magazine archive
magazine archive
Feature
Explaining the poison pill defence which could have derailed Musk’s Twitter bid
Thursday 28 Apr 2022The world’s richest man, Elon Musk seems to have prevailed in his $43 billion takeover of Twitter (TWTR:NASDAQ) . Initially though the Twitter board looked to prevent him from gaining ‘creeping’ control of the company by adopting a poison pill strategy which was popularised in the 1980s. The aim...
How big property funds have performed and the different ways to invest
Thursday 28 Apr 2022If you’d been keeping an eye on news from the UK commercial property market, you might be forgiven for thinking the sector was a complete basket case. Bankrupt retailers have left gaping holes on the high street, while office occupancy has been decimated by the pandemic. Meanwhile many open-ended...
Emerging markets: Views from the experts
Thursday 28 Apr 20221. As the impact of sanctions start to weigh on Russia, contagion is being felt across global markets. One immediate outcome has been a spike in energy and commodity prices on interrupted supplies from Russia and Ukraine. Although global inflation was already elevated amid supply-side shortages,...
The best and worst first quarter performers in emerging markets
Thursday 28 Apr 2022It has been a tough start to 2022 for emerging markets. The MSCI Emerging Markets index was down sharply in the first quarter, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulting in large falls for one of the bigger constituents of the index. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story and some emerging...
Why Unilever has a 10.5% stake in this small cap drug developer
Thursday 28 Apr 2022Just why does consumer goods giant Unilever ( ULVR ) have a 10.5% stake in small cap clinical stage drug developer Arecor Therapeutics ( AREC:AIM ) ? The company listed on AIM in June 2021 at 226p per share after raising £20 million of new capital. The shares have since gained 73% driven by...
Enough is enough: The FTSE 100 companies which face a grilling from investors
Thursday 21 Apr 2022A significant number of FTSE 100 companies could face shareholder rebellion over the coming weeks as investors increasingly put pressure on boards over key issues. There is a long list of topics which could dominate this year’s annual shareholder meeting season, which gets into full swing at the...
Specialist distributor Diploma is a rare winner from global supply chain constraints
Thursday 21 Apr 2022Ever since the world economy regained its footing after the first round of the pandemic, supply chains have been struggling to keep pace first with consumer demand then with industrial demand. Some UK companies have opted to stockpile components to meet future sales while others have taken the...
How investors including people in retirement should deal with 7% inflation
Thursday 21 Apr 2022Inflation hit a 30-year high of 7% in March and there are expectations the cost of living will surge even higher in April. The extent of the impact of rising prices on savers and retirees will depend on a range of factors including income, spending patterns and how long spiralling prices persist...
A complete exit from Russia is likely to cost companies dearly
Thursday 21 Apr 2022Just when it seemed as if Russia’s standing in the international community couldn’t sink any lower, evidence of war crimes in Ukraine has seen the US and its allies take an even tougher line. As well as imposing harsher sanctions on Russian banks and state-owned enterprises, the US has proposed a...
Looking for an ESG investment? They tend to fall into six different baskets
Thursday 14 Apr 2022The performance of funds with an ESG (environmental, social and governance) focus has taken a bit of a turn for the worse of late. The average global ESG fund has returned 6.6% over the last 12 months to 5 April, compared to 8.7% from the typical non-ESG fund, according to data from Morningstar...