By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:56 EST, 21 January 2025 General meetings may be imperfect, but are the key to shareholder democracy. Private equity management, hedge funds and other unlisted vehicles hide behind layers of complex ownership and answer only to themselves. Listed companies offer investors, retail …
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This week the Prime Minister was out banging the drum for an artificial intelligence (AI) revolution in Britain. It is paradoxical that Herald Investment Trust, which prides itself on tech discovery and AI, faces an existential threat in the next few days. It is the first of the seven quoted …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:05 EST, 2 January 2025 Europe has done a terrific job in unhinging itself from Russian gas supplies since the start of the Ukraine war. The Kremlin’s share of the gas market has plummeted from 35 per cent to 8 per cent as users …
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By ALEX BRUMMER Updated: 04:56 EST, 27 December 2024 Keir Starmer’s government doesn’t get business. Forget the pre-election hoopla of cosying up to enterprise and the £63billion of pledges made at the October 2024 investment summit. Starmer and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves are clueless on how to fulfil the growth …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:14 EST, 17 December 2024 Among the more bizarre aspects of the deal carved out by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky with the Government and Royal Mail is the use of a ‘golden share’. Such shares protect strategic assets from foreign marauders. Among …
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By ALEX BRUMMER Updated: 04:48 EST, 14 December 2024 Bank of England watchers are convinced the Monetary Policy Committee will sit on its hands next week when it sets interest rates for the last time this year. If, as governor Andrew Bailey says, the Bank is data-driven, it has little …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:01 EST, 9 December 2024 The National Security & Investment Act is intended to protect British commerce from unwanted intrusion by overseas predators. There can be few more obvious cases for it to be invoked than that of the £3.6billion bid by …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:00 EST, 2 December 2024 The current generation of British politicians are on a steep learning curve. There can be no excuse for indifference when the fate of a critical national asset is on the line. Minority investors increasingly are concerned that …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 17:03 EST, 28 November 2024 Jonathan Reynolds ought to be careful what he wishes for. His House of Commons description of Royal Mail predator Daniel Kretinsky as a legitimate business person is hostage to fortune. We have discovered since this Labour government …
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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated: 22:00, 27 November 2024 The turnaround at Aviva under the stewardship of chief executive Amanda Blanc has been extraordinary. Superfluous overseas businesses have been sold, cash returned to shareholders and Blanc has built up a war chest for investment. The decision to …
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