Ethical investment funds — not making the grade? April 1, 2020 Survey after survey has shown that people want their money invested ethically. But what does that mean? And, crucially, do so-called “ethical” funds provide what savers are looking for, or is there a mismatch here? Ethically-labelled investment funds have a list of exclusions — various types of company that they will not invest in because [...]
We cannot let this lockdown eliminate our civil liberties April 1, 2020 As we enter the second week of lockdown, there is already the possibility that social distancing measures could last until June, perhaps longer. Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England gave the stark warning to the nation on Sunday that: “we must not then suddenly revert to our normal way of living”. [...]
Once we reach a social distancing tipping point, more restrictions won’t help at all April 1, 2020 How long should the lockdown last? Should it be tightened or relaxed? An abstract concept from both epidemiology and network theory can give a powerful insight into these highly practical problems. This is the concept known as the “threshold”, sometimes called the critical point or the tipping point. The basic idea is a very familiar [...]
City Moves for 1 April – Who’s switching jobs at Rainmaking, Raymond James and Coupa? April 1, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Rainmaking, Raymond James and Coupa Rainmaking Corporate innovation and venture development firm Rainmaking has announced that Simon Torrance will be joining its UK and European leadership team as a senior adviser. Simon is a world-leading expert on business model transformation and platform strategy. He has 25 years’ experience working across multiple [...]
Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it April 1, 2020 Since we made the decision to pause our print operation, the City A.M. team has worked incredibly hard to produce a digital edition. From the comfort of their own homes, designers, production managers, editors and reporters have risen to the challenge and put together an online newspaper which has been read by thousands of you [...]
Bank junction to be used as drone taxi landing zone April 1, 2020 The City of London Corporation is preparing to designate the newly pedestrianised Bank junction as a drone taxi landing zone, City A.M. can reveal. Taxi drones could be zipping through the skies of the capital as soon as the summer after ministers backed a plan to prioritise new regulations allowing passenger transit on autonomous flying [...]
Brands that put staff and customers first see popularity soar April 1, 2020 As Britain settles into its second week of lockdown, daily life has become almost unrecognisable. The retail industry has been hit hard as a direct result of enforced closures and decimated consumer demand, leading many businesses to issue profit warnings, withhold rent and lay off staff. However, there are brands who have reacted well to [...]
As governments respond, beware Covid-19 power grabs April 1, 2020 In the midst of the financial crisis of 2008, Rahm Emanuel, soon-to-be chief of staff for US President-Elect Barack Obama, famously announced that “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Emanuel was [...]
Coronavirus: Regulators urge savers to avoid rash decisions on pensions April 1, 2020 Regulators today urged savers to not make any rash decisions in relation to their pensions during the coronavirus epidemic. The Pensions Regulator (TPR), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), said fears over the impact of the pandemic on markets and personal finances may make savers more vulnerable to scams [...]
Coronavirus: Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and RBS suspend dividends March 31, 2020 Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group said tonight they are suspending dividend payments this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The banks said they had taken the decision after a request from the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The PRA also said it expected the banks to suspend [...]
