Beware picking an investment – or a football team – for its glory days August 14, 2019 | City Talk Football being what it is, Liverpool’s triumphant Champions League campaign – with that extraordinary semi-final comeback against Barcelona to the fore – was never going to have every single club fan in the country up on their feet and cheering. Nevertheless, the weeks from the team’s victory over Spurs in June to the start of [...]
Investment companies’ assets reach record £200bn August 12, 2019 Assets under management by the investment company industry have surpassed £200bn for the first time, and have doubled over the past six and a half years. The industry’s assets hit a record £200.3bn by the end of July, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), doubling in size since hitting £100m in [...]
Value investing will survive Fortnite – and other tech disruptors August 12, 2019 Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf is 16, lives with his family in Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania and last weekend, by virtue of his extraordinary proficiency at a computer game, he became a millionaire. At the end of the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, which took place at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kyle emerged victorious from a field of 100 [...]
Plenty to digest for Domino’s Pizza investors August 9, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. UK trading is robust, but shares in Domino’s Pizza have been pegged back by operational issues. A see-saw year for Domino’s Pizza (LSE:DOM) shares was summed up when interim results highlighted a series of major challenges still facing the fast-food chain. The most serious looking is the ongoing stand-off with some of the group’s [...]
A food chain to get your teeth into August 8, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. McDonald’s is spending money on developing personalised apps after upgrading its burger beef. It made its name by being cheap and cheerful but food chain McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) has long had a keen eye for innovation and for enhancing the quality of its ingredients, both of which generate welcome publicity. The successful formula is still [...]
Profit surges at Arrow Global but assets under management shrink August 8, 2019 Arrow Global has reported a huge increase in pre-tax profit but a dip in assets under management, and the debt-purchase specialist has announced a £20m cost-cutting programme. The figures Profit before tax for the first half of the year surged 203.7 per cent to £32.5m, a significant increase on the £10.7m seen in the same [...]
New business down at Hargreaves Lansdown as Woodford scandal bites August 8, 2019 Hargreaves Lansdown has seen a drop in net new business as the impact of the Neil Woodford saga on the investment provider begins to become clear, but revenues and assets under administration still rose. The numbers Hargreaves Lansdown reported a four per cent drop in net new business for the year ending 30 June, which [...]
Shares crash as short seller Muddy Waters savages Burford Capital August 7, 2019 Litigation finance firm Burford Capital has come under attack from short seller Muddy Waters, which has accused Burford of “egregiously misrepresenting” returns. In a report out this morning, Muddy Waters confirmed that it now holds a short position on Burford, which it describes as “a poor business masquerading as a great one”. Shares in the [...]
High-yielding Aviva rewards investor patience August 7, 2019 | City Talk Aviva is rewarding investors who stayed the course while the insurer streamlined its operations. Having previously gone through a streamlining operation which left Aviva (LSE:AV.) fitter, the focus is now turning to a strategy review to ensure the company maintains its relevance. Perhaps not surprisingly, this has resulted in mixed fortunes as the business transforms. There has been [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown CEO and executives waive bonuses in wake of Woodford scandal August 7, 2019 Four executives including the chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown will surrender their bonuses this year following pressure over the company’s support for Neil Woodford’s flagship fund. Hargreaves Lansdown continued to recommended Woodford’s equity income fund right up until it was suspended on 3 June after becoming overwhelmed by investor withdrawals. The gating of the fund [...]