In the middle of March, Russia was due to make an interest payment of $117m (£89m) on two bonds denominated in dollars. There was some dispute over the payment: Russia said it had made the payment, the investors holding the bonds said they hadn’t received the money. The papers generally reported that if Russia didn’t …
Introduction April was not a good month for world stock markets. We report on a dozen major markets in the Bulletin: they were all down in the month, with the honorable exception of the UK’s FTSE-100 index, which managed a gain of just 29 points. Why was it such a poor month? The war in …
The UK seems to be moving inexorably towards becoming a subscription economy. It is now estimated that 65-70% of UK households are signed up to one or more subscription services, with figures from Barclaycard suggesting that the subscription economy is worth £323m a year. Whether it’s Netflix or Spotify, coffee, razor blades or fresh fruit …
It is now a well-documented fact that the pandemic was good for billionaires. According to Oxfam’s annual report on global inequality – always released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos – the pandemic saw a new billionaire created every day. The world’s ten richest men more than doubled their collective wealth between …
In the past, inheritance tax would have been regarded by many only as something for the super-wealthy to have to think about. But the amount the government has collected in inheritance tax has doubled in the last decade, as more and more people are becoming liable to pay the charge. According to Treasury documents seen …
Introduction Once again, the market commentary for our clients is dominated by events in Ukraine. As in March, we have included a special section on Ukraine and – as before – we must stress that ‘at the time of writing’ very much applies to the comments. This month’s market commentary was written on Friday April …
Spring Statement: Key points at a glance The chancellor’s update on the economy comes amid surging prices for household bills and essentials. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled the contents of his Spring Statement in the House of Commons. He had been under pressure to help households with the cost of living squeeze, with prices rising …
Introduction On Monday March 23rd 2020, the UK went into its first lockdown, following the outbreak and rapid spread of coronavirus. At this point, Rishi Sunak had been Chancellor of the Exchequer for little more than a month, having replaced Sajid Javid on February 13th. He delivered his first Budget a month later, presenting what …
Publisher, entrepreneur and diplomat, Benjamin Franklin was almost certainly the most-quoted figure of his generation. He is popularly credited with ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ and, in Advice to a Young Tradesman, Franklin wrote, ‘Remember that time is money’. In November 1789, Franklin wrote to a friend in France: ‘Our new constitution is …
Ageing and death aren’t easy subjects to think about, but as we get older, they’re topics that it would be foolish to ignore. The average life expectancy in the UK is continuing to increase, which means many more of us might struggle to manage our own affairs and remain independent in the future. That in …
