Citi sells £1bn in private equity assets to Axa June 8, 2011 US BANK Citigroup has agreed to sell a portfolio of private equity assets to Axa Private Equity for $1.7bn (£1bn), the latest move by the lender to unload non-core assets. For Paris-based Axa, the deal is part of a series of acquisitions of private equity investments originally owned by other investors, including the purchase of a $1.9bn [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 8, 2011 Aberdeen Life Aberdeen Asset Management Life and Pensions, the subsidiary of Aberdeen Asset Management, has appointed Helen Webster as chief operating officer of the firm, which manages £1.9bn of assets for pension scheme and insurance clients. Webster joins from Aegon Asset Management, where she was responsible for product development and distribution, as well as a [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 8, 2011 NESTLE Nomura rates the company “reduce” and has a target price of CHF49 (£35.83). The broker notes that the company is the best in class as it seeks to develop close relationships with farmers and superior options to many food manufacturers in terms of procurement. However, Nomura thinks Nestle needs to plan for the long-long [...]
Weak miners dip FTSE below key 200-day moving average June 8, 2011 MINING stocks, dented by heightened investor concerns about the strength of the global economic recovery, pushed Britain’s top shares below a key technical level yesterday, a bearish signal for the index. The FTSE 100 closed down 55.76 points, or one per cent, at 5,808.89, having breached its 200-day moving average of 5,815. US Federal Reserve [...]
Growth worries hit Wall St for sixth day June 8, 2011 US STOCKS extended losses for the sixth straight day yesterday as investors worried that a slowing economy could deepen the market’s retreat. The latest evidence of a slowdown came in the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which gives an anecdotal report on the economy. It reinforced Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s bearish assessment on growth delivered late [...]
Inflation can be a boon for debt buyers June 8, 2011 ACCORDING to a report released yesterday by the World Bank, too many of the world’s fast-growing developing countries are deploying crisis-fighting policies even though their economies have recovered from the recession, exacerbating inflation. Economic growth in developing countries will slow to 6.3 per cent in 2011 from 7.3 per cent in 2010. China will continue [...]
It’s not too late to profit from gold June 8, 2011 GOLD is not the bubble that many fear. Its price has risen on the back of fundamentals that have not gone away. Until these threats dissipate, gold will continue to go up. WAYS AND MEANS Marcus Grubb of the World Gold Council explains: “Physical ownership can mean holding gold bars and coins, through to 100 [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS June 8, 2011 DISTRESSING FINANCES According to R3, the trade body for insolvency professionals, the number of people experiencing financial distress has increased to the highest level recorded. 8m people are due to go into their overdraft this month, with 2m believing that they will go into an unauthorised overdraft position. The findings also show that 6m people [...]
Keeping your cool at work: making life less stressful June 8, 2011 THERE were a whopping 9.8m working days lost to stress last year, according to research by the Health and Safety Executive. That’s 435,000 people who reported a case of work-related stress. That is dreadful news for everyone from the individual sufferers to the economy at large. But it’s not all bad: Neil Shah, the director [...]
Top hampers for summer picnics June 8, 2011 SUMMER is on its way and with that the promise of picnicking with friends, taking in concerts, tennis, festivals and Polo events outdoors (the vision, of course, never involves British rain.) Preparing for such affairs can be a kerfuffle, not least the task of arranging a good picnic and drinks, but thankfully London’s food purveyors [...]
