News

Investment groups that register unrealised gains as profits should do so gingerly. If they make big mark-ups when markets are roaring, it may amplify write-offs when the asset cycle turns. SoftBank epitomises the problem. The Japanese tech investment group has booked an investment loss of ¥2.3tn ($17bn) at its Vision Funds for the first quarter.

When an international dispute has been rumbling on for decades, it can seem like a chronic condition that will never become terminal. The US and China were squaring off about Taiwan in the 1950s. I wrote a cover story for The Economist on the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1995. So it is tempting to see

Huge losses at SoftBank’s flagship Vision Funds will force the company to begin “dramatic” cost-cutting after plunging technology valuations and a weak yen drove Masayoshi Son’s embattled conglomerate into a record ¥3.1tn ($23bn) quarterly net loss. In a press conference that Son himself described as “depressing”, he admitted that his famously aggressive global investment strategy

China has extended military drills around Taiwan, stoking fears of a drawn-out period of heightened tension that is piling pressure on the US to respond. Beijing’s largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan had been expected to wind down after navigation warnings for seven areas around the country expired early on Monday. But the People’s Liberation Army

Private equity giant Carlyle Group is replacing its chief executive Kewsong Lee, who will leave the New York and Washington-based group just two years after he was appointed in July 2020. The exit throws the $376bn group’s leadership into renewed upheaval as it navigates a more challenging investment environment, with volatile markets and a pullback

Investors are selling stakes in private equity and venture capital funds this year at the fastest pace on record, as the downturn in equities spreads to the private markets that boomed during the era of low interest rates. Pension and sovereign wealth funds were among those that sold $33bn worth of stakes in private funds

Russell Anderson is a man who has learned to live within his humble means. After a chronic illness forced him to retire as a coach driver three years ago, he managed to stretch his benefits to cover his bills, including rent and fuel. Increasingly, he has found that balancing act harder to juggle. Anderson, who

Much has been written about whether Big Tech has peaked. Meta recently announced its first sales drop, amid a fall in online advertising. Amazon, Netflix and others have cut back on hiring. Plenty of platforms have seen their stock prices crushed this year, which is typical as rates go up, and their growth slow. But

Messages from the archive of Rutherford Hall, critical communications strategist From: Rutherford@monkwellstrategy.com To: JamesW@LKandW.co.uk Hi James, No, I really don’t think now is the right moment to give money to Liz Truss. In general, we advise caution on political donations, but in any case you have left it far too late. While her team will

This week offers one of Africa’s most significant votes this year as Kenyans go to the polls on Tuesday to decide a new president. The contest is between the current deputy president William Ruto, 55, and Raila Odinga, a 77-year-old veteran of such campaigns now on his fifth attempt at the top job. Relations with

The US Senate has passed Joe Biden’s flagship economic package after a marathon overnight voting session that handed the president a major political victory just months before the midterm elections. The climate, tax and healthcare bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by 51 votes to 50, with voting split along party lines and

The UK government’s Covid-19 venture capital fund has been mostly invested in what one director overseeing the portfolio called “zombie businesses”, leaving it with “a significant tail of dormant companies”, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. The Future Fund, a £1.1bn portfolio set up by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak and managed by the state-owned

Government plans to axe up to 91,000 civil servants over three years will require deep cuts to public services and cost at least £1bn in redundancy payments, according to a Whitehall review. Boris Johnson in May unveiled plans for the near 20 per cent reduction in headcount, and in June said he could “prune” back

British financial regulators have failed to tackle risks outside traditional banking and should now develop a comprehensive UK policy instead of waiting for an international agreement, according to a former Bank of England deputy governor. Paul Tucker accused the BoE of inadequate regulation of the so-called shadow banking sector at a private event last month,

The Chinese military culminated its largest-ever military exercise around Taiwan on Sunday with practice bombing raids and missile attacks on the main island as Beijing said it had met its objective of intimidating “Taiwan independence forces” and deterring US intervention.  The People’s Liberation Army said on Sunday night that multiple groups of aircraft had trained

The UK government is to review a £4.2bn foreign takeover of a key part of the country’s gas infrastructure amid increased concerns about energy security. The sale of a 60 per cent stake in National Grid’s gas transmission business to an international consortium led by Australia’s Macquarie, the world’s largest infrastructure investor, is to be

An Israeli air strike has killed a senior figure in the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, amid the most serious flare-up in hostilities between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip for more than a year. Over the past three days, Israeli forces have repeatedly bombed sites in Gaza — an impoverished stretch of land

The Isle of Sheppey on the Thames estuary is ranked among the most deprived areas of Britain and like millions of people living on low incomes, its residents are grappling with the rising cost of food and fuel. All are bracing themselves for even harder times this winter. In a pub car park on the

The peaceful pro-democracy protests that swept through Belarus in August 2020 evoked memories of Solidarity, the mass movement that had arisen in neighbouring Poland 40 years earlier. The focus of discontent was identical: a repressive regime, aligned with Moscow, that mistreated citizens and brought shame on the nation. Even the patriotic colours on display in

Liz Truss has promised an immediate cut to National Insurance rates if she becomes prime minister in September, but faced claims from her Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak that the change would “not touch the sides” for many poorer households battling a crisis in living costs. Truss, foreign secretary, told the Financial Times on Friday