The last resort: With travel operators running into trouble, here’s how to protect your holiday August 7, 2019 When you’ve spent hundreds or even thousands of pounds to escape to somewhere sunny for the summer holidays, you may have to stifle a scream when you find out that your travel operator has gone bust days before you were set to fly. This scenario will sound all too familiar to many families, after news [...]
City Moves for 5 August – Who’s switching jobs at Willis Towers Watson, Morningstar and Posterscope? August 5, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Willis Towers Watson, Morningstar and Posterscope. Willis Towers Watson Global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson (WTW) has announced the appointment Matthew Gooden to the role of director and head of sales across its professional indemnity (PI) team. Matthew will be tasked with driving new business leads for the [...]
Populism is back, and the Democratic candidates are veering left August 2, 2019 The Democratic primary is heating up – and some of the policy proposals are as red as fire. This week, 10 hopefuls took to the stage in Detroit, for the second debate leading up to the 2020 presidential election. And what we saw was an extreme ebbing and flowing of liberalism and socialism, raising serious [...]
Insurer RSA hails ‘solid’ first-half as it tries to get underwriting back on track August 1, 2019 Insurer RSA said today it had improved its underwriting performance in the first half of 2019, as it looks to re-energise its business following a slump in 2018. Underwriting profit fell from £171m in the first half of 2018 to £153m in the first half of 2019. Read more: RSA Insurance shares drop as firm [...]
Direct Line profits drop after £16m blow from discount rate change July 31, 2019 Motor insurer Direct Line reported a 10.2 per cent drop in first-half profits today amid aims to cuts costs and as it took a hit from government changes to insurers’ discount rate. Read more: Insurers voice dismay over government change to personal injury discount rate The figures Operating profit sank to £274.3m for the six [...]
Fed interest rate cut: Will Donald Trump get what he wants? July 31, 2019 The US Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates for the first time in 10 years this evening, with the raging trade war with China and signs of slowing momentum darkening policymakers’ moods. Yet US economic growth is stronger than its peers and unemployment is at record lows, meaning the Fed will likely plump [...]
Lloyds Banking Group misses profit targets as £650m PPI provisions weigh heavy July 31, 2019 Lloyds Banking Group has undershot analyst profit expectations for the first half, with a £650m provision for payment protection insurance (PPI) pay outs denting its earnings. The bank posted pre-tax profit of £2.9bn, falling short of the analyst consensus of £3.45bn. Read more: Lloyds to pay £140m to settle Standard Life Aberdeen row The bank [...]
From energy to insurance: How Open Banking could fix the loyalty penalty headache July 29, 2019 You don’t get to be Prime Minister without having a few political gifts. One of Theresa May’s was her ability to spot the issues that people cared about – even if she found it harder to come up with effective ways of improving them. That was why her maiden speech outside Downing Street was so [...]
FCA tries to take consumers back to the nineties ahead of PPI deadline July 29, 2019 The animatronic head of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the eight-time world memory champion have been enlisted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help consumers remember if they were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). With a month to go before the deadline for making PPI complaints to providers, the FCA has launched a campaign that aims [...]
Fed set to cut interest rates for first time in 10 years July 28, 2019 The US Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates for the first time in a decade when it meets this week in a preemptive effort to stave off the effects of trade tensions. Read more: US economic growth falls short of Trump’s target Market players think it is certain that the Fed will cut [...]