CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 16, 2009 Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed Joe Carrell, currently an official at its global health policy and advocacy group, to head its new London office. Carrell, who joined the foundation in 2001, will move over from Seattle in January 2010, to oversee the organisation’s first European outpost, which is [...]
City broker KBC Peel Hunt defies slump August 16, 2009 KBC Peel Hunt (KBCPH), the mid-cap broker, yesterday declared a surge in first-half profits and reported it was snapping up market share in the downturn. The City firm said it has doubled its net revenues to £24m for the six months to 30 June, compared to £11.5m for the same period last year. In its [...]
City should not fear new regulations on bonuses August 16, 2009 No sooner had the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced new proposals on how financial institutions should determine salaries and incentives last week, they were attacked for being too soft on bankers’ pay. Some critics even went so far as to call for a windfall tax on bonuses. However, now that we have seen several banks [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 16, 2009 PREMIER OILGoldman Sachs updated its estimates for Premier Oil following the firm’s recent successes in Vietnam and its prospects in Norway. As a result of the estimate changes, the broker has increased its 12-month price target to 1,507p from 1,423p, and continues to believe that Premier represents good value in its sector.WELLSTREAMAhead of Wellstream’s interim [...]
Brokers remain bullish but still wary on stocks August 16, 2009 INSTITUTIONAL brokers in the world’s financial centres remain cautiously bullish despite a slight dip in stock market performance at the end of last week. European shares hit earlier a 10-month high before falling back on Friday, the FTSE 100 closing down almost one per cent at 4,714. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average [...]
Aviva to launch property fund August 16, 2009 Aviva Investors, the asset management arm of the insurance group, is poised to launch a £250m fund to take advantage of the depressed commercial property market. Aviva’s real estate team, which is headed by chief executive Ian Womack, is understood to have begun contacting potential investors for the so-called “opportunities fund” ahead of an official [...]
How Mr Wigan has put JJB and the City behind him to live the dream August 16, 2009 EVAN at 72 Wigan serial entrepreneur Dave Whelan still gives an impression of a man in a hurry. Whelan moves at a sprightly pace between tables in the director’s box at Wigan Athletic, the Premier League football club he owns, and his trim figure still hints at a man who played professional football for Blackburn, [...]
Bears forecast another slump in the market August 16, 2009 FOR the past two months, the bulls have been back in force, pushing the markets higher than anybody had thought possible. But last week, some of the City’s biggest bears struck back, predicting a second slump in global equities between now and the end of the year. While many analysts have thought that the most [...]
THE TIPSTER RESOURCE STOCKS ARE IN FAVOUR August 16, 2009 RESOURCE stocks are still in favour this week thanks to improved optimism about the economic recovery and Chinese expansion. Among the larger-caps, India-focused metals group Vedanta Resources made an improved bid for bankrupt US copper miner Asarco last week, which saw the firm’s share price jump 5 per cent in two days, to hit a [...]
Freddie’s final fling looks worth a punt August 16, 2009 SAD to say, anybody who put money on the number of points that Michael Schumacher would make in his glorious return to Formula One for Ferrari will have wasted their money, following the news that the old champ’s neck is not up to the rigours of motor-racing. Thankfully, though, there are still spread bets to [...]
