Asset managers must assess value they offer investors under strict new FCA rules

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Asset managers will have to prove their value for money
Asset managers must assess each year how much value for money they offer investors, Britain’s markets watchdog said on Thursday, stopping short of tougher measures called for by critics of the 7 trillion pound sector.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said asset managers would have 18 months to prepare for a requirement from September 2019 to make an annual assessment of value, as part of their duty to act in the best interests of investors.
In a requirement that will take effect six months later than originally indicated, asset managers will have to publish their value assessments and show if any corrective action was taken if charges were identified as not being justified.
Read more UK services sector felt the chill from the Beast from the East After pressure from industry, the value for money idea floated in last year’s review has been broadened to overall value to avoid what the FCA says is too much focus on costs.
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Shopping centre giant Hammerson stalls Intu takeover as it awaits clarity over rival offer

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Trafford Centre and Birmingham Bull Ring owner says a takeover approach from its rival Klepierre is 'wholly inadequate'
Hammerson will not finalise its £3.4bn tie-up with Intu as it awaits clarity on a takeover approach from European rival Klepierre.
The shopping centre giant said in a trading statement that while Klepierre's position “remains unclear”, the board does “not intend to finalise shareholder documents in relation to the proposed acquisition of Intu”.
Hammerson has branded Klepierre's £4.88bn cash-and-shares offer “wholly inadequate” and “entirely opportunistic”, but the French firm has until 16 April to “put up or shut up” with a formal offer.
Read more Vodafone beats O2, EE and Three to take biggest share of 5G spectrum Bull Ring owner Hammerson would prefer to press ahead with an all-share takeover of rival Intu, which would create Britain's biggest property company with £21bn worth of assets across Europe.
Intu operates the Trafford Centr..

UK services sector felt the chill from the Beast from the East

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The slowdown in services could lead to a dip in GDP growth, IHS Markit said
New data has revealed activity in the UK services sector fell to its lowest level since the Brexit vote in March, due in large part to bad weather conditions.
The latest IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for services business activity dropped from 54.5 in February to 51.7 last month, the weakest service sector performance since July 2016.
Read more Construction suffers biggest drop in activity since Brexit vote The pound dropped against the dollar when the numbers were released, tumbling by around 0.3 per cent to $1.404, before recovering to hover around $1.406.
According to the research, survey respondents “noted that snow disruption and unusually bad weather conditions in March had been a key factor holding back business activity growth”. The UK was brought to a near-standstill several times throughout the month as the Beast from the East brought strong winds, icy temperatures and heavy sno..

An Expert’s View: Sir Ken Robinson

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Supported by Learning An Expert’s View: Sir Ken Robinson Photo Sir Ken Robinson is a best-selling author and longtime advocate of transforming education. Credit Ying Ang for The New York Times Our new Learning sections will feature a question-and-answer segment with an education expert. For our first installment, we’ve chosen Sir Ken Robinson, a best-selling author and longtime advocate of transforming education. His latest book, “You, Your Child, and School,” was published in March by Viking. The following interview was edited and condensed.
Your new book offers wide-ranging advice for parents as they try to manage their children’s education. If you had to choose one takeaway, what would it be?
Parents have more power and more choices than they may realize in educating their children. Many parents are worried about how the world is changing and the uncertain futures their children face. Parents are especially anxious about education. They worry that there’s too much testing and c..

Women Say Richard Meier’s Conduct Was Widely Known Yet Went Unchecked

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Supported by Art & Design Women Say Richard Meier’s Conduct Was Widely Known Yet Went Unchecked Not long after she joined Richard Meier’s architecture firm in 1989, Karin Bruckner was working at the office one Sunday, she said, when Mr. Meier came up beside her at a copy machine and started rubbing his body up and down against hers.
“I just stood there and froze,” Ms. Bruckner said. “‘This is not happening’ — that’s the first thing you think about — ‘He’s not doing this right now, I’m sure he’s not doing this.’”
She later confided to John Eisler, a senior associate, about what had occurred, and Mr. Eisler was sympathetic.
“It’s not something that was a secret,” he said in a recent interview about Mr. Meier’s conduct. But Mr. Eisler, who spent 20 years at the firm, said he did not confront Mr. Meier after hearing from Ms. Bruckner.
“I am sorry,” he said, “that I did not.”
After a report last month by The New York Times detailing a pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Meier, more wom..

How U.S.-China Trade Spat Could Threaten Manufacturing

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Supported by Economy How U.S.-China Trade Spat Could Threaten Manufacturing Photo A Boeing 737 on the assembly line in Renton, Wash. Aircraft and their parts are the single largest American export to China, making Boeing a tempting target in a trade war. Credit Kevin P. Casey/Bloomberg In the escalating economic showdown between the United States and China, President Trump is trying to put American shoppers first. The administration did not place tariffs on necessities like shoes and clothes, and mostly spared smartphones from the 25 percent levy on Chinese goods announced this week.
But by shielding consumers, Mr. Trump has put American manufacturers — a group he has championed — in the cross hairs of a global trade war. If the measures stand, along with China’s retaliatory tariffs, they could snuff out a manufacturing recovery just beginning to gain steam.
“If you want to spare the consumer so you don’t get this massive backlash against your tariffs, then there goes manufacturin..

Sinclair’s Boss Responds to Criticism: ‘You Can’t Be Serious!’

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Supported by Media Sinclair’s Boss Responds to Criticism: ‘You Can’t Be Serious!’ Photo David D. Smith, the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, in 2011. This week, he defended a script that news anchors at his company’s stations were told to read. “Do you understand,” he wrote, “that as a practical matter every word that comes out of the mouths of network news people is scripted and approved by someone?” Credit Nicholas Griner/Baltimore Business Journal David D. Smith, the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, says the media is getting his company all wrong.
His remark, in a lengthy email exchange with The New York Times, came in response to renewed scrutiny of Sinclair after a video spread rapidly showing anchors at dozens of its stations across the country reciting the same speech about media bias.
Mr. Smith defended the anchors’ segments, known as “must-runs,” and likened them to the late-night shows that networks air on their local affiliates.
“Not that you would print it, b..

Is Amazon Bad for the Postal Service? Or Its Savior?

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Supported by Technology Is Amazon Bad for the Postal Service? Or Its Savior? Photo Credit Illustration by The New York Times; Doug Mills/The New York Times, left, Sajjad Hussain/Agence France-Presse SEATTLE — Five times in the last week, President Trump has pointed his Twitter arrows at Amazon over what he insists is a bad deal for the United States Postal Service.
Mr. Trump wrote on Tuesday that the agreement, which sets what Amazon pays the Postal Service for many orders, costs American taxpayers billions of dollars. “I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy,” he wrote.
The details about the deal are not public — they are considered commercially sensitive information — but some of the available evidence suggests the opposite: that Amazon has been a boon to the Postal Service.
The Postal Service has experienced a steady decline in the amount of mail it ships as more of its customers turn away from postcard..