Calm heads make a welcome return to ESG debate July 2, 2025 In May 2022, HSBC’s head of responsible investing, Stuart Kirk, took to the stage at a City conference and did something extraordinary; he criticised the financial services industry’s obsession with climate change. With a degree of candour that would ultimately cost him his job, Kirk said “I feel like it’s getting a little bit out [...]
Fund managers made ‘ridiculously extravagant claims’ on ESG, Aberdeen boss says July 1, 2025 Fund managers have made a “huge mistake” with their “ridiculously extravagant claims” on ESG investing, the boss of asset management giant Aberdeen has said amid a global retreat from ethical funds. Sir Douglas Flint told the City Week conference that investors had adopted a mindset of “we’re not really about investing money, we’re just jolly [...]
Thames Water lenders offer £17bn plan, push Ofwat for ‘regulatory reset’ June 10, 2025 A group of Thames Water’s major creditors have put forward a sweeping, multibillion-pound rescue deal, while calling for forgiveness of historic fines from Ofwat. Major investment firms, including Aberdeen and Elliott Management, are among the investors, who have said they have “the funding and experience required to deliver a transformation of the company’s performance which is intended [...]
Why are Brits hoarding cash? May 15, 2025 Like Tolkein’s Gollum, Brits like to hoard their assets, opting for the security of cash over equity based investments. Barclays estimates that £430bn in investable funds—cash exceeding six months’ salary—are held in bank accounts rather than funnelled into the stock market. This begs the question: why are British investors so devoted to an asset which [...]
Labour’s regional growth plan sees 12,000 civil servants moved outside London May 14, 2025 The government is on a mission to relocate 12,000 civil servant jobs across the UK to save taxpayers money — to the tune of £94m a year by 2032. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden told the BBC this morning he hopes relocating civil servants “will make this government one that better reflects the country it [...]
Interactive Investor creates hundreds of jobs as trading booms May 14, 2025 Interactive Investor created almost 200 jobs as its profit increased to almost £90m last year, it has been revealed. The Manchester-headquartered company has posted a pre-tax profit of £89.7m for 2024, up from the £84.2m it achieved in 2023. New accounts filed with Companies House also show that its headcount rose from 726 to 919 [...]
Harbour Energy forecasts higher oil and gas production May 8, 2025 Oil and gas firm Harbour Energy has edged up its full-year production guidance despite recent market volatility. Annual production is expected to come in at between 455 to 475 kboepd, up from a previously guided range of 450 to 475. The London-listed group on Thursday also reaffirmed guidance for a full-year operating costs of $14/boe, [...]
Aberdeen: Interactive Investor success softens mass withdrawals April 30, 2025 Investors pulled £5.2bn from Aberdeen over the last quarter, disappointing analysts that had been hoping for a turnaround since the Scottish fundhouse’s name change. The asset manager, which dropped the disemvoweled ‘Abrdn’ name earlier this year, saw withdrawals from every arm of its business over the firm quarter except Interactive Investor, it revealed in a [...]
Schroders and Aberdeen: RBC downgrades price targets April 23, 2025 RBC Capital Markets has downgraded the stock price targets of Schroders and Aberdeen ahead of the publication of quarterly results from the wealth managers. Schroders was downgraded from 475p to 390p by the investment bank, compared to a current stock price of 322p, as RBC cut forecasts for operating profit by eight per cent over [...]
UK asset managers brace for challenging quarterly results amid market crash April 16, 2025 UK asset managers are bracing for their quarterly results as the fund houses suffer double-digit drops in their share prices since Trump’s tariff regime caused markets to dive. While most UK asset managers have suffered a persistent trend of investors pulling money in favour of low-cost index funds, the firms have been able to rely [...]