Warren Buffett criticised for disclosing too little information about Berkshire Hathaway February 8, 2015 Analysts have urged Warren Buffet to make the financial reports of Berkshire Hathaway more thorough, arguing that they currently offer too little information for a company of its size. The super-investor's $370bn multinational organisation is a holding company, made up of subsidiary businesses ranging from the insurance sector to retail and manufacturing. Among others, [...]
Free state pension forecasts now available for over-55s February 7, 2015 Millions more people are now eligible for a free estimate of how much is in their state pension pot. Over-55's can request a personalised pension statement estimating how much they'll receive upon retirement. It's calculated based on the national insurance contributions an individual has made to-date. The move will make retirement planning easier for more [...]
City Moves for 06 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 5, 2015 Warburg Pincus Rene Obermann is joining the global private equity firm as managing director and partner. Obermann was chief executive of Deutsche Telekom from 2006 to 2013, and was most recently chief executive of Ziggo NV. He will be based at the firm’s London office. Hay Group The management consultancy has appointed Jim Tapper as [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 February 2015 February 5, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com AVANTI COMMUNICATIONS Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its “buy” rating on the telecoms firm after it reported results for the second quarter of 2015 that were in line with market expectations. The broker stated that the outlook points to “significant revenue growth” in the third [...]
UK firms face unprecedented risks – politicians shouldn’t be adding more February 5, 2015 Uncertainty has become a new watchword for British businesses. It may not be new for them – to varying degrees they have always operated in an uncertain world – but it is now more prominent in their thinking than at any other time in a generation. Today, they face an underperforming Eurozone, ongoing conflicts in [...]
Woods leaves Torrey Pines with back pain February 5, 2015 FORMER world No1 Tiger Woods was last night forced to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California due to apparent back pain, the PGA Tour announced. The 14-time Major champion was two over par when forced to withdraw after 11 holes of his first round yesterday, which follows the disappointment of [...]
Hedge funds hit back at Labour over tax row after Ed Miliband queries stamp duty avoidance February 4, 2015 Hedge funds have hit back at Labour’s proposals to impose a new tax on them, after Ed Miliband called for a change in current stamp duty arrangements. During Prime Minster’s questions yesterday, Miliband repeatedly asked Prime Minister David Cameron about “hedge funds avoiding stamp duty on their share transactions”, prompting an angry response from the [...]
Pensioners should opt-in to winter fuel allowance and jobseekers should get personal welfare accounts, says think tank February 3, 2015 A think-tank with close links to the Conservative Party has outlined a series of changes to welfare that would affect pensioner benefits and Job Seekers Allowance and child benefit payments. Under Policy Exchange's Welfare Manifesto pensioners would be asked to opt-in to receive the Winter Fuel Allowance. Currently, the Winter Fuel Allowance is given to [...]
Senior creditor rescue deal to save Towergate February 2, 2015 TROUBLED insurance broking group Towergate yesterday announced that it had reached agreement with its senior secured creditors to recapitalise the group and carry out a financial restructuring. The deal will see £75m of new investment injected into the company, and also sees Towergate’s net debt reduced by more than 60 per cent. According to the [...]
Cote Brasserie owner buys up stake in UK insurance business February 2, 2015 CBPE Capital, the owner of popular dining chain Cote Restaurants, yesterday snapped up a controlling stake in UK insurance company Compre. CBPE has bought the business, based in the UK but with operations in Germany, Switzerland and across the Nordic region, from Milestone Capital Partners. Compre specialises in buying non-life insurance and reinsurance business in [...]