COP21 talks: Why action on climate change has become an economic imperative August 20, 2015 In just 100 days, world leaders will gather in Paris for the COP21 climate change talks. The urgent need for action to reduce CO2 emissions and stop global warming was recently described by both Barack Obama and Pope Francis as a “moral imperative” and summed up by President Obama who said: “We are the first [...]
China’s weakened yuan: From deflation to US equities, the effects are set to ripple out across the world August 18, 2015 One week on and investors are still digesting the impact of China’s sudden currency devaluation. Last week the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) dropped the daily reference rate it sets for the yuan by 1.9 per cent, and committed to taking the market’s views into account when setting the currency’s value in future. Consensus [...]
Japan’s Abenomics is branded a failure as GDP points to an economic slump August 18, 2015 Japan could be forced to ramp up QE this autumn following its economic contraction – while experts are suggesting Abenomics has been a failure. Latest figures from the world’s third-largest economy show Q2 GDP shrunk 1.6 per cent on an annualised basis, brought down by lower consumer spending and weak exports. Private consumption [...]
How businesses are using crowdfunding in their CSR strategy: The evolving relationship between platforms and corporates August 13, 2015 Crowdfunding has democratised investing and made it more efficient. But the landscape has evolved significantly. Once dominated by platforms simply enabling people to make donations to causes, debt-based crowdfunding is now by far the largest subsector, and fashionable equity gets a lot of airtime. But despite less exposure these days, the original donation-based crowdfunding is [...]
Trade and status: China weakens yuan to gain advantage August 12, 2015 China plans to top the global hierarchy with its surprise move to devalue its currency China shocked the world yesterday when it devalued the yuan by nearly 2 per cent against the dollar. The surprise move brings its currency to a three-year low against the greenback and should help revive exports. The news [...]
S&P 500 pegged back by rising greenback: US stock index limping due to burgeoning power of dollar August 12, 2015 The strong dollar is hindering growth in US equities this year, analysts are warning. The US dollar has been persistently strong in the last year, and has risen around 18 per cent on a trade weighted basis against a basket of other currencies in 12 months. It has continued to strengthen throughout this year, and [...]
City Moves for 12 August 2015 | Who’s switching jobs August 11, 2015 BlackRock Jan Bratteberg has been appointed head of the investment management firm’s iShares business in the Nordics. He joins from BlackRock’s scientific active equity team, where he was co-head of strategy. Bratteberg has also held roles with Barclays Global Investors. Bank of Cyprus UK Nick Fahy has been appointed chief executive of the bank. He [...]
Gresham Computing prospers in wake of Clareti software boom August 10, 2015 GRESHAM Computing, which makes software for investment banks, yesterday said strong sales of flagship product Clareti Transaction Control (CTC) had propelled a jump in revenue. Total revenues were £7.1m for the half year, up from £6.4m last year, bolstered by group software sales rising 38 per cent. CTC sales rose 247 per cent alone, accounting [...]
Publicis boss Maurice Levy says Brexit would be a “bloody disaster” August 10, 2015 The boss of one of the world’s largest advertising firms has said that it would be a “bloody disaster” if the UK left the European Union. Maurice Levy, the chief exec and chairman of Publicis Group, accused Prime Minister David Cameron of opening Pandora’s box by seeking to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s relationship with [...]
Neil Woodford’s new fund surpasses Invesco Perpetual Income in fund size August 5, 2015 Just over a year after star fund manager Neil Woodford left Invesco to set up his new fund, Woodford Equity Income has overtaken the fund he previously managed in fund size. Launched in 2014, the fund is now worth £6.74bn in size to the end of July compared to Invesco Perpetual Income’s size of £6.45bn [...]