Wealthsimple grabs $100m in new funding round from Allianz May 22, 2019 Digital wealth giant Wealthsimple has raised a CA$100m (£58.8m) investment round, led by the investment unit of insurance firm and asset manager Allianz. The Canadian fintech, which operates in the UK and US alongside its home country, manages an online investing service and a commission-free stock trading app, with over $4.5bn of assets under management. Read more: [...]
British Steel falls into insolvency after government bailout talks fail, in ‘devastating’ blow for 5,000 workers May 22, 2019 British Steel has collapsed into insolvency after the last week of attempts to lobby the government for a £75m cash injection failed. Read more: Troubled British Steel braces for insolvency in last-ditch loan talks The industrial giant – which employs 5,000 people – has been asking the government for an emergency loan designed to save [...]
Hedge funds ramp up bets against Jupiter Fund Management May 22, 2019 Hedge funds have increased their bets against Jupiter Fund Management making it one of the most shorted UK companies. The asset manager’s shorted stock has increased to 10.55 per cent, more than that of struggling firms such as AA and Marks & Spencer, from 7.37 per cent at the beginning of April. Read more: Jupiter assets [...]
Employers want to use wearable tech to track the health, sleep, fitness and productivity of the office May 22, 2019 If you've woken up and checked your watch for last night’s sleep data, you’re not alone. In the UK, more than five million wearables (such as Fitbits and step counters) are now part of individuals’ everyday lives – 1.96m were sold in 2017 alone. So it’s only natural for employers to be interested in the power of [...]
The robots are coming – and they’re (potentially) after your job May 22, 2019 By Ian Hall (City AM, for the CFA Institute) ‘You want your robot to be smarter than the other team’s robot’: advice that sounds like it belongs to a participant in combat competition TV show Robot Wars. But, actually, it’s the increasingly competitive and technology-affected situation that many investment professionals will face in the workplace [...]
How to cope with the confusion around social care costs May 22, 2019 Distracted by the ongoing Brexit crisis, the government appears to have shoved the not-so-small issue of social care to one side. With a growing elderly population (by 2046, a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 or over), and proportionately fewer taxpayers able to prop them up, the rising cost of social care [...]
Ex-European Commission president says UK financial services should be higher on Brexit agenda May 21, 2019 The UK’s financial services sector should be much higher on the agenda of Britain’s Brexit negotiators, the chairman of Goldman Sachs and former president of the European Commission said today. Read more: Helena Morrissey casts vote for Brexit party in upcoming Euro-election “I'm relatively surprised by the fact that until now in the discussion of [...]
Property Legal Q&A: I am buying a flat and have been advised that the landlord of the building is missing. Should I be worried? May 21, 2019 Often, where the owner of a flat has not heard from the landlord in a while, they will consider the landlord as “missing” but that may not necessarily be the case. Your solicitor should check what enquiries have been made to try and locate the landlord. For example, the landlord may have died and his [...]
BT’s brand value drops as new boss prepares image overhaul May 21, 2019 The value of telecoms giant BT’s brand slumped this year as new chief executive Philip Jansen prepares to overhaul the company’s image. BT dropped two rankings to 10th place this year as its brand value, which is calculated as the net economic benefit its owner would receive if it licensed the brand in the open [...]
Britain’s small businesses deserve a simpler, fairer tax system May 21, 2019 “When you look after small business,” Sajid Javid said last week, “you look after Britain”. But too often, he admitted, the government has focused its attention elsewhere – big government finding it easier to talk to big business than small. Britain has an enviable record of company creation. Indeed, alongside our stellar job creation rates, [...]