Author: Lily Harper

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Investments myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The market reacted with enthusiasm to Phoenix Group’s full-year results in the middle of March. After an indifferent start to 2025, the shares jumped by more than 10 per cent in response to the company’s strong cash generation and upgraded guidance.Tom Ground, chief executive of Phoenix’s retirement solutions business, took advantage of the change in sentiment. The day after the group published its figures, he sold 92,360 shares for 583p each — or a total of £538,000. Ground joined Phoenix in January 2021…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Talk of uniting Europe’s financial markets has for more than a decade been mostly just that: talk. So now the EU has scaled back its ambitions. Rather than being disappointed, however, executives at many of Europe’s largest banks are more excited about the project than they have been in years. It turns out that in the pursuit of “capital markets union”, less might be more.Deutsche Bank chief Christian Sewing thinks so. Earlier this month he told attendees at a conference that, while…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.This article is the latest part of the FT’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion CampaignA bold promise was tucked away in the Spring Statement this week. Rachel Reeves is seeking to “boost the culture of retail investment” in Britain as she eyes making changes to Isas, the tax-free savings and investment accounts. I suspect readers will share my pessimism about whether the chancellor can pull this off. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Educating the masses about investing is a…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Emmanuel Macron’s most powerful and longest-serving adviser has stepped down to take a senior role at Société Générale, leaving a big hole in the operations of the Élysée Palace with two years left of the French president’s term. Alexis Kohler, a 52-year-old civil servant who has served as chief of staff at the Élysée since 2017, will be responsible for leading mergers and acquisitions and financing activities at the French bank, and will also help chief executive Slawomir Krupa with a turnaround…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Europe is becoming a more attractive place to invest in infrastructure as governments move to boost their security and energy independence, a top executive at private capital firm EQT has said.“The European opportunities that we’re seeing now are probably more attractive and more interesting than they were just a few years ago,” Masoud Homayoun, EQT’s global head of infrastructure, told the Financial Times.While European governments will focus on defence for a lot of “very capital-intensive investments that are needed”, he added, “there…

The latest on CoreWeave to start: We’ve covered every twist leading up to CoreWeave’s initial public offering this week. DD’s coverage has included technical defaults, nixed commitments, a heavy load of amortising debt and an opus from our friends at FT Alphaville. But finally, the stock has priced — albeit at a smaller size and lower value than first planned.Another thing: Donald Trump has ordered a crackdown on WilmerHale, a law firm with ties to the prosecutor who investigated allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, as he widens an attack on elite US legal groups.And a scoop:…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Exchange traded funds myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Latest news on ETFsVisit our ETF Hub to find out more and to explore our in-depth data and comparison toolsSingapore’s UOB Asset Management is the latest manager to signal its intent to join Taiwan’s active exchange traded fund market after the regulator said earlier this year it would invite applications.Thio Boon Kiat, group chief executive for UOBAM, confirmed to Ignites Asia that the firm was gearing up to launch an active ETF in the Taiwanese market this year.Taiwan opened its door…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Deutsche Bank has made the latest in a number of changes to its top leadership, announcing the departure of chief financial officer James von Moltke and its chief legal officer as it starts to pull together its new strategy.Chair Alexander Wynaendts said on Thursday that the end of Deutsche’s current long-term strategy cycle this year would be a “natural point in time to hand over the CFO responsibilities”. Von Moltke, whose contract expires in June next year, will be succeeded by Morgan…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Cryptocurrencies myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.European insurers will be penalised for holding cryptocurrencies under proposals announced by EU regulators on Thursday, imposing their most stringent capital requirements ever on bitcoin and other digital assets.The move is designed to discourage EU insurers from holding digital assets, at a time when the US has begun to loosen its restrictions on such holdings by traditional financial institutions. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority said it was recommending the European Commission introduce a 100 per cent capital requirement for all crypto assets…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Former UK taxpayers who may have only lived in the country for three years are learning that they can qualify for a state pension, under an arrangement that is set to end in the first week of April.A flurry of social media posts and news stories across the world has alerted people to the chance to get a UK state pension.“A $480,000 opportunity for Australians who did a stint in London”, declares a headline from the Australian Financial Review. A post on Instagram…