Brevan Howard tells clients: we have not sold eurozone stragglers short February 22, 2010 HEDGE fund juggernaut Brevan Howard Asset Management has written to investors confirming it has no short positions in troubled eurozone countries Greece, Italy or Portugal. Attention turned to speculators earlier this month after spreads on credit default swaps (CDS), which insure against the risk of non-payment by a company or nation, shot up on Greek [...]
CPP hopes to buck the trend of IPO failures in March listing February 18, 2010 INSURANCE firm CPP will brave choppy IPO waters with a March flotation. It has not announced how much it plans to raise but City A.M. has learned the firm hopes to issue up to £30m from new shares, valuing it at £450m. It is believed owner and founder Hamish Ogston will also sell a £150m [...]
The cost of insuring Dubai’s debt soars on repayment fears February 15, 2010 The cost of insuring five-year Dubai debt against default jumped to its highest level since March yesterday as concerns intensified over the debt restructuring of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World. Nervousness over the fate of Dubai World debt grew after it was reported the business is mulling a two-part deal, including one that may repay lenders [...]
Kwik-Fit to sell insurance arm February 14, 2010 Kwik-Fit, the car repair firm, is preparing to sell its fast-growing insurance business for more than £200m. The firm, which was founded by Sir Tom Farmer, the Scottish entrepreneur, has hired bankers at Credit Suisse to carry out a review of Kwik-Fit Financial Services, which employs more than 1,000 people and handles 10m calls a [...]
Britain must not fork out for bailout February 10, 2010 THERE are two policies the British government must pursue over the looming bail-out of Greece and other weaker Eurozone countries, a move which looks increasingly likely and which will be debated in detail at today’s European summit. First, the government must make it clear that the UK taxpayer will not be put at risk. If [...]
Golden years of retirement turning sour February 10, 2010 FOUR out of ten “baby boomers” are approaching retirement without setting aside any money each month, a report showed yesterday. Research compiled by insurer Aviva found that people aged between 55 to 64 are laden with debt and have scant resources to fund themselves after stepping down from work. Individuals in the age bracket – [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE PEOPLE SAVING ENOUGH FOR THEIR RETIREMENT? February 10, 2010 DAVID SHEPPARD | LIMPIO OFFICE SOLUTIONS “ I would say I am saving enough, but other people are definitely not. I know people in my peer group, and the attitude at the moment is live today and worry tomorrow. The money’s all gone anyway.” JAMES SAMPSON | ANGLO IRISH “I think people are definitely not [...]
Spain: There’s no costa del crisis February 9, 2010 SPAIN’S finance minister flew to London for emergency talks with bondholders yesterday as debt markets grew fearful over the country’s ability to finance itself. Elena Salgado met with fixed income houses, thought to include M&G and Standard Life, to reiterate the Spanish government’s promise to severely rein in its budget deficit to three per cent [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 8, 2010 Piper Jaffray The mid-market investment banking firm has appointed Nimish Shah as a principal in its US equity sales team. Shah joins after eight years in Cantor Fitzgerald’s US equity sales team, working for FTSE 100 companies including insurer Legal & General and oil giant Shell. He has also previously spent time at the likes [...]
Eurozone’s tough time continues February 8, 2010 THE eurozone faces another difficult week amid mounting worries over budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal. Finance ministers from the G7 countries meeting in Canada at the weekend insisted on a European solution to the problems rather than an IMF rescue. “We told our partners we had to solve the problem ourselves,” said Jean-Claude [...]