Three alternative top tips for new (and old) investors October 4, 2017 September is the month when cohorts of fresh-faced young graduates descend upon the City of London to begin careers as professional investors – usually as analysts charged with coming up with stock ideas for portfolio managers. Schroders' Value Perspective team offers three pieces of advice that, while important, are unlikely to have been mentioned in [...]
Bank of England warns European banks are not ‘sufficiently focused’ on Brexit risks October 3, 2017 Bank of England officials are concerned European banks are underestimating the risks from Brexit of a disruption which could threaten as much as 10 per cent of lending to British companies, according to minutes of their latest meeting on financial stability. European banks are not “sufficiently focused” on the risks to their British operations, the [...]
Why the Federal Reserve’s ‘quantitative tightening’ will be held back October 3, 2017 Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed), says she hopes that the reversal of QE will be as dull as “watching paint dry”. John Williams, San Francisco Fed President, said he hoped it is “boring”. Will they get their wish? Between 2009 and 2014 the QE programme saw the Fed create $3.5 trillion, [...]
Bank of England governor Mark Carney: An interest rate rise is coming September 29, 2017 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has reiterated his expectation that the bank will raise interest rates soon. In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme, Carney used typically vague language, saying if the economy continues along its current trajectory, the rate-setting monetary policy committee may raise rates for the first time in over a [...]
London house prices have fallen for the first time in eight years says Nationwide’s house price index for September September 29, 2017 Year-on-year house prices in the capital have dropped for the first time in eight years, according to Nationwide’s latest house price index. Prices in the capital dropped to an average price of £471,761 this month, down 0.6 per cent compared with September last year. That makes London the weakest performing region for the first time [...]
Gordon Brown warns next financial crisis could come from Asia September 28, 2017 Massive shadow bank lending to firms in Asian economies could be storing up the next global financial crisis, according to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown today warned economists may not be able to work out the extent and direction of liabilities if a credit crunch begins in Asia. A crisis could be fomented by [...]
UK mortgage lending is (almost) at its highest level since April 2008 September 26, 2017 Mortgage lending rose to its second highest level since April 2008 in August, new figures have shown. The figures, by UK Finance, showed total gross lending rose to £24.2bn in August, up 6.4 per cent from last month. The figure is the highest since March 2016, when an impending hike to stamp duty on buy [...]
The UK is unlikely to see wage growth any time soon, according to a new report from Hays September 25, 2017 UK real wages, which take into account rising inflation, are forecast to fall in 2017 according to a new report from recruitment group Hays. The diminishing real wages, prompted by a growing labour force and rising inflation, have led to lower wage pressure. This in turn has made it slightly easier for firms to attract [...]
Bank of England to make banks add £10bn buffer to cover consumer credit and warns on Brexit derivatives risk September 25, 2017 The Bank of England today issued its strongest warning yet on the fast-expanding consumer credit sector, with financial stability experts at Threadneedle Street saying banks must hold another £10bn to cover potential losses. Losses across the whole consumer credit sector could reach £30bn – £10bn higher than previous estimates – under the stress test scenario [...]
Why we bought Provident Financial September 22, 2017 Provident Financial, the Bradford-based sub-prime lender, has gone up in flames in recent weeks from an investment perspective. Profit warnings and high profile departures have left the company untouchable to most, but it remains attractive to value investors Look up the definition of ‘bad news’. In a dictionary these days it would not be surprising [...]