Following heavyweight champ Andy Ruiz Jr’s lead towards punchy portfolios July 2, 2019 | City Talk Until the start of this month, if you had shown someone a photograph of Andy Ruiz Jr and asked what sport he did professionally, there is a fair chance they would have guessed ‘darts’. We are fervently hoping Ruiz does not take that line amiss because, of course, the correct answer is ‘boxing’ and, on [...]
Is the financials sector priced for disruption? June 26, 2019 | City Talk We think all industries are likely to be vulnerable to disruption in the coming years. We’ve seen it already in retail and media, for example, and this is likely to be a growing theme in markets for the long term. Financials, and banks in particular, are currently facing disruption to their business models. We can [...]
H2O assets fall by €2.6bn over liquidity concerns June 25, 2019 Asset management firm H2O saw assets drop by more than €2.6bn across six funds last week as the company deals with concerns over investments connected to a controversial financier. The London based asset management arm of French investment bank Natixis has been facing questions over its links with bonds issued by Lars Windhorst and the [...]
Bitcoin retreats from 18-month high as cryptocurrency catches Facebook libra fever June 24, 2019 Bitcoin pulled back from an 18-month high today after breaking the $11,000 barrier over the weekend, with many attributing the rise to the launch of Facebook libra. Read more: Bitcoin rallies to $11,000: Is it different this time? The world’s biggest cryptocurrency reached $11,248 (£8,822) on Sunday night, according to the Bitstamp exchange. Bitcoin then [...]
Brexit three years on: markets and the economy in six charts June 24, 2019 | City Talk On 23 June 2016, the UK public voted on whether or not to stay in the European Union (EU). Many expected the UK to remain in the EU, but by a majority of 52% to 48% the Leave campaign won. The UK was scheduled to leave the EU at 23:00 UK time on 29 March [...]
Bitcoin rallies to $11,000: Is it different this time? June 24, 2019 | City Talk All that glitters is not gold. Bitcoin is sparkling again but beware…breakdown’s coming up ‘round the bend. Bitcoin jumped above $11,000, taking it to its highest level since March 2018 , before it pared some of those gains. Investors are ignoring what happened the last time we saw the market going parabolic. Is it different this time? [...]
Is Facebook’s libra a step towards the legitimisation of crypto? June 20, 2019 The “banking for the unbanked” narrative has long been the preserve of the bitcoin community. There are some 1.7bn people in the world today with no access to a bank account, and since bitcoin came into common usage, “financial inclusion” has been its mantra. So what should we make of Facebook’s apparent incursion into cryptocurrency? [...]
Facebook launches cryptocurrency with backing of Uber, Visa and Spotify June 18, 2019 Facebook has today published the white paper for its widely anticipated cryptocurrency initiative, with the founding support of several major businesses across multiple sectors. Named libra after the Roman unit of measure once used to mint coins, the cryptocurrency will be managed by an independent eponymous association consisting of 28 initial founding companies. Alongside Facebook [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown leads exodus from second Woodford fund June 13, 2019 Hargreaves Lansdown has led an exodus from Neil Woodford’s Income Focus fund adding to the trader’s woes following the suspension of his flagship investment vehicle. Woodford’s Income Focus fund has shrunk by more than £100m in less than two weeks, according to data from Morningstar. Read more: Woodford issues apology to suspended fund investors Assets [...]
DEBATE: Should we get rid of best-buy lists for investment funds following the Neil Woodford scandal? June 13, 2019 Should we get rid of best-buy lists for investment funds following the Neil Woodford scandal? Shaun Port, chief investment officer of Nutmeg, says YES. As the Financial Conduct Authority highlighted in its 2017 study, there are concerns around links between funds on so-called “best-buy lists” and the platform providers. The suspension of the Woodford Equity [...]