Investment Week (October 28)
“Both the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have recommended regulators pay more attention to ESG ratings and data.” This is happening in the UK where the “government has passed legislation requiring providers of ESG ratings to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.” The authorization will apply to firms “whose ratings are likely to influence a decision to make a specified investment.” ESG rating firms “that both ‘produce’ and ‘make available’ their ratings will be under scope of the legislation.”
Tags: Authorization, Data, ESG ratings, Financial Conduct Authority, Government, Influence, Investment decision, IOSCO, Legislation, OECD, Recommended, Regulators, UK
New York Times (October 6)
“For companies and governments worldwide, defending their digital operations is a constant challenge.” Recent cyberattacks at big British brands demonstrate how they can “upend company operations.” Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Jaguar Land Rover have all been “severely disrupted by cyberattacks this year, bringing pain to the lives of customers, workers, suppliers and government officials.” In fact, “Jaguar Land Rover hasn’t built a single car” since shutting its systems down on September 1. This has halted “production at its factories in England, as well as sites in Brazil, China, India and Slovakia.”
Tags: Brazil, Challenge, China, Co-op, Companies, Customers, Cyberattacks, Defending, Digital, Governments, Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer, Officials, Operations, Suppliers, UK, Upend, Workers
Investment Week (September 5)
The bad news in the UK is that the majority of “firms (55%) are holding off on investment decisions until after the Autumn Budget—set for 26th November.” The good news is that 43% of those businesses “are expecting to increase investment as a result.” The Barclays’ Business Prosperity index expects investment “to grow by 5.5% over the next 12 months, with 89% of businesses remaining confident in their own prosperity.”
Tags: Autumn Budget, Barclays, Business Prosperity index, Businesses, Confident, Firms, Grow, Holding off, Increase, Investment decisions, Prosperity, UK
Investment Week (August 15)
“In the wake of political pushback and shifting corporate priorities, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in financial services has found itself at a crossroads…. Public commitments have dampened, budgets are under scrutiny, and sceptics question whether the industry’s progress is unravelling.” Especially in the United States, a growing number of firms are “scaling back or abandoning DEI initiatives altogether.” However, UK industry leaders believe “the narrative of decline does not tell the full story. While some organisations are quieter in their public statements, there remains evidence that internal commitment remains firm.”
Tags: Abandoning, Budgets, Commitment, Corporate priorities, Crossroads, Dampened, DEI initiatives, Financial services, Political pushback, Public commitments, Scaling back, Sceptics, Scrutiny, U.S., UK, Unravelling
Investment Week (July 11)
The UK was the “fastest growing G7 economy in Q1 2025, but this memory now seems distant. “Industry professionals have reacted with disappointment to the latest monthly UK GDP figures for May, which showed the economy contracted by 0.1%,” following on top of April’s 0.3% decline. Production output tumbled, “falling by 0.9% after an unchanged fall of 0.6% in April, while the construction sector dipped by 0.6% in May from a 0.8% growth the month before.”
Tags: April, Construction, Contracted, Decline, Disappointment, Fastest-growing, G7 economy, GDP, May, Output, Production, Q1 2025, Tumbled, UK
Impact Investor (May 20)
“Place-based investing strategies are emerging as powerful tools for driving growth, climate resilience, and social progress, particularly in the UK, where institutional allocations have increased substantially.”
Tags: Allocations, Climate resilience, Emerging, Growth, Institutional, Place-based investing, Powerful tools, Social progress, Strategies, UK
Professional Pensions (April 17)
“As political tides shift in the US, many firms are pulling back on their DE&I commitments, restructuring or scrapping entire departments in response to legal challenges and cultural pressure. And the ripples are already reaching UK shores.” The appropriate response is not “about virtue signalling, it’s about smart governance.” US backsliding presents “a real, tangible issue that UK organisations, especially those working with global partners, need to pay close attention to.” They should secure their values and their supply chains as Transport for London did “by cutting ties with Accenture … after the consultancy ‘sunset’ key DE&I policies.” TfL disallowed Accenture “from bidding on a creative contract because it no longer met TfL’s diversity criteria, stating ‘We are proud to hold our suppliers to account… making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity.’”
Tags: Accenture, Cultural pressure, DE&I commitments, Legal challenges, Political tides, Restructuring, Smart governance, Suppliers, Supply chains, Transport for London, U.S., UK, Values, Virtue signalling
Financial Times (February 7)
The Bank of England (BoE) “has halved its 2025 growth estimate and cut interest rates… as it contends with a stagnant UK economy and an increasingly uncertain international environment.” In November, the BoE expected annual economic growth of 1.5%. Now it expects growth of just 0.75%, with higher unemployment and rising inflation. The new forecasts “will stoke fears of stagflation” and the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to cut benchmark rates from 4.75% to 4.5%.
Tags: 2025, Benchmark, BOE, Economic growth, Environment, Forecasts, Halved, Inflation, Interest rates, MPC, Stagflation, Stagnant, UK, Uncertain, Unemployment
Investment Week (November 11)
UK retail investors are left struggling “to fully embrace the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and… questioning their practical meaning.” A survey of 30 private investors found “many expressed doubts about the need for sustainability labels in the first place, as they claimed they would consider responsible investments regardless of whether funds had adopted an SDR label.” The consensus was that “having one of the four labels adds ‘very little value’ if any to the products in question, as they would prefer a focus on the ‘tangible facts and figures.’”
Tags: Doubts, Funds, Need, Responsible investments, Retail investors, SDR label, Struggling, Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, Tangible facts, UK
The Guardian (September 1)
“Germany was once an economic model to emulate but its reliance on industries past their sell-by date is costing it dear.” The nation is increasingly “an analogue economy in a digital world.” Though “brutal,” the truth “is that Germany is no longer an appropriate role model for the UK (or indeed, any other country). It is a country where the threat to democracy posed by extremist parties is the result of economic failure.”
Tags: Analogue economy, Brutal, Democracy, Digital world, Economic failure, Economic model, Emulate, Extremist parties, Germany, Industries, Reliance, Threat, UK
