PensionCraft

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About time they had a shorter duration gilt fund. Thanks for letting me know Matt!

St James’s Place under renewed fire over exit fees New customers sold products with high charges days before new fee structure takes effect

Until Aug 26, St James’s Place can charge up to 6% if you exit within 6 years (+4.5% upfront). From Aug 27, the same products will have 0% exit fee & lower advice charges. Selling the old version days before the change? That’s beyond absurd
on.ft.com/41qAVnq

There's some crucial information missing here about what happens in dog shelters if your owner _isn't_ found

I've never been asked to complete it, but it would be odd to have someone turn up at the door and ask our household to participate

"The president said that the BLS commissioner rigged these numbers. What do you think?"
Former Trump-appointed BLS Commissioner: "There's no way for that to happen. The commissioner doesn't do anything to collect the numbers... So there's no way for doing that.
bsky.app/profile/just...

Interesting that so many people say there is no UK gender pay gap despite ONS evidence to the contrary. Here are some comments from my latest video "UK Wealth: How Do You Compare?" youtu.be/vfmKC2umXZA

I have complete respect for Erika McEntarfer & this response bsky.app/profile/erik...

Donald Trump fires US labour statistics boss after weak jobs report President claims July employment figures were ‘rigged’ in latest assault on economic institutions

Another lurch towards Emerging Markets behaviour. Trump fires BLS head after weak jobs report, baselessly claims data was rigged. Fed governor quits early — raising fears of politicised economic data and a compliant central bank. Dollar drops as markets brace for more disruption on.ft.com/4l26N8N

Visualization of an “expensive US stock market”:

@mikezaccardi.bsky.social

Bitcoin is still trading like 3x daily leveraged Nasdaq. An interesting measure comparing the ratio of the two suggests upside for Bitcoin depends on US tech stocks pushing higher so earnings this week from Microsoft, Amazon, Apple & Meta will be very important

DORK meme stocks signalling the return of US euphoria

DNUT Krispy Kreme
OPEN Opendoor
RKT Rocket Mortgage
KSS Kohl's

Some people told me they were taking a hit on CGT before the budget last year just in case the rate went up a lot so there may well have been a spike in anticipation of hikes that never materialized. I suspect people will hold on until the next parliament just in case CGT rates fall again

Capital gains tax receipts fall after big cuts in allowances Revenue falls 18 per cent in 2023-24 to £12.1bn as the UK’s efforts to increase revenues from the levy backfire

The UK slashed CGT allowances to boost revenue — but receipts fell 18% last year and are still dropping. Turns out taxing “voluntary” gains harder makes people... not sell. A textbook case of tax tweaks backfiring on.ft.com/4kZ9Hv0

I thought it was the 3-4-5 rule? Perhaps I come from an era of longer hours and smaller net interest margin

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Gillian Tett's article in the FT on "The new age of geoeconomics" https://on.ft.com/3U6ecZF

The era of pure economics is over. Trump's tariffs signal a shift to "geoeconomics" - where commerce serves statecraft, not markets. Like the 1930s, politics now trumps profit. Countries weaponize trade, finance & supply chains. The pendulum has swung from globalization back to power politics

Returns of Vanguard UK LifeStrategy funds from the beginning of 2025 to July 10th. All LifeStrategy funds fell in April with the tariff announcement, with LifeStrategy 100 falling most, but all have now recovered with returns between 2% and 3%

Doesn't matter what equity/bond split you chose at the beginning of the year - your UK LifeStrategy fund would be up about 2% or 3%

Pension funds 💔 gilts For whom the bell tolls

Thank you @tobyn.bsky.social for another fab gilt article "Pension funds 💔 gilts" - on.ft.com/44COEby via @FT

The US has been bobbing between 40% and 70% of global market cap for about a century. Something usually happens to knock it back down

Could we live without it now?

We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.

Linda Yaccarino steps down as CEO of X after 2 turbulent years marked by ad boycotts, hate speech scandals, and Elon Musk’s dominant role. Her resignation follows backlash over Grok praising Hitler. “The best is yet to come,” she posted
on.ft.com/4nENkNX

Nvidia hits $4tn market cap, becoming the world’s most valuable company. A surge in AI chip demand, easing trade fears, and deals in the Middle East fuelled its 40% rise since May. CEO Huang: “The absence of AI is the only thing I worry about.” #AI #Nvidia
on.ft.com/4lKUrCX

$TSLA 😢

I'd never seen one of these yellow watermelons until today

A yellow watermelon

Forget black swans

Forcing pension funds to buy UK assets is ‘form of capital control’, says Lloyds boss Charlie Nunn calls on government to tackle housing crisis to provide foundation for Britain’s economic growth

Lloyds boss is right: forcing pension funds to buy UK assets is a slippery slope. Real growth needs better housing, stronger savings, & funding to scale successful, innovative UK companies—not capital controls. We must act fast on affordable homes #UKeconomy #housingcrisis on.ft.com/407Qxf4

Lots of creative power gathered in central London...