A look at the top ten most read stories on thewealthnet last week...
10.
Amid an uncertain macroeconomic environment, the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25 percent, Katie Royals reports.
This 11th consecutive rise was “hardly surprising”.
Daniele Antonucci, the chief economist and macro strategist at Quintet Private Bank, noted that “inflationary pressures remain strong, and probably stronger than expected, as shown by yesterday’s upside surprise to March inflation.”
Inflation rose from 10.1 percent to 10.4 percent, surprising many who had predicted inflation would fall to single digits.
9.
UBS Global Wealth Management (GWM) promoted five client advisers in its Jersey office.
William Grant and Lucas Foreman on the financial intermediaries team, and John Pipon, Stephen Coelho and Joseph Peacock on the private wealth management team have all been promoted.
Mr Grant was promoted to director, whilst Mr Foreman, Mr Pipon, Mr Coelho and Mr Peacock were all promoted to associate director.
8.
In the latest instalment of PAM Insight’s podcast Wealth Whispers, former PAM Top 40 Under 40 Alex Brandreth spoke to thewealthnet about the reasons investment managers should be optimisic.
The chief investment officer of North West-based Luna Investment Management acknowledges there are many negative headlines out there currently, but argues there are still plenty of opportunities out there for wealth and investment managers.
This podcast covers commodities, the FTSE 100's recent record highs and more.
You can listen to the podcast here as well as on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and most podcast providers. Just search for Wealth Whispers.
7.
The Swiss Federal Council temporarily suspended Credit Suisse from paying staff deferred bonuses for the financial years up to 2022.
This comes after the Swiss Federal Financial Ministry said it had imposed remuneration related measures on the staff of Credit Suisse as a result of the use of taxpayer funds to facilitate its recent merger with UBS.
Credit Suisse management tried to avoid a mass walkout of staff by promising to maintain planned pay awards, according to reports.
6.
International Women’s Day last week highlighted room for improvement in terms of gender equality in financial services, and many men might be wondering how they can better support women in wealth management, Ethan Almond writes.
And given that most senior positions in wealth management are still occupied by men, the importance of supporting female colleagues cannot be denied.
Andrew Shepherd, chief executive of Brooks Macdonald, sees the importance of representation, noting “more work needs to be done to advance gender equity across the industry. I believe it is important to review and evaluate how to advance women in leadership”. [Read More]
5.
Any hopes that the deal brokered by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and FINMA, the Swiss financial markets regulator, for UBS to acquire Credit Suisse for CHF 3 billion would restore calm to financial markets soon evaporated once trading commenced on 20 March, Ian Orton writes.
For once, however, it wasn’t equity markets that were the focus of attention. Indeed, most markets, along with bank shares, had good days with prices recovering after days of turmoil. The UBS share price, for example, ended the day up by 1.26 percent.
Instead, bond markets were the focus of attention following FINMA’s decision to mark down around $17 billion of additional tier1 (AT1) contingent convertible bonds (Co-cos) issued by Credit Suisse to zero. [Read More]
4.
A merger between Credit Suisse and UBS to create a national banking champion had long been mooted before the tipping point reached in the third week of March 2023 when customers, investors and eventually regulators said enough was enough, Ian Orton writes.
The only questions that needed answered concerned the circumstances under which a merger would be permitted and the price that would be paid.
Both questions have now been partially answered. [Read More]
3.
Credit Suisse and UBS merged following intervention from the Swiss authorities in a CHF 3 billion deal, Katie Royals reports.
All Credit Suisse shareholders will receive 1 share in UBS for 22.48 shares in Credit Suisse as merger consideration, reflecting a merger consideration of CHF 3 billion for all shares in Credit Suisse.
The combined entity will be led by Ralph Hamers as group chief executive and Colm Kelleher as chairman. Both individuals currently hold these roles at UBS. [Read More]
2.
Boutique wealth manager Oberon Investments appointed Mike Cuthbert as chairman, Isabel Baxter reports.
He succeeds The Honorable Alex Hambro, who will be stepping back from the role but remains a non-executive director of the firm.
Mr Cuthbert has nearly 40 years’ experience in investment banking and most recently served as co-head of financials at independent financial services group Zeus Capital.
1.
The former chief executive of Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM) launched a new firm, Katie Royals reports.
Martin Andrew founded Gallatin Limited which provides independent strategic advice, analysis and insight to wealth managers and sector investors, like private equity firms.
The firm has three core focus areas it helps clients with. These are: growth, vertical integration and acquisitions.