UK PLCs most widely held by investment companies Which UK companies have investment company managers been favouring? With the UK in the spotlight, the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has published details of which UK companies are held by the highest number of investment companies in their top holdings.

UK parents spend £28 billion on nation’s under-fives each year UK parents spend around £35,000 on their children by the time they reach their fifth birthday, according to research released by Aviva. This adds up to a total of more than £28 billion[1] spent on the nation’s 4 million under-fives each year.

Inside the minds of savers and investors Now in its third edition, the latest BlackRock Investor Pulse survey takes an in-depth look at Britons’ attitude to money and provides a fascinating insight into the minds of savers and investors.

Focusing on the long term for a more secure future The UK is becoming a nation of savers, with three quarters (74%) of people saying they are currently saving, research from Scottish Widows has revealed.

Rewarding investors in UK-listed companies Investors in UK-listed companies will be rewarded with an £85.8 billion payout in 2015, significantly better than last year, where investors suffered little or no growth in income according to Capita Asset Services’ ‘Dividend Monitor’. Dividend payouts from UK-listed companies made a strong start to 2015, prompting analysts to hike their […]

Grappling with a number of significant headwinds Unlike the rest of the world, the European economy has been hit by not one, but two major crises in the last decade. A few years on, we consider whether Europe is set on a path to recovery.

Alternatives for income-seekers during a period of low interest rates One of the tools available to the Bank of England to stimulate the economy is interest rates. Lower interest rates mean that it is cheaper to borrow money and people have more to spend, hopefully stimulating the economy and reducing the risk of deflation.

Alternatives for income-seekers during a period of low interest rates One of the tools available to the Bank of England to stimulate the economy is interest rates. Lower interest rates mean that it is cheaper to borrow money and people have more to spend, hopefully stimulating the economy and reducing the risk of deflation.

Deciding how to weight your portfolio Asset allocation is the bedrock of successful investing. The challenge for investors lies in deciding exactly how much to allocate to each asset class.

Investing in bonds, pooling your money with thousands of other small investors Bonds are debt issued by either a government or a company and are an essential building block of many investors’ portfolios. When you buy a bond, you are effectively extending a loan to the issuer of the bond.