Six tips to protect your portfolio during a market downturn April 3, 2019 When equity markets took a turn for the worse towards the end of last year, the onslaught of predictions about the end of the 10-year bull run came flooding in. With the markets creeping upwards since the start of 2019, it now seems that expectations of a bear market were premature. Even experienced fund managers [...]
Cash Isa vs stock market Isa: which has returned the most? April 2, 2019 Saving money into a stocks and shares Isa over the last 19 years would have returned two-thirds more than a cash Isa, according to calculations by Schroders. The stocks and shares Isa carries more risk and is subject to greater volatility than the cash Isa, which also provides far greater protection for your investment. You [...]
Is Uber the new Amazon? April 2, 2019 By Edmond Jackson from interactive investor. In a test of narrative power versus whopping financial losses, so-called “ride-hailing” or “ridesharing” giants Uber and Lyft have rivalled each other to list on the New York Stock Exchange – Lyft got there first. Both capture the spirit of the times, connecting taxi drivers to passengers via their [...]
Generation Rent needs more help to buy property, not Help to Buy April 2, 2019 Britain is not yet a nation of renters – but it’s getting there. Half of children are now born in rented accommodation, versus a third back in 2003-4. The number of families renting with children has doubled in a decade, according to the insurance provider Royal London. Meanwhile, new analysis shows that the government’s Help [...]
Invest in Isas like it’s 1999 March 28, 2019 The Individual Savings Account (Isa) is approaching its twentieth birthday, and since its inception it has been hugely popular. In the last tax year alone, 10.8m adult Isas were opened. But despite this popularity, have savers made the most of the opportunity? Big benefits When the Isa launched in 1999, it had an annual allowance of [...]
Why properties with less than 80 years left on the lease are suddenly popular with Brexit buyers March 22, 2019 In previous times, the demand for residential property with 80 years or less remaining on the leasehold was generally low. However, current market conditions favour a new breed of savvy buyers, seeking alternate methods of approaching the market who wish to benefit from continued Brexit-related uncertainty. Leasehold property is a depreciating asset, so the less [...]
Government borrowing falls to fresh 17-year low as income tax revenue grows by £3bn March 21, 2019 Government borrowing has fallen to a fresh 17-year low so far this financial year as the UK's strong labour market saw income tax revenue increase by £3bn. Public sector borrowing from April 2018 to February was £23.1bn, the lowest year-to-date borrowing since 2001 and £18bn less than the previous year, according to the Office for National [...]
State-centric and uninspiring: The Spring Statement wasn’t much to get excited about March 15, 2019 Who has time to care about a Spring Statement when the unfolding Brexit process feels like watching a cross between Saw 3 and a monster truck rally? This has been a problem for two and a half years – the Brexit black hole has sucked time and resources away from almost every other area of [...]
Brexit vote live: MPs vote to delay Brexit by extending Article 50 beyond 29 March March 14, 2019 Hello and welcome to City A.M.’s Brexit live blog for the second of potentially three huge votes on the UK’s departure from the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May was defeated in the House of Commons in a second vote on her Brexit deal on Tuesday, losing by 391 votes to 242. Last night, MPs voted [...]
Spring Statement 2019: How investors can profit March 14, 2019 By Jemma Jackson from interactive investor. There were no bunnies in the chancellor’s hat, but here are the ways investors can benefit this spring. As predicted, Brexit uncertainty torpedoed any chance of good news for the UK’s savers and investors in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement. We hear there’s a ‘deal dividend’ of £26.6 billion, [...]