Mortgage approvals jump to 16-month high while consumer credit growth slows, Bank of England figures show August 30, 2017 Mortgage approvals for house purchases jumped to a 16-month high in July, new figures from the Bank of England released today show. Last month, some 68,689 mortgages were approved, up from 65,318 in June and a seven-month low of 65,140 in April. Howard Archer, chief economic adviser for the EY Item Club, noted that July’s [...]
Consumer debt: Citizens Advice calls for crackdown on lenders increasing credit card limits for debt-laden consumers August 30, 2017 A major charity has called for a crackdown on lenders increasing credit card limits for debt-laden consumers. Nearly one in five people struggling with debts has had their credit card limit increased without request, a new report out today has claimed. And those in long-term credit card debt are more likely to have their limit [...]
Initiatives focused on ESG reporting are making progress, but there is more to do August 29, 2017 It is frequently acknowledged that investors should identify and analyse any environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors that could impact the value creation and risk profile of companies and integrate these factors into their investment process. Evidence supporting the relevance of this type of information for investors continues to grow — see, for example, [...]
City flexes its muscle as Brexit talks resume: Transitional services deal needed by Christmas to avoid harm say business leaders August 28, 2017 Brexit secretary David Davis and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier launched the latest round of exit talks last night, as the City expressed fresh concern over the lack of progress on a transitional deal for financial services. Senior business figures are warning the government to secure a bespoke transitional Brexit deal for financial services by [...]
Debunking the peer-to-peer lending myths August 24, 2017 There's no doubt that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has divided opinion. On one side, there’s a cohort of people who have nothing but praise for the sector’s ability to offer solid returns and raise investment for businesses. But P2P has also been plagued by criticism, with some high profile names claiming that it’s a disaster [...]
‘We believe gold has entered a new bull market. Here are four reasons why’ August 23, 2017 Despite significant US dollar weakness, gold price performance has been muted recently. It has been held back by factors such as a rebound in real interest rates and increased stability in the Chinese yuan, which has dampened near-term investment demand for gold in China. But these are short-term factors, which do not change our view [...]
Is it still possible to find value in retail stocks? August 23, 2017 With the wider market so clearly out-of-love with the retail sector in general, it should come as no surprise that so many of its members are now flashing up as being of potential interest to value investors. On our Value Perspective blog, we certainly anticipate spending a lot of our time over the coming months [...]
UK current account deficit £18bn bigger in 2015 than previously thought says Office for National Statistics (ONS) August 21, 2017 The UK’s mammoth current account deficit was £18bn larger than previously thought in 2015, according to revisions to the national accounts released today by government statisticians. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the revisions today ahead of changes to how the national accounts are collated, which will be begin with revised national accounts figures [...]
What Alan Shearer can teach us about QE August 15, 2017 What a versatile chap Alan Shearer is turning out to be – record goal scorer in the English Premier league, football pundit for the BBC and now The Value Perspective’s favourite go-to illustration when explaining financial concepts. A couple of weeks back, we learnt what he had to teach us about inflation and now he [...]
Momentum in digital payments M&A continues as FairFX grabs CardOne for £15m and raises an extra £26m August 8, 2017 Activity in the digital payments sector is staying heated, as online travel money provider FairFX has stumped up £15m for current account business CardOne. The acquisition is a new step forward in FairFX’s aim to become a digital banking services company. At the moment the business, which sponsors Sky Sports’ coverage of Formula One, focuses [...]