Wall Street buoyed by upbeat jobs data September 9, 2010 US stocks rose yesterday as stronger-than-expected jobs and trade data helped lift optimism about the economic recovery, although sentiment was fragile as investors fretted over European banks. Financials, hit hard in the August downturn, were among top gainers as new US claims for unemployment benefits fell to a two-month low, while the trade deficit narrowed [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR PENSIONS? August 3, 2010 KEVIN HUGHES | AXA “Working in insurance I’m pretty well looked after. I’ve heard people talk about concerns but from a personal perspective I’m not that worried about the future of pensions.” JONATHAN WEITZMANN | APPLEBY GLOBAL “Ultimately the future depends on how the government splits up the funds. Raising the retirement age could be [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR PENSIONS? August 3, 2010 KEVIN HUGHES | AXA “Working in insurance I’m pretty well looked after. I’ve heard people talk about concerns but from a personal perspective I’m not that worried about the future of pensions.” JONATHAN WEITZMANN | APPLEBY GLOBAL “Ultimately the future depends on how the government splits up the funds. Raising the retirement age could be [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 2, 2010 Signia Wealth The wealth manager has hired Mark Elliott as managing director. Elliott is joining the family-run firm from Barclays Wealth, where he established the financial institutions group and professional practices business in 2007. Before this he worked for private bank Coutts as group head for the executive team and as group head for the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 28, 2010 LADBROKES Numis said that there is plenty of opportunity for positive change at Ladbrokes and it believes the right jockey is in place to deliver it. Numis gives the bookie a “buy” rating and said that although the going will undoubtedly be tough, it is confident that the next six months will be characterised by [...]
Henderson set for more M&A August 18, 2010 ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN fund manager Henderson Global Investors said yesterday it was open to fresh acquisition opportunities, when announcing outflows accelerated in the second quarter on volatile markets and fragile confidence. Henderson – which bought New Star last year – also said underlying first-half pre-tax profit rose 79 per cent to £48.5m ($65m). That compared with its [...]
Santander to be grilled by Commission September 22, 2010 SPAIN’S Santander will join the UK’s largest banks in facing individual grillings by the government’s independent banking commission when the private phase of the review gets under way next year. The commission’s official consultation launches tomorrow when ex-OFT boss Sir John Vickers, the chairman, publishes an initial “issues paper” setting out its agenda. The two [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 4, 2010 AMLIN Shares in blue-chip London market insurer Amlin have been treading water of late, according to Citigroup, which said while this represents a strong performance relative to the broader market, it fails to capture the group’s strategic progress and continued value creation. Citi upgrades its rating of Amlin to “buy” from “hold”. AEGON JP Morgan [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF BRITISH LAND’S RESULTS? August 4, 2010 PAUL PULZE | EVO SECURITIES The importance lies in what British Land didn’t say, rather than the contents of the results. The firm said it’s doing exciting things in the long term, but competitors like Hammerson have got big plans in the works now. It has £3bn of debt facilities and doesn’t need to rely [...]
Betfair to launch its own trading system August 15, 2010 ONLINE gambling group Betfair is gearing up to launch a trading platform in London later this year, becoming the latest in a line of companies to compete with the London Stock Exchange. Following approval from the FSA at the end of July, developers are working to complete the platform based on Betfair’s existing gambling programmes, [...]