Covid-19 and “stakeholder capitalism”: actions speak louder than words October 19, 2020 | City Talk The idea that companies should be run for the benefit of all their stakeholders, not just shareholders, is not new. “Stakeholder capitalism”, as it’s become known, was actually the dominant corporate model long before “shareholder primacy” (i.e. prioritising shareholders) really took hold in the Anglo-Saxon world in the 1970s. It remains the norm in some [...]
The maths of why growth companies are beating value October 14, 2020 | City Talk One of the side effects of low interest rates is that, because of the way that companies are valued, investors place a higher value on companies (and investment projects) which have a low probability, high payoff, a long time in the future. This helps explain why investors have been prepared to pay up for loss-making [...]
Has demand for oil already peaked? October 13, 2020 | City Talk Alternative energy sources to fossil fuels have been around for many years. Countries around the world are now harnessing the power of the wind, sun and tides to cut their dependence on fossil fuels such as oil. Energy transition However, this transition to renewable energy is now set to accelerate rapidly, driven by a number [...]
Can the UK’s post-Covid economy benefit from a booming medical cannabis industry? October 13, 2020 As the government tries desperately to salvage a shattered economy, an unlikely but profitable lifeline presents itself: medical cannabis. Cue tired old jokes about how the only way people have been able to cope with the disruption of the past six months is by getting stoned. Finished? Now listen — because the medicinal cannabis industry [...]
Ada Ventures launches £250,000 angel investor programme October 13, 2020 Ada Ventures has launched a £250,000 angel investor programme to create a new generation of investors who may have otherwise been excluded from the industry. The London-based VC firm, named after the first computer programmer Ada Lovelace, has identified five candidates – “Ada’s Angels” – from its Scout programme. Co-founder Check Warner told Morning Wire [...]
UK biotech secures record £1bn investment in third quarter October 12, 2020 The UK biotech industry has enjoyed a boom during the pandemic raising a record £1bn in the third quarter alone. Latest figures from the Bioindustry Association and Clarivate representing the UK’s biotech and life sciences sector show the scale of fundraising accelerated between June and August. While companies involved in developing vaccines or treatments have [...]
Q&A: Trading Cryptos as CFDs October 12, 2020 | City Talk What are the different options when trading cryptocurrencies? There are a couple of different options for trading cryptos. You can buy the physical cryptocurrency with a provider that usually gives you an online wallet which you must learn to use to store your crypto. More recently trading platforms have emerged, but these remain unregulated in [...]
Trump vs Biden – should investors really care? October 12, 2020 | City Talk There are two things I’m being asked about constantly at the moment: Covid-19 and the US election. As a former politics student who’s always maintained my passion for the subject, I certainly feel more comfortable opining on the latter. But as an investor, how much should I really care if the next US president is [...]
On World Homelessness Day, can impact investing help us build back better? October 10, 2020 There is no debating that we are looking down the barrel of a tough six months. An increase in the daily cases of Covid-19 means that the gradual loosening of restrictions has ground to a halt, and the threat of a return to a full lockdown ahead of the festive season will be the Sword [...]
Digital wealth manager Nutmeg records eighth consecutive year of losses October 9, 2020 Digital wealth manager Nutmeg recorded losses of £21m last year as it struggled to break even for the eighth year in a row. Accounts for the year to the end of December 2019, filed on Companies House today, show Nutmeg made a loss of £21.2m, deepening last year’s losses of £18.4m. This comes even as [...]