Seven investment charts that caught our eye in June July 6, 2017 Schroders Investment Communications team highlights charts they found interesting this month. Mid-year markets Schroders' team of economists put together a handy summary of how various asset classes and markets have performed as we reach the middle of the year. Looking at broad asset classes, equities have been the best to be invested in, while commodities [...]
FTSE 100 history: how the index has changed over 33 years July 3, 2017 The FTSE 100 index has just seen one of its quarterly changes with security firm G4S and real estate investment trust Segro promoted to the top 100. Although perhaps small in themselves, these regular events have changed the face of the UK’s leading index since it was formed in 1984. For the many investors whose [...]
UK retail sales slide as consumers cut discretionary spending, according to British Retail Consortium June 6, 2017 Retail sales fell back again last month as consumers started counting the pennies and cut their discretionary spending. Like-for-like retail sales were down by 0.4 per cent in May, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), falling back from the sales boost the sector received over the Easter holiday. Non-food retailers dragged on [...]
Leisure will be key to the future of London retail May 30, 2017 London retail has a positive future. Hardly a revolutionary statement in isolation, particularly to the many millions of people who live, work and visit the capital and experience its unparalleled consumer offer. However, there are challenges too: technology, changing shopper habits, and predictions of falling consumer confidence. April saw the biggest quarterly fall in retail [...]
Sale is in The Works for stationery retailer at private equity group Endless May 21, 2017 The Works, a discount stationery and books retailer owned by turnaround private equity firm Endless, is readying to be sold or floated next year. Endless has enlisted the help of bank Investec to begin preparing a sale or listing, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Why 3i is taking a step back from the UK [...]
Sale is in The Works for stationery retailer at private equity group Endless May 21, 2017 The Works, a discount stationery and books retailer owned by turnaround private equity firm Endless, is readying to be sold or floated next year. Endless has enlisted the help of bank Investec to begin preparing a sale or listing, the Sunday Times reported. Read more: Why 3i is taking a step back from the UK [...]
Which UK stock market sectors have performed best over two decades? May 19, 2017 When the stock market rises and falls the sectors within it can move very differently, especially in the short-term. Perhaps the best example was the dotcom boom and bust, when technology shares soared in 1999 and then spectacularly crashed in the three years that followed. A balanced and carefully managed portfolio can ease the impact [...]
Jeremy Corbyn’s beloved Venezuela is sinking further into the socialist abyss May 8, 2017 The definition of a fanatic is someone who doesn’t let the facts get in the way of their theories. By this standard, hapless, gormless Jeremy Corbyn is truly (if serenely) living in another galaxy. Heroes are important and Corbyn is crystal clear that Hugo Chavez and his charismatic, populist, socialist Bolivarian movement – long in [...]
Saving for a £1m Isa: How the sums have changed March 29, 2017 British savers have grown used to getting an annual increase in the amount they can tuck away in a tax-efficient Isa. But the increase this year is far bigger than usual. In the new tax year, which starts on 6 April, the allowance will increase from £15,240 to £20,000. This changes the sums for those [...]
Consumer spending growth heading for four-year low as wages stagnate March 20, 2017 Real earnings growth is forecast to be up just 0.1 per cent in 2017, slowing sharply from 1.8 per cent in 2016. As a consequence consumer spending will rise by only 1.7 per cent, its weakest rate since 2013, according to the EY ITEM Club. Last year saw a 12-year high of 3.1 per cent [...]