Equity crowdfunding: The 2016 refresher guide for investors January 21, 2016 Alternative finance has provided us with several new asset classes, and one of them is equity crowdfunding. In 2015, the global crowdfunding industry grew to $34.4bn – more than doubling from a year earlier – according to a report from Massolution. In the UK, research from Alt Fi published in November of last year suggested [...]
Nationwide house prices index: UK house prices rise again in October October 29, 2015 Ever feel like you're repeating yourself? House prices have risen again, new figures showed today, with prices rising 3.9 per cent in the year to October, up from 3.8 per cent last year. The Nationwide House Price Index showed the average price has now crept up to £196,807, up from £195,585 this time last year. That's [...]
House prices: The UK’s homes rose in value by £1.4bn a day in 2015 December 30, 2015 Like big numbers? Read on… The UK's homes rose in value by £1.4bn a day in 2015, giving our collective bricks and mortar a total value of £7.76 trillion by the end of the year, according to figures by online property portal Zoopla. That figure is £519bn – or 7.2 per cent – higher than last [...]
Shared ownership’s time has come so here’s six ideas to help home buyers in the high cost capital November 9, 2015 There is an iconic image of the Patterson family stood outside their house with Margaret Thatcher. The first people to purchase their home under Right to Buy in 1980, Thatcher delivered the deeds herself. Right to Buy is back in the news, with the government striking an agreement to extend the scheme to housing [...]
Stamp of approval: Has the Chinese economic slowdown licked the value of philatelic investments? February 18, 2016 When share prices are volatile, fine wine, art and other tangible assets offer the bittersweet assurance that your investment will only turn to dust if exposed to excessive sunlight or extremes in temperature. Interest in philatelic investment, or stamp collecting, peaked after the financial crisis as investors turned to alternative asset classes to diversify their [...]
Negative interest rates: A “dangerous experiment” with “insidious” effects, economists say – but they’re creeping in to economies around the world. Cash could be abolished while asset bubbles grow February 22, 2016 Negative interest rates creeping into economies around the world have “insidious” effects which is the world is yet to see – and are part of a "dangerous experiment", experts are warning. The impact includes currency weakness, raising bank costs and could even lead to the abolition of cash. The hubbub over interest rate rises in the [...]
The average UK house price is now growing at twice the rate of London property October 14, 2015 What a difference a few months can make. Having once been seen as pulling up average UK house price growth, it seems London is now having the opposite effect, dragging the national average down, according to new figures. The National Housing Market Monitor, by estate agent Haart, found UK house prices grew 10 per cent to [...]
UK house prices: Though it’s currently the economic golden child, Milton Keynes needs to shake off its brand image to become hot property January 19, 2016 Despite being one of the most confusing and maligned cities in the UK, Milton Keynes is managing to outpace London in terms of economic growth, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). With good transport links, a booming property market, and massive employers like Argos and Red Bull based there, on paper this makes sense. But, let’s [...]
George Osborne has missed every target he’s set himself, says Labour MP Helen Goodman November 26, 2015 "The fact is the chancellor has missed every target that he’s set himself,” according to Labour MP Helen Goodman on George Osborne’s Autumn Statement. “He can’t keep banging on about what happened eight years ago because he’s been in charge now for nearly six years – it’s his fault he hasn’t met his targets,” Goodman, who [...]
Celebrate good times: The European private equity deal market achieves highest total value since 2007 and exits are at an all time high December 21, 2015 An M&A bonanza and high stock market valuations helped European private equity companies to a record year for exits and the highest deal values since 2007. The total exit value in Europe stands at a new high of €153.2bn (£112bn). IPOs and trade sales (where the company is taken over by another business operating in same sector) have been particularly [...]