FTAdviser Podcast

The return of inflation, low yields and the spread of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus have raised some awkward questions for bonds and their role in portoflios.Yield curves, often used by investors to gauge the market's expectations for growth, have been flattening recently which suggests there is widespread concern about the economic outlook.With quantitative easing coming to an end in the UK and the Federal Reserve announcing the end of tapering, what does this mean the the outlook for bonds?This week FTAdviser's special projects editor David Thorpe is joined Rupert Harrison, chief investment officer at Kingswood, Eugene Philalithis, head of multi-asset investment management for Europe at Fidelity International, and Dickie Hodges, manager of the Nomura Global Dynamic Bond fund.They discuss the potential impact of looming changes to monetary policy, how to allocate during times of inflation, the outlook for high-yield bonds and why yields generally are stubbornly refusing to rise.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The FCA has pledged to introduce ESG rules for financial advisers, implementing a regime which would require intermediaries to take into account sustainability issues when advising clients.But what is the current regulatory situation? In this podcast sponsored by Royal London, FTAdviser special projects editor David Thorpe is joined by Ryan Medlock, senior investment development and technical manager at Royal London, and independent investment commentator Adrian Lowcock.They discuss the current regulatory environment for responsible investing, the direction of travel for the regulation of responsible investing and how Europe's SFDR regime is impacting investments.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Chartered Insurance Institute is currently running a consultation which, it says, will help it and its members adapt to the changing world of new technology, more demanding regulation and changing attitudes among consumers.It puts forward proposals about the membership career journey and how the CII's learning and assessment could evolve.But the proposals have sparked some degree of concern among chartered financial planners - particularly since they come so soon after the CII's attempt to deregister the Personal Finance Society earlier this year.This week FTAdviser's digital editor Damian Fantato talks to Alasdair Walker, a chartered financial planner at Handford, Aitkenhead & Walker and chairman of the PFS's practioner panel who was appearing on this podcast in a personal capacity, about what he thinks the CII's proposals get right and wrong.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wealth management industry cannot solve climate change on its own, and there were significant elements missing from the Cop26 agreement, said Eoin Murray, head of investment at Federated Hermes.Speaking on the latest edition of the FTAdviser podcast about the outcome from the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Murray said the devil was in the detail of the agreement.“So much of it is promissory and that always makes me nervous,” he said. “We also need to bear in mind that we will never solve [climate issues] ourselves, as investors or as an industry, it always had to be part of a bigger package and I think there are still some significant elements missing from the bigger package in terms of regulation, policy etc, although again, a number of improvements in a couple of areas will have got us further down the path [to net zero].”Murray was joined on the podcast by Rob Harley, portfolio manager with the sustainable funds group at Stewart Investors.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The highly unusual nature of the economic recession and recovery means there are likely to be a number of “bubbles burst” in the coming years, according to this week's FTAdviser Podcast.As the global economy seeks to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation is making a comeback and central banks are considering whether to increase interest rates.This week FTAdviser's special projects editor David Thorpe is joined by Simon King, chief investment officer at Vermeer Partners, Simon Edelsten, global equity fund manager at Artemis, and Steven Bell, chief economist at BMO Global Asset Management.They discuss whether investors can be confident that economies and asset prices will react as they usually do in periods of economic recovery, given the unusual nature of the pandemic-induced recession. They consider whether inflation is the biggest threat to returns in the next few years and whether the unprecedented monetary and fiscal response to the crisis means investors need to think differently about risk.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In October, the US Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light to the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF. This is the first US bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund, and for many this was seen as a turning point for cryptocurrencies when it began trading at the end of October.But the SEC drew a line in the sand just a few days later, refusing to authorise a leveraged ETF fund tracking a basket of synthetic crypto assets. This suggested the regulator wants to limit new bitcoin-related products to those that provide unleveraged exposure to bitcoin futures contracts, reducing gearing risk on what many see as an already risky emerging asset class - and which some see as pure speculation.Yet with currency trading site Forex Suggest predicting that, by 2024, cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Etherium and Dai are on track to break into the top 10 best performing assets in terms of market capitalisation, crypto is not something that can be dismissed easily. And this is where exchange-traded funds might come into play: offering a regulated product to a regulated advice market, tracking the rises and falls of this emergent asset class.Joining senior editor Simoney Kyriakou on the latest FTAdviser InFocus podcast to discuss these issues are Rufus Round, chief executive of GlobalBlock, and Jason Guthrie Head of Digital Assets for Wisdom Tree. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rising inflation has prompted concerns that the UK economy is seeing the return of stagflation.Last seen in the 1970s, stagflation is characterised by stagnant growth and high inflation. The supply chain disruptions which led to fuel shortages in September and the looming rising cost of energy saw many draw parallels with the that era.Indeed, the Bank of England's new chief economist, Huw Pill, is predicting inflation is likely to hit, or even exceed 5% next year.This week David Thorpe, special projects editor at FTAdviser, is joined by Alan Higgins, UK chief investment officer at Coutts, Baillie Gifford's James Dow, who jointly runs the £987m Scottish American investment trust, and Fahad Kamal, chief investment officer at Kleinwort Hambros, to discuss what the prospects for stagflation are and what investors should do about it.They discuss how stagflation changes the calculation for income investors, whether there are particular markets which become more attractive in a stagflationary world, and whether this all makes higher interest rates more or less likely.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak hailed his second Budget of 2021 as heralding a "new age of optimism" as the UK seeks to leave the Covid-19 pandemic behind it.Are things that simple? On its surface, the Budget focused on reforming alcohol duty and business rates, and tinkering with air passenger duty, leaving many areas financial advisers might worry about unaddressed.But with rising inflation, a hike in national insurance already in the pipeline and many allowances frozen in Sunak's previous Budget, for the panellists on this week's podcast the chancellor was carrying his own act of "tax avoidance".This week Damian Fantato, FTAdviser's digital editor, is joined by Claire Trott, divisional director for retirement and holistic planning at St James's Place, Chris Etherington, private client tax partner at RSM, and David Battersby, portfolio manager at Sanlam.They discuss why this Budget was more about the things left unsaid, why Sunak's optimism might not necessarily tally with some of the finer details in this week's fiscal statement and whether a solution has finally been found on the net-pay anomaly.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 2021 marked the start of regulatory scrutiny over pay gap data reporting. Many companies have already reported, while others are still to unveil their data. Yet even with regulatory pressure to disclose the level of the so-called gender pay gap, many companies still seem unwilling to be as transparent as they could be. It is known that gender pay disparity leads to financial inequality between the sexes, greater financial vulnerability for women and poorer pension outcomes. So how can pay gap reporting and greater diversity and inclusion in financial services help lead towards a fairer financial outcome for both men and women?Joining Simoney Kyriakou, senior editor of FTAdviser, to talk through these issues is Fiona Hathorn, chief executive of Women on Boards UK.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the stamp duty holiday at an end and the Budget taking place next week, what does the future hold for stamp duty?Regularly referred to as the UK's "worst tax", stamp duty is regularly seen as in need of reform. But did the Covid-19 stamp duty holiday, which ended this month and saw receipts increase to £12.3bn, make reform any likelier?Hosted by Damian Fantato, digital editor at FTAdviser, this week's podcast explores what the future of the stamp duty land tax looks like, and how its future could impact the housing market. He is joined by Mark Hayward, chief policy advisor at Propertymark, and David Hollingworth, associate director of communications at L&C Mortgages.They discuss whether the stamp duty holiday has demonstrated this tax is in need of reform, how the end of the holiday will affect the housing market, and whether the government might tie stamp duty to environmental standards.The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.