Operating profits increase Cash generation disappoints Rebranding as Standard Life After a strong run year-to-date, life insurer and asset manager Phoenix Group (PHNX) met profit-taking after posting a mixed first-half trading update. The shares fell as much as 43p or 6.4% to 627p before stabilising around 637p for a loss of 32p or nearly 5%, leaving them with a gain of 25% since January. >...

According to the latest Dividend Monitor report from Computershare, which looks after the share registers of 900 companies, total UK corporate dividend payments fell 4.6% or £700 million in the first quarter of this year to £14 billion. The decline was mainly due to lower one-off special dividends and a handful of large cuts from firms such as Burberry (BRBY) and Vodafone (VOD), which halved...

Wealth managers least likedBank of Georgia gets full houseReal estate popular among analystsHumans generally feel more comfortable in groups which partly explains why stock prices often move in broad trends: knowing other investors and analysts have come to the same conclusion about a company breeds confidence in the investment case, whether or not it turns out to be correct.A rarer breed of...

Ocado still the number one shortRetailers in general unlovedEnergy services stocks drilledShort-selling, or borrowing shares to sell in the hope of buying them back at a lower price, is not something most retail investors have the nerve or the skill-set to pull off as it requires a certain mindset and a willingness to tolerate heavy losses on occasion until your bets come right.For the pros,...

Stock prices in the UK fell Friday morning after retail sales came in below forecasts after a rainy April.The FTSE 100 index opened down 53.88 points, 0.7%, at 8,285.35. The FTSE 250 was down 95.18 points, 0.5%, at 20,536.12, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.37 points, 0.3%, at 802.65.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 826.62, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.6% at 17,972.38, and the Cboe Small...

The recent wave of takeovers and mergers in the quoted UK commercial real estate sector has continued this week with the proposed all-share takeover of UK Commercial Property (UKCM) by Tritax Big Box (BBOX).The deal, which values UKCM at 71.1p per share or a 10.8% premium to the previous day?s closing price, would create the UK?s fourth-largest REIT (real estate investment trust) by market cap...

Equities in London were on the up heading into Wednesday afternoon, with a better UK economic data and measures out of China lifting the mood.The pound climbed on an improved UK purchasing managers? index reading, while miners cheered a move by China?s central bank which it hopes will spark some life into the Asian economy.Over in Frankfurt, SAP was one of the stories of the day. The software...

As we approach the end of the year it is an opportune moment to shine a light on some of this year's least-loved stocks.Rather than look at the stocks which have lost the most, we have collected together those trading at or near their lows for the year along with those with the fewest friends in the analyst community and those which the hedge fund community thinks are outright shorts.If we...

We would hesitate to call it a wave of consolidation - maybe a ripple would be more appropriate - but this year has seen a number of mergers among investment trusts.There is a long tail of sub-scale funds and trusts in the UK all desperate to attract more investors, but with the average discount to net asset value hitting 18% at the end of October, according to research from Winterflood...

Having only been promoted to the FTSE 100 index last December, fund management firm Abrdn (ABDN) is looking to be a leading candidate for demotion from the large-cap benchmark at the next quarterly review. Confirmation of the changes to the index were due as this edition of Shares was being finalised.Since 27 July, the shares have fallen by more than 30% despite the group posting 4% growth in...

Quarterly review due in weeks Four likely winners and losersA further three stocks could drop outWe may only be half-way through the third quarter, but already it looks as though there will be quite a few changes to the benchmark FTSE 100 index when the topic comes up for review next month.Promotion to, and demotion from, the index can have a big effect on the share prices of the firms...

Newly published research names and shames the funds which have failed to deliver for investors over three consecutive 12-month periods.The latest 'Spot The Dog' report has identified 56 equity funds as serious and persistent underperformers - a 27% increase on 44 dog funds exposed in the last report in January 2023.The amount of assets held in dog funds has more than doubled from £19.1...

Abrdn shares tumble almost 10% on updateQuilter shares jump 13% on raised outlook Abrdn the most unloved UK stockShares in fund management group Abrdn (ABDN) slid to the bottom of the FTSE 100 leaderboard with a drop of 9.5% to 198p after it revealed a drop in total assets in the first half.In contrast, shares in FTSE 250 wealth management firm Quilter (QLT) rallied over 13% to 80.5p as assets...

Another week, another takeover - this time it is alternative asset manager Gresham House (GHE:AIM), which is being bought by private equity firm Searchlight for £470 million.At £11.05 per share, 63% above the previous closing price and 10% above the all-time high a year ago, the purchase price represents an enterprise value of almost 16 times last year's earnings before interest, tax,...

Deal sees veteran Pease bow outConsolidation gathering paceListed UK firms could be vulnerable to takeoversCompetition for customers and the need for economies of scale are driving another round of consolidation in the UK wealth management industry with the announcement this week of yet another deal.Yesterday it emerged that hedge fund Lansdowne Partners had agreed to acquire equities...

According to fabled US stock market trader Jessie Livermore 'the big swings make the big money'.Livermore was used by Edwin Lefervre as the basis for the character of Larry Livingstone in his investment classic Reminiscences of a Stock Operator. The bestselling book, dedicated to his memory, was published a century ago but this same truth of the importance of the big picture is evident in the...

- Three new faces in the FTSE 100- Five stocks join the FTSE 250- Changes take effect from 19 DecemberIndex compiler FTSE Russell, owned by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), has just released the results of its December quarterly review.Three stocks are being promoted to the FTSE 100 large-cap index, meaning three stocks are leaving to join the FTSE 250 mid-cap universe, as Shares...

On 5 September, asset manager Abrdn (ABDN) announced that veteran and very successful fund manager Harry Nimmo will retire from the firm and the industry at the end of 2022 after the best part of four decades with the company.The news will have certainly set the nerves of investors in Abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust (AUSC) and Abrdn UK Smaller Companies (B7FBH94) jangling, given that...

- Index changes to be announced tonight- Three new names to join the FTSE 100- Four new faces in the mid-cap FTSE 250Investors with FTSE tracker funds will be keenly waiting for details of the latest index reshuffle due to be published after the market close tonight.As well as changes to the FTSE 100 big-cap index there are expected to be several changes to the FTSE 250 mid-cap benchmark and...

In bear and bull markets, economic expansion or recession, income is rarely out of fashion with retail investors. Evenlode Income (BD0B7D5) has become one of the UK's favourite fund options, a £3.34 billion actively managed fund that has outstripped its UK equity income category almost three-to-one over the past decade.In a year of red-hot inflation and interest rates rising from historic...