What’s bubbling up as we boil the ESG ocean? December 9, 2022 The globe is warming. Regulators are warning. Investors are calling. Climate change is felt by every one of us and it dominates discussions from the sofa at home, to the office, to the world’s leading conference stages. Whatever your perspective: concerned citizen or commercial entity (and the two are by no means mutually exclusive) we [...]
Regime shift: investing into the new era December 9, 2022 As this economic cycle ends, we shouldn’t expect to see the patterns of the past decade repeated. A new regime in policy and market behaviour is unfolding which investors need to understand if they are to find the best opportunities and safeguard their portfolios. The re-opening of economies after Covid sparked a phenomenon investors have [...]
Whether it’s otters or guns, social media cannot exist without algorithms December 7, 2022 If you follow me on Twitter, you may have come for the digital rights content and stayed for the otters. I joined Twitter reluctantly for professional reasons – to find out what is going on in the world, connect with people doing insightful work, and to share my own professional content. But the more time [...]
Britain needs more safe and energy efficient homes, but targets miss the point December 1, 2022 Last week, we saw Conservative party backbenchers oppose Michael Gove’s target to deliver 300,000 homes a year in England. The scale of the rebellion meant the vote on planning reforms, enshrined in the levelling up bill, was pulled. The government’s levelling up strategy has the potential to make a positive difference, but its focus on [...]
Use artificial intelligence to navigate volatile economy, audit body says November 29, 2022 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics tools will play a “key” role in helping auditors navigate the volatile economic conditions the world is facing in the wake of Covid and the war in Ukraine, one of the UK’s largest audit trade bodies has said. The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA) said auditors should “embrace” [...]
Hunt rejects OBR forecasts of Brexit hit to UK economy November 24, 2022 Forecasts of the economic hit caused by Brexit from the UK’s budgetary watchdog are wrong, according to chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Hunt today said he doesn’t “accept” predictions by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that the UK’s economy will be 4 per cent smaller in the medium-term due to Brexit. Hunt told Sky News that [...]
Why better business planning can help us save the world November 24, 2022 The recent COP27 summit in Egypt has further reinforced the urgency of the climate threat. As countries, as organisations, and as individuals, we need to do far more to combat climate change, and act much faster than we’re acting today. I believe that finance professionals can play a crucial role in the collective effort to [...]
UK set to become next AI superpower says new report November 22, 2022 The UK could be the next big global artificial intelligence superpower as the government leads the way with public sector investment. According to a new independent report carried out by WPI Economics, on behalf of software firm Splunk, the UK is forging ahead of its European rivals in many aspects of how it embeds data and [...]
Sunak slaps down idea of Swiss-style Brexit deal to bring UK closer to EU November 21, 2022 Rishi Sunak will not pursue a post-Brexit “Swiss-style” deal to bring the UK closer to the EU, the Prime Minister has said today. Sunak said he was “unequivocal on this” and that “under my leadership, the United Kingdom will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws”. The Sunday Times [...]
We have all the information to change our lives, but we don’t know how to use it November 15, 2022 Accurate, accessible and secure data has the potential to transform policymaking in the UK. During the pandemic, data helped us identify the most vulnerable in society. It provided the backbone for the medical research used to create the vaccines so quickly. The ability to understand and use data across the public sector is critical to [...]