The Morning Briefing: Govt U-turns on slashing 45p tax rate
Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 30 September 2022. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Fallout continues
The government’s difficulties from the mini-budget have continued on the eve of the Tory party conference.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has said the government will reverse the decision to axe the top 45p rate of income tax.
We wait to see if the government changes its mind on anything else it announced in the mini budget.
Case officers
The Financial Conduct Authority plans to increase its case officer headcount by 20 between 31 July and 31 December 2022.
This was revealed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the FCA by Money Marketing on 15 August 2021.
The regulator added that additional increases in case officer headcount for 2023 will be considered as part of routine business planning processes. This is to ensure the FCA can meet anticipated demand.
Vanguard expansion
US passive behemoth Vanguard is considering expanding its range of model portfolio solutions in the UK.
One solution would blend active and passive funds, while the other one would be a target-volatility solution.
They would come in addition to the LifeStrategy and the LifeTarget solutions.
Quote Of The Day
Pressure to change course is likely to persist and, with it, heightened volatility in domestic markets.
– Trevor Greetham, head of multi asset at Royal London Asset Management,comments on deteriorating UK growth
Stat Attack
Around half of UK adults have or know someone who has received a suspicious communication in the last 12 months according to new research from Canada Life.
27 million
This equates to 27 million people across the UK
51%
Most of these cases can be described ‘phishing scams’, when a fraudster attempts to imitate a legitimate company or person to secure important information from the victim
1 in 5
Crypto scams are also becoming worryingly common, with one in five reporting they or someone they know has received one in the last 12 months
8%
Pension transfer scam communications account for almost one in ten of contacts
11%
Romance scams or dating scams are similar at 11%
21%
Around a fifth of those who have, or knew someone who has been contacted, say they have lost money because of approaches by scammers
46%
Among 18 to 34-year-olds, this increases to almost half
£207
The average loss to scams for themselves/someone they know was around £207, with this amount almost doubling to £361 for those aged 18-34 years old, compared to £112 for those aged 55+
Source: Canada Life
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) has upped its commitment to responsible investing with a dedicated team of ESG analysts.
The team of three, led by Dominic Rowles, contributes to ESG risk monitoring and oversees HL’s ESG analysis processes.
Their analysis will help identify ESG risks and investment opportunities for HL clients through share and fund research updates.
They will also provide specialist insight to HL Multi-Manager and Select fund managers.
Other team members include HL graduate trainee Tara Clee, who specialises in policy and horizon scanning, and Laura Hoy who has joined from the equity research team.
The team reports to head of investment analysis and research Emma Wall.
From Elsewhere
Covid has left a third of young people feeling life is out of control – study (The Guardian)
Drax: UK power station owner cuts down primary forests in Canada (BBC News)
Investors are learning to love industry again (Financial Times)
Did You See?
The government’s mini budget produced seismic moves in the gilt and sterling markets.
Our reporter Jean-Baptiste Andrieux looked at the consequences in his Weekend Essay.
Credit: Source link