Should you invest in high risk fast growth firms? December 6, 2015 Pensions are still a highly attractive vehicle for long-term saving. You get tax relief on the way in, investments within the wrapper are shielded from tax on capital gains and dividends, and in most cases your pension assets can be passed onto your heirs free of inheritance tax. Yet for higher earners, pensions are about [...]
Investors pile on pressure over top HSBC pensions December 6, 2015 HSBC has made good the changes to executive pensions it promised in its last remuneration report, earlier this year. The bank will be cutting pension payments to its top executives from 1 January, bringing it in line with similar FTSE companies. The current arrangement means the banks chief executive, chairman, and two executive directors can [...]
Half of men over 50 will miss out on £572 a year when the new state pension system starts in April December 4, 2015 The new state pension system is not good news for everyone, with around half of men now in their 50s set to receive a lower retirement income under the new system, official analysis shows. Research from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals those in their early 50s will lose as much as £11 a week [...]
Crowdfunding platform Funding Circle is the third biggest lender for small businesses in the UK behind only RBS and Lloyds December 3, 2015 Proving the power of crowdfunding, the third biggest lender to UK small businesses isn't a bank or building society but peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Circle. In the three months from July to September, RBS lent £290m to SMEs, Lloyds lent £275m, and Funding Circle came third, having lent £91.5m, ahead of Aldermore, Yorkshire Building Society and Shawbrook. In [...]
Street Feast owner London Union backed by Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver crowdfunds millions for expansion December 3, 2015 London Union, the celeb-backed company behind Street Feast, Dinerama and Hawker House co-founded by the creator of Leon restaurants has raised millions of pounds to expand across the city. With the public appetite for street food only rising, it raised £2.5m on crowdfunding site Seedrs, with 160 individuals investing between £5,000 and £200,000. It has also raising a [...]
Now you can invest in £10,000 casks of Scotch whisky to help fund a fledgling distillery December 3, 2015 Bored of ordinary bonds, and sick of shares? If you have a spare £10,000 you can now invest in a cask of Scotch whisky. The £10,000 whisky "bonds" are being offered by new Scottish distillery Arbikie, which is producing its first whisky line and looking for investors with the patience to wait until the spirit has aged sufficiently to sell on and [...]
How to overcome the SME alt fi knowledge gap December 3, 2015 There has been much talk about the dearth of traditional bank loans to SMEs since the credit crunch, with the conventional narrative increasingly detached from reality as market confidence and conditions improve. But this jaded dialogue has disguised another issue: the rapid and seemingly unrelenting decline of the small business overdraft. In fact, a [...]
UK pensions: Self-employed people now less likely to be saving for their retirement December 3, 2015 Just nine per cent of self-employed people contribute to a personal pension, despite a record 4.6m people now being registered as self-employed. According to research released today by Prudential, 34 per cent of self-employed people paid into to a pension in the tax year 2001/02. The total amount saved into pensions by those who are [...]
Less than 10 per cent of savings providers are offering the Help to Buy Isa – with just 12 on board so far December 2, 2015 The Help to Buy Isa launched without much ceremony yesterday – so no wonder the number of savings providers offering the scheme, which provides a government bonus for first-time buyers, is being seen as a bit of a let-down. Research from Savings Champion suggests just 12 lenders have so far go on board with the government scheme, [...]
Geek speak: The tongue-in-cheek guide to startup talk, from unicorn and elevator pitch to “winter is coming” and “acqui-hiring” December 2, 2015 With so many tech startup entrepreneurs descending on London for TechCrunch Disrupt Europe, we thought we’d try and familiarise you with how to deal with the geek hordes, as they invade London’s bars and cafes for the week. With our handy guide, you too can learn to speak like a startup guru. Thus, when someone [...]
