magazine archive
magazine archive
Editor's View
How much does management matter?
Thursday 08 Aug 2019On 5 August HSBC ( HSBA ) chief executive John Flint became the 14th of his number in the FTSE 100 so far in 2019 to announce a departure, either immediately or at some point in the future. In some cases these exits are being driven by the executive involved, perhaps for personal reasons or because...
Takeovers aren’t always welcome
Thursday 01 Aug 2019Takeovers and mergers are dominating the headlines as companies make acquisitions to accelerate growth, foreign companies take advantage of a weak pound to buy UK businesses, and private equity firms put some of their spare cash to use. While this M&A frenzy has recently triggered some hefty...
Is appetite waning for property bonds?
Thursday 25 Jul 2019Property bonds can offer a high yield and tend to be secured against physical property assets, yet sentiment is weak towards most parts of the real estate market in the UK. The money put up by investors for property bonds is used to build properties with investors either getting their return when...
Thomas Cook investors in a spin as they brace for debt-for-equity pain
Thursday 18 Jul 2019Debt-for-equity swaps are rarely good news for shareholders despite potentially keeping the lights on in a business. That matters for anyone owning stock in holiday seller Thomas Cook ( TCG ) as they are now facing this situation and therefore need to understand what debt-for-equity really means...
Inheritance tax review questions AIM IHT perk
Thursday 11 Jul 2019Many people invest in certain types of AIM stocks for their inheritance tax (IHT) benefits, however an adviser to the UK Government has questioned whether the tax perk is still necessary. Withdrawing the IHT benefit could prompt many investors, including a large number of wealth managers, to sell...
Will the market’s good mood last?
Thursday 04 Jul 2019US President Donald Trump’s apparently constructive meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping is setting a positive tone for the second half of 2019. As we write the FTSE 100 is back above 7,500 and in the US the S&P 500 hit a new record high and moved close to the 3,000 level. But just...
Don’t hitch a ride with newly-listed Trainline
Thursday 27 Jun 2019Train and bus ticket seller Trainline ( TRN ) is the latest ‘app’ or ‘platform’ business to see its shares soar upon making its stock market debut. Investors appear to be treating Trainline as if it is the latest in a long line of modern, disruptive companies. This could be a mistake. It isn’t a...
How bad is the rain for soft drinks firms?
Thursday 20 Jun 2019The UK soft drinks industry could be crying into its hands at the state of this summer’s weather. A washout June is disaster territory for the sector, particularly as last year was boosted by an unprecedented amount of sunshine and high temperatures which lasted for most of the summer. Drinks...
Can you trust your fund manager?
Thursday 13 Jun 2019The Woodford fund debacle has triggered a thousand articles about how a single investment product has not lived up to its hype, and how currently investors across the country are barred from cashing out of the fund if they so wish. The significant amount of media attention is likely to lead some...
Helping children to develop important money skills
Thursday 06 Jun 2019Last week I attended a social gathering where a five-year-old boy was commanding the attention of a large group of people. He was asking them to perform magic tricks which inevitably resulted in a coin appearing behind someone’s ear or underneath their foot. The audience were scrambling around for...