Traders gonna trade, trade, trade: Taylor Swift is the biggest guilty pleasure for bankers, according to new research May 25, 2016 When it comes to guilty pleasures, City boys can't get enough of Taylor Swift. Does Barclays chairman John McFarlane sing along to Dear John behind closed doors? Perhaps. PwC's Andrew Sentance may be a secret rock god, but bankers are all about the pop charts: Swift's number one hit Shake it Off has been named the secret song [...]
How artificial intelligence, peer-to-peer technology and blockchain are changing the insurance industry forever July 14, 2016 Just as fintech is transforming the banking world, “insurtech” has set its sights on the insurance industry. There are firms like Trov, which provides insurance on-demand and enables consumers to catalogue insured belongings. Buzzmove uses home removals data to create a new distribution model for insurance – people are more likely to renew or buy [...]
Hollywood Bowl float expected to kick off strong period for London IPO market September 18, 2016 Hollywood Bowl is set to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) this week, kicking off what is set to be an active post-summer period for the market in initial public offerings (IPOs). “If the markets hold up, then I think we’re going to be very busy,” Mark Austin, a capital markets partner at law firm Freshfields [...]
What Brexit means for your pension June 24, 2016 The UK went to the polls yesterday to make the historic decision to leave the EU, a result the markets had not exactly geared themselves up for. More than £100bn was wiped off the FTSE 100 this morning, while the pound dropped to its lowest point against the dollar in over 30 years, so many people [...]
Should you believe in unicorns? Tech start-ups have polarised investors with Bill Gates calling for restraint but others arguing new tech will change the world May 9, 2016 The sad demise of unicorns was widely predicted at the start of the year. Unicorns – or young, technology private companies valued at over $1bn (£693m) – drew vast sums of investment throughout last year and comparisons with the dot-com boom were drawn. There are around 170 companies with unicorn status, according to Fortune. Some are [...]
City Moves for 1 June 2016 | Who’s switching jobs June 1, 2016 Together Helga Wright has joined specialist lender Together, taking on the role of commercial finance director, as the business continues with its growth strategy. Helga joins from the Co-operative Bank, where she was financial director of the retail, commercial and business banking businesses, and brings a wealth of financial services experience, spanning nearly 20 years. [...]
London set for IPO market recovery after referendum… but it may have to wait until the autumn May 22, 2016 The UK’s flagging flotation market is expected to recover from a slow start to 2016 – but not until the autumn. Activity on London’s initial public offering (IPO) market has dropped significantly on 2015 levels, with uncertainty around the upcoming EU referendum widely cited as being one reason for the slowdown. The state of the [...]
Now it’s the advisers’ turn to be grilled by MPs over BHS collapse May 22, 2016 The topic of the BHS collapse will be heading back into parliament tomorrow, with a string of advisers from top law and accountancy firms due to be grilled by MPs. Ian Greenstreet, partner at Nabarro, Tony Clare, partner at Deloitte, David Clarke, partner at KPMG, Richard Cousins and Steve Denison, both partners at PwC, Emma King, partner at Eversheds and Owen [...]
House prices remained buoyant in April despite Brexit backdrop, and yes, you guessed it: London property is still hideously expensive June 14, 2016 UK average house prices continued to grow in April according to the latest ONS house price index. Any Brexit jitters failed to impact the market, as prices increased by 8.2 per cent in the year to April, following the trend marked out since the end of 2013. Read more: No, Brexit won't hit house prices – here's why [...]
Robot rubbish: Most workers don’t fear automation June 21, 2016 The robots are coming, or so say experts, pundits and commentators. The World Economic Forum predicted that expanded automation and artificial intelligence (AI) would mark the fourth industrial revolution, which could lead to the biggest upheaval in the labour market in a century. Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s Andy Haldane has hypothesised that up to [...]