Europe lacks giant tech stocks – but it may lead with the ‘industrial internet’ February 1, 2018 | City Talk In the US, tech firms have been responsible for 42% of the rise in the value of the US stock market since 2014, according to a report in The Economist. Emerging markets too have their own tech giants in Alibaba and Tencent. But where are the tech companies here in Europe? And could emerging technologies [...]
Los Angeles claims top spot in Schroders Global Cities 30 index for the second time February 1, 2018 | City Talk Los Angeles has been named as the top global city for the second time in the Schroders Global Cities 30 index. California’s largest city narrowly beat Asia’s Hong Kong, which took second place. London slipped from second to third place. The Schroders Global Cities 30 index is based on a range of factors. The measures [...]
Climate Progress Dashboard points to 4.1°C rise in temperature January 30, 2018 | City Talk Progress is being made in tackling climate change, with continued falls in oil and gas investment pointing to lower future production. However, the improvements have been offset by a global fall in investment in clean technologies. Those are findings of the Schroders Climate Progress Dashboard, updated quarterly, which tracks the temperature rises implied by key [...]
Corporate bonds vs shares: eight questions answered January 30, 2018 | City Talk Investors face a constant dilemma over which assets, such as shares, bonds and property, to invest in. The answer is often that a mix of assets can help meet your goals. Different investments can perform well at different times. For example, when shares languish, government or corporate bonds may fare better. This is considered to [...]
Brexit didn’t break the UK in 2017 January 25, 2018 | City Talk When the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016, many experts forecasted economic doom—if not immediately, then in the not-too-distant future. Some sentiment-related, short-term volatility followed, but the UK didn’t fall into recession following the referendum. Similar projections arose going into 2017, but those fell flat, too. Through all the noise and warnings [...]
How ‘blockchain’ compares with ‘dotcom’ in the company name game January 24, 2018 One of the first things you learn as a value investor is to dig below the surface of any potential investment – analysing a business’s balance sheet and other data to ensure you really understand its underlying value, its financial strength and how it works. In short, a relentless focus on the numbers means we [...]
A year of President Trump: seven charts that reflect market reaction January 19, 2018 | City Talk Donald Trump became president of the US on 20 January 2017. Markets reacted positively to his pro-business rhetoric and his promise to cut taxes and spend big on infrastructure. The global economy was already picking up a significant head of steam for the first time since the financial crisis. But Trump’s election and his policies [...]
FTSE 100 predictions, share tips… forget it all and consider the 2018 anti-forecast January 17, 2018 | City Talk The start of January traditionally sees many investors trying to fill the blank slate the new year represents with forecasts of what the coming months will bring. Ever the contrarians, including us on The Value Perspective, a blog with value investing ideas, a more recent tradition has seen us offering up our own new year [...]
Investment trust winners of 2017 January 11, 2018 | City Talk Investment trusts enjoyed healthy investment returns last year, with funds focused on Japan delivering some of the best returns in 2017, according to data for trust sectors. Investment trusts are an alternative to more commonly held open-ended funds or unit trusts, offering some advantages. This is explained here: investment trusts vs open-ended funds. Here we [...]
How I scored in an investment IQ test – and what I learnt January 8, 2018 | City Talk What type of investor are you – optimistic, impulsive? Do you follow the herd? We all have a range of “biases” – of which we are often unaware – and which can affect the way we invest. I’m intrigued by this branch of science, known as behavioural finance. As a fund manager specialising in value [...]