Spring Budget 2021
Shortly after 12.30 this afternoon Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered his second budget to parliament. The Chancellor’s delivery of the budget to the House of Commons is largely ‘theatre’ with the real details being published in The Red Book by HM Treasury whilst the Chancellor speaks. Whilst the presentation of the budget was […]
Going down?
Our article of 14th August 2020 was titled “Negative Interest Rates?” – one of our less ambiguous titles! In that article, we linked back to our story of 20th May in which we commented about how the UK government had sold a bond (government debt) with a negative yield. We went on to explain that […]
Sovereign credit downgrades
Lost in last week’s excitement about arguments over the fish around the UK, the developing second coronavirus wave and the political power battle between Manchester and London was a piece of news which at any other time would be THE NEWS: Moodys, the credit rating agency downgraded the credit status of the UK, theoretically making […]
COVID salary top-up scheme
The COVID-19 Job Support Scheme Speaking in the House of Commons, The Chancellor outlined the Job Support Scheme and more financial help for businesses this lunchtime (24 September). The Chancellor said the resurgence of coronavirus posed a “threat to the fragile economic recovery” and protecting jobs was the government’s priority through the “difficult winter months” […]
Negative Interest Rates?
In our article of 20th May we commented about how the UK government had sold a bond (government debt) with a negative yield. We went on to explain that in practise, this means that the government is being paid to look after investors money, rather than having to pay to investors for the benefit of […]
Mounting Fears Hit UK Jobs
Gilt yields continued their decline during July, driven down by concerns over the prospect of a “second wave” of coronavirus cases. The yield on the ten-year gilt fell from 0.17% to 0.11% over the month. Having contracted by 6.9% in March and 20.3% in April, the UK economy expanded by 1.8% in May as […]
The other “R” – recession
Early in July, investors were buoyed by news of progress in the development of coronavirus vaccines. However, as the month continued, optimism was tempered by a surge in infection rates in countries including the US, Australia, Spain and India. Investor sentiment was further dampened as the strained relationship between China and the US continued to […]
The Summer Statement
On balance we think we did a pretty good job with our guesses about the content of the summer statement. Read our forecast here In a bid to stave off sweeping job losses and promote economic recovery, the Government’s Summer Economic Statement focused heavily on jobs. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak warned of “profound […]
2nd wave fears
We started 2020 predicting a ‘choppy year’ for investors as we left the EU and entered the transitional period; whilst Russia and Saudi Arabia fought a ‘war-of-words’ (the collateral damage was global oil prices); the backdrop of a Presidential twitter account having the potential to yo-yo anything, anywhere, leading up to the US election later […]
The Great British Debate: House prices
As professional independent financial planners, we’re constantly bombarded with huge quantities of research, some of which is exceptionally robust, some considerably less so. Sometimes we’ll review research on a particular subject and find diametrically opposing views. Invariably, that’s when competing forces are arguing for their self-interest. This is particularly so when it comes to house […]
The Summer Statement
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is due to deliver his summer statement next week. Economists from both sides of the political spectrum seem to share a consensus of respect for the Chancellor, who, new-to-post, endured a baptism of fire dealing the unique fiscal circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic. So what might we expect? Our original expectation was […]
Nothing as safe as bricks n mortar..?
Our bias against direct investment into property funds based on independent financial adviser recommendation, other than for clients who can afford an extended long term property position remains in place. Back in 2007, a long standing but uncharacteristic property fund bull run started to unwind as professional investors realised that the ‘old rule’ of property […]
Record UK borrowing
For the first time in 57 years, UK government borrowing (the national debt) exceeds the national gross domestic product (GDP) having reached a high of over £103,000,000,000, some 100.9% of UK GDP. Government statisticians predict that public sector borrowing hit £55.3billion in May, almost nine times more than in May 2019 and the highest level […]
Sino-American relations in trouble (again)
Relations between the US and China deteriorated further during May as the US blamed China and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the pandemic. The US Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, in which US-traded issues are required to surrender their listings on US exchanges if they do not comply with US audits, […]
UK borrows at negative rates
Today, the UK government has sold a bond (government gilt) with a negative yield. What does this mean? It means that the government is being paid to look after investors money, whilst the investors have agreed to get back a little less than they have lent to the government! Japan, Germany and some other European […]
Inflation or deflation?
Many of our clients will know that our own Paul C has moonlighted as a part-time university lecturer for very many years, and in a moment of either very low educational standards, or extreme generosity, he even shared a national award for his teaching of personal finance and personal investment. Over the years Paul has […]