Understanding investment risk and risk appetite
With interest rates remaining close to historic lows, with the recent weakness in global equity markets and with even the UK property market becoming subdued the issue of where to invest for a good...
View ArticleIs there any reason for the Bank of England to raise Bank Rate in May?
The next quarterly Bank of England Inflation Report will be published on 10th May to coincide with the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee’s deliberations about the level of Bank Rate. Some weeks...
View ArticleIs it time to fire the apprenticeship levy scheme?
In 2017 the government launched the apprenticeship levy to fund its ambitious plan to have three million apprentices in training by 2020. After only a year the scheme is attracting growing criticism...
View ArticleThe growing participation of mothers in the workforce – a major social change...
The position of women in the UK labour market has come under close scrutiny this year, first with the publication of data on the gender pay gap and now with a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies...
View ArticleRent costs are putting the squeeze on workers and pensioners
The huge rise in the cost of property since the 1990s has already had a material social impact on the UK. We are all aware of the increasing difficulties that young people are having in getting onto...
View ArticleNo change in Bank Rate comes as no surprise
Following its May meeting the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has announced that Bank Rate will remain unchanged at 0.5%. The decision reflects clearly how sentiment about the UK...
View ArticleTrue Potential PUFin's finance education mission
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 had seismic ramifications on both the domestic and the global economy and also resulted in significant regulatory and financial services industry activity to restore...
View ArticlePension transfers growing in volume and mortgage terms beyond the age of 100....
Two recent news stories have presented an interesting picture about the financial decisions of those in later life. First came further evidence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the growth...
View ArticleThe FCA initiates action on rent-to-buy and overdraft charges
Today’s announcement that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is initiating action to curb the excessive costs of rent-to-buy products and is investigating ways of containing overdraft costs comes as...
View ArticleHow to achieve an effective global allocation of equity investments
The global equity markets have shown great resilience in the past three months, bouncing back strongly from the sell off at the start of the year. Comforted by this performance investors are likely to...
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