Innehållsförteckning för 1238 från MoneyWeek

Have you ever come across a helpful chatbot? Delayed in Scotland last weekend, I decided it would be easier to return my hired car in town rather than at the airport. I couldn’t find a phone number on Expedia’s website (it’s increasingly difficult to “contact us” these days) so I tried the “virtual agent” chat facility. It helpfully informed me that “I sometimes use AI to answer your questions”. My expectations weren’t high, but Expedia nonetheless managed to limbo dance beneath them. Having identified myself and typed my request, I was flummoxed to see that it didn’t actually answer the question, but simply brought up my booking as a button (with a pretty picture of Edinburgh) to press. So I pressed it, hoping to at least be able to ask…

“The crisis in France is emblematic of the challenges facing Europe. The first, and most critical, is that growth is anaemic. Germany’s economy is the same size today as it was in the fourth quarter of 2019. It has had five years of stagnation. Europe more generally lacks the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of the US. The whole ecosystem for startups is poor. But Europe’s challenges are not insurmountable. It would be possible to reinvigorate growth through a package of structural reforms. The challenge is to build a political consensus that favours introducing unpopular but necessary measures. A crisis in Europe is not inevitable. France is not the new Greece. The region is likely to continue muddling through. But Europe’s most acute problems are no longer concentrated in smaller economies.…

Mike Ashley has “stepped up” his campaign to be admitted onto the board of troubled online retailer Boohoo, says Christopher Jasper in The Telegraph. With just a week to go before the shareholders’ vote, Ashley has accused Boohoo’s founder Mahmud Kamani of being “egotistical” and “running the online retailer into the ground”. For its part, Boohoo, which has seen its shares fall by 90% over the past five years, has urged shareholders to reject the motion, arguing it has a “viable turnaround plan”. It also claims that Mike Ashley, who already owns a 28% stake in Boohoo via his retail empire Frasers Group, is “simply trying to destabilise the company” to “acquire its assets at a knockdown price”. Ashley’s diagnosis of a “catastrophic mess” at Boohoo is “reasonable”, says Nils…

“Khakis are making a comeback,” and so are shares in Gap, says Barron’s. The bricks-and-mortar retailer, whose brands include Gap, Banana Republic, Old Spice and Athleta, struggled with the rise of e-commerce giant Amazon and a failed collaboration with rapper Kanye West. But under new CEO Richard Dickson, Gap is improving profitability while reducing debt; it has also hired top fashion designer Zac Posen. The stock gained 13% after unexpectedly good third-quarter earnings. Gap’s shares are nonetheless “cheap”, and earnings are expected to expand. JP Morgan analysts think the shares could reach $30, about a fifth above current levels.…

With just two days to go before a deciding presidential vote, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the first round of the election, says the Financial Times. The unprecedented ruling followed the surge in popularity of Calin Georgescu, a far-right admirer of Vladimir Putin, who appeared from almost nowhere to take 23% of the vote. The court’s decision, viewed by some as anti-democratic, came after the president, Klaus Iohannis, declassified intelligence reports alleging Russian interference. According to the reports, Georgescu benefited from a campaign which included “cyber attacks, information leaks and sabotage”. Around 25,000 TikTok accounts became “very active” a fortnight before the election with Georgescu’s message allegedly being “amplified” by paid influencers. The election process will restart in a few months. This is the latest sign of Moscow’s “dedication to hybrid…

What cables are we talking about? There are two broad types of undersea (“submarine”) cables that form an increasingly vital part of the world’s global infrastructure. These are communications cables, which transmit data between continents, and power transmission cables, which carry ultra-high-voltage electricity. Taking the communications cables first: according to the research firm TeleGeography, there are 532 cable systems in service worldwide (as of September this year), with another 77 planned (these figures relate to publicly known communications systems, not power cables). These fibre-optic cables – which stretch for a million miles – are the backbone of the internet and international communications, including email, web pages and video calls. There is a common misapprehension that most global communication today is accomplished via satellites. In reality, more than 95% of all…

Regular readers will know that I am a longstanding bull on emerging markets – a position that feels more difficult with every passing year of disappointing returns. Emerging markets have lagged developed ones for more than a decade: 3.7% per year over ten years, versus 9.1% for the MSCI World and 4.7% for the MSCI World ex USA. Still, we can at least say that 2024 has been a bit underwhelming rather than awful. The MSCI Emerging Markets index is up by 13% so far this year (12% in sterling terms), which sounds reasonable until we note that the MSCI World is up by 22%. The exceptional performance of America plays a large role in this, and emerging markets have actually beaten the MSCI World ex USA (up 11%), but…

The performance of the shares of RIT Capital Partners (LSE: RCP) must be an acute embarrassment to the Rothschild family whose reputation for financial acumen stretches back centuries. With more than 20% of the £3.8bn trust, the family is the largest shareholder but its performance has been lamentable since the late Jacob Rothschild finally stepped down five years ago. In that time, the shares are down 4% while the MSCI ACWI index has risen 70%. Over three years, the figures are -25% versus 25%. Admittedly, the trust’s underlying investment performance is much better (44% over five years and flat over three), since the shares have fallen from a premium to net asset value (NAV) to a 29% discount. However, some of that differential is due to the 7% of the…

Crypto is reshaping markets Gillian TettFinancial Times The price of “memecoins” is soaring, says Gillian Tett. The most extreme example is the PNUT cryptocurrency, whose market capitalisation rocketed to more than $2bn within days. One explanation for the frenzy is that Donald Trump’s election – and his choice of “laissez faire crypto advocate” Paul Atkins to run the SEC financial regulator – has “created an opening for digital assets to go more mainstream”. Or maybe it’s just the “madness of crowds”. Even memecoin fans admit they have “scant practical use or fundamental value”. A third interpretation is that, just as social media has changed the “workings of politics”, it can “move asset prices, too”. We’ve already seen how “viral internet chatter” can move share prices, despite “mounting evidence” of the…

capx.co Ever since the industrial revolution, the success of Britain has been based on high domestic energy production and free trade, says Tom Jones. It has served us well: “food imports and energy exports won us two world wars and one world cup”. But this economic strategy is in danger of being consigned to the dustbin of history. To meet net-zero goals, Britain has scrapped its ageing coal-fired power stations. This decision was based on planned increases in nuclear-power generation, which have failed to materialise. A “hostile policy environment” has also “decimated” North Sea energy production. Meanwhile, there remains no cost-effective way of providing storage for intermittent renewable energy sources, making Labour’s plan to make Britain a “clean energy superpower” by 2030 unattainable. The government has set a target of…

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death… it’s much more serious than that.” So quipped legendary football manager Bill Shankly. What he said may be more true now then ever. Sports is now big business – and getting bigger all the time. Whether it is teams being bought for billions, broadcasters spending record sums on securing the broadcasting rights to matches, or the rise of “athleisure” wear, sports is clearly a “potentially attractive growth market globally”, says Sam North, a market analyst with eToro. And although large parts of the industry remain in private hands, there are many ways for investors to grab a slice of the pie. Here’s how. Strong growth and a safe haven It’s far from straightforward to work out just how big…

Are you considering giving a financial present this Christmas? If so, there are some festive rules you need to follow. Avoid putting cash into the post. Cash placed in a card is at the mercy of the Royal Mail and if it does go missing you won’t be compensated unless you sent it special delivery. A lost first- or second-class envelope will only receive the cost of the stamp as compensation, or up to £20 if you can provide evidence the money was in the card. Gift vouchers are another gamble. Many have expiry dates and if the voucher is lost or not spent before that date, then your money is gone. Moreover, if you have gift vouchers for a business that has gone bust you are unlikely to get…

Most of the attention – and anger – since Rachel Reeves’ Budget announcement on inheritance tax (IHT) has focused on the impacts on farmers. But family business owners are facing identical changes to the IHT rules under the chancellor’s plans. It’s vital they start to plan accordingly. The key change, due to come into effect from 6 April 2026, is to business property relief (BPR). Like agricultural property relief, its cousin in the farming sector, BPR currently takes the majority of businesses out of the IHT net; when you leave a business (or an interest in a business) to your heirs, or transfer it to them during your lifetime, there is no IHT to pay. That will change in 16 months’ time; only businesses worth less than £1m will qualify…

This was a good year for markets, with the FTSE and S&P 500 rising by 10% and 30% respectively. Similarly, while I suffered some reversals this year, it was generally a profitable 2024. Tips carried forward I began the year with 13 tips: seven longs (Computacenter, Mitie, Watches of Switzerland, Howden Joinery, SThree, easyJet and Moonpig) and six shorts (Paycom, GameStop,Sunrun, Robinhood, Joby Aviation and Carvana). As usual, all were closed during the course of the year. Construction firm Mitie was the first to be closed in Issue 1190, at a profit of £40. Watches of Switzerland was then stopped out in issue 1192, resulting in a loss of £468. My short of trading platform Robinhood was covered in issue 1196, losing £723, while my short of car retailer Carvana…

NV Gatinois, Brut Tradition, Grand Cru Aÿ, Champagne, France £39.70, reduced to £35.25 each by the case, hhandc.co.uk I have picked my two favourite Christmas Champagnes, not from famous names but from two smaller houses, shipped into the UK by the brilliant wine sniffers and swirlers at Haynes Hanson & Clark. Many years ago, I found my featured wine, Gatinois, when I sat next to its owner for lunch at Bollinger. This tiny house, based in the Grand Cru pinot noir stronghold of Aÿ alongside Bolly, was a supplier of top-flight grapes to bolster Bolly’s wines, while at the same time making a tiny amount of Champagne under its family name. Gatinois is one of the most extraordinary wines imaginable, with the faintest of pink hues coming from its dominant…

MoneyWeek is launching a Christmas Charity Appeal this year, and we have chosen YoungMinds, the youth mental health charity. Young people often struggle with their psychological health, and since the pandemic, which had an especially deleterious impact on them, there has been widespread coverage of a mental health emergency in children and young adults. Mental health problems can stem from the everyday pressures of life, but there is a particularly close link to anxiety over finances. Around 90% of young people worry about earning enough money, and 44% say they are always or often worried about buying their own house; 40% of children under 16 also worry about having sufficient money. Many young people struggle to access support when they need it, which is where YoungMinds comes in. A donation…

China has banned the export of rare minerals including gallium, germanium and antimony to the US, says Shola Lawal for Al Jazeera. It marks the latest tit-for-tat in a “tech war” as Washington restricts Beijing’s access to high-end computer chips. Gallium is used to make LED screens and solar cells; antimony is used in a wide range of military equipment. Rare earths are actually “not particularly rare” in the Earth’s crust, says Kayla Zhu for Visual Capitalist. The problem is that they are found in diluted quantities, making them expensive to refine and process. China accounts for more than two-thirds of global rare mineral production, and has a “near monopoly” on their separation and processing. The ban is not quite as dramatic as it sounds, says The New York Times.…

UK house prices rose 1.3% in November to a new record of £298,083, according to the Halifax House Price Index (HPI). House prices surpassed their summer 2022 record peak in October despite high interest rates and declining affordability. “Market activity typically slows at this time of year as buyers rush to finalise moves before Christmas,” Nicky Stevenson of Fine & Country tells The Guardian. This surge may be driven by a desire to complete transactions ahead of tax rises announced by the chancellor. Stamp-duty costs will rise by an average of £6,300 from April. Halifax calculates that house prices rose at an annual pace of 4.8% in the year to November, with the separate Nationwide HPI showing a 3.7% rise over the same period.…

Omnicom Group has agreed to buy Interpublic Group in an all-stock deal to form the world’s biggest advertising company, say Suzanne Vranica and Lauren Thomas in The Wall Street Journal. The combined entity would boast sales of over $20bn and include “storied ad agencies” such as TBWA, Weber Shandwick and McCann Worldgroup. The companies hope the deal will “usurp WPP as the industry’s biggest player and bring together some of the world’s best-known ad brands”. It is also supposed to produce cost savings of $750m in two years thanks to a “combined real-estate footprint, tech efficiencies, shared service centres and offshoring”. The savings “make the idea stack up financially”, says Jennifer Saba in Breakingviews. But the strategic rationale is a bit weaker, and their confidence that a “more business-friendly atmosphere…

Nvidia-backed start-up CoreWeave hopes to achieve a valuation of more than $35bn and raise more than $3bn from an initial public offering (IPO) in the US next year, says Reuters. The AI cloud-computing firm recently completed a $650m secondary share sale, which valued it at $23bn. CoreWeave is hoping to exploit investors’ enthusiasm for generative AI. It provides vital AI infrastructure such as data centres and rents out chips to other firms. The company competes with the likes of Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and Amazon Web Services. Earlier this year CoreWeave pledged to invest about £1.75bn in British AI infrastructure and opened its European headquarters in London.…

The political crisis in South Korea is deepening as president Yoon Suk Yeol refuses to resign, says Michelle Ye Hee Lee in The Washington Post. Yoon survived an impeachment vote last weekend after it was boycotted by lawmakers from his People Power Party (PPP). If the opposition’s second attempt to impeach him this Saturday is to succeed, eight of the PPP’s 108 lawmakers will need to break ranks. In the meantime, Yoon is being investigated on treason charges after his failed attempt to impose martial law last Tuesday, “ostensibly” to root out pro-North Korean forces and “thwart ‘anti-state’ activities” by the opposition. Although a sitting president has immunity from prosecution, he can be arrested or indicted for insurrection or treason. North Korea finally broke its silence on Wednesday, with the…

It might offer some useful tips on what shampoo to buy halfway through a chat about where to go on holiday. Or it could casually mention which brand of TV you should buy next while you are asking it to summarise a long and dull work memo. Conversations with ChatGPT or other leading artificial-intelligence systems could soon be very different. According to reports over the last week, OpenAI, the market leader, is looking at including advertising in its output. Others may follow its lead. It remains to be seen whether that will happen, but it would be quite the turnaround. OpenAI’s founder Sam Altman has previously described advertising as a “last resort” for the company. It had argued that subscription fees would be more than enough to keep it going.…

“Contrarian” is a term that gets used a lot in investing, but is difficult to define in a rigorous way. Broadly speaking, a contrarian strategy suggests going against the prevailing sentiment in markets, but clearly this does not mean doing the opposite of what everybody else is doing. If you were to sell whenever markets are going up and buy whenever they are going down, the only outcome would be that you would lose all your money. So we might conclude that a successful contrarian investor is one who recognises that the market is very often right, but looks for opportunities where taking a strongly opposite view may offer better chances of success. Contrarianism is often associated with value investing: a contrarian stockpicker might focus on finding stocks that are…

Metage Capital, an activist fund that took part in the campaign to overhaul Hipgnosis Song Fund last year, is now taking on HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE), says the Financial Times. The private-equity investment trust trades at a 45% discount to net asset value (NAV), which has doubled since July 2020, with the shares trailing far behind the growth in its £3.4bn portfolio. Most private-equity trusts are on discounts, but HVPE trades at a wider one than its peer group, and investors are concerned that it has raised debt to fund future investments. Closing the discount would create £1.3bn in value, says Metage, so the board should prioritise share buybacks over new investments and launch tender offers for investors to redeem 5% of holdings at NAV each quarter.…

“Fascism and communism are not two opposites, but two rival gangs fighting over the same territory.” Libertarian novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-82), quoted on social-media platform X “Somebody needs to make a list where they rank people by how much wealth they’ve created for other people, instead of the Forbes list that ranks you by your own wealth… Then I’ve created something like $2.1trn in wealth for other people. That should put me pretty high on some kind of list – and that’s a better list.” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on wanting to be judged by how rich he’s made others, quoted on Fortune “Contentment is the only real wealth.” Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, quoted in The Economist “I did not have my father, and my mother did not…

bloomberg.com Britain’s Office for National Statistics is in crisis, say Tom Rees and Philip Aldrick. Its workers say they are too afraid to raise issues with bosses, but problems have been building for almost a decade. The ONS suspended its survey of the labour market in October 2023 due to a drop in responses, for example, and although the survey has resumed, doubts remain about its accuracy. Funding constraints and a lack of modernisation have been blamed for the failings, and the ONS has struggled to attract and retain statisticians. This matters. The chair of parliament’s Treasury Select Committee has said she has “major concerns about the UK’s ability to set monetary and fiscal policy appropriately in the absence of reliable data about the labour market”. Bank of England officials,…

Most football clubs are privately owned, but there are a few listed on the stockmarket. Celtic (LSE: CCP) is an example. It is currently the dominant team in Scotland, winning 12 of the last 13 Scottish Premiership titles, and is nine points clear at the top of the table at the time of writing. Its storied history, having won no less than 54 top division titles and 42 Scottish cups, gives the club a powerful brand. It has grown revenue by roughly 50% between 2019 and 2024 and is consistently profitable. It trades at 15.7 times 2015 earnings, which looks like good value. Investing in a single club can be risky, so it might make more sense to invest in a company that owns multiple clubs, such as Madison Square…

Have you filed your tax return yet? If not, you’re far from alone. In 2023-2024 a total of 33,000 people waited until after 11pm on deadline day – 31 January – to submit their self-assessment returns. Worse, 1.1 million missed the deadline altogether, nearly double the previous year’s figure. The surge in late filings is partly due to the growing number of people now required to submit tax returns. Many “may be unaware of their obligations to file a return and could run the risk of penalties”, says Rupert Jones in The Guardian. While taxpayers scramble, HMRC is cashing in. Since 2020, it has collected £916m in interest from overdue tax bills, according to The Sunday Times. The amount of interest collected on late payments has tripled from £113m in…

Are you ready for the European Union’s new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)? It puts new responsibilities on UK businesses selling non-food goods to consumers in the EU and in Northern Ireland, with the new rules coming into effect on 13 December. The good news is that the regulation isn’t especially onerous. It largely replaces existing rules on product safety, with which your business should already be compliant. But there are also some new requirements. In particular, businesses need to have a named individual who can be contacted about product safety. They must also ensure their products are traceable by consumers – through batch or serial numbers, for example. The potential cost of the latter requirement has worried some firms that don’t currently put batch or serial numbers on their…

It has been an eventful year, with elections in the UK and America. So it’s not surprising that the column made a lot of tips – 54 made since the start of the year. Of these, 36 paid off, including 18 of the 21 relating to Britain’s general election. However, a lot of the successful bets were made at relatively short odds, so overall I made a negative return of around 9.1%. My actual performance was probably slightly better than these figures suggest, since even before this year started I had made some winning bets on the UK and US elections, such as the bet on Labour getting an overall majority, or on Biden or Harris being the Democrats’ nominee. Still, I can certainly learn a lot of lessons from…

It was a big night for the British contingent at the Fashion Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London this month, says Stephen Doig in The Telegraph. But perhaps the most remarkable moment amid all the glitz and glamour was “a rare moment of tenderness” from Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. While presenting Tom Ford with an award for outstanding achievement, she became overwhelmed with emotion talking about his new role as a single father following the death of his partner, Richard Buckley, in 2021. “Tom is an extraordinary designer and a great film maker,” she said. Now he has also emerged as a “remarkable father”. The award tops an incredible career. Ford (pictured), now 63, was born in Austin, Texas, in 1961, and moved to New York to…

Investors searching for a coherent economic policy in Donald Trump’s pronouncements “are about as likely to find enlightenment as soothsayers poking around in the entrails of a sacrificial goat”, says Ben Wright in The Telegraph. That hasn’t stopped US stocks from rallying since his election win. You might think the president-elect’s talk of tariff wars and mass deportations would be giving investors pause. Instead, they have been frenetically pulling funds from Europe and emerging markets and piling into Wall Street. Money managers seem to have concluded that Trump’s return means there is no alternative to US stocks. Wall Street has been having a “phenomenal” year, with the S&P 500 up 27% and the Nasdaq 100 rising 29%, says the Novel Investor blog. The last two years have been unusually “calm”,…

Shares in UnitedHealth slumped by 10% following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson last week. Many people were “indifferent” to the assassination, with the group’s business practices in the spotlight instead. Some lambasted the group for “placing greater emphasis on their bottom line [than] providing quality coverage to its insurees”. Some investors worry that UnitedHealth “will see reduced customer loyalty, resulting in worse financial performance”. It’s not only UnitedHealth, which saw its market capitalisation fall by $55bn, that is facing pressure, says Forbes’ Derek Saul. There has been a wider sell-off in health insurance shares with a range of companies, such as Elevance Health, Cigna, Centene and Humana all losing ground. The fear seems to be that the anti-insurer sentiment expressed by the public may pressure the industry…

Five to buy Amazon The Telegraph Amazon dominates in e-commerce and cloud computing, which is expected to get a further boost from the rapid adoption of AI. Group revenue has soared from $2.8bn in 2000 to an expected $638bn in 2024. The shares are valued at 34 times next year’s earnings, but expected profit growth may cut this to more than 20 times in three years. Despite regulatory risks, Amazon’s strong cash flows and growth prospects make it attractive. $208 Dunelm The TimesDunelm’s first-quarter sales rose 3.5%, and revenue reached £403m, defying the gloom surrounding consumers’ confidence. The homeware retailer is targeting a 10% market share in the medium term by expanding its product range and opening new shops. At the same time, the Home Focus acquisition provides an entry…

● “Vodafone has changed the narrative for UK and global takeovers” by overcoming the idea that “more competitors in a marketplace must be better for consumers”, says Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. The telecoms firm has convinced the Competition & Markets Authority to wave through a £16.5bn merger of its UK business with rival Three. CEO Margherita Della Valle (pictured) made the case that investing £11bn to upgrade the combined networks would force EE and O2 to “lift their game”. For shareholders, Vodafone is a “serial disappointment” – the £100bn sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless in the US in 2013 produced a “sugar rush” of buybacks and dividends, but poor decision-making has left it a “shrunken force”. Della Valle argues that it’s now in a better position:…

“All the red lights are flashing” around expensive US stocks, says Anthony Bolton, the now-retired fund manager who spent almost 30 years running the Fidelity Special Situations fund between 1979 and 2007, returning 19.5% per year over that time. “There’s going to be a day of reckoning.” The US stockmarket has rallied to record highs this year, propelled by the Magnificent Seven group of US tech giants, which account for about 30% of the S&P 500. The index has soared more than 25% this year, with chipmaker Nvidia returning more than 200%. However, the result of that is that many portfolios are now too concentrated, especially among passive investors using global funds, Bolton told a seminar last month. “The US is 67% of the world. So people who are investing…

■ Finsbury Growth & Income will introduce a continuation vote in 2026 after a period of disappointing performance, says Investment Week. For the year to September 2024, Finsbury reported an underlying return of 8.2%, below the FTSE All-Share index’s 13.4%, while the trust’s discount to net asset value (NAV) doubled to 8.7%. Manager Nick Train has been reducing his allocation to consumer goods firms, which have struggled after the pandemic, and shifting towards data and technology companies. Bringing in the continuation vote is likely to “limit any shareholder discount” and help support the trust’s valuation, says broker Winterflood. Elsewhere in continuation votes, Schroder Capital Global Innovation – formerly the Woodford Patient Capital Trust – will bring forward a vote originally scheduled for May to January or February. Investors are expected…

lawliberty.org “Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore,” said US president Joe Biden, as he increased spending and turned on the money taps. More’s the pity, says Iain Murray – for, as the free-market economist argued, that is a recipe for inflation, and voters hate inflation. Biden just found this out the hard way. Another piece of Friedman wisdom, known as the “Friedman doctrine” – that the social responsibility of business was to increase profits – was also on the way out. It gave way to the idea that business also has responsibilities to the wider community and that profits should be subordinated to claims from labour, customers and patrons. But experience shows that all this means in practice is catering to special interests over customers. Customers have revolted, spurning…

Shares in pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) took a hit last month after the head of the company’s Chinese business was detained. Reports suggested the Chinese government was looking into allegedly fraudulent practices in the division. The stock has now fallen by a fifth in three months. It’s not often that investors are presented with the opportunity to buy a great company at a discounted price. When these opportunities emerge, it usually pays to snap them up, as they won’t be around for long. Investors seem to have panicked. While there is a risk that any investigation could lead to sanctions against the company, China only comprises 13% of the group’s top line, and the market isn’t as important as it once was. Growth is slower than in bigger, and…

● “Insurers are expecting a surge in damage claims after… Storm Darragh, the third batch of severe weather to batter the country in a month,” reports Ali Hussain in The Sunday Times. Most home insurance and comprehensive car insurance policies cover storm damage, so if your property or car was affected, file a claim quickly to speed up repairs and limit costs. Take photos or videos of the damage before clearing up, and don’t throw away anything that could be repaired unless it’s dangerous. Keep receipts for repairs and records of all communication with your insurer. Check your policy documents or insurer’s website for a 24-hour helpline. ● Some of Britain’s biggest charities, including the British Heart Foundation, Save the Children and Oxfam, are using public donations to support costly…

● Could your business be eligible for financial support from a government levelling-up fund? Ministers have confirmed that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), introduced under the previous Conservative government, will be extended from April 2025 to March 2026, with £900m of additional funding available (though this is down on this year’s funding of £1.5bn). The UKSPF is administered through local authorities; check with yours to see if and when grants are available. ● Employers preparing to be generous this Christmas need to be careful: go too far and staff could face an unexpected tax bill. There’s nothing to stop you offering employees a seasonal gift, but if it is judged to be worth more than a trivial amount – typically £50 – they’ll be required to pay tax and…

The trust aims to provide investors with access to a wide range of opportunities in China, leveraging the unique advantages of its structure, such as the ability to use gearing, invest in private companies, and employ derivatives. I look for firms with scalable growth potential, strong returns on capital based on a clear competitive advantage and strong management. These often align with secular growth trends, but I pay close attention to cyclicality, as it can also present opportunities. I prioritise management teams with a proven record of strong execution and favour under-researched small- and mid-cap stocks capable of outperforming the market. “The outlook for drugs and medical devices in the Middle Kingdom remains positive” Gaining momentum from medicine One company I have invested in is Medlive Technology (Hong Kong: 2192).…

A watch for all time This stylish Panthère de Cartier 18-carat, rose-gold watch from one of the most renowned Parisian jewellers was first created in the 1980s as much as an item of jewellery as a high-quality wristwatch. Its square dial, synthetic-sapphire glass and stylised Roman numerals will ensure it remains a timeless classic. £25,400, selfridges.com Good morning! Wake up to a bright and colourful morning every day by slipping into the Giacomo hooded striped cotton-terry robe from Italian luxury fashion house Missoni. Its cosy hood, longline silhouette and cotton-terry fabric, featuring the brand’s signature chevron-striped pattern, will keep its wearer warm throughout the long winter nights. £315, net-a-porter.com Join the mile-high style club Kella is a holdall made from supple calf leather and adorned with antique brass metalwork that…