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
Investment Week (August 15)
“The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter, following an increase of 0.7% in the previous three months.” Year over year, “gross domestic product expanded by 0.9% from April to June…. The figures confirm that the economy has enjoyed a strong recovery from its mild technical recession last year.”
Tags: 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.9%, Economy, Expanded, GDP, Grew, Q1, Q2, Strong recovery, Technical recession, UK
Investment Week (July 19)
“UK retail sales volumes dropped by 1.2% in June,” marking a reversal of May’s stronger figures. Retailers are blaming “election uncertainty, along with poor weather and low footfall.” On the plus side, however, “falling UK wage growth boosts chances of August rate cut across most sectors.”
Tags: Election uncertainty, Footfall, June, May, Poor weather, Rate cut, Retail sales, Retailers, Reversal, UK, Volumes, Wage growth
The Economist (July 5)
“The coalition that Boris Johnson built in 2019, on a promise to ‘get Brexit done,’ has exploded. Labour cut deep into Conservative territory” in “one of the most successful corporate turnarounds in British political history,” reducing the Conservative Party to just 126 seats. “Labour’s landslide victory will turn politics on its head. But even with a majority this big, running bad-tempered Britain will not be easy.”
Tags: 2019, Bad-tempered, Brexit, Conservative Party, Exploded, Johnson, Labour, Landslide victory, Political history, Successful, Turnaround, UK
Financial Times (May 10)
“The UK economy has exited last year’s technical recession with faster than expected growth of 0.6 per cent for the first quarter.” This beat the BoE forecast and marked the fastest quarter-on-quarter growth since 2021. Growth was “driven by a 0.7 per cent increase in services output, suggesting stronger consumer activity as inflation fell. Manufacturing output grew 1.4 per cent, driven by car production which has grown for six consecutive quarters.”
Tags: 0.6%, 2021, BOE, Car production, Consumer activity, Economy, Expected, Fastest, Forecast, Growth, Inflation, Manufacturing, Q1, Services, Technical recession, UK
Investment Week (April 26)
“Managers have expressed confidence in the performance of sterling and its future potential, but the uncertainty surrounding the UK and global economies, as well as the upcoming general election, could pose headwinds to the asset’s performance.”
Tags: Asset, Confidence, Future, General election, Global economies, Headwinds, Managers, Performance, Potential, Sterling, UK, Uncertainty
The Guardian (March 13)
“The early signals show that the UK is on track to emerge from a minor recession within months, powered by a recovery in consumer spending amid resilient pay growth and receding inflation. But that isn’t to say the economy is racing ahead, or that a renaissance in living standards awaits…. The broader picture is still one of relative stagnation.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economy, Emerge, Pay growth, Receding inflation, Recession, Recovery, Resilient, Signals, Stagnation, UK
Business Insider (February 16)
“The US economy managed to shake off Wall Street’s gloomy forecasts and dodge a long-predicted slump last year — but the same can’t be said for two other members of the G7.” Both the UK and Japan entered technical recessions based on data released Thursday showing each nation’s GDP fell during both of the two last quarters in 2023.
Tags: 2023, Economy, Fell, Forecasts, G7, GDP, Japan, Predicted, Slump, Technical recessions, U.S., UK, Wall Street
WARC (January 4)
“Quite simply, most advertisers just aren’t ready for the world that comes next.” Google has begun its six-month phase out of tracking cookies. “Nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK marketers are not well prepared for the withdrawal of third-party cookies, while a majority (58%) of global marketing leaders lack a working understanding of how changing privacy regulations will affect their work.” Google’s move “will fire the starting gun on a deep process of adaptation across the online ecosystem.”
Tags: Adaptation, Advertisers, Google, Marketers, Online ecosystem, Prepared, Privacy regulations, Process, Tracking cookies, UK, Withdrawal
