Briefings Magazine: Beyond Blending In

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It’s an oil painting by 17th-century Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, the kind almost any museum would proudly display. Only this one is hanging in a slightly different location: a conference room of a wealth-management firm.

Or at least it could be. While everyone from clients to office workers may give it scant notice, most companies tend to treat office art fairly seriously. After all, aside from the money they may spend on it, the art alone can help business, serving as an icebreaker, for example. “It is difficult to get people to start talking about their money immediately,” says Annelien Bruins, CEO of the Tang Art Advisory in New York. For their part, hedge funds may use artwork to signal financial success. Read more here.

Briefings Magazine: It Isn’t the End of the World

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Italy somehow goes without a ruling party government for three months. Britain’s government is only a little better off, with internal conflict and party bickering bringing Brexit negotiations to a halt. And let’s not even bring up all the dizzying turmoil from the White House and Congress in the United States. All of which should be shaking up these countries’ economies, with investors and corporate leaders feeling pretty nervous with every headline. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: No-Brexit Deal-- The Ultimate Crisis

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It was months in the making, and still the deal that Prime Minister Theresa May forged with the European Union didn’t passing enough muster within her own cabinet. And so the talk of a no-Brexit deal scenario continues to rumble through the global markets. Read more here.

Photo by USGS on Unsplash

Middle East Eye: How finance technology can grow Middle East economies

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Lack of access to banking is hampering the Middle East and North Africa.

Access to such services in the region lags the world, which, in turn, is holding back economic growth, according to new research. 

The better news is that there is plenty of untapped potential to unleash, particularly through the use of fintech, or financial technology. In other words, the problem is fixable. Read more here.

Barron's: Two Ways to Play Theresa May’s Brexit Drama

By SIMON CONSTABLE

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May’s travails in selling her Brexit deal with the European Union to her own Conservative government played out in the U.K. market. Stocks were hit hard, with the locally focused FTSE 250 index losing 1.6% and the pound retreating 1.7%. 

Among the harder hit stocks were big U.K. real estate investment trusts, British Land (ticker: BLND.UK) and Land Securities (LAND.UK), which fell 5.4% and 5%, respectively, on Thursday alone. Read more here.

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

Barron's: Why Hungarian Stocks Are Ready to Rise

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There’s lots to like in Hungary, including strong capital inflows, fast economic growth, low borrowing costs, and a much-improved banking sector. All should help boost local stocks.

“Higher bank profits should improve banks’ ability to ramp up lending and give more support to output growth and investment,” says Ugras Ulku, deputy head of emerging market Europe research at the Institute of International Finance (IIF). Read more here.

Budapest

Photo by Keszthelyi Timi on Unsplash

New York Financial Writers 2018 Follies Intro.