In mid-November, American chocolate and confectionary giant The Hershey Company surprised the cocoa bean market by purchasing their beans as futures from the Inter-Continental Exchange (ICE), which owns and operates exchanges for financial and commodity markets globally. Hershey’s conventionally sources its beans from a network of private suppliers based in cocoa-producing countries, making this move…

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Investors, environmentalists and the public are demanding that fossil fuel companies make changes to their business models to reduce emissions, even as consumer demand for oil, gas and even coal remains robust. With one of the most challenging years on record for transport and transport-affiliated industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a major rethinking of…

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This year has seen a significant rise in digitalisation across almost every sector, with the pandemic acting as a catalyst for change in communication and innovation methods. There has been a universal acceleration of technology adoption throughout the world, and the health sector has certainly not been an exception. While a general sense of transformation…

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The vaccine breakthrough has triggered widespread hopes of a return to normality by spring and a sharp revival in global markets (Figure 1). For Big Pharma, it is also a moment of justification that could redefine the previously undervalued industry.   Figure 1: Stock Markets Bounce Back. Refinitiv.   As recently as 2009-10, pharmaceutical companies’…

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The most frequently mentioned promise in the 2019 UK general election was to ‘level up the UK’.  This referred to helping underperforming areas, especially in the North, close the regional income and wealth divide which has become one of the largest in the developed world. The pledge evidently won over voters in these areas, gaining…

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As the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union (EU) at midnight on the 1st of January 2021, it is worth evaluating the financial implications of one of the most historically significant shifts in British foreign policy. Dependent on whether or not a post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal can be agreed upon, the UK’s foreign…

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15 nations including China, Indonesia and Vietnam, have united under the largest Asia-Pacific trading bloc in history. Despite historically tenuous political relationships between some member states such as China and Japan, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) aims to promote peace and friendship between 2.2 billion people (30% of global economic output). It aims to…

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Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown in 2020 in the form of foreign media outlets and governments issuing blame to the country regarding numerous contentious affairs. This may begin to pose significant problems for future Chinese economic development, with consumers less inclined to knowingly purchase Chinese goods and Chinese exports consequently potentially suffering. Of particular interest is…

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Investors are encouraged by rallies in emerging markets (EM’s) in November, hinting toward future prosperity. Morgan Stanley’s Capital International (MSCI) gauge has gained 8% so far this December, with markets such as India and Brazil increasing by 7% and 16% respectively. However, the real focus skews toward East Asian markets with countries such as China…

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In an attempt to restore political order and stability, on the 16th November 2020 Peruvian lawmakers chose their third president in a week, Francisco Sagasti. This followed the 5 day rule of Manuel Merino, who was forced to resign due to mass protests over the controversial impeachment of the president before him, Martín Vizcarra. The…

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