Finance

By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor In April 2005, Fair Finance opened its doors as a solution to tackle loan sharks and money lenders on a council estate in the heart of East London’s Stepney. Fast forward 10 years and they are now a thriving social business offering a range of financial products and services designed to meet the needs of individuals and businesses. On 2 July the Dalston based not-for-profit celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the whole Fair Finance family. During...

By Chris Maule, CEO of UK Bond Network In the past, high net worth (HNW) investors have been stereotyped as older, male, British and well-educated, who have often inherited their wealth. But this has now changed. The ranks of affluent individuals in London interested in growing their wealth are becoming increasingly diverse and we’re seeing the emergence of distinctive sub-cultures, each with particular attributes and attitudes to investment. Here, we explore these new investment ‘tribes’ and how they’re impacting the...

Those with considerable personal wealth, whether it has accumulated over time due to business interests, is linked to family assets, or has been gifted to them as an inheritance, should not feel uncomfortable about taking the necessary steps to protect it before entering into a marriage. Pre-nuptial agreements can certainly be difficult to talk about in the context of a happy relationship that neither party can see going wrong, but when it comes to the protection of sizeable assets, they...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Dividends have been, and always will be, an important component to the average investment strategy. The typical dividend strategy is rather basic (but effective) - purchase a well-reputed, long-term income stock, one that has a history of paying regular dividends. But, that's far from the only dividend strategy available. There is a dividend strategy called dividend stripping that takes the typical long-term strategy and flips it on its head. In this article, we will be...

By Marina Schlotzhauer Gone are the good old days where the major risks for businesses were costs running out of control or the threat of imminent local competition. Globalization has introduced a whole new array of challenges that vary from foreign financial economic ripples to cyber security and beyond. Just in time production and the outsourcing of unskilled labour seems very good from a microeconomics level; However, when applied at a global scale, it increases the chances of sudden demand...

By Michael Boxwell Eco-friendly cars have long been a good investment for Londoners. Driving an electric vehicle means you are exempt from both congestion charges and VED (road tax) both pet hates of the average motorist. There are an abundance of charging points around the City and local government offer a grant that will give you up to 75 per cent off the cost of installing a domestic charge point. With no fuel charges and the majority of car journeys...

By David Rowsell, head of Money for Life Programme, Lloyds Banking Group Parents are their children’s first financial educators – teaching them how to spend or save and how money is earned. Financial behaviours and decisions – both good and bad – have a powerful influence on children’s financial attitudes and behaviour around money. Recent reports, compiled by family welfare charity, Home-Start, have found that around a third (31 per cent) of adults believe it to be inappropriate to include...

By J T Coombes   www.globalmagnacarta.com    @GMagnaCarta In this new millennium 21st century Society is saddled with systems way past their sell by date. . . . A 15th century democratic system, complete with glass ceiling . . . An 11th century monetary system that increasingly holds the world to ransom . . . A 2000 year old surveillance system being replaced by modern technology Voting with what we now have will never solve the problems we now face  In this series...

London’s property market has been booming in recent years, bouncing back after the recession far faster than anywhere else.  But for those in the capital who want to get onto the property ladder for the first time, affordability is a major issue, with the average cost of a new home currently at £639,774*. So it is no surprise then that a quarter (25 per cent) of Londoners who currently rent believe it will be at least ten years before they...