EU referendum: The City’s voice must be heard on Europe October 20, 2015 Mark Carney’s intervention in the Brexit debate today will have nothing like the impact his remarks before the Scottish referendum had last year. Arguing that the SNP’s plan to keep sterling would require “some ceding of national sovereignty”, while pointing to chaos in the Eurozone, he swept aside the misplaced belief that independence could be [...]
The war on the driver is a war on freedom – and autonomous cars are part of the problem October 14, 2015 Freedom-hating municipal politicians have it in for the motorist: London has its congestion charge, Dublin is closing off ever more of its urban core, and Paris is now experimenting with sporadically banning all private transport. Young people, faced with turbo-charged costs, onerous restrictions and absurd taxation – not to mention rising housing costs – [...]
Value of European IPOs in 2015 drops following Chinese stock market crash October 8, 2015 Flotations on Europe’s stock markets raised 30 per cent less money in the third quarter than the same time last year, according to PwC, although the accountancy firm predicts a pick-up in activity before the year-end. China’s August stock market crash sent jitters across the globe, prompted businesses to put their listing plans on ice, [...]
The best a dog can get: Your quick guide to pet insurance October 5, 2015 The average pet insurance claim is £679, and for dog owners it’s even higher at £683. But with only 20 per cent of pets insured, it’s clear insurance is not at the top of the priority list for most animal lovers. Even if an owner has savings which could cover a pet’s illness, insurance [...]
Breaking the Bank: What will rising UK interest rates mean for P2P lending? October 5, 2015 The Bank of England will soon need to rediscover the use of its trigger finger and fire the starting gun on interest rate rises. Still expected to be slow and steady, tightening policy after nearly seven years of ultra cheap money will nevertheless have a sizeable impact on everything and everyone, pushing up borrowing costs [...]
Pensions reform: Lump sums don’t mean Lamborghinis as Britain’s savers are still being prudent October 5, 2015 Pensioners were expected to be buying up Lamborghinis in droves this summer, after landmark pension freedoms came into effect in April. The new system allows people over 55 to take some – or even all – of their pension as a lump sum. It wipes away old restrictions which only let retirees have a [...]
AA share price falls as company reports pre-tax loss and warns of future bumps in the road September 22, 2015 AA's share price tumbled this morning after the car group revealed a £63.6m loss following its refinancing. The figures The so-called fourth emergency service, which in March raised £935m to cut down its debt mountain, has had a difficult first half, with revenues down 1.4 per cent to £484.6m in the six months to the end [...]
Insurers look to technology to boost profits by profiling clients September 20, 2015 New technology, which monitors how fast you drive and where you go, as well as your Facebook profile is the future for setting insurance premiums. A survey by Interim Partners, found that, in addition to tracking technology installed in potential customers’ cars, insurance executives said social media profiling, combined with geographic, political and economic data, [...]
The rise of the sleeping giant: Why the next wave of tech innovation will come from corporates September 16, 2015 A unique new inflight entertainment system that allows you to start watching movies on your iPad before the flight. A connected car that knows what you are going to do during the day. Selling car insurance by the mile instead of by the year. What these innovations have in common is that none of them [...]
Motor insurer’s IPO could ignite the market September 16, 2015 Hastings’ float is putting the spark back into personal lines THE PERSONAL lines insurance market has been the less sexy relation to its commercial cousins in recent months. Zurich and RSA are dancing around the idea of a union, following the marriage of Aviva and Friends Life, not to mention XL Group’s successful play for [...]