Bank of England: Households will struggle to pay debts if interest rates rise December 6, 2016 UK households could struggle to meet debt repayments if interest rates rise, according to the Bank of England, as it confirmed the conclusions of last week's financial stability report. The Bank said "risk of a further sharp adjustment in fixed income markets remained” owing to the global economic environment. The minutes of the bank's Financial Policy Committee [...]
Jeremy Hunt tries to calm China’s fear of a bad Brexit deal December 6, 2016 Jeremy Hunt told worried Chinese investors today Britain's doors are still open to global business after Brexit. For Chinese investors looking to break into the larger European Union market, Britain is seen as an entry point. With uncertainty surrounding what kind of deal Britain will get with the EU, investors are worried about what this means for China, Reuters reported. [...]
How low rates affect stockmarket returns December 5, 2016 The world has been living with low interest rates for eight years but such periods are not new. Both the US and UK saw rates below 1% for most of the two decades spanning the Second World War, while Japan has been living with sub-1% rates since 1995. Stockmarkets performed very differently in each case, [...]
Britain is ready to take a bigger slice of the valuable Chinese tourism market December 5, 2016 VisitBritain has teamed up with Hainan Airlines and Alitrip, Alibaba Group's tourism arm, to increase travel from the world's most valuable outbound market. Chinese visitors to the UK stay longer, spend more and travel more widely across Britain than other international visitors, but the group only moved into Britain's top 10 most valuable inbound markets for the first time [...]
AppLovin: Firing the 5G starting gun December 5, 2016 Dubbed the “Brexit Budget,” this year’s Autumn Statement was one of few surprises – other than that it would be the last. The chancellor certainly lived up to his “Spreadsheet Phil” epithet. But Philip Hammond gave a welcome nod to UK tech industries, all too aware that their impetus will play a prominent role in [...]
China has hit supercar owners with a 10 per cent tax as it cracks down on luxury December 1, 2016 China's crackdown on luxury just went up a gear. It's imposed an additional 10 per cent tax on super cars, so the likes of Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin and Ferrari are all affected. The tax will be applied to cars costing more than 1.3m yuan (£151,024) and is part of an effort to clamp down [...]
Investment trust winners of 2016 November 29, 2016 Investment trusts focused on Asia are on course to deliver some of the best returns in 2016, according to data for trust sectors. Investment trusts are an alternative to more commonly held open-ended funds or unit trusts, offering some advantages. This is explained here: investment trust v open-ended funds Here, we look at the [...]
The City will remain at the vanguard of financial innovation post-Brexit November 24, 2016 A year ago, London Stock Exchange celebrated the first Green Bond from China to be listed internationally, a landmark renminbi and dollar issuance by the Agricultural Bank of China. I wrote here at the time how London was leading the world in financing the global shift to a low carbon economy – a transition endorsed [...]
Here’s what Skyscanner’s biggest shareholder had to say about £1.4bn sale November 24, 2016 The biggest shareholder in unicorn tech startup Skyscanner, snapped up by Chinese firm Ctrip for £1.4bn, has told City A.M. the deal is a good one for the UK's tech industry, just a day after chancellor Philip Hammond announced measures to counter the trend of the UK's brightest companies selling rather than scaling up. "This is [...]
Deutsche Boerse exec warns US and China will dominate if London Stock Exchange merger is blocked November 24, 2016 A Deutsche Boerse executive has warned rival firms from the US and China will dominate if the German’s merger with the London Stock Exchange falls through. The exchanges are expecting a statement of objections to their tie-up from the European Commission next month and analysts remain doubtful the deal will complete. Read more: Stock exchanges [...]