Author: Lily Harper

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Serial dealmaker Brad Jacobs has prevailed in a hostile $11bn takeover of a roofing supply company, which he plans to use as a vehicle for an acquisition binge with the backing of investors including President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Sequoia Heritage and the Walton family.Jacobs’ publicly listed investment vehicle QXO has agreed to buy Beacon Roofing Supply, the second-largest distributor of roofing tiles and equipment in the US for $11bn, including debt. The deal marks one of the year’s largest corporate takeovers in…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The writer is founder and chief executive of Everett Capital Advisors and chair and co-founder of Agio RatingsDigital assets are going mainstream, turbocharged by recent endorsements from the US administration. If properly implemented, a more developed digital asset ecosystem could bring substantive benefits.Yet even optimistic advocates must acknowledge that digital asset markets currently fall short in how counterparty risk is assessed. This must be addressed if digital assets are going to scale in global financial systems and provide lasting benefits to consumers.Buying…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Herbert Smith Freehills has been fined £465,000 for breaching UK sanctions on Russia after the international law firm’s Moscow office made payments to a number of entities subject to asset freezes.The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, part of the Treasury, said on Thursday that HSF had paid £3.9mn to groups including Russian banks Sovcombank and Sberbank. The banks were “designated persons” — entities that were subject to sanctions — at the time. The payments were made by HSF’s Moscow subsidiary as it…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Rathbones has appointed former banker Jonathan Sorrell as its next chief executive as Paul Stockton prepares to step down from the role after 16 years at the UK wealth manager.Sorrell, who is currently president of investment firm Capstone Investment Advisors, will join Rathbones as chief executive designate in July, before taking on the role permanently when Stockton retires at the end of September.Prior to Capstone, which focuses on derivatives, Sorrell was president of FTSE 250 investment firm Man Group, having previously held…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Private equity firm CVC has said it is cautious about the outlook for selling portfolio companies after one of the worst recent starts to the year for global dealmaking.In its first full-year results since it listed in Amsterdam last year, the group said it had made €13.1bn from exiting investments in 2024, more than double the total for the year before, but that figure was driven by strong activity in the first half.It beat analyst expectations for total fee-paying assets under management,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Norway’s oil fund has struck a £570mn deal to acquire a quarter of Covent Garden from UK-listed landlord Shaftesbury Capital, in the latest major bet by the sovereign wealth fund on the fortunes of central London.Norges Bank Investment Management has exchanged contracts to buy a 25 per cent non-controlling stake in the £2.7bn Covent Garden estate, which Shaftesbury will continue to manage. It follows a similar deal for a £300mn stake in part of the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor estate this year.“This…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A rise in protectionism in the US and elsewhere will help push up insurance prices, according to the outgoing head of Lloyd’s of London, offsetting the benefit to policyholders of new capital that has flowed into the sector.Chief executive John Neal, who is leaving the world’s oldest insurance market for broker Aon, said growing protectionism and nationalism would contribute to keeping insurance prices higher for longer in many lines of business.Lloyd’s, based at the famous inside-out building in central London, houses a…

A handful of European stocks have become a battleground for retail traders taking on hedge fund short sellers, in a campaign with echoes of the “meme stock” craze that gripped Wall Street during the Covid-19 pandemic.Companies including Germany’s Hensoldt and Renk Group and French satellite business Eutelsat have surged in recent weeks, far outstripping a broader rally led by the defence sector as investors anticipate a surge in military spending across Europe.Analysts say small-scale traders — sometimes co-ordinating their efforts on social media forums such as Reddit — have turbocharged the gains by deliberately buying into stocks shorted by hedge…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Latest news on ETFsVisit our ETF Hub to find out more and to explore our in-depth data and comparison toolsClearing through the roughly 50 applications in the queue from firms seeking to offer dual share classes of mutual funds and ETFs is at the top of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s to-do list, the agency’s acting chair said.“I have directed the commission staff to prioritise their careful review of the many applications filed for this relief, and I look forward to considering…

Last year, Barclays chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan promised investors at least £10bn of payouts over three years as part of an ambitious overhaul of the lender.If he succeeds, shareholders will in large part have what Barclays calls “the caterpillar” to thank.It is the term used to describe the implementation of a crucial — but, until recently, little-discussed — part of banks’ risk management toolbox: structural hedging.Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest, three of the UK’s largest banks, are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a repricing of interest rate swaps, which analysts estimate could contribute more than £50bn…