Article for The Review (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment), Oct 2021.

The world of retail investing is in the crosshairs of fintech ‘disruptors’, which are using techniques from online gaming and social media to ‘democratise’ investing. They are growing their (mostly young and inexperienced) client bases incredibly rapidly. Intentions are good. Consequences can be disastrous. Are these platforms really the future of retail investing? Or further accidents waiting to happen?

Read the full article here

Article written for BVCA Journal magazine (British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association), Autumn 2021.

VC was behind the curve when ESG investing ramped up dramatically in public markets in 2019. “We were speaking to funds and coming away with the impression that some had an ‘exclusions’ list (to avoid totally unpalatable investments), but that was it … It was also common to field questions such as ‘What is ESG?’ and ‘Why does it matter to VC?’.”

That’s all changed …

Read the full article here (page 49)

Article for The Review (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment), 15 Nov 2019

“People in the investment sector are struggling. They want to do more sustainable investing, but are finding it difficult because there’s a general lack of ESG data, no consistency across company disclosure of ESG data, and because it’s really hard to define what sustainable investing is. It is not a binary choice between good and bad ESG credentials. Investors are faced with 50 shades of green.” …

Read the full article here on the CISI website

Article for The Review (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment), June 2020

“There has been a huge emphasis on ‘registration’ numbers when we talk about using technology to boost financial inclusion, which is understandable because rapid scaling is what makes technology so impressive – the ability to connect vast numbers of people very quickly. But while financial product adoption is important, doing so superficially is not all that helpful. People must actively use the product, not just ‘sign up’, and that product has to have a positive impact on their lives. We don’t want digital credit being used to develop and fund a gambling habit, for example.” 

Read the full article here

Article for Wealthsmiths magazine (Sanlam), Summer 2020 edition.

The media has always fed off individuals’ insatiable appetite to take a punt on the stock market – offering ‘expert’ tips and forecasts in a bid to sell newspapers to investors or direct eyeballs to a television show or website. There is little doubt these forecasts are highly influential.

But, “By and large most of these forecasts are indistinguishable from chance.”

Read the full article here.

Article for Wealthsmiths magazine (Sanlam), Winter 2020 edition.

In 2015, economists at the Commonwealth Secretariat discovered a ‘secret sauce’ that somehow boosts trade between Commonwealth countries.

And they couldn’t explain these elevated levels of economic activity with ‘conventional’ trade drivers … 

Read the full article here

Article for Charity Perspective magazine (Brewin Dolphin), Spring 2020 edition.

From the late 20th century, and into the early part of the 21st, a singular economic motive of business has reigned supreme ….

Today, while the concepts of ‘shareholder primacy’ and ‘shareholder value’ live on, businesses are increasingly realising that the path to long-term survival and success depends upon ensuring that all stakeholders are being taken into consideration. The pursuit of short-term profit is not enough.

Read the full article here.

Taxing times

Article for The Review (Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment), July 2020

Even before the Covid-19 crisis, the personal tax landscape was facing an overhaul. Now, that’s almost guaranteed.

“In mid-2020 in the wake of eye-watering spending by both the UK and US governments on fighting and reducing the impact of Covid-19, some of the tax ideas of Sanders, Warren, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are lingering, even though they lost their respective political races.”

Financial planners have a challenge and an opportunity ahead of them.

Read the full article here.

Private Equity fundraising has bandwidth to accommodate ESG-related regulation

Article for Private Equity Wire, September 2019.

Capital is flowing into ESG investments with many private equity GPs now on the case. But to stay ahead, they will need credible evidence of impact, not just slick marketing.   

“The capital deployed via PE has the potential to have much more impact compared to investments in listed equities. Because PE holdings typically involve significant equity stakes in portfolio companies and board representation, GPs know their portfolio companies better and can influence underlying ESG strategies. Holding periods are also longer in many cases which is very compatible with sustainable investing.”

Read the full article here

Stars aligned for continued growth of UK ‘take-private’ deals

Article for Private Equity Wire, Nov 2019

Research shows take-private deal value more than tripling in one year to GBP14 billion in 2018/19, up from GBP 3.7 billion the year before. “The valuation premium associated with buying a public company is not as daunting for Private Equity as it historically has been, so many firms are taking the view ‘maybe we should look at this again’.”

Read the full article here on the Private Equity Wire website.

Smaller buyouts outperforming their larger cousins, but riskier

Article for Private Equity Wire, Oct 2019

“We had a hunch that small and mid-cap managers had more ‘juice to squeeze’ from their deals and deliver higher returns than large-cap managers. But we didn’t have hard evidence to back that view up,” says Dr Andrea Carnelli Dompé, vice president at Pantheon, an investor with USD46 billion of assets under management in private equity, infrastructure and real assets.

Read the full article here on the Private Equity Wire website.

Guernsey has carved out a clear niche in the insurance industry. Whereas jurisdictions to which it is often compared – Malta, Gibraltar and Luxembourg – tend to focus on their European Union (EU) distribution capabilities (through ‘passporting’ rights that come with EU membership), Guernsey is at the forefront of insurance ‘capital management’. It occupies a space at the intersection of the insurance and investment industries, helping the insurance sector to attract capital and manage it efficiently, and helping capital markets find attractive insurance-related investment opportunities.

Article for Business Life Magazine, Sep 2019 (Global business: a view from the Channel Islands).

Read the full article here.

‘Manager consolidation’ driving growth in PE secondaries

Article for Private Equity Wire, Sep 2019

GPs and LPs are increasingly turning to the private equity secondary market, adding a new layer of sophistication…

Read the full article here on the Private Equity Wire website.

After 10 years of a bull market some investors argue that company fundamentals don’t match their share price performance; the lingering suggestion is that many companies have inflated values which don’t match their prospects. The strong performance of equities sucks investors into low-cost tracker funds that don’t differentiate between stocks based upon their prospects, only their current weighting within the index.

With the quantitative easing tide now going out, ‘stock-picking’, based on rigorous analysis, will become even more important to keep portfolios performing …

Article written for Perspective magazine (Brewin Dolphin) June 2019 – Read it here