The FTSE 100 and 250 closed in the red on Friday, as this week's US interest rate cut was offset by a disappointing consumer confidence reading.The FTSE 100 index closed down 98.73 points, or 1.2%, at 8,229.99. The FTSE 250 ended down 330.87 points, or 1.6%, at 20,831.84, and the AIM All-Share closed down 0.3%, or 2.46 points, at 745.62.The Cboe UK 100 ended down 1.2% at 823.77, the Cboe UK 250 cl

This year has brought some tentative optimism from investors linked to easing inflation and Chinese reopening. Corporate confidence is gradually recovering after the invasion of Ukraine brought fundraisings to a halt, with businesses beginning to tap the market for growth capital again.In this article, we outline why the year ahead should see a rebound in equity fundraisings and explain how retail

Europe has world leading companies spanning most sectors of the market. Many of these businesses consistently generate high returns and have demonstrated an ability to weather economic storms.The good news is many are currently 'on sale' after the turbulence European markets have experienced year-to-date, triggered by red hot inflation, central bank rate hikes and the potential severity of a loomi

Over the last decade UK shares have lagged their global counterparts, in part thanks to the disruption from Brexit, and that is reflected in the performance of the UK All Companies funds sector. A recent shift in the market towards value suggests it could be time for this space to play catch up.Funds in the category have a pretty broad remit, beyond having 80% of their assets in UK stocks and a pr

As the COP26 climate summit fades into the middle distance it is clear that a key component of global leaders' plans for reducing emissions is encouraging a big switch among businesses and individuals to EVs (electric vehicles). In the UK, sales of new diesel and petrol cars are already set to be banned from 2030.The International Energy Agency forecasts the global stock of EVs will increase from

'Form is temporary, class is permanent' runs the old adage often used to describe sportsmen and sportswomen, though the maxim can also be applied in the investment industry, where you'll find a cohort of collectives that consistently do the business for their holders.Funds that routinely outperform over economic and stock market cycles must be pursuing a winning process that should pique the inter

Sometimes investors ignore funds which have accumulated a limited amount of funds from investors, often because they are seen as not having much of a future due to a lack of scale or just because they don't have the marketing budgets of the big asset managers.However, ignoring these smaller funds could mean neglecting some potentially interesting investment options.VICTIMS OF SUCCESSWhile we are l

If you think back to when ISAs were first launched in 1999, it wasn't exactly an auspicious time to start investing.The tech bubble was about to burst, the split cap investment trust scandal was about to explode, and stocks were about to fall into a three-year bear market. But despite that, the first ISA savers have been rewarded by putting their best foot forward, and investing money in the marke

When a company makes a claim that its fabric coating kills all known bacteria and viruses including Covid-19 within 30 minutes and has a shelf-life of up to seven years, it tends to get attention.The Viroblock product from Swiss-based HeiQ Materials was originally developed as an antimicrobial for the Ebola crisis in 2013 and now it is seeing strong demand following the Covid-19 pandemic.Investors

Equity fundraisings are taking a different shape with the reasons behind asking shareholders for cash shifting more towards long-term strategic thinking, with the select few still seeking to shore up their balance sheet now coming across as desperate.In March to May, the principle reason for companies issuing new shares was to raise money to strengthen their balance sheet. The cash helped to plug

Last week saw a changing of the guard at fund group M&G (MNG) with Tom Dobell, a 28-year veteran of the firm, stepping down from the M&G Recovery Fund (3128921) which he had managed since 2000.As per its name the fund invests in 'value' stocks in the hope that they will recover. It had a good August 2020 thanks to gains in some of its healthcare stocks, but has lagged the FTSE All-Share index over

It's been a week of big changes in the UK fund management industry with the departure of several high-profile managers including Mark Barnett from Invesco who has struggled with a long period of underperformance.The Invesco High Income (B8N46L7) and Invesco UK Income (B8N46V7) funds, which Barnett took over running from Neil Woodford, will be co-managed by James Goldstone and Ciaran Mallon. The In

Smart Metering Systems (SMS) 525.5pGain to date: 11.8%Original entry point: Buy at 470p, 24 October 2019One of Smart Metering Systems' (SMS) larger rivals has joined the UK stock market and has a less appealing investment proposition. Calisen (CLSN), valued at £1.3bn versus £582m for SMS, has the same approach of owning and installing smart meters and collecting rent from utility providers.Where

Sentiment towards UK stocks has dramatically improved since the December general election vote result, as evidenced by widespread gains among UK-focused funds and investment trusts.FE Fundinfo data mined by Shares shows the most obvious open-ended fund beneficiaries of the 'Boris Bounce' from across the IA UK Equity Income, IA UK All Companies and IA UK Smaller Companies sectors have been the cons

If you chart Mark Slater's run as a fund manager back to the start of 2000, you will see a significant outperformance versus his peer group over the subsequent years. According to financial data group FE, collectively across his funds Slater has delivered morethan twice the amount of returns to investors than his peer group (400% versus 145% respectively).The son of the late Jim Slater, a famous f

Approximately 50 funds have a 20-year track record of being run by the same fund manager. These managers will have invested through all market cycles. They will know their investment markets inside out, they will have been burnt by their past investment errors and will hopefully be wise to these traps in the future.The table shows a selection of managers from the bigger-sized funds that qualify fo