By Sarah O'Connell on March 8, 2010
Sterling may be weak but the spirit of maximising opportunities to profit from this is certainly willing, judging from the weekend money sections.
The FT’s Ellen Kelleher led the pack with the belief that a falling pound will boost UK shares and provide a ‘competitive boost’ to smaller exporters in the FTSE 250. Kelleher continued on this theme in the FT Money section, exploring how sterling’s slide against the dollar and the euro are positive for buyers of UK equities and income funds, with the share prices of some British companies already rising in response. A note of caution was flagged, however, for bond and gilt fans due to increased pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. Last but not least, Kelleher quotes an S&P poll indicating that a wave of takeover activity is expected in the UK smaller companies sector as the weak sterling allows overseas groups to buy their UK rivals at a discount.
Continue reading “Sterling ways to profit from a plunging pound – MRM’s weekend news round-up”
Posted in Uncategorized
By Daniel Sherville on March 10, 2010
A transparent charging structure, ‘unfettered’ open architecture and the freedom to develop bespoke remuneration models have been named by Nucleus members as key reasons why they believe the adviser-owned and controlled wrap platform to be ‘RDR-ready’.
A straw poll of member firms using the platform has revealed that the platform’s focus on transparency and clarity of charging means there is ‘one less thing to worry about’ when it comes to their own preparations for the RDR.
Continue reading “Nucleus members declare the platform RDR ready”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Arch Financial Planning, Arthur Childs, Barry Neilson, Nucleus, RDR
By Daniel Sherville on March 10, 2010
The financials sector is currently the most overlooked in Europe, says Adrian Darley, head of European equities at Ignis Asset Management.
Darley, who oversees £1.2 billion of European equities at Ignis, says investors have taken an overly macro a view of markets in recent months, retaining significant overweight positions in defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals and telecoms but failing to spot the opportunities in the cyclical financials sector.
“The market has thrown the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to the financials sector,” he says. “Yes there are problems, but not all banks are bad. Indeed, a number of them are very attractive right now. Most of those that needed capital raised it a year ago and are now looking for growth. Lending margins are much improved from 12 months ago, which for well-capitalised banks is very good news indeed. Following strong results some of these companies have already seen share prices rise strongly but many valuations remain attractive which is at odds with most investors’ underweight positioning in the sector .
Continue reading “Financials the most overlooked sector in Europe, says Ignis Asset Management”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Adrian Darley, BNP Paribus, European equities, Financials, Ignis Asset Management, Santander
