Introduction “A week is a long time in politics,” as Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said. What, then, is two months? Or to be more exact, 55 days? On 6th September, Liz Truss, having defeated Rishi Sunak in the ballot of Conservative members, became Prime Minister. She duly appointed Kwasi Kwarteng – a man […]
Overall Market Backdrop, October Investors have welcomed Sunak’s appointment as prime minister, with the pound reaching its highest level since mid-September. The annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 10.1% in September, from 9.9% in August. Traders await the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision, with expectations being that interest rates will rise by […]
The Bank of England’s aim is for the country to have low and stable inflation – and it works to a target of two per cent. Changing interest rates are the Bank of England’s mechanism for achieving its inflation target, and in the current climate of high inflation, it believes raising rates is the right […]
If, like many people, you’ve had several jobs throughout your working life, you’ll have picked up multiple workplace pensions. But these can be hard to keep track of, both in terms of how much you’re paying for them and how well they’re doing, so you might be thinking of consolidating your pensions into just one […]
The pandemic failed to halt the surge in house prices, and so far, soaring inflation hasn’t done so either. In fact, figures from Rightmove indicate there was a 0.9 per cent increase in average property values in October 2022, taking prices up to a record £371,158. But nevertheless, there are genuine fears among some that […]
Introduction Where did we leave the soap opera that is British politics? At the end of September, Liz Truss was the Prime Minister, and Kwasi Kwarteng was her Chancellor. As we reported last month, Kwarteng presented his ‘fiscal statement’ on Friday 23rd September. Three weeks later, he was gone and Liz Truss had to endure the […]