Why spurious financial precision may be killing our markets – and our fish September 14, 2014 The way we handle uncertainty determines our future. Many of mankind’s self-created problems, from financial crises to environmental devastation, arise from poor analysis of future risks and rewards. We lack confidence in our tools for handling uncertainty. Within the financial sector we’ve been partially burned by derivatives, mark-to-market, or value-at-risk. Scotland’s independence referendum may represent [...]
Biotechnology entrepreneur Sir Chris Evans talks overworn t-shirts, sceptical VCs and pub deals September 14, 2014 They say if you don’t ask, you don’t get – and no one could accuse professor Sir Chris Evans of being shy about coming forward. Today, the medical sciences entrepreneur and government adviser has built companies worth over £3bn, floated 20, employed over 4,000 people and raised over £1.2bn from investors and governments across 30 [...]
We’ve discovered the UK’s tech unicorns – now we must nurture their growth September 7, 2014 After creating its first product in the 1970s, it took Apple years to become one of the world’s most valuable companies. But in today’s technology sector, a new breed of tech firm is emerging – the unicorn. The unicorn is a startup that grows exponentially to reach a billion-dollar valuation within a few years of [...]
Flotations outperform FTSE by over five per cent September 4, 2014 New listings on the London stock market have generated better returns for investors than the FTSE 100 this year, despite some prominent private equity-backed flops, a survey shows. The 28 initial public offerings of shares between the turn of the year and the end of August achieved an average return of seven per cent – [...]
Best of the Brokers for 04 September 2014 September 3, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JLT Cannacord has cut its rating from “buy” to “hold”, with the target price falling from 1,165p to 1,070p. The broker believes that the value from US speciality will come through after a forecast period, while its present value depends mainly on margin, [...]
London IPOs: Second time round it’s a buyer’s market – Bottom Line August 31, 2014 And so it begins. The window for new listings on the London stock market unofficially opens again today after the summer lull and bankers will hope to rekindle the spirit that gripped the City earlier this year. But omens are not so good this time round. Things were different back then. Pent up demand from [...]
Beer of the realm: Cobra founder Lord Bilimoria talks creativity, GM crops and cracking pubs August 31, 2014 If you haven’t enjoyed a Cobra beer yourself, you’ve probably had a curry with someone who has. Karan Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer in 1989. It’s a well-documented story by now: the entrepreneur and life peer saw the need for a beer that was less gassy than lager but not as heavy as ale. Cobra claims [...]
Football Comment: Identity: City have it, United in dire need of it August 27, 2014 CONFESSION time: I must admit I did not think Manchester City would get stronger this season, given their modest summer business, but after just two games I may have to eat my words. The champions could easily have dropped points at Newcastle or at home to Liverpool but have hit the ground running, won two [...]
Review: TED Restaurant August 26, 2014 I’m a sustainability hypocrite. If I were at a dinner party and the host served bluefin tuna, I’d take great pleasure in making a scene. “How very dare you? Don’t you know bluefin numbers have dropped by 96 per cent thanks to intensive fishing? And while we’re at it, did you know they can swim [...]
What is the Higgs Boson? China’s collider to study particle in unprecedented detail August 26, 2014 Large Hadron Collider, eat your heart out. China is planning to build a bigger, better particle collider that will be able to study the elusive Higgs Boson particle in unprecedented detail. With a circumference of 52km, the “Higgs Factory” would be almost twice the size of Europe's equivalent, and significantly more powerful. The Chinese [...]