The pension pitfalls of the gig economy July 19, 2017 Our work lives are becoming increasingly malleable as millions of us turn our backs on steady nine-to-five jobs and choose to go freelance instead. Yes, we can now mould our job into a shape that fits neatly into our personal or financial lives, but this workplace revolution is by no means perfect, and has [...]
The Little Big Short: Subprime car loans could be fuelling the next financial crash July 11, 2017 Lenders are forgetting the lessons of the past. Those are the words of Mark Carney on the rapid growth of the car finance industry. It’s a decade since the financial crisis brought institutions around the world to their knees, triggered by a meltdown in subprime mortgages. Yet here we are again – the only [...]
The pros and cons of crowdfunding July 6, 2017 People are divided about crowdfunding. While many investors and businesses see it as invaluable, it often comes with a number of caveats which shouldn’t be ignored. Equity and debt-based crowdfunding methods are often used by entrepreneurs looking to start or develop their business. However, they differ in that equity-based lets you swap money for shares [...]
The pros and cons of crowdfunding July 6, 2017 People are divided about crowdfunding. While many investors and businesses see it as invaluable, it often comes with a number of caveats which shouldn’t be ignored. Equity and debt-based crowdfunding methods are often used by entrepreneurs looking to start or develop their business. However, they differ in that equity-based lets you swap money for shares [...]
The Fed may not have investors’ backs for much longer July 4, 2017 For decades, the Federal Reserve has been the wingman to the US equity market, manipulating monetary policy to prevent the stockmarket from tipping into chaos. It was during the financial crisis of 1987 that the US central bank first came to the rescue by pumping liquidity into the financial system. Ever since, the Fed has [...]
Migrant entrepreneurs are shunning the UK – and we are all worse off as a result November 26, 2014 DEPUTY prime minister Nick Clegg has finally joined what shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has described as an “arms race of rhetoric” on immigration, backing proposals to curb benefits to European Union migrants. He does, however, remain opposed to restrictions on the right of EU citizens to move freely and seek work within the UK, [...]
How to get employer support for an EMBA October 22, 2014 CORPORATE sponsorship for the Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) course has fallen in recent years. In 2007, 34 per cent of students received full financial sponsorship from their employers (according to the EMBA Council), but by 2011, the figure had dropped to 27 per cent – and it has continued to decline since. The [...]
Film review: The Judge October 20, 2014 ★★☆☆☆ Cert 12A In the first project under new production company Team Downey, Roberts Downey Jr goes tete-a-tete with Robert Duvall in this hybrid family drama/oddball comedy/ courtroom thriller. Director David Dobkin, who is better known for comedies like The Wedding Crashers and The Change Up, extracts terrific performances from his heavyweight leads, but [...]
Basking in glory: Why UK entrepreneurs need award ceremonies October 12, 2014 Entrepreneurs have no lack of recognition in popular culture today: there are movies about icons like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, and Lord Sugar has now uttered “You’re fired” over 120 times on our TV screens. Politicians, meanwhile, grab any opportunity to sing business owners’ praises – with David Cameron describing them as “national heroes” [...]
UK entrepreneurs are ever-more optimistic – but there’s still work to do September 7, 2014 We all know entrepreneurs are a positive bunch, afflicted with “optimism bias” – a rare ability to view the glass as half full – which drives them to success. And according to this year’s Hiscox DNA of an Entrepreneur report, business owners across the UK, US and parts of Europe are more optimistic today than [...]
