DEBATE: In the wake of the Woodford scandal, is there enough oversight of fund managers? October 24, 2019 In the wake of the Woodford scandal, is there enough oversight of fund managers? Yes – Darius McDermott is managing director of FundCalibre There were a number of issues I took strong exception to in this week’s BBC Panorama programme on the Woodford saga, but the conclusion that there is very little regulatory oversight of fund [...]
How businesses can take power into their hands October 24, 2019 Having your phone run out of power is one of the pitfalls of modern living, which is why battery packs are a must in most people’s bags. But while we are happy to be proactive about power protection in some ways, that usually doesn’t extend to our homes and businesses where it is even more [...]
This House divided must act with honour, stop hiding, and seek a new mandate from the people October 24, 2019 At times of crisis, it is sometimes tempting to seek solace in scripture. As the US Civil War approached in 1858, a senatorial candidate for Illinois – a certain Abraham Lincoln – clearly thought so. In his famous “House Divided” speech – during what proved to be a failed campaign but one that set him [...]
Winning the global race: Britain needs social enterprises to help business rediscover its purpose October 24, 2019 What seemed like a lifetime ago, former Prime Minister David Cameron used to talk about the “global race”. When he spoke about getting fit for this race, his argument was that the state needed to shed a few pounds in order to free up businesses to drive growth. Like most politicians at the time, he [...]
Watchdog goes green with new stewardship code October 24, 2019 Fund managers have been called upon to think green by a new code that calls for investment firms to focus on “sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment and society”. Climate change has appeared as a key governance concern in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) framework for the first time, as the watchdog tries to [...]
Revolut opens for business in Singapore October 24, 2019 Banking app Revolut has today launched its services in Singapore, marking the British fintech giant’s fourth international foray. The scaleup, which has more than 7m users across the UK, Europe and Australia, will provide customers in Singapore with access to its banking app and debit card. Features include free spending overseas in more than 150 [...]
Blackstone’s third-quarter results beat expectations October 23, 2019 Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, has reported an increased profit for the third quarter, but a drop in the proportion of earnings that could be returned to shareholders. The group posted a profit of $779m (£605m) for the third quarter, up from $443m a year earlier. Read more: Takeover titan and Blackstone boss [...]
Vanguard slashes fees in escalation of European fund price war October 23, 2019 Vanguard has cut fees on almost half of its European funds, in a major escalation of the ongoing price war within the European asset management market. The second-largest asset manager in the world slashed fees on 46 of its European funds, 36 of which are available to UK retail investors, in a move that could [...]
What can AI and big data do for finance? October 23, 2019 | City Talk Larry Cao, CFA, is the author of AI Pioneers in Investment Management from CFA Institute. AlphaGo brought artificial intelligence (AI) out of computer labs and into the living room. From October 2015, when the AlphaGo AI first beat a professional human competitor, to January 2018, several months after it defeated Ke Jie, the top-ranked player in the [...]
Quilter assets continue to be hit by investment manager departures October 23, 2019 The departure of a team of asset managers last year has continued to weigh on Quilter, with £600m of client cash leaving the business in the third quarter, taking the total outflows for the year so far to £1.4bn. In a trading update published this morning, the asset manager reported net client cash outflows of [...]
