Matthew Vincent



Profile:


Full name: Matthew Vincent

Area of interest: Market econonomics - companies, finance, investment

Journals: Financial Times

Email: [mailto:matthew.vincent@ft.com matthew.vincent@ft.com]

Website: FT.com / Serious Money

Blog:

Agent:

Networks:



Biography:
Education:

Career: Began career with Moneywise (consumer finance magazine) becoming its editor and staying for five years; Investors Chronicle: editor - presented the award-winning online video The Market Programme; launched the BBC-FT standalone magazine ‘How to be Better Off’

Current position/role: Personal finance editor - edits the Weekend Money section, presents the FT Money Show podcast, writes for the daily newspaper and FT Wealth magazine


 * also writes/written for: The Spectator

Other roles:

Other activities:

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Viewpoints/Insight:

TV/Radio: presented BBC2’s ‘Pound for Pound’ personal finance programme; regular contributor to personal finance progammes on the BBC, ITN, Sky and CNBC

Controversy/Criticism:

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Latest work:

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Current debate: 

Financial Times: 'Serious money'
Column remit: Market ecoonomics - companies, finance, investment

Section: Money

Role: Personal finance editor

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:matthew.vincent@ft.com matthew.vincent@ft.com]

Website: FT.com / Serious Money

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Saturday (in print)

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2011

 * make us choke on the sauce for the goose'' - Another week, another set of idiotic rules from  Europe: this time, unisex pensions! - 5th February
 * wants to protect us from ourselves'' - This week, the FSA has proposed “prohibiting the sale of specific products to specific customer segments” to protect us all from “detriment” - 29th January
 * industry devoid of spivs and spinners? Some hope'' - There is a gaping hole in the new rules for financial advice – through which the unscrupulous will continue to slip - 22nd January
 * they think we’re daft? Or am I being stupid?'' - If we had better regulation of investment terminology and marketing, we could be trusted to make our own decisions - 15th January
 * wisdom of age, applied to equity forecasting'' - If eyesight seldom improves in later life, why should foresight? - 8th January



Articles: 2010

 * bless us, every one! (yes, even the taxman)'' - What do tax inspectors give as Christmas presents? - 18th December
 * and pension reforms: joined up or mixed up?'' - How “joined up” is the coalition government’s thinking on, say, tax and pensions? - 11th December
 * belts tighten, fund managers feather their nests'' - Looking forward to a pay rise in the new year? - 5th December
 * you believe in Santa, or double-digit returns?'' - A 0.11 percentage-point increase in savings rates hardly bring comfort and joy – but there are two ways to make 11 per cent, honest - 27th November
 * had it so good? Try telling a saver'' - Lord Young may be right about low mortgage rates, but we would all be better off if interest rates were higher - 20th November
 * you split, think of the pension'' - Courts in the UK are apparently expecting a rush on pre-nups after last week’s landmark decision to uphold one - 30th October
 * should wield more pension power'' - How women save for their pensions (answer: they don’t) - 23rd October
 * place all your nest-eggs in one pension basket'' - There are already a lot of unknowns when you’re investing for the long term - 16th October
 * feel the squeeze amid regulation crossfire'' - Could any chancellor with a £155bn deficit allow the housing prices, domestic demand and tax revenues to fall lower? - 9th October
 * debt advice that won’t leave you bankrupt'' - If consumers can be directed to free, independent advice on the web, they stand a better chance of reducing their debt and increasing their savings - 2nd October
 * to sell pension reform... make it cheap'' - Fixing Britain’s pensions crisis would be money well spent – and it needn’t cost the government much at all - 25th September
 * glasses obscure commission issues'' - Since Investors Chroncile was first published in 1860, avoiding “specualtive transactions” and using low-cost funds has always been a challenge - 18th September
 * and savings before death and taxes'' - The government’s consultations on pension reform must remove all the barriers to saving - 11th September
 * high fives for absolute losers'' - We prefer to receive money little and often – but it can be hard to spot an fund dispensing regular returns - 4th September
 * my (free) advice and avoid a haymaking IFA'' - I wonder whether the Financial Services Authority had the phrase “making hay while the sun shines” in mind when it decided to ban commission for financial advisers - 28th August
 * conundrum to chew over'' - Fund performance fees are duplicitous and “gratuitous” - 21st August
 * double charging'' - Fund charges are still going up, and the addition of extra performance fees appears widespread and unwarranted, according to new research - 14th August
 * month in the country'' - After the corporate earnings season, the grouse shooting season – and both involve picking off the tastiest morsels - 7th August
 * mixed report card on pensions'' - It’s the end of term in Whitehall. At last! Yet the Treasury still managed to bash out nine consultation documents on Tuesday alone - 31st July
 * democracy seriously damage your wealth?'' - There is little evidence that majority rule delivers better financial outcomes – and investors can now put this to the test with two innovative funds - 24th July
 * of movement and mortgages'' - Lending must become more responsible – but restricting choice for homeowners makes me nervous - 17th July
 * the public a service – fund your own pension'' - Retirement benefits can be replicated using tax-efficient plans - 10th July
 * words with deeper meaning'' - Why did the emergency Budget contain no reference to tax incentives for investing in private businesses? Perhaps it didn't need to - 26th June
 * can come of FSA’s demise'' - Young and old will be better off if one major FSA strategy is adopted by the new regulator: the banning of commission for advisers - 19th June
 * painful cuts from comfortable surroundings'' - Civil servants need a common-sense approach to encouraging savings - 12th June
 * slippery matter of whether or not to buy BP'' - Would you buy BP shares? It depends on whether you adopt a dispassionate “value-investing” approach, or a sentiment-driven “momentum-investing” strategy - 5th June
 * taxpayers end up in a jam tomorrow?'' - Changes to capital gains tax might affect investor behaviour – but the power of inertia can make a lot more difference - 29th May
 * the upside to index tracker funds?'' - Are trackers just too “dumb” for difficult times? Perhaps. But there are plenty of intelligent index investments, that can offer you protection - 15th May
 * radical pension reform? Look in the Mirror'' - Serious Money: Robert Maxwell’s approach could make long-term saving more attractive to all – and earn the support of any coalition government - 8th May
 * bets for the hung-up'' - So, with just days to go, what can private investors do to hedge against electoral disappointment – and financial distress? - 1st May
 * hangover behind a hung parliament'' - Women and young people now hold the balance of power – but have most to lose if there’s no consensus on pensions and the deficit - 24th April
 * anti-rich rules pose a threat to all our pensions'' - 9th April
 * commission'' - Politicians should be debating financial advice – because it will be harder to save for a “fairer” future when pensions and jobs are cut - 6th April
 * chancellors avoid juvenile debate'' - Vagueness over national insurance misses the point: the child trust fund should be the model for a new pension schem - 3rd April
 * delve into Darling’s devilish details'' - Did you spot the loopholes, quirks and anomalies in the Budget? - 27th March
 * for a nicer Isa? Always read the label'' - Still not chosen a fund for your 2009-2010 individual savings account (Isa) - 20th March
 * play the percentage game – and lose'' - A safety-first approach using absolute-returns funds can still stack the odds against you - 13th March
 * spy an investment opportunity'' - Would you like me to write about the next big investment opportunity? - 6th March
 * Isas for faster returns'' - Performance could be improved – and drag reduced – by adopting some of the innovations being proposed by fund groups - 27th February
 * in music – stupid or clever?'' - Live performance has a potential for recurring revenues that greatest hits albums now lack - 20th February
 * bubbles and emerging markets'' - Two new studies of 110 years of returns have reached some consensus-busting conclusions about investment boom - 13th February
 * income plus low risk'' - Bank of England governor Mervyn King is clearly not an income investor – but he has left the rest of us with a difficult decision - 6th February
 * protection I can sign up to'' - In the absence of reasonably priced insurance, I think mortgage borrowers deserve regulatory protection against unnecessary penalty charges - 30th January
 * is a drag....but so are fees'' - Rising prices and restricted banks will make it harder to generate “real” equity returns – so lower fund charges are needed now - 23rd January
 * kind of snow, wrong kind of fund manager'' - Fund managers’ productivity hasn’t suffered because of the weather – but their portfolio turnover is resulting in less than scorching performance - 16th January
 * miss the starter’s gun'' - The government needs to be swifter, higher, stronger... in the Olympian task of launching the new workplace pension - 9th January



Articles: 2009

 * to repay'' - With £4bn of personal debt to clear, and £6bn of depleted savings to rebuild, investors making New Year resolutions could do with some support - 31st December
 * nice way to repay the debt of the Noughties'' - This was the decade in which efforts to encourage investing, rather then borrowing, came to nought – but there is a solution - 19th December
 * quite fair enough'' - Let’s see which of the tax changes are set fair when measured on the FT Money barometer? - 12th December
 * the trail of commission rebates'' - If you bought a new car, what would you think if the salesperson rang you up the next year – and the year after that – and asked you for more money just because they’d sold you the car that one time? - 5th December
 * reigns over the feckless and reckless'' - The Supreme Court ruling on bank charges was a welcome moment of sanity in a dispute characterised by hypocrisy – and a vindication of financial responsibility - 28th November
 * expectations need a reality check'' - Investors still have great expectations of equities, and of UK fund managers – but they should be questioning the latest profit forecasts - 21st November
 * manifesto for the reform of fund fees'' - For how long can you levy charges on individuals, without giving them a say in how it is done? I continue to ask this question of fund managers - 14th November
 * burning issue for index trackers'' - Treason and plot were just a few of the accusations levelled against me, for the apparently incendiary suggestion that the hidden costs of investment funds were a menace - 7th November
 * Expenses Robbery'' - One former fund manager believes the industry is short changing customers to the tune of £5.8bn – by keeping charges hidden - 31st October
 * a new system of income investing'' - As Apple and Microsoft continue to do battle, Far Eastern tech stocks are doing something revolutionary: paying dividends - 24th October
 * on the unpopular side of defence'' - For how long can you go on defending the indefensible? That rather depends on whether you’re an MP or a journalist writing about structured products - 17th October
 * mores for a less prosperous era'' - This week, lengthening recession and deepening government debt brought about a change in etiquette: brutal honesty is now the best policy - 10th October
 * attract, particularly now'' - It’s not easy being contrarian. It never has been - 3rd October
 * rich raise the cry of ‘No surrender’'' - This week’s “FutureWealth” research astonished me: spite of “financial Armageddon”, two out of three millionaires say they were no worse off -26th September
 * Money'' - Readers of The Economist set great store by its “Big Mac Index”. But FT readers might gain more from an index of burger warehouse prices - 19th September
 * Goff: Welcome to the less-brave new world'' - Former Lehman employees have spent the last year making drastic changes. But for investors, the rollercoaster ride seems almost to have come full circle - 12th September
 * your coat according to your cloth'' - So it seems the credit crunch has claimed its latest victim: the pin-striped suit - 5th September
 * GDP is investors’ MSG'' - The trouble with Chinese food – so the cliché goes – is that, half an hour later, you’re hungry again. Much the same can be said of Chinese economic data - 29th August
 * should hit all the right notes'' - New traders pushed the daily value of transactions on Chinese stock exchanges up to $63bn – more than the $58bn dealt on the markets of New York, London and Tokyo put together. - 22nd August
 * a go at daylight robbery'' - Some investment trusts look like a steal – allowing investors to grab assets on the cheap, and get a lot more money for them later - 15th August
 * prices pose sizeable question'' - Statistically, the FTSE has equalled its best ever run, and house prices have achieved their strongest rise in two years. But might these observations be wide of the mark? - 1st August
 * bulls than Pamplona'' - One stockbroker claimed this week that “almost four out of five” UK investors “were bullish”. But too many of them don’t actually know what bullish behaviour looks like - 25th July
 * and wiser'' - Growing old is no longer something that you can afford to leave too late – not if the latest government policy reviews are any indicator - 17th July
 * paper over the cracks'' - What is it about new regulatory frameworks to restore confidence in the UK banking system? You wait all year for one… then two come along at once - 11th July
 * accomplished'' - How do you make a Maltese cross? The answer, as any schoolboy knows, is “poke him with a sharp stick” - 4th July
 * a mission impossible'' - Why is it still impossible for a fund manager to offer a low-cost fund that can beat the index? Is this another peculiarly British failing? - 27th June
 * for a confident recovery'' - Far be it from me to dent investors’ confidence, but there are two small problems with all the bullish sentiment indicators being published right now - 20th June
 * cops bring down Keydata'' - By lurching from good cop to bad cop, the FSA has destroyed confidence in a whole range of structured product providers, when none were at fault – or in default - 13th June
 * it a fair cop?'' - Independent financial advisers fear regulatory scrutiny of their asset allocation choices – and they have case to answer over costs and correlations - 6th June
 * managers jump into the market'' - Fund managers have leapt into equity markets with the courage of their convictions – but with the investment equivalent of a parachute strapped to their portfolios - 30th May
 * on a brave face'' - Fear and greed, as we all know, drive the market. What we’ve found out this week is how quickly investors can become emboldened – and voracious - 16th May
 * no big thing, the toll of the bell'' - They rang the bell twice on one stockbrokers’ trading floor, to mark record-breaking trading volumes. But fund investors are less likely to follow these sharedealing bellwethers - 9th May
 * injustice puts Sir Fred in front'' - Closer inspection of the proposed – and already imposed – changes to pension taxation reveal three injustices. All of them visit the sins of the RBS banker upon the pension saver - 2nd May
 * earners pay the consequences'' - Last year, I suggested: “Chancellors should pay less lip service to golden rules, and more attention to the law of unintended consequences. Alistair Darling, it seeems, has grasped 50 per cent – in more ways than one - 25th April
 * so good'' - They are called “kidults” or “the Boomerang generation”. Children who happily leave home, only to return a few years later as they realise they can’t afford to pay their rent - 18th April
 * but not cheap'' - Some equity investors seem remarkably chirpy at the moment. But there is now a new way to screen out their noise: the online FT Stock Screener tool - 11th April
 * Money'' - Is April the month when the storms blow over and a sunnier outlook inspires the return of growth? And, if so, should it influence your choice of Isa investment? - 4th April
 * inflationary lesson for young and old'' - In spite of this week’s 0 per cent RPI figure, inflation is very much a reality for anyone over 50, or not in the richest 3 deciles – reaching 6 per cent for older pensioners - 28th March
 * Old Lady’s not for Turnering'' - It’s easy for a regulator to be wise after the event. What really matters is how the lessons of the Bank of England’s past are used to improve our financial future - 21st March
 * a glass to some quick-fix tonics'' - As they stare into pension pots that are almost literally half empty, late 50-something investors must feel they’re drinking in the last chance saloon - 14th March
 * come, easy go'' - You’ve run out of money. What do you do? Invent some out of thin air and try to spend it. Clever! - 7th March
 * head start – and a shot in the arm'' - Sometimes, you just need a bit of head start. And there is one investment that can put you 60 metres down the track in a 100 metre race: an EIS - 21st February
 * to live – and invest – by'' - Rule No. 1: If something is good for you, it’s probably not very appealing. Rule No. 2: If something looks too good to be true, it probably is - 14th February
 * swans come home to roost'' - Investors in so-called “value stocks” have had a lot to put up with in the past year. Company finance directors cutting – or suspending – their dividends. - 7th February
 * that leaves us without profits'' - Ask yourself this question: if a tossed coin landing on “heads” wins you £1, but the same coin landing on “tails” wins you nothing, how much would you be willing to pay to play the game? 25p? 50p? Or more? - 31st January
 * reasoning'' - Who is more in touch with the harsh realities faced by the nation’s investors? - 24th January
 * Chill winds - Given the chill winds blowing in from the high street to the City of London this week, I’m amazed that the stock exchange hasn’t ground to a halt - 9th January 2009
 * At least we have nothing left to lose - After saying goodbye to five years’ worth of pension contributions in 2008, what have you got to lose from investing in emerging markets in 2009? - 2nd January 2009



Articles: 2008

 * A yawning hole in all our pockets - For Rip Van Winkle, 20 years. For Woody Allen’s character in the 1973 film Sleeper, 200 years. For pizza delivery boy Philip Fry, from the animated TV show Futurama, 1,000 years. That’s how long each of them had to be asleep in order to wake up in a future that was – demonstrably or literally – alien. For private investors, though, it has taken a lot less time: just one year… and it has been more like a waking nightmare - 26th December 2008
 * Index trackers or Christmas crackers? - What would you rather find under your Christmas tree? A cracker/ pair of socks/large diamond/Nintendo Wii (delete as applicable), or a contract note stating that £100 has been invested for you in a FTSE 100 index tracker fund? - 19th December 2008
 * Bread bins, biscuit tins, storage jars - No, it’s not a list of what still left in Woolworths’ closing down sale. These household items are far more valuable – because they are now likely to be stuffed full of cash - 12th December 2008
 * Some people just don’t know when to quit - It’s a charge that can be levelled equally against politicians, company chief executives, fund managers, traders and private investors - 5th December 2008
 * Game of consequences - Chancellors should pay less lip service to golden rules, and more attention to the law of unintended consequences - 28th November 2008
 * Disenfranchised - If the dilution and disenfranchisement of small shareholders wasn’t bad enough, the terms of Barclays capital raising leave a lot to be desired - 21st November 2008
 * Corporate bonds and cars - Financing new bonds will be a problem. Standard & Poor’s calculates that $2,100bn-worth of European corporate debt will mature between now and the end of 2011 - 14th November 2008
 * Surprise from Bank cuts both ways - In spite of this week’s interest rate cut being the largest implemented by the Monetary Policy Committee, bringing the base rate to its lowest level since the 1950s, new mortgages are still not getting much cheaper - 7th November 2008
 * Absolute returns? Absolutely wrong - Last week – as equity markets hit 1997 levels – I suggested that almost all the “old certainties” of investing had been discredited, in almost every sense of the word - 31st October 2008
 * Shaken, not stirred - The miseries lingered until the 1950s. The old certainties were gone. The financial system had to be torn up and recreated and it took time. It was painful and disruptive.” - 24th October 2008
 * Another black hole is looming - With a £37bn government investment in Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS, our money markets will be freed! But, before you buy into this prediction, there is just one small problem: another financial crisis is looming - 17th October 2008
 * The appealing sound of death knells - Is this the end of capitalism as we know it and should I pack tinned goods and head for the hills?” - 10th October 2008
 * out safe harbours in a financial storm'' - If you’re a saver, a borrower or a private investor, it probably doesn’t feel as if the system, or the market mechanism, has been working at all - 4th October 2008
 * the way with good intentions'' - If news reports in recent days weren’t enough to convince us that, in the oft-repeated words of investment newsletter The Daily Reckoning, “We’re all going to hell in handcart”, then at least we’ve now had confirmation from the Church of England - 26th September 2008
 * short by our regulators'' - So it has come to pass that a small group of short-sellers and hedge fund managers have succeeded where legions of north-eastern pensioners failed last year: bringing about government intervention to wave through a bank takeover, and bringing in new trading regulations - 20th September 2008
 * Mind over matter - So, on Wednesday, when the Cern Large Hadron Collider was switched on, the world was not sucked into a man-made black hole on the Franco Swiss border. On the same day, though, many investors in Lehman Brothers’ complex debt instruments probably felt their money really had disappeared into a black hole - 12th September 2008
 * Many questions in half a glass - Am I the only person wondering how mortgage rates that are roughly the same as a year ago, a bank base rate that is lower, inflation that looks likely to have peaked, and unemployment that is expected to rise at worst by 1-1.5 percentage points in the coming year really can add up to economic conditions that “are arguably the worst they’ve been in 60 years”? - 5th September 2008
 * Change the view from your house - Castle, pension fund, depreciating illiquid asset... No, it’s not a post-modern version of the “paper, scissors, stone” game for City traders or the “To Do” list of Roman Abramovich, it’s actually my shorthand for the shift in our perceptions of residential property in recent times - 29th August 2008
 * Put portfolios on the podium - It’s not enough to be “fit in a world where conditions are normal”. It’s about being “fit for purpose”, to “get the job done”. It just shows what’s possible if you “do a better job of planning the journey” and “get people to fund it sensibly” - 22nd August 2008
 * Pension deficits – by any name - You know where you stand with a Norman, and a Norman knows where he stands in life. But neither can really be said of a Luna Coco or an Apple - 15th August 2008
 * Credit us with knowing better - Exactly a year on from the start of the credit crunch (or at least from when equity markets woke up to the sub-prime crisis and fell 6 per cent in two days), what do we know now that we didn’t know then? - 8th August 2008
 * Get a warm glow from playing it safe - In the past few years, wealthy investors have turned their portfolios into smorgasbords of esoteric assets. The doors have flung open to all kinds of areas. But there’s something to be said for playing it safe - written by [mailto:sharlene.goff@ft.com sharlene.goff@ft.com], 1st August 2008
 * Green shoots of autumn - Are the clouds beginning to clear over the property market? From what estate agents and lenders are saying, the forecast for house prices still looks dreary. But a burst of private equity interest brought a ray of hope to the sector this week - written by [mailto:sharlene.goff@ft.com sharlene.goff@ft.com], 25th July 2008
 * Prepare to have a nose for a bargain - Stocks should be bought like groceries and not like perfume. A few days ago, I was reminded of this advice from Ben Graham, the father of value investing. The equity market certainly seems more like Aldi or Lidl than an eau de toilette counter at Harrods - 18th July 2008
 * Stroll purposefully down memory lane - Here’s a question for you: do you remember what you were doing at 10.03pm on Wednesday July 9? No, neither do I. But judging by the some of the news coverage this week, it was a moment of such significance that it should be permanently etched on the collective memory - 11th July 2008
 * Vile and grim fairy stories abound - Goldilocks is dead! No, it’s not a severely abridged version of the popular fairy tale for time-poor parents wanting to give their children a more grittily realistic view of the chances of living ‘happily ever after’ after being caught breaking and entering. Nor is it a pithy if premature obituary for the Chicago economist Diane Swonk who – despite arguably providing ample material in her own surname – has been nicknamed after the fairy tale character by CNBC’s Larry Kudlow. It’s actually a riposte, published this week, from HSBC Private Bank’s head of global strategy, Fredrik Nerbrand, to Salomon Brothers’ economist David Shulman who first coined the phrase ‘the Goldilocks economy’ back in 1992 - 4th July 2008
 * Beguiled by better banking news? - Phew, what a relief! This week, Barclays almost effortlessly pulled off a £4.5bn share issue, with the support of quite a few Qataris and several sovereign wealth funds - 27th June 2008
 * Time to take up arms against kings - “Cash is King!” If had a pound for every time I’ve heard that in the past few weeks, I’d have… well, at least £2.75 - 20th June 2008
 * Taxman has canteen mush for brains - What goes through their heads at the Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)? - 13th June 2008
 * Location, stagnation, no elation - Rising markets make geniuses of us all. How else could the likes of Kirstie Allsopp, Phil Spencer and all those other self-styled TV property experts have been held in such esteem by viewers and homeowners (with the exception of me, as regular readers may recall) - 6th June 2008
 * Find your inner hedge fund manager - Ialmost feel sorry for hedge fund managers. Not only are they finding it hard to produce positive returns in today’s markets, some also seem to have fallen on hard times - 30th May 2008
 * A weekend for Making your Mind Up - I don’t give short-term trading tips. I prefer to leave that to our technical analyst, Dominic Picarda, or our trading diarist, David Schwartz (Page 12). But this week, there’s such an obvious profit-making opportunity that I’m going to break the habit of a lifetime - 23rd May 2008
 * Profit from a difference of opinion - Alistair Darling is hopeless at maths. Anthony Bolton is not good at shorting stocks. It’s hard to know which of this week’s revelations is the more surprising - 16th May 2008
 * We are all oil barons now - What do Tony Hayward, Jim Ratcliffe, Tony Woodley and investors in a FTSE 100 tracker fund have in common? In the case of the first three, the answer: not enough - 9th May 2008
 * Death of advisers is no tragedy - "The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." - 2nd May 2008
 * Avoid the gridlock in a new convertible - Why are U-turns inevitably “humiliating”, “damaging” or “panic-induced” when performed by politicians and chief executives of FTSE 100 companies, but generally deemed prudent (if often illegal) manoeuvres when pulled off by cab drivers? - 25th April 2008
 * Time flies but houses sink - Which is the longer time period a week in politics, or a week on the markets? Until recently – for all but astrophysicists – the answer has been easy: a week on the markets - 18th April 2008
 * Bank fiddles as market burns - I’m not sure I need to bother writing this column this week. Instead, I’m thinking of asking a former journalist to lead a working group that will review conditions on page 4 of FT Money, and report back at the end of the year - 11th April 2008
 * How to play the waiting game - “Let’s wait and see what he says.” “Good idea.” “Let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand.” “... On the other hand, it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes ... ” “I’m curious to hear what he has to offer. Then we’ll take it or leave it.” As Vladimir and Estragon spend two acts proving in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, it’s all too easy to wait for a better offer that never turns up. And, as a property owner or an equity investor, you may know this feeling of indecisive paralysis all too well - 4th April 2008
 * Pass Go, collect $35bn - Bright young things from the Harvard Business School often follow a career path that could have come from the 1995 New York edition of the board game Monopoly - 27th March 2008
 * Wild beasts stalk the markets - The stock market can be a brutal place. Your broker may have greeted you with a mildly ironic ‘good morning’ this week, but the language of the dealing desks is decidedly less genteel - 21st March 2008
 * Playing hell with taxation - Lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride. You may recognise these as the seven deadly sins, designated by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century... - 14th March 2008
 * Time to import a good idea - American problems quickly become British problems – as UK investors and homebuyers are all too aware - 7th March 2008
 * A few pointers on indices - What’s the biggest growth industry in financial services today? Hedge fund management? Collateralised debt obligation (CDO) valuation? Commercial property auctioning? No, I would argue that it’s indexation – of all of the aforementioned asset classes, and more - 29th February 2008
 * Take your foot off the throttle - Do you consider yourself an above-average driver? Do you feel more comfortable driving rather than flying? Do you judge your speed on the motorway by the other cars around you? - 22nd February 2008
 * When Alistair met Mavis - Alistair Darling must now surely join the ranks of Werner Karl Heisenberg, Hamlet and Mavis “I don’t really know” Riley from Coronation Street as one of the most uncertain individuals of all time - 15th February 2008
 * We all need to learn our lesson - Location, Location, Location, and other TV programmes of that ilk, have much to answer for. Not simply for the inane banalities of the presenters and their subjects – “if Toby and Jocasta don’t make an offer on the townhouse, there’s a chance they could lose it...” being a typically insightful example – but for what they teach the younger demographic that watches Channel 4, and the largely student demographic that regularly chooses Daytime BBC... - 8th February 2008
 * Don’t bank on knowing much - Ten facts private investors didn’t know about banks last week - 1st February 2008
 * It pays to avoid the tax issue - Confusion. Fear. Panic. Investors rushing to sell before it’s too late. We’ve seen it all this week. But I’m not referring to the market turmoil caused by worries about recession. I’m talking about the confusion and selling caused by tax procrastination - 25th January 2008
 * Values turned upside down - What’s the difference between a speculator and an investor? I don’t really have a punchline for this – and, after the losses suffered by many this week, it’s arguably no joke - 18th January 2008
 * To boldly go into prosperity - “Live long and prosper” will be a phrase familiar to both rabbis and Trekkies. It’s the abbreviated form of a traditional Jewish benediction which was appropriated by Torah-reading actor Leonard Nimoy, as the greeting used by Mr Spock, and his fellow Vulcans, in Star Trek - 11th January 2008
 * Why not back a racing cert? - What is the key factor that will inform investor behaviour in 2008? Oil prices? Personal debt? Recession? No, the finest minds in the investment industry have applied their analytical skills to the question and come up with the one variable that will determine investment returns in 2008: “uncertainty” - 4th January 2008



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