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2 weeks ago | 
irei.com | Fiona Nicolson
When the Labour party came to power in the summer of 2024 in the United Kingdom, it announced a raft of changes to the country’s planning system. It also committed to addressing housing shortages, by delivering 1.5 million homes, including build-to-rent (BTR) properties, and provided £2 billion (€2.4 billion) of additional guarantee capacity towards delivery of more than 10,000 more BTR homes.
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Oct 29, 2024 | 
camagazine.icas.com | Fiona Nicolson
Words: Fiona Nicolson The annual ICAS Insolvency and Restructuring Conference, sponsored by industrial auctioneers, Sweeney Kincaid, took place in September, drawing more attendees than ever before. This year more than 350 insolvency professionals signed up for the event, which was held online.
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Oct 29, 2024 | 
portfolio-institutional.co.uk | Fiona Nicolson
The UK’s private-equity sector has been buffeted by the significant economic, political and geopolitical events of the past few years. A global pandemic; Brexit; war in Ukraine and the Middle East; political changes in the leadership of the previous government; the exact economic trajectory of the new government; and a prolonged period of rising interest rates and inflation have all created uncertainty.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
pfp.thepfs.org | Fiona Nicolson
Fiona Nicolson considers the state of the UK mortgage market and asks: accelerated recovery or gradual convalescence? Many mortgage holders breathed a sigh of relief on 1 August, when the Bank of England (BoE) finally cut the base rate from 5.25%, where it had languished for a year, to 5%. It wasn’t a unanimous decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), with five votes for and four against, but as the first rate cut since 2020, it was a noteworthy change of direction.
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Sep 4, 2024 | 
fishfarmermagazine.com | Fiona Nicolson
Setting the right balance between a global industry and local communities is proving a challenge in the West African fisheries, as Fiona Nicolson reports. The volume of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) generated by fisheries along the coastlines of West African countries has been growing significantly, according to Greenpeace. A report by the global campaigning network revealed that FMFO exports in Mauritania doubled between 2014-2018. In 2019 Greenpeace recorded some 50 FMFO factories in the region.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
brnw.ch | Fiona Nicolson
In March this year, ICAS launched its new CA syllabus, further enhancing the way it supports students on their journey towards the CA qualification. A new digital-first version of the syllabus was introduced, followed in July by the Advantage platform − a one-stop shop where CA students can find whatever they need to know, at any stage of their learning.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
brnw.ch | Fiona Nicolson
How to be confident, assertive and influential How to be confident,assertive and influential ACA’s working life may focus primarily on numbers, but soft skills are just as important for getting the job done. ICAS, in partnership with BPP, is running three courses to help CAs and other professionals improve their personal touch. They are How to Be More Confident (13 September), Assertiveness(16 September) and Influencing Skills(17 September).
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Aug 7, 2024 | 
irei.com | Fiona Nicolson
The lack of housing development in Europe has reached crisis point, according to Oliver Röpke, president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). At a housing conference in Belgium in March, he declared: “We need to act now.”A number of headwinds have contributed to Europe’s housing emergency. The macroeconomic backdrop of the last few years, featuring high interest rates, rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, has played its part.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
etfexpress.com | Beverly Chandler |Fiona Nicolson |Bailey McCann
While ESG assets have been resilient despite economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the 70 per cent slower growth in assets under management vs. the 2016-20 surge reflects its maturity, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG AUM H2 Outlook. For BI, ESG debt remains a bright spot and could expand to 1.8 per cent of total issuance, led by green bonds.
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Aug 4, 2024 | 
etfexpress.com | Beverly Chandler |Fiona Nicolson |Bailey McCann
Ossiam has issued the Ossiam Bloomberg World PAB UCITS ETF on Xetra. Domiciled in Ireland, it has EUR86 million of assets under management as of July 2024 and a total expense ratio of 0.20 per cent. The ETF invests in a broadly diversified equity portfolio of companies from developed markets while pursuing a net-zero emissions strategy. The firm writes that strong demand from investors has seen assets under management across Ossiam’s PAB equity ETF strategies rise to EUR2 billion as of July 2024.
