John Lewis, Ikea, or Aldi — which 2019 Christmas advert is the winner? November 18, 2019 From clumsy dragons to evil sprouts, here’s our review of the festive adverts from some of the UK’s biggest retailers. M&S Food: This Is Not Just Food… This Is M&S Christmas Food The premise of this entire advert hinges on presenters Paddy McGuinness and Emma Willis, who swan around a Christmas market for 1.30 minutes as [...]
Is Mark Barnett repeating Neil Woodford’s mistakes? November 13, 2019 A little over a year ago, many would have argued that following in the footsteps of Neil Woodford was a positive move. Now, after the recent scandal around the infamous fund manager and the collapse of his investment empire, most people would likely argue the complete opposite. Trust has been shaken, and investors are understandably [...]
Floating on Airbnb: We meet the founder who is taking the hassle out of hosting November 11, 2019 When James Jenkins-Yates rented out his London home via Airbnb while he went on holiday to Rome, it was a complete disaster. “Everything went wrong,” he tells me. “I had three back-to-back bookings over the week and guests were everywhere — I received calls at 3am, one guest couldn’t get in through the gate, cleaners [...]
Changing the childcare system is the answer to closing the gender pension gap November 7, 2019 The average monthly cost of childcare in the UK is more than the cost of the average mortgage, which serves as a stark reminder of the financial burden facing many families. Childcare costs can be so enormous that it often makes financial sense for one parent to take a career break or work part-time to [...]
Saudi Aramco IPO: The pros and cons November 5, 2019 Saudi Aramco is the mother of all oil companies, and the most profitable business in the world. Last year, its net income stood at $111bn, dwarfing the earnings of other oil giants. So the announcement on Sunday that the state-owned Saudi Arabian company will finally go public is massive news for investors, and marks the [...]
The founder of Natural Cycles on creating an algorithm that is revolutionising birth control November 4, 2019 Contraception hasn’t really changed since the 60s. The pill is still very much the most widely-used option, and often an unsatisfactory one at that, with many users struggling with side effects like migraines, mood changes, or weight gain, to name but a few. And while the long-awaited male contraceptive pill passed human safety tests earlier [...]
What problems do savers face when transferring their pensions? October 30, 2019 If you want to transfer your pension to another company, you could find it quicker to fly to Mars. That’s not an exaggeration – in some instances, it can take six months for your provider to process your request, so it’s hardly surprising that some people simply don’t bother trying to move their money at [...]
Let’s take a closer look at Neil Woodford’s dubious investment decisions October 23, 2019 The man with the Midas touch. That was how people saw Neil Woodford only a few short years ago. But things didn’t work out that well for King Midas in the end, and the same can be said for the former star manager, whose reputation is in tatters and whose investment empire now set to [...]
Is the Woodford Patient Capital trust a good buy opportunity? October 22, 2019 Following months of turmoil for investors, it took just days for Neil Woodford’s investment business to come crashing down. News that Woodford’s £3.1bn flagship Equity Income fund was to be wound up marked the beginning of the end, and sent the share price of another of his offerings, the Patient Capital trust, spiralling to 32.5p. [...]
How the wind-up of the Woodford fund will hit investors October 16, 2019 If the Neil Woodford scandal has been a slow-motion car crash, this must be the part where it finally hits the wall. Last night, it was announced that Woodford Investment Management will close. This followed news earlier in the day that the firm’s flagship Woodford fund would be wound up, putting an end to months [...]