On the look-out for opportunities

Animal spirits are finally stirring again to you

It has been a long wait, but animal spirits are finally stirring again. Not just in financial markets, where the bull market has been underway for more than five years now, but in the real world of corporate activity.

Bank of Gran and Grandad

Three quarters of grandparents say that they have dipped into their savings to help their grandchildren this year

Forget the bank of Mum and Dad – today’s young people are now receiving help from the bank of Gran and Grandad, with millions of grandparents offering financial support to their grandchildren.

Investing in a highly complex world

Easy-to-understand groupings should be viewed with caution

Investors like to sort things into neat categories; it helps make sense of a highly complex world. Categories like ‘Emerging Markets’, ‘BRICs’ and the ‘Fragile Five’ have all been invented as easy-to-understand groupings of supposedly similar countries. Yet we have to be careful of such generalisations, because the more research you do, the more you realise that there are often more differences than similarities between these groupings.

Pension wealth check

10 ideas served up to help you maximise your pension provision

It’s important to review your pension planning regularly to make sure it still meets your specific requirements. Over time, your circumstances may have changed, so we have provided ten areas that, if appropriate to your particular situation, should be reviewed.