Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 16 February 2024. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
Oxford Capital introduces fee structure change
Investment firm Oxford Capital is introducing fee structure change for 2024.
It said the change addresses longstanding concerns expressed by both Venture Capital (VC) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investors across the market.
It noted that the result is an overall enhanced investor experience, reflecting its commitment to providing “solutions aligned with the critical needs” of the investment community.
Kingswood secures new debt facility with Pollen Street
Kingswood Holdings has announced a new £8m unsecured debt facility with funds managed by Pollen Street Capital Limited.
The funds will be used to support Kingswood’s capital requirements and growth agenda.
The terms of the agreement include an interest rate of 12%, rolled up and paid at maturity.
The Wellesley Grove Journal
What was your route into the world of financial services?
To answer that question himself, Shaping Wealth founder Neil Bage shared five of his former jobs on X (below) and then tagged five more.
This prompted a flurry of left-field confessions from others, such as ice-cream scooper, landscape gardener, McDonald’s swing manager, cricketer, Zeppelin pilot and, erm, Cheddar stacker.
So, if you’re struggling along in your less-than-dream role, there’s always hope.
And who knows what useful skills you might pick up along the way?
Quote Of The Day
Good advisers in well run advice firms have nothing to fear directly here, other than additional costs associated with increased evidence gathering.
-Mark Polson, founder & chief executive, the lang cat, comments on the FCA’s letter to advice firms requesting information about delivery of ongoing services and charges.
Stat Attack
The latest GDP figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK economy contracted by 0.1% in December, putting the country in recession.
0.3%
UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, following an unrevised fall of 0.1% in the previous quarter.
0.1%
While the economy has now decreased for two consecutive quarters, across 2023, GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.1% compared with 2022.
Q4
In output terms in Quarter 4 2023, there were falls in all three main sectors in the latest quarter with declines of 0.2% in services, 1.0% in production, and 1.3% in construction output.
In expenditure terms, there was a fall in the volume of net trade, household spending and government consumption in Quarter 4 2023, partially offset by an increase in gross capital formation.
Revisions
This release includes revisions to periods Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) to Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023, where growth in Quarter 1 2023 has been revised down by 0.1 percentage points, while total GDP in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) and Quarter 3 2023 are unrevised.
0.2%
Historically, the absolute average revision between the initial quarterly GDP estimate and the estimate three years later is 0.2 percentage points, when more detailed information is available through the comprehensive annual supply and use balancing process.
Source: Office for National Statistics
In Other News
Research from LV= highlights how UK adults are starting to feel more positive about their financial future.
The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme – a quarterly survey of 4,000 UK adults – reveals that the number of people who think their finances will continue to worsen is starting to fall.
The LV= Wellness Tracker, a metric examining the financial wellbeing of UK adults, currently stands at +19 up by +4 since December 2022 indicating that the nation’s view of financial resilience is improving.
The Tracker produces a single measure of the nation’s financial resilience over time by comparing the number of people who are financially ‘comfortable’ to those who are ‘struggling.’ Overall, 59% of respondents described their situation as comfortable, while 41% said they were struggling.
While the overall picture paints one of some positivity, the researc shows some clear generational differences in in how UK adults are adapting to financial pressures and how optimistic they are feeling. One in five (22%) UK adults aged 18-34 expect their finances to improve in the next three months, yet the figures suggest this group is in a more precarious financial position than older people.
Surprise surge in retail sales suggests economy is growing – despite UK entering recession (Sky News)
Facebook £3bn legal action given go-ahead in London (BBC)
NatWest profit jumps 20% as Thwaite confirmed as CEO (Reuters)
Did You See?
Steve Webb: Does it really matter who wins the election?
“The short answer is that whoever runs the UK at the moment faces severe constraints on their ability to be radical. The fact the tax burden is at its highest level in decades means the scope for doing more through tax-funded public-expenditure increases is limited,” writes Steve Webb, former pensions minister.
You can read more of the article here.
