Our insights

Prospects

Winter Seventeen

In this issue

The Asset Allocation Committee, which consists of three members of our research team and a number of investment managers, aims to provide a view on the asset allocation that seems most suitable in…

Hugo Bedford discusses life as a wealth manager.

Individual Savings Accounts (ISA)

The private client investment industry has evolved significantly since our days as a stockbroker, with integrated wealth management becoming more prominent and it was little surprise to us that a…

According to recent research two thirds of adults in the UK do not have a Will. This can lead to untold upset and uncertainty for the family left behind. Without a valid Will, the rules of intestacy…

Value for money is certainly now a factor. At Dreweatts our regular mixed discipline ‘Interiors’ sales offer a good indicator of this change as a growing number of private buyers are purchasing at…

Their largest business division is Companion Animal Products (CAP) making up circa 53% of the group revenue. This essentially is made up of drugs for dogs and cats treating a variety of ailments from…

With this in mind we have two charities at any one time that are our designated corporate charities

In the run up to the election, there was a universal fear of the politically unknown, firebrand, former reality TV star and his more controversial threats to dismantle global trade agreements and…

The truth is, though, that economics is more art than science. No wonder US President Harry S Truman is reputed to have said “find me a one-armed economist” so that they couldn’t qualify their advice…

Singapore and Hong Kong are the Asian cities that for decades have been cited as the near perfect examples of modern successful economies – places with a dynamism and work ethic that we tired old…

Understanding Finance

We all know that in layman’s terms the rate of inflation measures the general level of price increases over a given period of time. But the above quoted figure is more precisely known as the Consumer…

Let’s start with a simple question. Why is the night sky dark? A question that I had never contemplated until it was put to me in a physics lesson. The  first answer that pops to mind for most is;…

I believe this political upheaval is a direct effect of monetary policy, specifically Quantitative Easing, which has led, inadvertently, to the wealthier getting wealthier with little effect on…

Equity prospects

01.

Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) took on more leverage when it bought BG back in early 2016.

02.

Next is a UK-based retailer selling clothing, footwear and accessories. The company operates through four main business segments: Next Retail, a chain of more than 500 stores in the UK and Ireland;…

03.

Marks and Spencer Group (M&S) is a well-known retailer dividing its stores into General Merchandise and Food or sometimes Simply Food. This divides not only its stores but also its profitability and…

04.

To pay or not to pay. HSBC is a global bank with 58 million customers across its retail and commercial banking franchises. About 40% of revenues and about 80% of operating profits come from Asia with…