What’s happening to dividends and what next? 11 questions answered April 23, 2020 | City Talk Nick Kirrage, co-head of the Value team, and Sean Markowicz, part of the Research and Analytics team, chatted with us about the future of dividends and buybacks. With so many investors reliant on dividends to boost their income or support their retirement we wanted know what’s happening now, whether investors should be concerned and what [...]
Private equity activity reaches new peak but firms brace for difficult year April 22, 2020 European private equity activity hit a new peak in the first quarter, but firms are bracing for a significant slowdown as the impact of coronavirus hits. The first quarter saw 1,025 deals close for a total €132.9bn, a new quarterly peak, according to PitchBook data. It is in part because transactions that closed in the [...]
Johanna Kyrklund: It pays to be patient April 22, 2020 | City Talk As lockdown continues for millions of us across the world, unsure of when we will see loved ones or return to our places of work, we all know we must be patient. Good things come to those that wait, as they say. This seems to me to be true not only from a personal viewpoint, [...]
Cru Wine getting the balance right with astute and nimble investments April 21, 2020 | Sponsored Very often timing is everything. That certainly proved the case for Gregory Swartberg when he started Cru Wine Ltd (CWL) in 2013, which he initially operated by himself around his full-time job as a strategic consultant for big names in the city. The 31-year-old Dutchman’s first employee came two years later, when he finally decided [...]
Quilter’s platform migration faces delay due to coronavirus uncertainty April 21, 2020 Quilter’s platform migration programme is facing delays and increased costs as the coronavirus pandemic creates growing uncertainty. Quilter confirmed it was still preparing for the second phase of its platform migration, which is due by the end of this summer. However Covid-19 makes the feasibility of this timeline more uncertain. In February Quilter completed the [...]
Good vs. bad active fund management: three indicators April 21, 2020 | City Talk Do you ever wonder whether your active fund is worth the management and performance fees you charge? Would passive investments have yielded similar or better outcomes for your clients? If you haven’t asked yourself these questions, you can be sure your clients have asked themselves. And they will continue to, measuring what you deliver with [...]
Coronavirus: £7bn wiped off Brewin Dolphin funds April 17, 2020 Wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin took a £7.1bn hit on the funds it manages in its latest quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Brewin Dolphin’s total funds decreased by 14.6 per cent to £41.4bn in the second quarter, down from £48.5bn, with discretionary funds down 14.6 per cent to £35.7bn from £41.8bn. The MSCI WMA [...]
Coronavirus: Blackrock reports sharp drop in income and assets April 16, 2020 US asset management giant Blackrock suffered a sharp drop in income and assets under management in the first quarter as the coronavirus outbreak sparked turmoil in global markets. Blackrock’s net income fell to $806m, or $5.15 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.05bn, or $6.61 per share, a year earlier. Assets [...]
Coronavirus: Schroders boss donates to Covid-19 charities as firm posts AUM loss April 16, 2020 The chief executive of Schroders will donate 25 per cent of his salary to charities fighting the coronavirus outbreak, the firm said this morning as it reported a drop in assets under management (AUM). Group chief executive Peter Harrison said today that executive directors will donate their 2020 long-term incentive plan awards and 25 per [...]
Downturns this deep can take a long time to recover from, financially and mentally April 16, 2020 | City Talk The stock market has declined by 25% or more on 11 occasions since 1871. The median recovery time from this point has been 1.8 years. Investors who shifted to cash after the 1929 crash faced a 34-year wait to break even, compared with 15 years for those who remained invested and less than 7 years [...]