British investors pulled a record 503 million pounds from equity funds in June
The money was directed to money market funds.
Reports from Calastone show that the investors now prefer Money market funds, a place of relative safety and yield, as the U.K. economy
Investors in the U.K. have flocked into money market funds, according to a June report from Calastone, in the second-highest move of its kind in the country’s history. The move comes when the U.K. economy is in distress due to the rising inflation rate dragging costs of living up with it.
The U.K. Investors pull $842 million from equity funds in favor of money market funds
Figures from Calastone show that U.K. investors are walking away from Equity funds, with body funds raising the highest numbers, 880 million pounds of new money in June. Another record 503 million pounds went into money market funds.
The money that went into these markets was heavily transferred from other asset types like equity, missed assets, and property funds. The June report indicates that investors lean heavily toward fixed-income and money markets as the global economy endures high inflation rates.
The report also indicated that “strong outflows” were seen in the U.K., North America, and ESG funds in equity sectors. The firm also noted that Technology funds benefitted from the A.I. hype.
June’s figures are but a representation of the global migration of assets from Equity funds over the past 12 months. In the time frame, investors pulled 3.6 billion pounds from equity funds while pumping 7.9 billion pounds into fixed income.
Edward Glyn, head of global markets at Calastone, noted: “Fixed-income funds and their money market cousins have not looked so attractive since before the global financial crisis. At the same time, recession fears are stalking equity and property markets – investors are nervous. The result is a flight to safety.”
He added that money market funds currently offer income at a rate of 5% or more in a relatively lower risk, with fixed income funds offering the chance to lock into the “highest yields in years.”
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It’s refreshing for all Americans as you celebrate your country’s independence. Fintech Express wishes you all a happy time. However, we also wish to make you reflect on what financial freedom and independence could mean to your lives.
What is Financial freedom?
By definition, financial freedom means having enough financial resources to pay for all living expenses and achieve your life goals. How about we bring in the word of the day, “Independence.”
Independence simply means to be self-sufficient. It’s where you do not have to rely on the mercy of others to achieve your desired outcomes. Independence should go hand in hand with freedom when it comes to finance.
Find a way to intertwine the two, and you will have saved yourself a great deal of pain. Financial pain can come in two ways:
Not having resources
Having resources but not being able to access them
Get the government away from your wallets
As mentioned above, financial freedom can come from being unable to access your hard-earned resources during a time of need. Try withdrawing a million dollars from your local bank in a day. You might get it in less than two.
What does this tell you? The banking system needs to be fixed in its way of functioning. It will deter you from accessing your funds. We have seen bank freezes happen, transactions decline, and governments introduce withdrawal limits. Is this freedom? Does it show any financial independence? I don’t think so!
Yes, you guessed it right. He introduced Bitcoin to the world in one of the darkest periods in the history of Central Banking, the 2008 financial collapse cycle. Bitcoin has inspired many other decentralized crypto projects that do away with the need for trusting governments and banks with your money.
This Ark is what will empower your independence as you seek financial freedom. However, you have to take your time and research how to protect yourself in the crypto industry. But no worries, that’s where we come in. Fintech Express is at your service to offer you educative content along your research voyage in the crypto ocean.
May you enjoy a lifetime of independence!
This article is not financial advice or a marketing tool for any asset or field. However, it is meant to invoke the feeling of freedom and spark the fire of thought and adventure. We wish you a lifetime of financial independence and freedom! Till we meet again!
Britain has been left behind as the only major economy in the world experiencing higher inflation rates over time.
Rates hikes are ongoing in the U.K. with no end in sight, but inflation remains relatively high.
OECD report for June 4, 2023, indicates that inflation fell to 4.6% among G7 members in May, with Britain being the outlier
Britain keeps experiencing increased economic pressure as inflation levels remain higher than its competing economies despite numerous rate hikes. The country is expected to endure a longer period of tough markets owing to interest rate hikes to tame inflation for the better part of the year.
Britain’s government and central bank set on a collision course in inflation rates blame game
The British government and the Bank of England are set on a collision course now regarding the taming of inflation rates as the country keeps experiencing higher rates than the surrounding regions.
A Tuesday report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows that the G7 nations had a combined inflation rate of 4.6% in May, down from 5.4% in April, which is also its lowest level since September 2021
Comparatively, Britain lags with a CPI of 8.7%, almost double what its compatriots post. The country is also under more pressure as the economic growth has stagnated, and the public debt surpassed 100% of the GDP for the first time since March 1961.
At the same time, markets are tense about further interest rate hikes that are necessary for the fight against the spiking inflation rates. However, it still seems more difficult for the Bank of England to pull off a 2% inflation rate target by the end of 2023 without plunging the economy into a recession.
In January, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to halve the inflation rates in the country by half by the end of the year. If he is to deliver this pledge, the markets would have to brace for more pain as the housing sector is already under mayhem. Over 2 million households can now barely pay their mortgages, with June’s 50 basis points hike in interest rates feared to have pushed the numbers higher.
However, the Bank of England has indicated that the labor market is still strong. At a monetary policy forum in Sintra Portugal, Bailey noted that the U.K. labor is unique in remaining below the pre-Covid levels.
“I see this when I go around the country talking to firms. They say to me frequently that their plan is to retain labor as much as they can, even in the event of a downturn, because they’ve been concerned, and it’s been difficult to recruit labor,” he said.
However, Bailey denied that Brexit was to blame for the economic constraints that Britain is enduring. The Bank of England had, however, indicated that England’s productivity would have a long-run drop of 3% due to Brexit. In connection to the story, Catherine Mann recently told a parliamentary committee that additional paperwork was to blame for smothering small firms and driving inflation up.
“It’s not just small firms in the U.K. who want to export, but it is also small firms in Europe who were suppliers and provided competition in the U.K. market, so there is an inflationary effect coming through the competition channel,” she added.
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Cameron Winklevoss has addressed a second open letter to DCG’S Barry Silbert regarding the functioning of DCG and loan repayment
Gemini to take legal action on July 6, 2023, in case DCG’s Barry Silbert doesn’t accept their deal
Cameron Winklevoss has penned a new open letter and addressed it to DCG’s Barry Silbert on Twitter, claiming that Silbert has been evading fulfilling his dues to DCG’s earned customers for the past 8 months. Winklevoss has warned Silbert of a potential lawsuit in two days if he doesn’t fulfill the demands from Gemini bosses.
Gemini bosses call out DCG’s Barry Silbert for owing its 232K Earn customers $1.2B
In an open letter, Cameron Winklevoss has slammed Digital Currency Group’s Barry Silbert regarding delays settling with Gemini and paying back the $1.2 billion that DCG owes the exchange’s 232,000 Earn customers.
Cameron Winklevoss shot at Barry Silbert, claiming he has been heading the DCG enterprise in a fraudulent behavior intertwined with a culture of lies and deceit. He said that this trend has gone on long enough at the expense of Gemini customers, and after 8 months of interactions with Silbert’s lawyers and legal advisors, there has been no fruition.
Winklevoss hit out at SIlbert, saying:
“you have never had any intention of finding global, consensual resolution with creditors and Earn users and have never had any intention of doing the right thing and taking responsibility for the mess that you, your companies, and your employees created with your reckless and fraudulent behavior.”
He added that SIlbert knowingly slowed down the resolution process via “abuse” of the mediation process. Cameron Winklevoss also expressed his disappointment with Barry SIlbert’s climb of being a “victim” in the fallout.
“It takes a special kind of person to owe $3.3 billion to hundreds of thousands of people and believe, or at least pretend to believe, that they are some kind of victim…. even Sam Bankman Fried is incapable of such delusion,” said Winklevoss.
Cameron Winklevoss summed up by giving SIlbert his final and best offer, after which Gemini will press charges if Silbert does not reciprocate.
Winklevoss wants DCG to make a loan repayment of $275 million by July 1, a subsequent payment of $355 million before July 21, 2025, and a final payment of $835 million by July 21, 2028, topping off the whole payment to $1.47 billion.
He gave Silbert up to 4 pm ET on July 6, 2023, to accept the terms of the deal, or Gemini would move forward with the following steps:
A lawsuit against DCG and Barry Silbert
File a turnover motion
Advance a non-consensual plan
UCC litigation
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Kenya’s President Ruto has received rather dissatisfying news after the High Court of Kenya deemed the appointment of 50 CASes meant to deputize 22 Cabinet Secretaries unconstitutional.
The High Court decision is a hit to the President and comes days after it suspended the enforcement of the ‘controversial’ 2023 Finance Act.
Kenya’s High Court deemed President Rutos’ 50 assistant cabinet secretaries unconstitutional just days after suspending the highly controversial Finance Act. The decision follows an uproar of continued overspending from the Kenyan government while the country is in financial distress.
President Ruto won’t get his CASes as the country has a bad financial outlook
Kenya has witnessed a ruling that will bar the government from hiring 50 CASes to deputize only 22 Cabinet secretaries across its ministries. The High Court gave this ruling on July 3, 2023, claiming that the math isn’t right and doesn’t show any intentions of serving the country’s nationals.
President Ruto’s government has been in the spotlight for its increased overspending, borrowing, and over-taxation while a financial crisis continues. In June, the Central Bank of Kenya hiked interest rates by 100 basis points, taking the rates to 10.5%.
The CBK Governor Kamau Thugge pointed out that recent inflation data shows a need for more to be done. June had 7.9% inflation rates, while May and April had 8.0% and 7.9%, respectively. At the time, food prices were significantly high, with SUagr having an inflation rate of 58.1% YoY and Electricity at 53.4% YoY.
Thugge highlighted that the government had borrowed KES 436B in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, with the country’s stock of external debt crossing KES 5.1T accounting for the 52.9% of gross public debt that stands at a staggering KES 9.63T. He added that the non-performing loans ratio stood at 14.9% in May, up by 30 basis points from April.
He added that the Private sector grew by 13.2% in May, unchanged from April. He topped up, saying exports grew 5.5% in 12 months ending May while exports fell 2.3%.
Finance Act 2023 suspended pending hearing
In connection to the concerns surrounding the Kenyan government’s spending and borrowing, the country’s Auditor General told Members of Parliament on July 2, 2023, that there are no records of public debt which places the efforts of paying it off in doubt whether they are effective or there is corruption involved.
Due to these issues, lawyer Okiya Omtatah filed a lawsuit against the Kenyan Government in the High Court, deeming some parts of the highly contested Finance Act as unconstitutional. The High Court of Kenya ruled the suspension of the implementation of the already signed into law Finance Act on hold which slams President Ruto’s plans to raise more funds via higher taxes.
However, the nation’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) went against the High Court ruling. It introduced new Petroleum product prices following the taxes implemented by the Finance Act. As a result, lawyer Omtatah expressed that he would sue EPRA for defying court orders.
In other news, the World Bank had expressed concerns over the increased taxes that came with the Finance Act saying that it could dwarf the economic growth in the East African country, but President Ruto did not take the suggestion. The bill was passed quickly in the country’s two parliamentary houses and signed into law. Now, the case on President Finance Act is set to be heard on July 5, 2023, by the High Court.
“That I am satisfied that the Application meets the test for conservatory orders, and I do grant prayers 2 and 3 of the Application until 5.7.23 when the matter is scheduled for mention for directions,” ruled High Court’s Justice Thande
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