UK becomes world’s top fintech hub as startups rake in £4.5bn May 14, 2019 The UK is the world’s top fintech hub with high-growth firms attracting more than £4.5bn in investment over three years, it emerged today. London continues to lead the country in attracting high-growth tech investment, receiving £9bn between 2015 and 2018, followed by Cambridge with £583m, according to a new report by startup body Tech Nation. [...]
Could Capita’s move to put workers to boards fix capitalism’s crisis? May 14, 2019 Capitalism is being questioned in Britain more intensely than for decades. Some want to destroy it. Others believe that it is the only economic system which works, but want to reform it. I am in the latter camp. Part of the debate around Brexit has centred on preserving workers’ rights, enshrined in EU law. But rights [...]
US regulator SEC gives go-ahead for first ‘negative fee’ fund May 13, 2019 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US financial regulator, has approved the first ever “negative fee” fund, which will pay investors for depositing their money. New York-based Salt Financial has waived its 0.29 per cent fee and will contribute 0.05 per cent to the fund instead meaning an investor will receive $5 (£3.86) for [...]
SALT to taste May 13, 2019 It was quite a week, even for a seasoned traveller like me. London to New York; New York to Los Angeles; LA to Las Vegas; Vegas to Los Angeles; then, eventually, home, happy but exhausted. I’ve crossed the Atlantic countless times, and it always makes me excited and full of anticipation; the US really can [...]
Mental health and wellbeing should be top of the business agenda May 13, 2019 More than 26m working days were lost in 2017-18 due to work-related ill health. Stress, depression and anxiety accounted for the majority of those days. Figures like these highlight just how many people are dealing with poor mental health, and so while it may feel like this issue is receiving a lot of attention in [...]
BP: Discipline and efficiency underpin ‘buy’ case May 13, 2019 | City Talk Profits are down in the first quarter, but BP remains on track, writes our head of markets. BP (LSE:BP.) may not have repeated its immense performance from the full-year numbers in February, but nonetheless remains on track to deliver on its strategic promises. The company's prodigious cash flow continues to enable its share buyback programme, [...]
The real revolution in electric vehicles… May 13, 2019 | City Talk Electric vehicles (EVs) have reached a clear inflection point. Product quality has improved and consumer availability is expanding rapidly. Perhaps most importantly, the cost of electric car ownership is finally approaching parity with traditional combustion engine cars. The colourful stories within the industry have also helped generate interest: the spectacular and turbulent growth story of [...]
Barbies and princesses: The game-changer in gender-stereotyped toys May 13, 2019 "Can I be an astronaut if I’m a girl?” That was the question asked by Katy Alexander’s four-year-old daughter, Zabel. To the New Jersey-born mother, this question came as a surprise. “Until then, I’d never really noticed that the characters in the space books she had been reading and the games she had been playing were [...]
DEBATE: Is the term ‘fintech’ becoming redundant? May 13, 2019 Is the term ‘fintech’ becoming redundant? Rhys Powell, UK managing director at EBO.ai, says YES. It’s true that the fintech revolution has brought about positive business change, but to stay relevant in today’s modern business world, all financial organisations have had to harness the power of technology. As such, it’s now almost impossible to define where general [...]
India’s Hinduja brothers top Rich List for third time as Jim Ratcliffe loses out May 12, 2019 Britain’s 1,000 richest people have again had their respective fortunes stacked against each other to determine the most wealthy person in the country, in the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List. This year it was bad news for Jim Ratcliffe, owner of chemicals giant Ineos, who dropped to third place after topping last year’s list, while [...]
