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Central banks around the world are beginning to cut interest rates with the European Central Bank leading the way. On 6 June 2024, the European Central Bank (ECB) became the first major central bank (the big three being the US, UK and European) to announce an interest rate cut in the current cycle. This marked […]

New rules have come into force governing the claims made by sustainable funds.      As sustainable investing has grown in popularity, the issue of ‘greenwashing’ has moved into the spotlight. However, investors, turned fund detectives, have discovered that funds with ‘sustainable’, ‘environmental’ or similar labels are buying shares in companies which do not match […]

Market responses to elections should be treated with caution. 2024 is a year of elections around the globe – in varying shades of democracy. On some counts, around 60 countries will vote, representing close to half of the world’s population. This includes eight of the world’s most populous nations – Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, […]

A useful new web tool has emerged, a little late in the game, in a joint effort from two Government departments.  In early 2023, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found they were unable to cope with the volume generated by a 5 April cut-off date that had been set a decade […]

April’s yearly inflation figure fell from 9% to 2.3%, so why does inflation still feel high? April’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) showed annual inflation had fallen to 2.3%, its lowest level since July 2021 and significantly below the October 2022 peak of 11.1%. Rishi Sunak celebrated the return to around 2% inflation with a press […]

The ultimate retirement dream is actually very simple according to research1. Most respondents to a survey (94%), which questioned 2,000 respondents aged 50 and over on their aspirations for later life, answered that financial security is a common theme. Other retirement aspirations included being able to maintain one’s desired lifestyle (94%), spending time with family […]