Nurofen is the most overpriced over-the-counter medicine, while branded drugs are three times more expensive than their generic counterparts June 29, 2016 It's enough to give you a headache. If you thought you'd been short-changed by the cost of painkillers last time you had a cold, or by hayfever tablets as soon as spring came, you were probably right. Branded medication costs on average nearly three times as much as generic equivalents that do exactly the same [...]
City Moves for 8 June 2016 | Who’s switching jobs June 8, 2016 National Football League UK Melissa Brown, a sales and marketing executive with more than 15 years’ experience in the entertainment industry, has joined the National Football League’s London office to take responsibility for further growing the league’s commercial performance in the UK. Melissa joins the NFLUK office as vice-president of commercial partnerships following a stint [...]
Euro 2016: Think like a fund manager to build a winning fantasy football team June 7, 2016 Fantasy Football has developed into one of the world’s most popular online sports games. Forbes estimates that 1.2bn hours are spent playing the US version every year. But although the game is light hearted fun for most people, its clear parallels with asset management show what a serious business it can be. In Fantasy Football, [...]
Australia’s competition watchdog is having a real headache over Reckitt Benckiser’s Nurofen fine, filing an appeal in hopes to have it increased May 23, 2016 Australia's competition watchdog was really not impressed by Nurofen's recent advertising attempts, arguing that a AU$1.7m (£850,000) fine levied on the pharmaceutical brand is too small. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has today filed a notice of appeal against the Federal Court's decision ordering Nurofen's manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser to fork over the penalty for printing potentially misleading statements on its packaging. [...]
Why this year’s votes against exec pay are not just a knee-jerk reaction May 15, 2016 As the world’s largest investment fund, Norway’s £590 billion oil fund is an unusually forward thinking animal. Well known in asset management circles for its stance against companies involved in the production of tobacco, nuclear weapons and most recently coal firms, the fund has announced that it will target executive pay which it deems excessive. [...]
Safe texts: Durex is pushing for a condom emoji May 10, 2016 Condom manufacturer Durex has issued a request to the group responsible for the emoji approval process, the Unicode Consortium, arguing the case for a new condom emoji. Durex, owned by London-listed Reckitt Benckiser, first called for a new condom emoji to be approved ahead of World AIDS Day last November, on the basis that it could help promote safe sex. Now [...]
Man Group becomes latest firm to face shareholder ire over executive pay May 6, 2016 Man Group has become the latest firm to stoke shareholder ire over executive pay, after a significant number of shareholders voted against its remuneration report. The investment manager's executive pay package was rejected by nearly 40 per cent of its shareholders, but it still passed as around 60 per cent were in favour. Read more: RBS [...]
Shareholder spring freezes over: Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline give their approval to executive pay plans May 5, 2016 The prospect of a fresh shareholder spring was delivered another blow today. Shareholders of consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, engineering firm Rolls Royce, and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline all gave their approval to their respective executive pay packages with votes coming in above 80 per cent in favour across the board. Reckitt, now rebranded as RB, had the toughest time of the three [...]
A Spring is in the air this May – Shareholder revolt set to build with Aviva and Reckitt Benckiser meetings May 3, 2016 Company bosses are braced for further uprisings this week. Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser, insurance giant Aviva, and FTSE 250 hedge fund Man Group all host shareholders for their annual general meetings. Last week the shareholder spring picked up pace as investors voted against boardroom pay rewards for engineering firm Weir Group and Shire, the FTSE [...]
Shareholder voices heard loud & clear April 28, 2016 The shareholder spring picked up pace yesterday, when investors voted against boardroom pay rewards for engineering firm Weir Group and Shire, the FTSE 100 pharmaceutical group. The revolts came on the back of major uprisings at oil giant BP, miner Anglo American, energy firm Centrica and financial behemoth Citigroup. “This year has seen a ‘spring [...]