Four mistakes newbie investors make – from following fads to gambling away your savings February 16, 2016 FOLLOWING FADS There are lots of esoteric areas of investment which sound fascinating and it’s easy to believe you have stumbled upon the next big thing – especially if performance has been good lately. I regularly hear from people with little saved who’ve invested in areas such as corn or liquid natural gas. Those niche [...]
Axa to pay €75m for an eight per cent stake in Africa Internet Group (AIG) and plans to distribute insurance through Jumia online stores February 8, 2016 French insurance giant Axa agreed to pay €75m (£57.9m) today for an eight per cent stake in ecommerce company Africa Internet Group (AIG). As part of the deal, Axa will gain the right to exclusively provide insurance products through Jumia, an online shopping platform and AIG's main subsidiary. "Internet is creating unparalleled opportunities for consumers and businesses in Africa to [...]
EU referendum: Brexit could cause a total loss to UK GDP of two to seven per cent, says AXA economist January 27, 2016 If Britain votes to leave the European Union the loss to the UK's gross domestic product would lie between two and seven per cent, according to a top AXA economist. Senior economist at AXA Investment Managers David Page said that AXA's own assessments of Brexit are more skewed to a "pessimistic outlook", and as such [...]
Plans for five-storey office block above Farringdon Crossrail station win approval January 25, 2016 Plans to build a major new office building above Farringdon Crossrail station have been given the go-ahead by City planners today, with construction expected to start next year. Designed by PLP Architecture – the architects behind Lipton Rogers and Axa Real Estate's 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper – the five-storey building will sit above the station's eastern ticket hall on [...]
Oil prices: The £36bn Royal Dutch Shell-BG Group mega-deal has won more support ahead of crucial vote January 14, 2016 Another investor advisory firm has come out in favour of Royal Dutch Shell's £36bn mega-deal with smaller rival BG Group, which goes to a shareholder vote at the end of this month. British shareholder advisory firm PIRC has advised shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. It comes after Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory body, recommended [...]
Shell and BG shareholders defend £36bn deal after Standard Life says it will vote against the move January 11, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell and its supporters have insisted the £36bn acquisition of BG Group will go through after a major shareholder said he would vote against the tie-up. Standard Life Investments' head of equities David Cumming told the BBC he would be voting against the deal on 27 January, calling the acquisition "destructive" for Shell shareholders. [...]
Francois Hollande’s economic adviser Laurence Boon joins Axa January 11, 2016 One of French President Francois Hollande's economic advisers has been snapped up by French insurance giant Axa. Laurence Boone, who was critical of Hollande's socialist government before being appointed, controversially joined Hollande's team of advisers in June 2014. She left a post at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research to do so. “I am absolutely delighted that Laurence [...]
New Axa Insurance boss Amanda Blanc on the company’s plans for growth January 11, 2016 Amanda Blanc began the new year as chief executive of a reorganised Axa Insurance. Previously the head of Axa Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary, as of 1 January Blanc has taken on responsibility for the French group’s insurance business in the UK and Ireland, a change that doesn’t seem to have phased her. “I feel like [...]
Homeward bound HSBC, City Hall race and oil glut make a busy 2016 January 7, 2016 Forecasting events in the City is frequently a fool’s errand but one thing’s clear from the first week of 2016: it is going to be a tough year for much of corporate Britain. Here’s where I think most of the action will be. 1. Among the first big decisions of the year will be delivered when [...]
Fintech 2016: Bitcoin rises again and compliance gets sexy January 7, 2016 It was another big year for fintech in Europe in 2015. The frenzy of activity in London has continued. There’s been an overload of conferences and events, an occasional dose of premature back-slapping, but most importantly some great companies have raised serious investment. The rest of Europe, Germany in particular, has leapt forward too – [...]