Retail fund sales turned positive in August October 3, 2016 Retail fund sales became positive in August for the first time since April, as net retail sales hit £1.7bn. According to Hargreaves Lansdown, this was due to £1.2bn of inflows into fixed income funds. There was an outflow of £629m from equity funds. Read more: Standard Life will re-open its property fund in October Property [...]
Legal & General says it will double new business sales in retirement division in 2016 September 27, 2016 Legal & General said today that it's on track to double new business sales in its retirement division, with sales currently at £5.4bn – compared with £2.9bn for last year. The group said its retirement business "continues to experience strong growth in pension de-risking and lifetime mortgages," and demand has not been hindered by the introduction [...]
Standard Life will re-open its property fund in October September 26, 2016 Standard Life Investments will re-open its property fund in October after disposing of assets during a period of suspension. After the Brexit vote, several property funds were forced to suspend trading due to a spike in redemption requests, freezing £15-20bn worth of funds. Standard Life said it would open the fund again on 17 October [...]
Brexit and the City: Here are the names you need to know September 25, 2016 As rumours circulate that Article 50 could be triggered towards the start of next year, many in London are more than a little curious as to what the City will look like post-Brexit and who will be fighting to keep their best interests front and centre during the course of the negotiations. City A.M. profiles some [...]
Happy Brexiversary – these are the funds that have performed the worst since the EU referendum September 23, 2016 It's been three months since the Brexit vote. A lot has happened – but some of the worst hit (apart from David Cameron and George Osborne) were property funds. Several funds were forced to block withdrawals after the Brexit vote – closing the gate on £15bn-£20bn worth of funds – because investors were taking out so much money; several more imposed fair [...]
This chart shows pension savers in their 50s should put £7,500 more into their pension each year – while those in their 20s should save £1,500 more September 22, 2016 The average Briton in their 50s should be saving almost £7,500 more each year if they want to have a comfortable retirement. That's according to a study by Aviva, which suggests not only that the gap between what people in the UK are saving and the income they're expecting to have during their retirement has increased [...]
More property funds suspended after Brexit are being reopened September 19, 2016 Henderson Global Investors has announced it will reopen the UK property fund it suspended in the aftermath of the EU referendum. Henderson was among several asset managers to suspend trading on funds during the summer. Read more: Brexodus: Retail investors took £3.5bn out of funds in referendum month Aberdeen Asset Management, Columbia Threadneedle and Canada [...]
Are fears about the UK commercial property market overblown? September 14, 2016 As Columbia Threadneedle Investments prepares to join Aberdeen Asset Management and Canada Life in re-opening its £1.4bn property fund, doubts persist over the future of the UK’s commercial property market. The Brexit vote brought three years of double-digit returns from UK property investments to a juddering halt. By early July, panicked investors clamouring to withdraw their [...]
As the monetary policies of the US, the UK and the Eurozone diverge, what should investors make of this fork in the road? September 13, 2016 Since the end of last week, speculation has been mounting that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again this year. The probability of a September rate raise looks slimmer after the Fed’s most dovish official, Lael Brainard, struck a cautionary tone in a speech yesterday. But there is a strong chance that the next [...]
UK private equity firm’s shares leap after £1bn US takeover offer September 12, 2016 UK private equity company SVG Capital’s share price jumped 15 per cent today after US rival HarbourVest made a more than £1bn takeover offer. The all-cash offer of 650p per share values existing issued share capital at around £1.015bn. The company said the offer is “highly attractive”, saying it represents a 14.7 per cent premium on SVG’s [...]