Liquidity and momentum shroud the rotation debate
Date published: 07 January 2020
Michael Mackenzie
Liquidity and momentum are powerful drivers of sentiment for equities and other risk assets. Such a combination holds sway at present, via supportive central banks and low government bond yields, helping to explain the resilience of markets whenever shocks such as the latest bout of political tension intrude.
Forecasting the world in 2020
Date published: 27 December 2019
Source: FT.com
Brexit was not stopped, populists made smaller gains than expected in May’s European parliament elections, and the S&P 500 beat our — and most other people’s — expectations. Along with Brazilian growth falling below the year before, the FT’s forecasting team got those predictions wrong for 2019, though Philip Stephens last year admitted he offered his forecast that Brexit would be reversed “as much in hope as expectation”.
Nuns berate SEC over planned shareholder rules
Date published: 01 December 2019
Attracta Mooney
Source: FT.com
Two groups of nuns, including one that puts living a life of peacemaking at the centre of its work, are gearing up for a fight with the US financial regulator over proposed shareholder rules.
Why US equities may yet have the last laugh
Date published: 15 March 2019
Michael Mackenzie
Link To FT.com: https://www.ft.com/content/3067b4d4-465d-11e9-b168-96a37d002cd3
Equity investors are renowned for their optimism, or what a curmudgeonly bond trader would view as a combination of ignorance and confidence.
Global regulators launch inquiry into leveraged loans
Date published: 07 March 2019
Sam Fleming in Washington
Link To FT.com: https://www.ft.com/content/2cb614ee-4067-11e9-b896-fe36ec32aece
The Financial Stability Board, a top global rulemaker, has launched an examination of parts of the $1.4tn leveraged loan market, as officials intensify scrutiny into potential financial stability risks surrounding corporate debt.
For stocks, it’s corporate buying that really matters
Date published: 19 February 2019
John Plender
Link To FT.com: https://www.ft.com/content/d6ec0bb8-343b-11e9-bb0c-42459962a812
We know that changes in the household sector balance sheet, particularly in relation to the balance between savings and consumption, matter greatly for the real economy. That said, what is unusual at present is that the exposure of US household balance sheets to the stock market is running at record levels. This is an under-acknowledged part of the explanation for the recent weakening of economic data and especially the spectacular decline in retail sales.
‘We need to rethink conventional wisdom about pay’
Date published: 14 February 2019
Madison Darbyshire
When Labour’s John McDonnell called for greater worker representation late last year as a way to curb top executive pay, the UK’s shadow chancellor appeared to hit a nerve.
Virgin Trains USA halts plans for initial public offering
Date published: 12 February 2019
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Mark Vandevelde in New York
Virgin Trains USA has abruptly halted its plans for an initial public offering, days away from the end of an investor roadshow that it hoped would raise $510m to expand its nascent passenger rail service and value the lossmaking business at $3bn.
Brexit-blemished UK assets look cheap — but investors are wary
Date published: 01 February 2019
Laurence Fletcher
Fund managers seem unanimous: sterling and UK stocks look cheap. But many are so perplexed by the political wrangling over the UK’s exit from the EU, that they are finding it hard to pluck up the courage to buy.
Asset managers count the cost of the big squeeze on fees
Date published: 01 February 2019
Richard Henderson and Robin Wigglesworth
If investors in asset managers were hoping for some relief this week, they did not get it. A string of lacklustre results from some of the world’s biggest asset-management firms highlighted the big squeeze on fees across the $89tn investment industry.
‘Quiet diplomacy’ the weapon of choice for passive funds
Date published: 15 October 2018
Chris Flood
Archbishop Justin Welby’s attack on Amazon’s tax affairs in September prompted a torrent of criticism after it emerged the Church of England’s pension fund holds shares in the online retailer.
Investment heavyweights revealed as UK’s most rebellious fund managers
Date published: 06 October 2018
Attracta Mooney
BlackRock, Legal & General Investment Management, Aviva Investors and UBS Asset Management have emerged as the biggest scourge of British directors.