the exotic roof garden, a public space created by landscape architects Gillespies which crowns the [...]
City Moves for 01 May 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 30, 2015 Colliers International The commercial real estate services firm has announced the appointment of Meg Brown to its capital advisory team, part of its capital markets department. She is an equity placement expert, and joins from JLL, where she worked in its corporate finance department. Brown has also held roles at CR Investment Management, Barclays Capital, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 01 May 2015 April 30, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BARCLAYS Canaccord Genuity reiterated its “buy” rating on the bank, and said it sees “increasing clarity and a sense of purpose from the management team after a number of strategic reviews”. The broker added: “Better cost discipline and transparency should reduce the current [...]
Rising oil prices boost UK shares – London Report April 30, 2015 BRITAIN’S top equity index closed slightly higher after setting a three-week low yesterday, with Royal Mail gaining on the prospect of lower competition and energy shares tracking a rise in oil prices. Royal Mail led the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, with the company’s shares rising 5.3 per cent after Dutch rival PostNL abandoned talks with [...]
Apple turns Nasdaq sour – New York Report April 30, 2015 US STOCKS sold off yesterday, led by a drop in the Nasdaq, as Apple shares declined and results in tech and biotech names disappointed. Upbeat economic reports added to uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates, a day after data showed the US economy slowed to a crawl in the first quarter and the Federal [...]
General Election 2015: The three bold productivity-boosting policies the Big Three will never touch April 30, 2015 As we approach the General Election, politicians are battling over the question of what is wrong with Britain’s economy. The usual suspects are out in force: “benefit-scroungers”, “fat cat bosses”, “price gouging energy companies” to name but a few. What I find frustrating is the lack of substance behind many of these arguments. Rarely is [...]
Competitiveness: The black hole at the heart of the General Election debate April 30, 2015 With less than a week of election campaigning left, the issue of competitiveness has been notable by its absence. As it’s the foundation for long-term prosperity, I would like to see the political parties championing this cause. Being fans of evidence-based debate, we reviewed the major parties’ manifestos and found just a handful of mentions [...]
