ALL HAIL THE CITY’S HUNKIEST GENTS June 22, 2009 1. JOSHUA RAYMOND CITY INDEXIt was a tough job, picking just one of the City’s most strapping gentlemen to grace the top spot, but someone had to do it – and City A.M.’s discerning judging panel were unanimous in their vote for the lovely Joshua Raymond, market strategist at spreadbetter City Index. Joshua started breaking [...]
Over three quarters of investors trust politicians more than financial advisers June 22, 2009 OVER three quarters of investors believe financial intermediaries, such as client-facing advisers, are less trustworthy than politicians, according to a survey. Intermediaries are perceived as being untrustworthy and lacking knowledge, perhaps as a result of poor education by investment managers on complex products and risk management practices, according to the KPMG/Datamonitor study. “It is little [...]
How the Baker Street brigade are taking on the Big Four accountants June 22, 2009 YOU get the impression when you meet him that Simon Michaels, the managing partner of BDO Stoy Hayward, wants a lot of things – and one of the first is a larger slice of the UK accounting pie. Michaels, at 42 the youngest person to lead the UK’s sixth-largest professional services business, was elected to [...]
Brit launches bid for Chaucer June 22, 2009 LLOYD’S of London insurer Brit Insurance made a £226m all-share offer for smaller rival Chaucer yesterday, forcing private equity group Pamplona to reveal it has built a 7.34 per cent stake in the company. Brit is offering the Chaucer board 0.23 new Brit shares for every Chaucer share. This is a nil-premium offer, meaning it [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 17, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES FEDEX SWINGS TO FOURTH-QUARTER LOSSFedEx executives told investors they believed the worst of the economic downturn was behind them. The note of optimism came during an otherwise sobering review of the package-delivery company’s fiscal fourth quarter, during which its net loss widened from a year earlier on goodwill writedowns, and the company warned [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 14, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday Telegraph RBS INVESTORS SAY PAY CHIEF EXEC MORERoyal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Philip Hampton has had to overhaul the planned incentive package for chief executive Stephen Hester after institutional investors raised concerns that it was not generous enough. INEOS DEBT SPARKS WORRIES OVER ITS FUTUREAuditors to Ineos, Britain’s biggest private company, [...]
BRC: retail upturn slows June 8, 2009 RECOVERY in the UK retail sector slowed in May, as sales volumes returned to normal following a stellar April, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountancy firm KPMG. Retail sales in May fell 0.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis and rose just 0.8 per cent on a total [...]
Liverpool in turmoil after owners lose 46m in year June 4, 2009 THE FUTURE of Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is in “significant doubt” unless £350m of debt is refinanced before next month’s deadline, the club’s accountants KPMG warned last night. Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd, the parent company of Americans Hicks and Gillett, made a £42.6m loss for the year ending July 2008, according to [...]
Labour market deteriorates further but slower pace fuels hope of recovery June 2, 2009 THE labour market continued to deteriorate in May, but the pace of decline slowed for a third month and experts said there are signs of recovery. Permanent placements fell for the fourteenth consecutive month, but at the slowest pace since last July, while temporary billings declined at the weakest rate since September. But the monthly [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 1, 2009 HermesThe fund manager has appointed Saker Nusseibeh as head of investments. Nusseibeh, who will also join the Hermes main board, joins from Fortis Investments, where he was global head of equities and chief information officer for global equities. He was previously managing director of international equities and chief information officer for global equities at TCW/ [...]