FTSE held back by blue-chips and miners February 9, 2011 London trading was weighed down by falls in major stocks trading ex-dividend, outweighing strong performances by financial stocks. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.64 per cent or 30.04 points at 6,052.29, as BP, GlaxoSmithKline, International Power, Royal Dutch Shell, Sage Group and Unilever all lost their payout attractions. “After Tuesday’s leap to multi-year highs, a [...]
A Foreign and Colonial coup February 3, 2011 An activist investor’s audacious bid to topple the chairman of one of Britain’s best-known fund managers was backed by shareholders yesterday. F&C Asset Management investors confirmed the board’s worst fears as they ousted chairman Nick MacAndrew and brought rebel investor Sherborne onto the board. Voters overwhelmingly approved five resolutions to replace MacAndrew and long-standing director [...]
Brokers seek Keydata deal February 3, 2011 STOCKBROKING groups have been invited to voice their concerns about their share of the £326m compensation bill for the collapse of financial products seller Keydata at two meetings being arranged by Tim May, the chief executive of their trade body, the Association of Private Client Investment Managers (Apcims). May has arranged meetings, one in London [...]
How the enigmatic Bramson won investors’ trust February 3, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS’ decision to put Sherborne Investors in charge of F&C Asset Management’s board yesterday resolved six months of tension. The question now is whether new chairman Edward Bramson can relieve the uncertainty that has dogged F&C for years. Bramson, who made a rare public appearance at yesterday’s meeting, is an enigmatic figure who has remained [...]
Time for Johnson to make the Red Rose bloom again February 2, 2011 ENGLAND begin this year’s RBS 6 Nations as the bookmakers’ favourites and, with an encouraging autumn series behind them and three home games in the championship, the initial predictions were that Martin Johnson’s ripening side, currently ranked fourth in the world, would be able to live up to those lofty expectations. In mid-November a record [...]
THE FAMOUS FIVE – ENGLAND’S FOES February 2, 2011 Italy NICK MALLETT’S Italy remain a work in progress, and will have their work cut out again to not collect the wooden spoon, as they have done for the past three years. But there are some positives, and the Azzurri are becoming more competitive, thanks in part to domestic powerhouses Benetton Treviso and Aironi Rugby’s [...]
City revolts over bill for bust firms February 2, 2011 LEADING City investment management and stockbroking groups were yesterday in open revolt about plans for them to pay £233m to a controversial compensation fund after the collapse of the financial products seller Keydata. There was a growing feeling last night that prudent firms – from tiny blue-blooded Mayfair fund managers to giants such as BlackRock [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 2, 2011 Betfair The bookies have appointed a new non-executive director to its board: Baroness Denise Kingsmill. She will also sit on the company’s audit committee in this role. Kingsmill has experience serving on the competition commission, of which she was deputy chairman 1996-2003, and she has also chaired three reviews and taskforces for various government departments. [...]
Strong squad keeps injury-hit England in pole position February 2, 2011 RUGBY TRADER DAVID WILD, CITY AM’S RUGBY TRADER, LOOKS AHEAD TO THE RBS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP RATHER than those winning rucks, scoring tries and kicking goals, absent players could come to decide where the RBS 6 Nations Champion-ship trophy resides in six weeks’ time. A sizeable collective injury list has dominated the build-up to the [...]
Dragons will struggle against the Red Rose with weak front row February 2, 2011 ENGLAND vs WALES TOMORROW – 7.45PM BBC1 THE FIXTURE list committee have got it spot on this year. What better way to start the 2011 RBS 6 Nations than by sending England to Cardiff on a Friday night? Seventy-odd-thousand well-oiled Welshmen are capable of producing quite an atmosphere under the closed roof of the magnificent [...]