St. James’s Place inflows swell as household savings take off amid Covid July 28, 2021 Asset manager St. James’s Place has reaped the rewards of a trend toward household savings swelling over the course of Covid, according to figures released today. The firms said it expects gross inflows to rise 20 per cent in the second half of 2021 as retail investors pour their savings into financial markets in search [...]
Q&A: What is “natural capital” and why should investors care? July 28, 2021 The last few hundred years of human activity have stored up changes in climate that threaten human existence. Climate change is not the only ecological threat. It’s widely agreed that damage to the natural environment and loss of biodiversity pose a comparable risk. Natural resources are the single most important input to the global economy. [...]
Barclays UK assets hit £219bn as easing lockdown sees fewer loan costs July 28, 2021 Barclays UK assets have hit £219bn in the past six months as lockdown measures have eased, allowing for fewer loan costs. The bank’s UK division pulled in a total income of £3.2bn, which was up one per cent in comparison to last year but was partially offset by its operating expenses of some £2.1bn. Shares [...]
Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations on soaring demand for cloud computing July 27, 2021 Microsoft beat earnings expectations and posted a rise in revenue for the fourth quarter, as the ongoing shift to remote working bolstered demand for its cloud computing services. Microsoft reported a 21 per cent rise in revenue to $46.2bn in the three months ending 30 June – beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.24bn, according to [...]
Reckitt rakes in £6.5bn revenue but underwhelmed investors see shares sink July 27, 2021 Consumer goods company Reckitt raked in just over £6.5bn in revenue in the past six months, though it fell short of analysts’ sky-high sales expectations. The FTSE 100-listed firm was buoyed by its strong second-quarter revenue, which pulled in some £3bn after selling its Chinese infant formula business for around £1.5bn in June. Shares were [...]
Covid recovery: IMF predicts UK economy to grow fastest of all G7 nations July 27, 2021 The UK economy is set to recover much faster than expected from the Covid crisis as a resurgence in consumer spending and the success of the vaccine rollout boosted official forecasts. According to the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook report, the UK economy will expand seven per cent this year, a sharp increase [...]
DEBATE: Is it fair for businesses to go completely cashless? July 27, 2021 Tom Spencer, chief organiser of the London Neoliberals, says YES A move to a cashless economy has long been met with fear due to the small impracticalities it will have on few people. But we should be embracing this change because it will bring about significant economic benefit. This is because the problem of the [...]
Former PM calls Australia’s vaccine rollout a ‘colossal failure’ July 27, 2021 Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the Australian government’s vaccine rollout as “the biggest failure of public administration” he can recall to date. Speaking to the BBC, Turnbull said the Australian government failed to secure enough Covid-19 vaccinations: “It was a colossal failure, and the problem is you can’t wind the clock back [...]
Meet Shein: The secretive Chinese fast-fashion firm taking over online retail July 27, 2021 Taking the Tube at the minute can still, at times, feel like time travel. Around you are slightly tattered posters for theatre productions that haven’t been on stage for more than a year; ads for movies touted for cinema release that ended up quietly released to Netflix with little fanfare. Amongst these relics of a [...]
Tech stocks – slow-down or slump? July 27, 2021 With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the shift towards a digital-first world; technology stocks rose to all-time highs in 2020, as people spent more time online.1 However, as economies have begun to reopen following the rollout of highly effective coronavirus vaccines; tech stocks sold-off as investors rotated towards sectors set to benefit from reopening. In this [...]