Britain needs more venture capitalism – not a state bank September 25, 2012 HERE is a simple question. What do you think would do more to help the provision of finance for small firms? Vince Cable’s new state bank, which will begin its operations in 18 months’ time, or a radically improved tax system to improve the provision of equity financing and venture capital? In other words, is [...]
Frustrating UK tax quirks can easily mean missed mortgage payments September 24, 2012 WHEN HMRC wrongly changed my tax code last October, I was paying 40 per cent of my total income as tax for six months. It had a huge impact on my finances – my take home pay went below my mortgage costs. And HMRC couldn’t correct it, despite admitting its error. In the end I [...]
FF&P Private Equity backs manager buyout September 23, 2012 FLEMING Family & Partners’ private equity arm yesterday announced it had stumped up £8m to take a majority stake in the management buyout of rental furniture provider David Phillips Furniture. FF&P Private Equity has put up the money to back the deal, which will see current management reinvest in the firm. FF&P PE said the [...]
We will soon find out whether America’s recovery is real September 23, 2012 FEDERAL Reserve chief Ben Bernanke took aim at the housing market this month, saying it was one missing piston in the economic engine. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index tomorrow will be the economic equivalent of a peek under the US bonnet at the start of the third quarter, with some wondering if the hum of [...]
Lloyds first bank to use cheap funds from state programme September 19, 2012 LLOYDS became the first bank to use the government’s new Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) yesterday, drawing down £1bn from the Bank of England. It pledged to lend the money on to businesses and households. However analysts said they do not expect Lloyds’ overall lending to rise, as the bank is still rebalancing in the [...]
Gove’s reforms will help better equip young people for life September 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S poor educational standards are a national scandal and a key reason why the UK’s productivity continues to lag. The problem is not with graduates of our top universities, though even they could do better. The real crisis is that thousands of school leavers and even, in some cases, graduates from other universities, end up [...]
Investors need to actively manage their Sipp funds September 16, 2012 SELF invested personal pensions (Sipps) are an increasingly popular kind of tax-efficient pension scheme. But like all investments, they are not suitable for everyone. Sipps allow better control over what your money is invested in and investors benefit from increased transparency. Compare this to stakeholder pensions, for example, where you have no control over how [...]
Gold spikes as Fed turns on the taps September 13, 2012 THE FEDERAL Reserve launched a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) last night, with Ben Bernanke pledging to buy an extra $40bn (£24.8bn) of assets every month until the economy recovers and unemployment falls in earnest. The Fed will also keep extending the average maturity of its asset holdings through the rest of this year, [...]
Wall St soars as Fed pledges fresh stimulus September 13, 2012 US stocks and crude oil prices rose and the dollar weakened yesterday as investors bet the Federal Reserve’s fresh dose of monetary stimulus would improve economic growth. The US central bank initiated another aggressive stimulus programme, saying it will buy $40bn of mortgage-backed debt per month until the outlook for jobs improves substantially as long [...]
Fed launches open-ended bond buying programme September 13, 2012 The US Federal Reserve this afternoon launched a third round of quantitative easing. It will spend $40bn (£24.8bn) a month on buying mortgage-backed securities, with no end date. Interest rates are likely to stay “exceptionally low” until at least mid-2015, the Fed added. US economic growth cooled in the second quarter, coming in at a [...]