Look east for high ISA returns with a fund invested in Asia March 23, 2011 Despite interest rates that are no match for inflation, savers still fail to make full use of their ISA allowance. However, if they are saving for the long-term, and are prepared to deal with volatility in the short-term, they might be better off using their ISA allowance to invest in an Asian exposed fund instead. [...]
Tea total: a new brew sensation March 23, 2011 WHAT do the credit crunch, European leveraged capital markets and looseleaf tea have in common? The answer is Ajit Madan, who left his job at Societe Generale when the credit crunch rendered his slice of the pie a mere shadow of its former self, to follow his entrepreneurial dreams. “It was a part of the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES HSBC PROPOSES PAY SHAKE-UP HSBC is sounding out its shareholders on a proposed shake-up of its executive pay plans, which could see its top bankers unable to sell their stock until retirement. Driven by John Thornton, chairman of the bank’s remuneration committee and a former Goldman Sachs executive, the plans would see top [...]
RESILIENCE OF THE EURO MAY NOT CONTINUE March 22, 2011 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT IF THERE was ever a contest for the most resilient currency in the FX market, the euro would be the unquestionable winner at this time. Over the past several weeks, global markets have experienced a series of extreme geopolitical shocks – each one strong enough to make even the most [...]
Fukushima blow will not prevent nuclear future March 21, 2011 IN THE immediate aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crisis, apocalyptic fears proliferated across the globe. Despite the panic that always accompanies nuclear incidents, the world’s growing energy needs will not disappear: nuclear is a solution that will not go away. The nuclear industry has been seriously set-back by this disaster. Uranium dropped [...]
Black cab maker Manganese Bronze narrows losses March 18, 2011 Manganese Bronze, maker of London’s traditional black cabs, reported a narrower loss for 2010, and said it was well placed to post a profit this year. The company, which is 20 per cent owned by China’s largest private automaker Geely Automobile said it made a pretax loss of £6.3m, compared to £7.3m in 2009. The [...]
Ad recovery is boost for Aegis March 17, 2011 Marketing group Aegis beat forecasts yesterday despite suffering a £25m exceptional charge on the threat of bad debts from a Spanish former client. The debt provision pushed its pre-tax profits down 25 per cent from £91.2m to £68m but chief executive Jerry Buhlmann told City A.M. his firm had taken a “very prudent” view on [...]
Changing times: moving on from Mayfair March 17, 2011 PRICES of the Monopoly board favourite Mayfair, as well as other prime favourites, have rocketed to near 2007 levels (see graph below), leading to the emergence of alternative investment hotspots. Marylebone is being hailed as the new Mayfair, with residential favourites Pimlico, Hampstead and Fulham hot on its heels. Mayfair prices have been drastically pushed [...]
How business education is adapting to globalisation March 16, 2011 SINCE their very beginnings, business schools have focused on international trade. When the Aula do Comercio was set up in Lisbon in 1759, one of the four subjects taught was the “study of weights and measures from different countries [and] methods for the exchange of currencies.” The Imperial Export Academy in Vienna was created in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES UK ART MARKET LOSES OUT TO CHINESE Britain has lost its position as the world’s second largest art market to China, in a sign of intensifying competition and a shift in the geographical distribution of wealth towards Asia, according to a new study. The UK’s share of the global art market fell by [...]