Stocks in London closed down on Wednesday as a hotter-than-expected inflation read in the UK worsened investor fears of another rate hike from the Bank of England on Thursday.The FTSE 100 index closed down 10.13 points, or 0.1% at 7,559.18 on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 ended 174.71 points lower, or 0.9%, at 18,571.45. The AIM All-Share closed down 2.16 points, or 0.3%, at 783.02.The Cboe UK 100...

Deal sees veteran Pease bow outConsolidation gathering paceListed UK firms could be vulnerable to takeoversCompetition for customers and the need for economies of scale are driving another round of consolidation in the UK wealth management industry with the announcement this week of yet another deal.Yesterday it emerged that hedge fund Lansdowne Partners had agreed to acquire equities...

Rathbones (RAT) £19.10Loss to date: 10%We recommended wealth management outfit Rathbones (RAT) in April 2022 as a read-across from RBC's £1.6 billion bid for UK asset manager Brewin Dolphin, but since then things have been extremely quiet on the UK corporate front.Financial firms in general have had a rough ride of late, and it is no reflection on Rathbones that its shares are 10% lower...

- Rathbones pounces on smaller rival- All-share deal pitched as a merger- More consolidation may followWealth management group Rathbones (RAT) caught the market on the hop with the announcement of an all-share merger with the UK Wealth & Investment division of Anglo-African firm Investec (INVP).Shares in both companies gained on the news, with Investec rising 2.4% to 455p and Rathbones adding...

- Net asset value (NAV) slides 5.8%- Second consecutive year of underperforming the benchmark- Train shows confidence by buying sharesNick Train-managed Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) suffered a disappointing 5.8% slide in its net asset value total return for the year ended 30 September 2022.This represented a second consecutive year of underperformance against the benchmark FTSE...

Job Curtis, fund manager for City of London Investment Trust (CTY), has engineered a remarkable turnaround in performance over the past year. This has negated concerns Shares highlighted last October regarding a period of underperformance versus the UK equity income investment trust sector average on a three andfive-year basis.On 19 September when the eyes of the nation were focused on the...

- Shares are down 12.8% year-to-date- Shore Capital sees Rathbones as a bid target- Valuation of 11 times earnings for 2024 is appealingShares in FTSE 250 asset management firm Rathbones (RAT) have fallen by 6% over the last month and 12.8% since the start of the year.Analysts at Shore Capital believes this weakness is unwarranted given the potential bid interest surrounding the wealth...

Shares acknowledges there could be further volatility to come from small caps, an asset class hit by indiscriminate selling as investors fret over surging inflation, rising rates and a likely recession in 2023.Yet with much bad news already priced in, taking advantage of the stock-picking skills of a proven small cap-focused fund manager could pay off for the patient investor.We like Aberforth...

Royal Bank of Canada's recent £1.6 billion bid for rival asset manager Brewin Dolphin (BRW) at a 62% share price premium, has highlighted what a scarce and valuable asset Rathbones (RAT) is on the stock market.And despite a rally on a read-across from the Brewin news, the shares are currently trading on just 12.3 times forecast earnings and offer a 4.2% dividend yield.Investors should buy as...

Canada's largest bank by market value has put the cat among the pigeons in the wealth management sector with a surprise bid for 260 year-old UK firm Brewin Dolphin (BRW).RBC's cash offer of 515p per share, which has been recommended by Brewin's board, values the business at £1.6 billion or 62% more than its market value last night.LARGE PREMIUMThe offer represents a significant premium to...

Although many developed markets have hit a new all-time high in recent months, the FTSE 350 index of UK stocks still trades below the highs achieved in the middle of 2018.There are plenty of cheap shares on offer in this index. In this article we uncover stocks expected to consistently grow earnings over the next two years that trade at a price to earnings multiple below the market. This...

UK stocks opened higher on Tuesday as profit upgrades from the likes of FTSE 100 constituent Electrocomponents (ECM) and cyber security firm Darktrace (DARK) brightened investors' mood ahead of the release of key US inflation data on Wednesday.The consensus forecast is for inflation to have hit 7.1%, meaning all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve and how quickly it plans to take action to try...

The FTSE 100 got off to a slow start this morning after US president Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing Hong Kong's protesters.Stock markets around the world fell sharply on the news, fearing that China will retaliate. Beijing has consistently warned the US and other countries against interfering in what it sees as its internal affairs.The UK's benchmark index no different to other...

Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce (RR.) is selling its fuel injection technology firm L'Orange to America's Woodward in a £610m deal, the company confirms on Monday.The sale is expected to be complete by the end of this year's second quarter and continues the ongoing streamlining of the business under chief executive officer (CEO) Warren East, who used to run UK chip design champion ARM...

London's FTSE 100 gives up 26.4 points to trade at 7,517 early on Thursday amid continued uncertainty around Spain and Catalonia and ongoing unpredictability over the direction of Brexit negotiations.Interserve (IRV) slumps 35% to 59p as the support services and construction group warns of a 50% drop in second half operating profits and that it might breach its banking covenants. Interserve's...

Investment trust shares can trade either at a discount or a premium to their underlying assets or net asset value (NAV), depending on factors such as current market appetite for the strategy or the performance track record of the manager.While share prices that trade at a discount to NAV are quite common for closed-ended funds, sometimes these discounts become unduly wide or narrow and do not...

Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers (RAT) is in talks with unlisted rival Smith & Williamson over a mooted £2bn merger.Following waves of consolidation in the asset management industry, the potential deal values Smith & Williamson at £600m and would be structured as a takeover by Rathbones. Analysts view it as a good cultural fit.The announcement follows on from the acquisition of investment...

Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers (RAT) is in talks with rival Smith & Williamson over a £2bn merger.This is further evidence of consolidation in the financial services industry following the acquisition of investment manager Hargreave Hale by financial services group Canaccord Genuity announced last month.On a bigger scale, the combination of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management went...

The FTSE 100 opens slightly lower at 7,310.2 despite widespread strength in the mining sector. The US and North Korea are planning military exercises today which could stoke the simmering tensions between the two countries.Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers (RAT) ticks up 0.65% to £27.88 after confirming weekend reports that it is in exclusive merger talks with stockbroker Smith &...

It's not an easy time to be an asset manager. Tumbling equities markets spell bad news for businesses which earn fees based on a small percentage of their clients' funds and this is the situation many of the sector's firms find themselves in.There are still a few diamonds in the rough and thanks to the recent equity sell-off the sector is now trading below its long-term next 12 month...