Sterling gains against dollar as bulls return May 20, 2009 STERLING is undervalued, according to almost a quarter of fund managers, marking a dramatic turnaround in optimism on the beleagured currency. The finding from Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch’s global monthly fund manager survey marks a rise from April when 17 per cent saw the pound as undervalued. The optimism comes as strategists predict a [...]
IMA recruits fund stars to its board May 20, 2009 ASSET management trade body the Investment Management Association (IMA) has appointed a slew of fund management heavyweights to its board including Alain Dromer, global chief executive of the £235bn Aviva Investors. The IMA, which speaks for the £3.4 trillion UK asset management industry, has named four new members also including Investec Asset Management boss Hendrik [...]
Pringles to cost P&G millions May 20, 2009 PROCTER & Gamble (P&G) will have to pay out tens of millions of pounds in VAT after it lost a legal battle over its Pringles snack yesterday. The Court of Appeal found in the Inland Revenue’s favour, saying that Pringles are a potato snack, which means they’re liable for VAT. Last summer, a High Court [...]
Loss of 17.6bn if banks sold May 20, 2009 TAXPAYERS would make losses of £17.6bn if the government sold out of Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at today’s prices, Exane BNP Paribas said yesterday. The figures indicate that any sell-off of the government’s stake in either Lloyds or RBS is unlikely ahead of the next general election. BNP Paribas calculated [...]
Summer of discontent looms over bonuses May 20, 2009 A SUMMER of discontent over the pay of top executives looked more likely last night, as pressure groups urged shareholders to reject plans to pay vast bonuses for under-performance. Bailed-out bank Lloyds Banking Group and telecoms giant Cable & Wireless are next in the firing line over pay, as both have impending shareholder meetings that [...]
SEC proposes giving US shareholders more power May 20, 2009 THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed yesterday giving shareholders greater power to nominate corporate board directors, a process now tightly controlled by company management. Amid a push by investor groups for greater accountability by corporate America, the SEC voted 3-2 to propose two approaches aimed at giving shareholders an easier way to influence [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU EXPECT REMUNERATION PROTESTS TO RISE THIS SUMMER? May 20, 2009 CHRIS LESLIE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK“I do – for people lower down the food chain, the targets for getting a bonus are set in stone, but it seems as if the top executives can just change their goals as they see fit. Good performance deserves a good bonus, but it has become commonplace to reward mediocrity.” [...]
Yell chair to go over Goodwin pension row May 20, 2009 YELL chairman Bob Scott – who as a Royal Bank of Scotland director rubber-stamped Sir Fred Goodwin’s £17m pension – said yesterday that he will not stand for re-election to the directory publisher’s board. Scott, who had been chairman of the Yellow Pages publisher since June 2002, bowed out after shareholders expressed their concern over [...]
Julius Baer splits private banking and asset arms in a bid to unlock value May 20, 2009 SWISS bank Julius Baer is separating its private banking and asset management arms into two “independent entities”, in a bid to unlock value for shareholders. The group said the split will create two groups with a “clear focus”. GAM, which sells funds to London investors from Julius Baer’s St James’s Street office, and Julius Baer [...]
FACEBOOK TO POKE THE MARKET May 20, 2009 FACEBOOK chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said yesterday he hopes to float his company on the stock market, but that the online social network is “still a few years out from that”. The 25-year old said the company is in no immediate need of fresh capital – despite numerous media reports that it has had talks [...]