How can British businesses prepare for tariffs, and does Brexit help? July 19, 2025 The Insight in 15 is a new podcast from professional services firm KPMG offering a fresh perspective on major issues for business leaders. The 10-part series will cover a range of topics by cutting to the chase, setting out the risks and opportunities, and providing insights those at the top of big businesses can put [...]
Mutual fund performance: a new way to pick a persistent winner July 18, 2025 A new academic paper introduces the MMT model, which improves upon standard methods by correcting for benchmark biases and incorporating peer performance, proving more effective at identifying persistent winner, writes Cesario Mateus, Irina B. Mateus and Natasa Todorovic In the ever-evolving world of finance, selecting mutual funds that consistently outperform the market is a challenge [...]
A new LISA life: why the lifetime ISA needs reform July 18, 2025 While the Treasury Committee has criticised the Lifetime ISA (LISA) as poor value for money, helping young people get on the housing ladder remains a worthwhile goal, says Oliver Dean The Treasury Committee has raised valid concerns about the Lifetime ISA’s (LISA) value for money, concluding that in its current form the scheme is not [...]
Businesses stand ready tackle long-term sickness – if only we let them July 18, 2025 The huge spike in people being signed off work for mental health problems is a disaster for their individual wellbeing and for Britain’s economic prospects. Thankfully, the private sector is more than prepared to play its part, says Nick Tyrone The latest employment figures make for stark reading. Data from the ONS this week tells [...]
Week in Business: Reeves bets on the banks but economy still hurting July 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves set out to charm the City this week, but elsewhere, the economy is reeling from high taxes and low confidence.
Will the Afghan leak win votes for Nigel Farage? Don’t be so sure July 17, 2025 Nigel Farage and Reform UK have made hay out of the government’s embarrassing leak and subsequent cover-up of information concerning Afghan asylum applications. But it may not be the vote-winner he thinks, says William Atkinson “The supreme function of statesmanship,” according to Enoch Powell, “is to provide against preventable evils’” Considering that, what should we [...]
What should investors do in H2? Diversify July 17, 2025 At a time of global uncertainty, diversifying your investments across regions and sectors remains the best way to protect your portfolio, says Liz Ann Sonders The year 2025 began on a note of buoyancy. Fresh off the back of the US Presidential election, equity markets were roaring, fuelled by optimism that deregulation and tax cuts [...]
Should politicians try to understand the people behind the polling? July 17, 2025 Trying to identify different types of voters is fun, but ultimately a futile exercise in reducing people to stereotypes, says John Oxley There was one question doing the rounds this week in Westminster – “Which one are you?”. It was raised by a new report from think tank More in Common, which set out to [...]
Does Rachel Reeves believe in capitalism? July 17, 2025 The Chancellor can’t do the biggest things she needs for growth because she can’t escape her own ideology, says Helen Thomas Spin only gets you so far in the business world. Action has to back up rhetoric or the game will be found out. This is the main difference between business and politics: the former [...]
The Bank of England is right: £25bn in assets isn’t that much for an SME lender July 17, 2025 Mid-tier banks have long faced regulatory hurdles that hinder growth, especially the minimum requirements once a lender’s assets reach £15-£25bn. Thankfully that’s about to change, but that should be just the start of reforms, says Nigel Terrington Each week, my commute to Paragon’s Solihull headquarters takes me past HS2 construction sites, bustling with heavy machinery [...]