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Much has been said on the reasons underlying the current malaise in Responsible & Sustainable Investing as a strategy following its dizzying ascent in the years leading up to the COVID pandemic. The overheating of a ‘bubble’, political backlash, the complexities of Fund labelling here and, in the EU, as well as underwhelming investment performance have all played a part. One further reason is clearly confusion: what did all the various terms actually mean – ESG, responsible,

The seemingly mysterious life of an active Fund Manager combines multiple professional functions; reviewing and overseeing portfolios, monitoring markets, trading, responding to fast-moving market and geo-political news, and looking for new opportunities. Maintaining portfolio depth and breadth by hunting for new opportunities, both listed and new to market, is a rewarding part of active fund management. Fund managers bring to bear great expertise in appraising often dense pr

Analysts were recently taken aback by the news that the Weston family-controlled business, Associated British Foods (ABF), was considering a strategic break up with the possible separation of Primark, its fast-fashion brand, from the wider food business. Surprise, because there was no activist pressure as such for a break up given the family’s tight ownership, and surprise because the Weston’s have always strongly defended the unusual model of combining fast-fashion with Twin

The Climate Change Conference of Parties: Annual COP Out?

November 20 th  2025 marks 50 years to the day since Spain’s military dictatorship came to an end, following the death of General Francisco Franco. Franco left a complex legacy, which the murderous civil war (1936-39), an attempted military coup in 1981, and Catalonia illegally declaring independence in 2017, has never completely resolved. As part of the post-Franco constitutional settlement, three distinct cultural regions of Spain, Galicia, Catalonia and the Basque Region,

The former French President, General Charles de Gaulle, once famously said, ‘How can you govern a country that has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?’ The same might be said of Dutch politics. In the recent October General Election, 27 parties contested 150 electoral seats in the House of Representatives, without conclusive result. To call Dutch politics fractured under its tortured system of proportional representation would be an under-statement. The Dutch peopl

News that Coca-Cola (KO:US) has put Costa Coffee into the starting blocks for a sale, brings to an end a rare stumble by the American beverage giant, as well as a fairly strange experiment. Costa, originally founded in 1971 as a roaster and supplier to specialist Italian coffee shops, was bought by Whitbread in 1995 during its messy conglomerate phase, when the former brewer owned everything from gyms to steak houses. Former Chief Executive, Alison Britain, successfully broke

‘Gilts’ are generally viewed as a low-risk, secure asset class with often long maturity times. Issued by HM Treasury, Gilts are listed on the London Stock Exchange and come in two forms: Conventional and Index-linked. Conventional Gilts are the simplest type of Government or Treasury debt and form 76% of the ‘book’, guaranteeing a fixed-income payment (the coupon) until the Gilt matures. Index-linked Gilts form the remaining 24% of Treasury debt and have similar characteristi