Taking Stock on Friday 13th October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
Are you following the money, out of UK equities?
This is the Q4 results for the 3 months up to September 30th of Premier Miton Group () a UK asset manager:
· £9.8 billion closing AuM at 30 September 2023 (30 June 2023: £10.5 billion)
· £0.7 billion of net outflows for the Quarter and £1.1 billion of net outflows for the year to 30 September 2023
"We saw a slowing of sales and an acceleration of redemptions - much of it in UK and European equities - in the second half of the financial year.
In particular, a single client undertook a reorganisation of their portfolios which resulted in almost £500 million of outflows in the year. However, it was pleasing to see continued flows into our fixed income and directly invested 'Diversified' multi-asset strategies"
FALLERS
St James’s Place set for fees overhaul after pressure from regulators
Wealth manager St. James’s Place could be set to overhaul its fee structure after pressure from regulators to fall in line with stringent new consumer rules.
The London-listed funds group said in a statement this morning it was conducting an “assessment” of its fees and charging models after the introduction of the Consumer Duty this summer.
The rules have ramped up the standard of service expected from firms and are designed to ensure good outcomes for customers.
St James’s Place is the UK’s largest wealth manager but has face criticism in the past over its lofty fees and an expensive exit charge.
The firm said today it was currently conducting a deepdive and would weigh up changes to the fees.
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
A surge in natural gas prices and an uptick in U.S. core inflation are two signals that could prompt the Bank of England into another rate hike before year-end.
Another rise in gas prices comes on the same day the Bank of England Governor says upcoming decisions will be "tight".
"Squeaky bum time at the Bank of England given the havoc that gas prices did to inflation forecasts last year. Gas futures have gone vertical - a direct feed into the November CPI forecast," says Simon French, Economist at Panmure Gordon.
China's narrowing trade slump boosts recovery prospects, but challenges persist
Outbound shipments in September declined 6.2% from a year ago, following a drop of 8.8% in August, and beating economists' forecast for a 7.6% fall in a Reuters poll.
The figures were backed up by new export orders in an official factory survey two weeks ago which showed improvement last month, partly because of a peak export shipping season for Christmas products and favourable base effects.
"There's increasing evidence that the cyclical upturn in the global electronics sector is driving a bottoming-out of global trade and China's trade data is the latest sign," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"This gives reason for optimism about a rosier trade picture in 2024," he added.
Chinese shipments to Russia rose 21% to $9.6 billion in September from a year earlier, accelerating from 16% growth in August, Reuters calculations based on customs data showed.
Microsoft's revised offer to buy Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard has been approved by UK regulators.
The Competition and Markets Authority said the updated bid had addressed concerns, after it blocked the original $69bn (£59bn) deal in April.
Microsoft will hand the rights to distribute Activision's games on consoles and PCs over the cloud to French video game publisher Ubisoft.
Despite approving the deal, however, the CMA criticised Microsoft.
After the competition watchdog blocked the takeover in April, Microsoft's president Brad Smith said it was "bad for Britain".