From the Personal Savings Allowance and Dividend Allowance to the Help to Buy Isa, how can savers make the most of their Isa this tax year? March 15, 2016 The world of Isas was once a sleepy one. At every Budget, the chancellor would typically increase the amount you could contribute each tax year by some measure of inflation. You had a simple choice between putting that money into a cash or a stocks and shares Isa (or a slightly restrictive combination of the [...]
City Moves for 11 March 2016 | Who’s switching jobs March 11, 2016 BLM Risk and insurance law business BLM has announced the appointment of abuse claims expert Sharon Moohan. Sharon joins BLM’s abuse claims team having overseen €953m (£743m) of redress payments in her role as sole solicitor for the Irish Residential Institutions Redress Board. The board was set up in 2002 to make fair and reasonable [...]
City of London delays decision over 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper light-blocking row March 10, 2016 Oh dear. It looks like it could take the developers of the City's next big skyscraper at 22 Bishopsgate longer than they hoped to quash a dispute with its shorter neighbours over its looming and potentially light-prohibiting presence. AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets and Lipton Rogers have been locked in a row with its neighbours and campaign groups, [...]
Italian insurer Generali set to name new chief executive this week March 9, 2016 Italian insurer Generali is set to name its new chief executive on Friday. The new appointment will replace Mario Greco, who is moving to take over as chief executive of Zurich Insurance. Two sources close to the matter told Reuters Philippe Donnet, the current head of Generali Italia, is the frontrunner for the role. Read more: Generali boss Mario [...]
City of London poised to step in over 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper “rights to light” battle March 9, 2016 The developers behind City skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate have called on the City of London for help fighting a fierce "rights to light" battle with neighbouring landlords that threatens to derail the scheme. AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets and Lipton Rogers have been locked in a row with its neighbours and campaign groups, who argue that the 62-storey tower overshadows their [...]
Are fearful investors creating a crisis? Experts warn of “self-fulfilling prophecy” in markets as negativity towards global outlook deepens March 1, 2016 Despite hopes, the G20 grouping of world leaders failed to come up with a deal to boost flagging global growth at its latest meeting in Hangzhou, China. There had been calls for a joint effort to tackle the slowdown – and although a deal was unlikely, analysts had warned the market would respond badly to “policy [...]
Zlota 44 is the tallest residential building in Warsaw and it’s hoping to catch the eye of Western investors February 25, 2016 For millionaire investors, the obvious place to buy for profit is in one of Europe’s great cities. But the bright lights of London, Paris and Berlin may be blinding buyers to smaller pockets of investment that have big potential. One of these is Poland. After years of building it up, the Poles now boast the largest [...]
Axa share price up as Paris-headquartered insurer reveals a boost in net income for its 2015 financial year February 25, 2016 Share price in Axa rose today after the company revealed growth in its net income for its 2015 financial year. Net income for the Paris-headquartered company rose to €5.6bn (£4.4bn) for the financial year 2015, up 12 per cent on a reported basis and three per cent on a constant currency basis compared with €5bn the year [...]
Why investors are fretting about the bond market: High yield spreads are pricing in 2008 levels of defaults – while some experts say a liquidity squeeze is beginning February 23, 2016 Does the jump in high yield spreads say anything about the global economy? Markets have focused on oil prices as a barometer of health in the global economy and stock markets, but historically high yield spreads over the risk-free rate have been a much better indicator. Spreads have widened considerably lately, and now “the market as [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]