Don’t overlook the blossoming UK mid-market – Investec Comment October 11, 2015 Germany's Mittelstand is a point of national pride, but Britain’s mid-market companies are often unfairly overlooked. While the largest firms gain attention by virtue of their size, and smaller businesses are regularly prioritised by government, mid-sized companies – broadly, those with an annual turnover of between £10m and £200m – don’t get the attention they [...]
Millennials are raking it in from their grandparents’ cashed-in pensions October 6, 2015 The Taxpayers’ Alliance may be pushing for an end to winter fuel subsidies and senior bus passes, but researchers at Investec have hit back with a study claiming that pensioners are already hard done by because they have to spend so much on their damn grandkids. The study couldn’t have been better timed, it [...]
Senior workers are holding off retirement and cashing in pensions for their own children October 5, 2015 The Taxpayer’s Alliance may be pushing for an end to winter fuel allowances and senior bus passes, but researchers at Investec have hit back with their own study, claiming that the elderly are already suffering because they’re giving too much of their pension pots to their grandchildren. The study claims that parents and grandparents who gift [...]
UK interest rates to stay at record low but another hawk could appear October 5, 2015 The UK’s rate-setters are widely expected to hold fire on interest rates when they meet this Thursday, but the door is open for at least one more member of the nine-strong committee to dissent than last time around. Last month saw the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee vote eight to one to hold [...]
City Moves for 05 October 2015 | Who’s switching jobs October 4, 2015 EY The professional services firm has appointed Omar Ali as its new UK financial services leader. He replaces Chris Price, who will lead EY’s global people advisory services. Ali was previously UK banking and capital markets leader. He joined EY in 2001, becoming a partner at the age of 29 in 2006. He began his [...]
Investec Comment: A smooth ride post management buy-out October 4, 2015 Mark Cornford, managing director of Integrity Print, and Gary Edwards, Growth & Acquisition Finance at Investec, discuss the support that companies need from their bank following a management buy-out (MBO). What issues did your company face post-MBO? MC: Managers can become over-confident with what they can achieve in the marketplace. I always had belief [...]
Glencore non-executive director William Macaulay has bought 1.7m company shares October 2, 2015 First Reserve chairman and chief executive William Macaulay has bought more than £1.5m-worth of Glencore shares. Macaulay, who has been an independent non-executive director at the troubled miner and trader since 2011, has picked up 1.7m shares, at a price of 90.9p. It comes just two days after Glencore's chairman Tony Hayward [...]
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2015 odds: Treve all set to rewrite history books in Paris October 2, 2015 No horse has ever won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2.55pm) more than twice in the race’s 95-year history, but wonder-mare TREVE looks impossible to oppose in her hat-trick bid on Sunday. The daughter of Motivator became the first since Tantieme (1951) to land back-to-back runnings 12 months ago and can be backed [...]
Glencore share price rises after chairman Tony Hayward buys more shares September 30, 2015 This is either a vote of confidence in the company's prospects, or a baby step towards a surreptitious management buyout – either way, one Glencore exec has decided to increase his stake in the commodities miner and trader today. Glencore chairman Tony Hayward has hoovered up an additional 100,000 shares at 91p per share, according to [...]
Global markets on track for worst quarter since 2011 September 30, 2015 The commodity price rout, fresh concerns over the Chinese economy as well as its shock devaluation, and the prospect of the first interest rate rise from the US Fed since 2006 are some of the factors which made this summer a white knuckle ride for investors. Given this, it's hardly surprising that global markets are [...]