Charity begins at work: How Payroll Giving can create a giving culture in your company December 17, 2019 If you’re looking for a quick corporate social responsibility boost and develop a giving culture in your organisation, Payroll Giving could be the answer. Company values have never been more important According to KPMG International, more than 60 per cent of millennials expect their employers to contribute to a social cause. With around 12m millennials [...]
European dealmakers top global M&A rankings for second consecutive year December 17, 2019 Europe was the only region to enjoy a positive M&A performance in 2019 amid a global downturn that will continue into 2020, according to new analysis. European dealmakers marginally outperformed their regional index by 0.6 percentage points over the last year despite a poor performance from UK buyers, according to research by insurer Willis Towers [...]
AA reveals new CFO Kevin Dangerfield December 17, 2019 AA today announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer. Kevin Dangerfield moves to AA from Wilmcote Holdings, an investment vehicle. Read more: AA shares leap as firm plans bond buyback Dangerfield will take up the role on 6 January 2020, subject to approval from the FCA. He will take over from interim CFO [...]
SRI investing and Islamic finance: the same but different December 17, 2019 Sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing and Islamic finance share similar origins and aspirations. Yet for the most part, these two modes of finance have existed as distinct approaches in parallel worlds. Common to both is an ethical underpinning that puts stewardship and societal value creation at the forefront of finance. CFA Institute has recently [...]
Pension funds are putting more money into property debt December 17, 2019 When the Alternative Credit Council recently predicted that the global private debt market will be worth in excess of $1 trillion by the end of 2020, some might have called the claim a little audacious. Only seven years ago, less than £1 in every £10 lent in the UK came from an alternative lender. Today, [...]
Virgin Money share price falls after Barclays downgrade December 16, 2019 Shares in Virgin Money are down by more than five per cent today after Barclays downgraded its rating. Barclays analysts shifted Virgin Money’s stock from equal weight to underweight, signifying a pessimistic outlook, today. Read more: Virgin Money cancels dividend after £385m PPI hit The downgrade was made due to weak earnings, high growth in [...]
Premier Oil pushes back over claims firm is under pressure to sell assets December 15, 2019 UK exploratory firm Premier Oil today pushed back against claims that it is under pressure from its lenders to sell of its assets as the repayment date for $2.6bn (£1.9bn) worth of loans approaches. The Sunday Telegraph reported that a group of hedge funds, which own in total around 40 per cent of Premier’s loan [...]
Uber launches appeal over TfL London ban December 13, 2019 Uber has today submitted an appeal against Transport for London’s (TfL) decision to ban the ride-hailing app from operating in the capital. TfL last month stripped Uber of its licence, stating that a “pattern of failures” left passengers at risk. Read more: Uber says it received 6,000 reports of sexual assault over two-year period The [...]
Is Uber Works good news for gig economy workers? December 13, 2019 Uber is still best known as a ride-hailing platform but it has been branching out into other industries. Food (Uber eats), electric scooters and bicycles (Jump), and now shift work with the launch of Uber Works. It is being trialled in Chicago, with plans to launch elsewhere soon, and enables casual workers such as cleaners, [...]
Mini bar, pepper spray pump, sound system: What the super-rich want in a panic room December 13, 2019 Most of us will never have the need for a panic room. The sum of our valuables and the size of our homes means dropping in a huge, heavy steel structure at a cost of (at least) hundreds of thousands of pounds doesn’t even cross our minds. Those who do find themselves in need of [...]