So here we go again, another saga getting under way about unsuspecting ‘mini-bond’ investors being ripped off. I suspect the regulators and FSCS are already fed up hearing about mini-bonds following the £236m collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF) which left more than 11,000 investors in the lurch, some of them separated from a […]
Archives for April 2020
Securing finance through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
Commercial lenders have now approved more than £2.8 billion of financing to support businesses as part of the UK government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). This is according to the latest data published by UK Finance on 23 April. Among nearly 50 approved lenders, with more being considered by the British Business Bank, more […]
Why Americans Prefer Real Estate to Stocks
Gallup is out with some new data on American views toward investment markets that I think is worth discussing. Overall, about 55% of US households have some investment in the stock market (through either individual equities or mutual funds), which is unchanged from two years ago but below the peak of 63% from shortly after […]
How to safeguard your sleep during Covid-19
Over the last few weeks, our world has changed significantly. Life and business as we know it has been flipped on its head. For many, that means life has slowed down and for others, it’s never been more chaotic. With such unprecedented change coming on so quickly, it’s understandable that the importance of sleep is […]
Podcast: To Roth or Not to Roth in the Current Environment
With changes to Roth planning due to TCJA, the SECURE Act, and now the CARES Act and market volatility resulting from COVID-19, it’s important to consider whether Roth conversions would be optimal to help your clients reach their long- term goals. In this episode, Bob Keebler, CPA/PFS, shares the nuances to consider when making decisions […]
ETtech Top 5: Urban India flocks to TikTok, Jio-Facebook’s differing policy views & more
Happy Friday! Thanks to the lockdown, urban India is glued to TikTok. Some users are posting goofy videos while confined in their homes. Illustration: Rahul Awasthi No more ‘cringe-worthy’ Until recently, a section of online users frowned upon TikTok’s content and labelled it “cringe-worthy” even as users from tier-II and -III cities gained rewards and […]
Sovereign Gold Bonds – 2020-21 – Why You Should Invest?
Sovereign Gold Bonds 2020-21 is released by the Reserve bank of India. The Sovereign Gold Bonds 2020-21 is divided into six tranches from April 2020 to September 2020. Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) is turning out to be one of the best ways to invest in gold. Under the scheme of Gold Bond, a bond will […]
Change in Electricity Consumption
This is an amazing chart, via Amy Harder at Axios: Driving the news: Those inferences are from new power data tracked by analytics company Innowatts. Since electricity consumption directly correlates to human activity, it offers a window into how businesses are faring as much of the country is locked down. How it works: The chart […]
India’s once lavish weddings are now taking place on Zoom
By Saritha Rai Sushen Dang, 26, and his fiancee, Keerti Narang, dreamed of making their wedding an affair to remember — but not like this. Instead of hundreds of guests descending on a wildlife resort for a multi-day revelry with cocktail parties and elaborate feasts, the couple got married over the video conferencing app Zoom. […]
Embark Pensions reports 14% rise in clients
Embark Pensions, which includes EBS Pensions and Rowanmoor, saw a near 14% increase in client numbers in 2019 but a 6% decline in net operating profit, according to annual results. The Embark Group division says the companies are in transition from being full SIPP and SSAS administrators to becoming pensions specialist across the “self-invested spectrum”, […]