Christie Group has a lot going for it. Growing in several countries and an employer to around 650 people, the brokerage business is a well-respected name in multiple niche sectors. Last year sales exceeded £70mn, and management reckons operating profits of £10mn are possible. The kicker, following the disposal of several subsidiaries, is that its balance sheet is full of cash.

Lord Lee of Trafford clearly agrees. In more than 80 transactions since 2002, he has amassed a 6 per cent holding across both his personal investment account and the charitable trusts he oversees.

So why is the business valued at just £35mn? We put this question and many more to chief executive Dan Prickett, who has been at the company for 17 years - including the last two and a half in the top role.

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Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:30 Recap of last episode

01:44 Introducing Dan Prickett

02:21 What is Christie's

05:10 John's history with the business

09:37 Institutional shareholders

12:10 Dan's stake in the business

15:08 Trading statement

23:40 Why is the stock price low?

30:18 Expansion in Europe

35:49 Setting targets

37:08 John's portfolio round up

39:25 PZ Cussons

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a week in which we in London were blessed with a rare day in which the sun dared to poke its head out, today we will try to shed some light of our own on the big goings on in companies and markets at the moment. 

We kick off with a look at the breaking news of the day, the £10bn takeover of Schroders by US asset manager Nuveen. Chris Akers is here to discuss the deal, and the possible implications for the rest of the asset and wealth management sector, where there’s been another big deal in recent days: unlisted wealth manager Evelyn Partners bought by NatWest. We’ll also take a brief look at emerging market specialist Ashmore, which had interims out today and has rallied particularly hard of late.

After that, we turn to our big read of the week, looking at the strain on public services and the consequences thereof. Mark Robinson will discuss why the private sector is playing a growing role in the provision of said services – in certain areas – and where they might be expected to take more of the slack in future.

Finally, Mark will also look at US economic bellwether McDonalds, which reported some pretty good figures overnight. Is the economy firing on all cylinders, or are more people trading down when they eat out, or a bit of both? Mark will consider these factors as well as the figures themselves later on.

Listen to more podcasts from Investors’ Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

Read more:

Schroders bought out in £10bn deal

NatWest buys wealth manager in £2.7bn deal

The private stocks taking advantage of government failure

McDonald’s beats expectations as sales hold up

Timestamps:

00:00: Intro

01:24: Schroders takeover

11:17: Privatisation

22:14: McDonald’s

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, after a software sell-off that has rattled some of the UK’s most popular ‘quality’ stocks, we look at the fallout for the likes of Relx, Sage, Experian and others. Valeria Martinez is here to discuss whether the launch of Anthropic’s new AI tools represents an existential threat to these businesses.

After that, we turn to the hopefully calmer world of corporate bonds and the reforms that have the potential to open up the market more widely to DIY investors. Erin Withey talks through the changes, their likely impact on the market, and what corporate debt in general can offer investors.

To wrap up, we look at one of the many companies to have updated the market this week, in the form of pharma giant GSK. After many years out of favour, the business has started to win investors over of late. Julian Hofmann will look at how it’s done it, whether its progress can continue, and what a new chief executive might bring to the business.

Read more:

AI-hit software stocks bounce back

GSK starts to show real profit improvement

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:00: Software sell-off

12:37 Corporate bonds

21:43 GSK

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK’s largest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown, has announced its first fee overhaul in over a decade. But as ever the devil is in the detail, and despite its headline price cut there has been a bit of an outcry in some quarters. Val Cipriani is here to discuss which users will benefit, and which will lose out.

After that we discuss our big read of the week, looking at – dare we say it – happier, more relaxed methods of building wealth. Alex Newman will explore how the more risk averse – of whom there are many nowadays given the general state of, well, everything – can have a better chance of meeting their savings goals.

Lastly we return to our regular company reporting beat with a look at the latest well-received trading update from pig and poultry producer Cranswick (CWK). Does the company’s valuation still warrant interest? Mark Robinson will tell us more.

Read more here

Winners and losers of Hargreaves’ fee overhaul

Three easy steps to becoming a stress-free investor

Cranswick boosts sales as consumers ditch beef for pork

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:55 Hagreaves Lansdown

11:27: Building wealth: cash v assets

25:28 Cranswick

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s been a dramatic week in a year already full of drama, with Donald Trump’s sabre rattling over Greenland, and subsequent threat to impose further tariffs, causing alarm before being walked back on the basis of an apparent compromise.

But with that saga now seemingly in the rear-view mirror – for how long, we don’t know – we kick things off today with space exploration, which does have specific application to the current geopolitical debates as we shall discuss shortly. Mike Fahy is on hand to examine how the soaring space sector is faring ahead of a possible SpaceX IPO later this year.

Then it’s on to the latest part of the tech sector to attract widespread investor interest as a result of the AI craze: memory chip stocks in the US and further afield have been booming as people cotton on to the vital role they play in data centres. Arthur Sants, recently returned from a trip to the factories of South Korea, will discuss shares, shortages and smartphone prices, among other things.

And to finish up we will be back on home turf as Julian Hofmann joins us to discuss the bid interest in Lloyd’s insurer Beazley from Zurich, and the prospects for more consolidation across the sector in general.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

1:29 Space Industry

13:11 Memory chips

21:43 Beazley takeover offer

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For their latest company interview, Lord Lee and Alex Newman sit down with Lawrence Hutchings, who joined Workspace as CEO in November 2024.

That conversation, which was taped on 9 January, was to be one of Hutchings' last in the role. Ten days after the recording, and amid mounting activist pressure from shareholder Saba Capital, Workspace abruptly announced Hutchings would be replaced as CEO by Charlie Green, co-founder of the Office Group.

Despite this, we are publishing the conversation below, together with some of John's initial thoughts. Commenting on his own appointment, Green said "the strategy in place is clear and provides the right platform to rebuild occupancy and drive income growth over time." Presumably that means a degree of continuity.

Let us know your thoughts on the move, or if you have any questions or any suggestions for future guests, by emailing [email protected]

Listen to more podcasts from Investors’ Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

Timestamps

0:09 Intro

5:52 Background on Workspace

11:45 Short term rental market

16:06 Creative industries

19:54 Occupancy levels

24:07 John's views on Workspace

28:25 Lessons from other property sub-sectors

29:48 Asset disposal programme

39:36 Saba Capital

43:20 The optimism scale

47:14 Update on John's portfolio

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It may be dry January for some, but this week we are settling down with the pub companies amid a raft of news for the sector in recent days. Mark Robinson is here to discuss the bumper Christmas periods that many in the sector enjoyed, the imminent U-turn on business rate hikes likely to be announced by the government in the days ahead, the US activist putting the pressure on Marston’s (MARS) and more.

After that we turn our attention to one government reform that’s not being reversed – the Renters’ Rights Act is due to come into force this year, and that puts pressure on landlords to comply. Holly McKechnie will explain what that means for the rental market, and also talk us through the other changes coming in that could have an even bigger impact on buy-to-let properties.

Lastly, we look at gene sequencing device maker Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), one of the 2021 UK IPOs that have done especially badly, but which has shown some signs of life in recent months. Julian Hofmann will examine the company’s full-year trading update for clues to its future prospects.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:06 Pubs winter rally

14:20 Renters' Rights Act

26:26 Oxford Nanopore

Read the articles highlighted in the show:

Mitchells & Butlers: Pricier pints power profit growth

Does it still pay to be a landlord?

Oxford Nanopore returns to growth

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re kicking things off with one of the big company stories of early 2026 – for a number of reasons. It was a busy December for BP (BP.), which junked its chief executive and made progress with some divestment plans. Alex Hamer and Mark Robinson are here to discuss what the imminent arrival of new boss Meg O’Neill might mean for the group and its strategy, all in the context of a dramatic start to the year in which the US has seized control of oil supplies from one of the founding members of Opec.

We will also touch on the wider commodities outlook for the year, before moving on to asset allocation in general – our big read this week is all about diversification, why it matters even if you have a high risk tolerance and high risk appetite. Val Cipriani will talk us through the ins and outs later on.

To wrap up, we look at the UK company that, it turns out, has been the subject of 11 bids over the past four months. That’s struggling online platform Auction Technology (ATG), whose shares rebounded this week as news broke. Valeria Martinez will discuss what’s next for the business.

Timestamps:

0:49: BP's new CEO

19:3: Diversification strategies

31:05: Auction Technology

Read the articles highlighted in the show:

The complete guide to diversifying your portfolio

BP announces surprise CEO change

BP heads further upstream after Castrol sale

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a week before Christmas, which means only one thing around these parts: our bumper double issue hits the shelves on Friday 19 December. In it, we look ahead to all things 2026, and we’re doing the same thing here today with our first segment. In a moment we’ll be taking a close look at the FTSE 100’s runaway performance this year and asking whether it can continue over the next 12 months. With a little bit of a glance across the Atlantic, too. Alex Newman will talk us through things.

After that, we turn to much shorter-term prospects. Because it’s Christmas, Mark Robinson has explored the origins of the Santa rally, and gets into the detail of when exactly we might expect one to take place this year, and why.

To wrap up for the year we finish with a special interest story of sorts: Holly McKechnie is here to discuss why crypto assets’ existential crisis, legally speaking that is, may have finally come to an end.

Timestamps:

0:59 FTSE's big year

16:57 The Santa Rally

26:15 Crypto ownership regulation

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ethical investing is often seen as a way to align your money with your values, but what does it really mean in practice? In this episode of Women and Wealth, Investors’ Chronicle’s Val Cipriani is joined by Madi Apthorpe to explain how ethical investing works in practice, covering ESG labels, exclusions, impact, engagement and how investors can avoid greenwashing.

As more investors seek to support environmental sustainability, social responsibility and good governance, the ethical investing landscape has become increasingly complex. Val and Madi discuss how investors can navigate this space with confidence, the trade-offs involved, and whether investing ethically means sacrificing returns. They also explore how women investors in particular are approaching ethical considerations and what questions to ask before committing your money.

Women and Wealth is the monthly podcast series from Investors’ Chronicle. You can listen to and watch the episodes, alongside our other podcasts, on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.

Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities.

Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.