UK M&A deals tail off as post-Brexit vote reality causes sentiment to weaken according to EY October 9, 2017 After a post-Brexit spike, the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the UK has begun to tail off as deal sentiment weakens. According to EY, the volume of M&A deals completed in the first nine months of this year slipped by 11 per cent compared to 2016 to 2,316. On the flip side, the [...]
Corbyn’s robot tax would halt vital life-changing innovation October 6, 2017 The fear of change is nothing new. Charlie Chaplin’s classic film Modern Times – one of the last silent films of the era – is perhaps the most famous critique of technology and its perceived impact on modern society. When the film was produced in 1936, Chaplin wasn’t alone in his fear of how a [...]
Hermes GPE raises $620m from pension funds to plough in to co-investment deals October 5, 2017 Hermes GPE, the firm which invests in private equity funds and deals, has raised around $620m (£472m) for its co-investment strategy. The fund raked in commitments from a club of pension funds, professional investors and asset managers – including the Local Pensions Partnership, a collaboration between Lancashire County Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund [...]
Is your greatest asset people, or data? October 4, 2017 Most of us spend our entire careers working for organisations where the prevailing attitude is that “people are our greatest asset”. In the service sector in particular, the expertise of an organisation’s people, their ability to work together, deliver an outstanding service and build strong relationships with customers is a cornerstone of its proposition. Often [...]
Bearing the load: Almost half of the UK’s top fund managers will absorb the cost of investment research post-Mifid October 4, 2017 A large chunk of the UK’s top asset managers have agreed to bear the cost of investment research themselves, rather than passing it on to clients from next year, according to consultancy Alpha FMC. The upcoming new European Mifid II rules, designed to increase transparency in how fund managers are spending investors’ money, mean firms [...]
Google’s DeepMind tripled its multimillion pound spending on artificial intelligence tech talent in London October 3, 2017 DeepMind, the UK’s star artificial intelligence company owned by Google, has tripled the amount of money it spends on top talent. Spending on administration largely driven by its wage bill jumped to £164m in 2016, up from £54m a year earlier, according to its newly published annual accounts, as it splashed the cash on attracting [...]
Trivago buys German artificial intelligence startup Tripl to add machine learning to its platform September 26, 2017 Holiday search firm Trivago announced today it has acquired the assets of Tripl, a machine learning travel start-up from Hamburg. The acquisition, which took place for an unspecified amount, is set to add personalization technology to Trivago’s platform. Read more: Trivago’s ad campaign is hitting home, but has it altered brand perception? The technology gives [...]
Swedish fintech startup iZettle lands €30m to fund artificial intelligence research from European Investment Bank | City A.M. September 19, 2017 iZettle, one of Europe’s most successful fintech startups, is ramping up its research and development efforts and will focus on the potential applications of artificial intelligence with fresh funding from the EU’s lending arm. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is funding a round of debt to the tune of €30m for the payments firm, which [...]
AI’s threat to traditional banking models September 14, 2017 Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things are now defining the future of our economy. The effect of these technologies, made possible by the colossal volumes of data we are able to collect and process, has been described as the “fourth industrial revolution”. There are hundreds of ways businesses can apply AI to [...]
Data Protection Bill: How the UK’s data laws will now be fit for the digital age September 14, 2017 They’ve always said that information is power, and in the digital age, data increasingly powers the world. It drives price comparison sites and improves the flow of transport around cities. Using data properly adds billions of pounds to the economy, and helps improve and save lives. We are yet in the foothills of the digital [...]