Retiring to Europe? You should wait until Brexit negotiations on pensions and healthcare access have concluded July 20, 2016 Many Brits approaching retirement dream of moving to the continent. But Brexit has thrown a spanner in the works. Since the referendum, sterling has plummeted against a basket of foreign currencies, including the euro, and question marks loom over expats’ ability to settle elsewhere in Europe. Things look even more chaotic when it comes to financial [...]
Pension auto-enrolment is getting more UK workers saving for the future July 20, 2016 In a sign that UK workers are starting to save again since the financial crisis hit, new data shows that the total annual pension contributions made in the UK has increased by nearly a fifth since 2010. Analysis of HMRC data by Prudential shows workers paid £9.03bn into pensions in 2014-15, up from the £7.71bn contributed in 2010-11. [...]
Closed-ended investment company assets reach record high despite “challenging” 2016 July 19, 2016 Total assets under management (AUM) in closed-end UK investment companies, including trusts, reached a record high of £141bn at the end of June, according to new figures. The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) today reported that nearly £5bn of assets were added to the total during June. As well as being up from £134bn in June 2015, the amount [...]
Arm Holdings is just the start of a great British asset sale July 18, 2016 The UK’s vote to leave the EU was seen by some Brexiteers as a chance to reclaim the country’s borders, draw up a new fortress UK, as well as make a protest vote against the rise in inequality after the financial crisis. But in the investment markets, the drawbridge has already been lowered. Thanks to [...]
Companies increasingly turning to unsustainable sources of cash to keep on top of their defined benefit schemes July 18, 2016 Final salary scheme liabilities are now so out of control that firms are forced to fund them using unsustainable sources, new research has found. The study by Barnett Waddingham, seen exclusively by Morning Wire, discovered just less than a third (30 per cent) of the listed companies it examined either used external sources of finance or drew on their cash reserves [...]
Platform seeks to unlock secondary crowdfunding market July 18, 2016 A crowdfunding platform has announced plans to pioneer a secondary market, with the aim of unlocking more liquidity for investors. Crowdcube made the announcement today as it seeks to raise £5m in its latest funding round, enabling the public to invest alongside venture capital backer Balderton Capital. Read more: Forget Brexit: Crowdcube is eyeing a [...]
London-based crowdfunding platform expands with new Amsterdam office July 18, 2016 London-based crowdfunding company Seedrs has expanded its international presence with a new office in Amsterdam. The commercial team, which will target the Benelux – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – is Seedrs’ first to be placed on the ground outside of the UK. The platform said it intends to open more offices in the “near future”. The [...]
This pensions giant has just warned downsizing your home to fund your retirement is a terrible idea July 18, 2016 Planning on downsizing and relying on what's left over to fund your retirement? Don't bother, Royal London has warned. Get a pension instead. According to the pensions and investment giant, roughly three million people of working age are planning to use the value of their home to fund their retirement. But a new report by the [...]
Brexit bonus predicted for investors after sterling devaluation July 18, 2016 Sterling’s devaluation after Brexit is set to boost UK dividends by £4.3bn in 2016, according to new research. Two-fifths of dividends paid by UK-listed companies are declared in dollars or euros and, because the pound has fallen after the EU referendum result, these payments will be converted at a weaker exchange rate. Capita Asset Services’ [...]
City is “still slightly stunned” by “really bad news” of Brexit, says chief exec July 18, 2016 Brexit is “just really bad news”, the chief executive of Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) has said. Richard Buxton also denied there was any “doom-mongering” in the run-up to the vote – “because it is absolutely going to be horrible”. Read more: Old Mutual becomes the next company to wave away Brexit Defending Bank of [...]