Death of the High Street? Why we’re still backing UK retail April 9, 2019 | City Talk Following some dire headlines you might rightly wonder why the share prices of UK retailers have recorded double-digit gains this year (see graphic, below). Surely the relentlessly downbeat mood music from the mainstream media (and pessimism among analysts) is confirmation that the UK consumer is in full retreat, and consumer-exposed sectors are in deep trouble? [...]
Lloyds Bank stars as FTSE 100 rockets in Q1 April 9, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a great first quarter for stock markets, we assess the best and worst blue-chips of 2019 so far. It’s been a storming start to 2019 for the FTSE 100 index, with popular interactive investor stocks including Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Next (LSE:NXT) and Tesco (LSE:TSCO) among those on [...]
Early bird investors reap rewards April 8, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. The sooner you utilise your annual ISA allowance, the quicker your money starts working for you. ISA season is over, bringing respite from weekend newspaper supplements offering “five reasons” why we need to act fast to make the most out of our tax-free allowance. Many of us will have [...]
Impax Asset Management boosts AUM by 15 per cent April 8, 2019 Impax Asset Management, which focuses on sustainable investments, has boosted assets under management by 15 per cent in the first three months of this year. The London-based firm said AUM increased from £11.5bn at the end of December last year to £13.2bn at the end of March 2019. Read more: Asset management firm Miton boosts [...]
Venture capital firm Octopus launches new fund to break £1bn milestone April 8, 2019 European venture capital firm Octopus has launched a new £83m growth fund to further back its portfolio of industry disruptors. Octopus Ventures, has backed more than 100 companies in the past decade, including Zoopla, Secret Escapes and SwiftKey. Read more: Let's get kraken: How the Octopus Group is making waves The new fund, taking its total [...]
It’s time for the pensions industry to stop taking customers for granted April 5, 2019 With workplace pension contributions increasing from tomorrow, I’m reminded of a recent industry event that I attended. During the keynote, the speaker cut to a video where members of the public were stopped on the street and asked “who is your pension provider?” Most of those questioned looked confused, unable to recall where their pensions [...]
Fevertree’s remarkable turnaround April 5, 2019 | City Talk By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. A 15 per cent trading range following annual results shows how divided opinion is on this AIM favourite now. Having accelerated from £158 million at IPO to a £3 billion-rated company in just over four years, posh mixers firm Fevertree Drinks (LSE:FEVR) underlined again today why it is regarded in [...]
Amber Rudd gives nod for pensions dashboard project to ‘transform’ retirement planning April 4, 2019 Amber Rudd has given the green light for the long-awaited pensions dashboard project to go ahead, with the first industry models to come out later this year. Under the scheme, workers will be able to see information about their various nest eggs combined on a so-called dashboard, accessible on smartphones, tablets and computers. The plan [...]
Why student housing is a first-class honours investment April 4, 2019 When it comes to the UK property market, an investment in knowledge clearly pays off. High yields, low risk, and fast returns are just a few of the reasons reasons luxury student housing has become the new essential in any high-net-worth individuals’ investment portfolio. While many of the UK’s older generation will reminisce of sub-standard [...]
Five high-quality European stocks for an ISA April 4, 2019 | City Talk By Rodney Hobson from interactive investor. Our author and columnist offers some tips on choosing ISA stocks and identifies a handful of top picks. Rodney Hobson is an experienced financial writer and commentator who has held senior editorial positions on publications and websites in the UK and Asia, including Business News Editor on The Times [...]