Pension opt-out cuts pot by fifth December 19, 2011 The average working man will cut his pension pot by £19,000, or 20 per cent, if he opts out of the incoming auto-enrolment pensions scheme for the first ten years of his working life, Prudential warned yesterday. However, the worker would be better off by £620 per year in terms of disposable income. “For some [...]
279,000 on dole for over a year December 19, 2011 Over a quarter of a million people are spending a second Christmas on jobseekers’ allowance, according to a TUC study out today. The number of long-term unemployed has doubled from 122,000 in 2007 to 279,000 today, and up 35,000 on December last year.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 19, 2011 Standard Life Charles Guay has been appointed as president and chief executive of Standard Life Canada. He will start on 1 February 2012 to replace Joseph Iannicelli, and is joining from National Bank of Canada, where he is senior vice president, strategies, marketing and investment solutions, wealth management. He additionally holds the role of president [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 19, 2011 3i INFRASTRUCTURE JP Morgan Cazenove rates the infrastructure investment company as “overweight”, following a deal announced yesterday that will reduce its cash balances but enhance its dividend yield. The broker says the acquisition of Networks Finland is a core infrastructure deal that differentiates the company from other PFI-focus peers, and one that could offer the [...]
Bank of America leads US stock fall December 19, 2011 BANKS dragged the US stock market lower yesterday, with losses accelerating late after Bank of America’s stock price fell below $5 for the first time in nearly three years. When BofA, the largest US bank, plunged through $5, it ignited a late-day decline in the sector and the broader market, which fell by one per [...]
Santa rally looks unlikely as FTSE loses ground on very light volumes December 19, 2011 BANKS dragged the FTSE 100 lower in extremely light trade yesterday after the British government estimated the cost to banks of reforming the UK banking system could be as much as £8bn. London’s blue chip index was down 22.35 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,364.99, with volumes at just 67 per cent of their [...]
Looking at 2011 to show you the money in 2012 December 19, 2011 IN TRADING, as in much of life, there exists a delicate balance between diving headfirst into the future and poring over every historical detail before acting. The former risks ignorance, with your head stuck in the sand, while the latter can result in the repetition of past mistakes and a failure to seize the day. [...]
EQUITY GAINS RELIANT ON EURO-DOLLAR December 19, 2011 WE’RE now into the last trading week before the Christmas break. Traders and investors will be hoping for less volatility following recent market turmoil. After all, they won’t want their long Christmas lunches interrupted by desperate calls from the office. It hasn’t been the best year for long-only equity investors, especially those who have followed [...]
2011 saw an Arab Spring and the euro in crisis – get ready for even more drama in 2012 December 19, 2011 IT’S been quite a year: the Eurozone is in crisis and the US lost its AAA credit rating from S&P. But economists warn that next year could be worse. There might be a repeat of 2008 – a credit crunch and another recession. Worse, the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde warns of a “lost [...]
HMV’s last stand has new toys but not much future December 19, 2011 SIX years ago, David Cameron famously taunted Tony Blair in the House of Commons by saying “He was the future once”. And at that point, ahead of Christmas 2005, the HMV Group seemed to have a future. Annual profits were still well over £100m, the age of digital downloading seemed a distant threat and HMV’s [...]
