CITY A.M. | SHADOW MPC June 9, 2010 ALLISTER HEATH | CITY A.M. “The money supply is growing at an accelerated rate and the economy is expanding at a decent, but still sluggish, pace. With inflation too high, it is time for a symbolic hike in rates, whatever happens at the Budget.” SIMON WARD | HENDERSON “Raise by 0.25 per cent. Negative real [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 7, 2010 Barclays Wealth. The wealth manager has appointed Aaron Gurwitz as chief investment officer and head of research, economics and strategy and Kevin Gardiner as head of global investment strategy. Gurwitz, pictured, joined the firm in 2008 as part of the Lehman Brothers acquisition, having previously worked for PIM and Goldman Sachs. Gardiner joined last year [...]
WHAT IMPACT WILL THE ELECTION HAVE ON STERLING AND GILTS? May 3, 2010 TREVOR WILLIAMS | LLOYDS TSB “On average, the pound tends to strengthen after general elections, regardless of the size of the majority. As it fell about four per cent in the past quarter, history suggests we could see a short-term recovery. For gilts and swaps, there could be short-term volatility if there is political uncertainty [...]
Hornby set to reveal £1bn Boots profit May 16, 2010 ANDY HORNBY, the man associated with the near-collapse of HBOS, will return to the limelight today as he announces an estimated £1bn profit at the helm of Alliance Boots. Hornby is expected to say the private equity-owned healthcare and beauty products retailer’s trading profit for the year to 31 March grew at a faster pace [...]
Interest rates set to remain in a deadlock May 9, 2010 MONETARY policy should remain on hold this month to provide some certainty to the markets and to give the Bank of England time to fully assess the political situation, a majority of City A.M.’s Shadow MPC say ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee decision that is due at midday today. Only Henderson’s Simon Ward thinks [...]
An intriguing plan to reform banking June 7, 2010 IF you leave your suit at a dry-cleaner, you retain ownership of the garment, even though possession has passed (temporarily) to the shop. But if you deposit £1,000 in a bank account, who owns the money? It’s still yours, held in trust by the bank, just as with the dry cleaner, right? Wrong. Ever since [...]
An intriguing plan to reform banking June 7, 2010 IF you leave your suit at a dry-cleaner, you retain ownership of the garment, even though possession has passed (temporarily) to the shop. But if you deposit £1,000 in a bank account, who owns the money? It’s still yours, held in trust by the bank, just as with the dry cleaner, right? Wrong. Ever since [...]
How to learn from Capello’s mistakes June 30, 2010 POOR defending, non-existent marking, a lack of passion – there are numerous reasons for England’s horrible World Cup performance. Interestingly, though, many have argued that all the problems on the field were symptoms of troubles off it. The team, it appears, didn’t get on with the manager. Capello’s boot-camp culture clashed with the laid-back attitude [...]
BRIGHT STARS GATHER AT CITY’S ANNUAL OSCARS June 15, 2010 THOMSON Reuters rolled out the (imaginary) red carpet yesterday for the annual Extel awards, commonly known as the “Oscars” of the City. This year’s affair, hosted by perky Today presenter John Humphrys, was decidedly more upbeat than in 2009, when “credit crunch” presenter Axel Threlfall of Thomson Reuters’ multimedia platform Project Insider quipped that he [...]
CITY VIEWS: WAS THE BANK OF ENGLAND RIGHT TO LEAVE INTEREST RATES ON HOLD? April 8, 2010 JAMES BREWINS | NMB “Holding interest rates is not an ideal situation for savings. It is good for the economy and at the moment low rates are stimulating it. Really it’s a guessing game; all ifs and buts at the moment.” JOHN DAVIS | RPS GROUP “Yes, British business needs encouragement, especially with the fragile [...]