Author: Jordan

Two-thirds say that energy efficiency is top of the list for tenantsAlmost nine in ten (89%) of property investors are increasing their spend on sustainability across their portfolio, according to Handelsbanken’s latest annual Property Investor Report.The report, which surveyed 200 UK real estate investors, property management professionals and landlords, found that the vast majority of respondents plan to spend more on energy efficiency measures, investing in long-term strategies to future-proof their investments.High demand for energy efficiencyThe respondents said that stronger energy-efficiency ratings (EPC C and higher), were the most requested sustainability feature from tenants, cited by 66% of those surveyed.…

The Old Continent generates ideas; it is a hotbed of creativity. However, it struggles to translate these into sustainable economic growth. A central theme in Mario Draghi’s Report on the Future of European Competitiveness¹ is that: the EU accounts for almost a fifth of the world’s scientific publications, but this strength in basic research is not reflected in high value-added innovation markets. The lag in private investment in research and development is also a factor. According to the latest EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard from the European Commission² , in 2024 R&D expenditure by EU-based companies grew by 2.9 per…

The Bank of China”s booth is seen during an expo in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. CHINA DAILY China’s commercial banks stepped up the issuance of tier 2 capital bonds and perpetual bonds in the second quarter to replenish capital, strengthen resilience against financial risks and better serve the real economy. According to market tracker Wind Info, 20 commercial banks issued 36 tier 2 capital bonds and perpetual bonds from April 8 to Thursday, with a total issuance volume of 988 billion yuan ($145 billion). During this period, large State-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial lenders dominated the issuance. China’s six largest…

Investment managers – Edmond de Rothschild, Guinness Global Investors and Franklin Templeton – share their insights on the case for emerging markets, which has been tested by the Middle East conflict. Despite fears about the impact of the Middle East conflict, which has tested the resilience of Asian and emerging markets, many of which are oil importers, experts at Edmond de Rothschild, Guinness Global Investors and Franklin Templeton remain optimistic about the outlook for these counties. Many wealth managers also believe that the worst of the economic impact from the Iran conflict is behind them, although it is still too…

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has introduced the Public Assets Management Guidelines 2025, making it mandatory for the ministries and federal departments to create comprehensive asset registers, prepare annual asset management plans and report their holdings to a centralized digital database. The initiative aims to strengthen public financial management and improve oversight of government-owned assets. The guidelines apply to all forms of public assets other than financial assets, such as bonds and stocks, and to current assets, such as inventory and supplies, which are treated separately. The guidelines, prepared by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Ministry of…

While the bulk of homebuyers choose fixed-rate mortgages, there are cases where you might want to look closely at an adjustable-rate mortgage instead. For example, ARMs can be a smart option for folks buying a property to rent out or flip, or intending to move within a few years—meaning you’d move before the ARM’s introductory fixed-rate period ends and adjustments begin. Read on and we’ll explain how an ARM works, when you might want to consider an ARM over a fixed-rate loan, and look at current ARM rates from a few top lenders. You can see the previous business day’s…

Buy-to-let market data supports this view. According to Commercial Trust’s Q1 2026 Quarterly Index, remortgaging accounted for 53.5% of buy-to-let applications in the first quarter, up from 46.1% a year earlier, while average bridging loan sizes increased significantly. UK Finance has separately highlighted growing remortgage activity across the sector. The figures suggest investors are less focused on pure acquisition and more on restructuring existing positions and using finance more strategically. Cowgill traces her own evolution towards a “funding first” model to a pattern that emerged through Finanze Property, the finance and brokerage arm of her business. Clients who had completed…

Platinum price made subtle price movements on Monday as the US dollar steadied ahead of the US jobs data. Late last week, the greenback erased most of the week’s gains as geopolitical uncertainties continue to impact the financial market. While the US dollar easing has yielded a slight recovery for the precious and industrial metal, it remains under selling pressure. Inflation pressures and interest rate jitters continue to weigh on platinum price. In the new week, the US jobs data are set to impact the US dollar and the broader market.Platinum price is at the periphery of the oversold territory as…

Reviewed: ad hoc news Bestseller & Flagship desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-30, 01:34. Details in the imprint. The ING Debit Card lands in your hand with a smooth plastic edge, orange logo and a contactless symbol that almost invites a quick tap at the supermarket checkout. You feel the phone buzz in your pocket as a fresh push notification confirms the payment within seconds. What the card actually does Officially positioned as a standard bank card for current-account customers, the ING Debit Card is tied directly to a payment account rather than a revolving credit line. Everyday purchases, ATM…

In recent days, Corastone announced a partnership with UMB Fund Services, a UMB Financial subsidiary, to connect UMBFS to Corastone’s private, permissioned distributed ledger network for straight-through processing of alternative investment transactions, with StepStone Group as the first client on the platform. This move highlights UMB’s push to enhance fund administration and transfer agency capabilities through blockchain-style infrastructure, potentially raising efficiency and data accuracy for institutional clients in complex alternative investments. We’ll now examine how UMB Fund Services’ adoption of distributed ledger technology for alternative investments may influence UMB Financial’s broader investment narrative. Rare earth metals are the new gold…