By Ian Fraser Published: Financial Times (FTfm) Date: November 27th, 2006 The manager of Personal Assets Trust tells Ian Fraser soaring debt could leave investors blessing his ultra-defensive strategy Ian Rushbrook has been so bearish on global equity markets for so long he has earned himself the nickname “perma-bear”. Despite the market recovery since mid-June, […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald November 27th, 2006 Diplomat-cum-engineer Anton Colella outlines his vision of the future ANTON Colella, newly installed chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), sees one of his immediate priorities as the building of bridges with the institute’s counterpart south of the border. In his first interview […]
By Ian Fraser FT Adviser November 23rd, 2006 Mform, a new online mortgage business that bypasses intermediaries by linking consumers directly to lenders, is targeting a 1% share of the UK mortgage market in its first year of operation. The company has launched a website that permits consumers to search thousands of home loan options. […]
By Ian Fraser World Business November 20th, 2006 In nine years, Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris has built Cairo-based Orascom Telecom into a global force, with 41 million subscribers worldwide. The company, which is a leader in the pre-paid cellphone market, has operations in Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Last year it pulled […]
By Ian Fraser Financial Times FTfm section November 20th, 2006 The outperforming Saracen Growth Fund uses set criteria in its search for value, writes Ian Fraser Jim Fisher is an old hand at boutiques. He founded his first, SFM Investment Management, in 1993 and sold it four years later before founding his second, Saracen Fund […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald November 13th, 2006 THE replacement of quarterly and annual financial reporting with real-time, internet-based reporting would only serve to promote short-termism and would be of limited benefit to investors, accountancy institutes have warned. They were responding to a heavily-promoted joint paper in which the chief executives of the Big Four […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald November 6th, 2006 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has denied that it will intervene to block the planned independent complaints handling body for Scottish solicitors from scrutinising claims under the Law Society of Scotland’s controversial master insurance policy. Last week, Douglas Mill, the society’s chief executive, said the FSA – […]
By Ian Fraser The Herald November 6th, 2006 Scotland’s attempt to metamorphose into a high-value knowledge-based economy is likely to fail, unless the Scottish Executive commits to creating a more progressive justice system for intellectual property (IP). This wake-up call has been issued by David Moreland, a partner in Glasgow-based patent attorneys Marks & Clerk […]
By Ian Fraser Published: Headroom (published by KPMG International) Date: November 6th, 2006 Where are the lowest tax rates? What happens when you live and work across different tax jurisdictions? Headroom examines the possibilities within Europe Ian Fraser reports As you toil away in one of Europe’s established financial centers, beset by high taxes and […]
By Ian Fraser The Sunday Times November 5th, 2006 BEN THOMSON, chief executive of the Edinburgh-based investment bank Noble Group, has weighed into the debate on independence, saying it could create “a more attractive environment for business”. Thomson, 43, said: “I’m not at all afraid either of fiscal autonomy or independence. “I would welcome it […]