At the top since the turn of the millennium: Admiral chairman steps down January 25, 2017 Admiral non-executive chairman Alastair Lyons will retire in April after nearly 17 years in the role. "It has been fantastic to have been on the journey with Admiral since the management buy-out, a journey which I am confident will continue to deliver sustained success," said Lyons. The way the business has developed has been astonishing [...]
Top dogs: 37 of the hottest startups to watch right now January 25, 2017 Nearly 40 UK tech startups have been branded "ones to watch" and will be mentored by top entrepreneurs, founders and investors to get them scaling up to become tech giants. A startup which lets wannabe pet owners borrow other people's dogs, BorrowMyDoggy, and an innovative mapping company which just landed backing from Daimler, What3Words, are [...]
Financial Conduct Authority fines to increase in 2017 as new rules take effect January 23, 2017 Unusually low level of fines handed down by City watchdogs in 2016 will not be repeated this year, with new rules and a broadening of remits likely to mean more penalties are on the cards in 2017. Fines issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fell by 97 per cent in 2016 compared with the year [...]
Xi Jinping in Davos: “No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war.” January 17, 2017 Chinese president Xi Jinping used his first appearance at the World Economic Forum to mount a robust defence of globalisation. “It is the result of growing social productivity and is the natural outcome of scientific and technological advances”, Xi said in the forum’s Opening Plenary. “It is not something created by any individuals or any [...]
Banks could pull in more customers if they offered insurance, survey suggests January 12, 2017 A survey released today contains a potential solution for banking bosses worried about falling customer numbers: start offering insurance products. The figures from marketing specialist Collinson Group found consumers typically hold four different insurance products from three different providers . Almost two thirds (63 per cent) are sick of the split and would much prefer a [...]
This noise-cancelling device means you can finally have office phone conversations in private January 11, 2017 Tired of leaping up from your desk every time you need to have a private phone conversation at the office? One company has unveiled the solution: a mask which absorbs your speech. The Hushme looks like a pair of headphones, but is designed to go around your mouth, absorbing noise so you can have conversations without your [...]
Information Commissioner’s Office delivers damning verdict after RSA personal data loss January 10, 2017 Regulators have fined insurance giant RSA for losing the personal information of almost 60,000 customers. The owners of the More Than brand were handed a £150,000 penalty by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after the theft of a hard drive device containing thousands of customers' personal data and the credit card details of 20,000 people. The ICO [...]
Resolutions for your money: Experts give their personal finance tips for 2017 January 4, 2017 After the gift giving, sales shopping and other excesses of the festive season, many of us aspire to start the New Year with tighter belts. According to research by Masthaven, 78 per cent of Brits intend to save over the next 12 months, with 34 per cent of them planning to squirrel away more than they [...]
Investment trust winners of 2016 December 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 performance [...]
Lloyds Banking Group snaps up Bank of America’s MBNA credit card firm for £1.9bn in first acquisition since financial crisis December 20, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group has beaten off other bidders to snap up Bank of America's UK credit card company MBNA for £1.9bn, in its first acquisition since it was bailed out by taxpayers in 2008. The UK lender emerged as the frontrunner to take over MBNA, which holds assets of £7bn, in late November. The takeover is a [...]