Q&A: Am I a professional investor?
This time last year, it was a simple question with a simple answer. Yet a consultation by the City watchdog means the line between professional and retail investors is about to be redrawn.
Written for AOX, a Financial Times publication
My Latest Work
Explore the articles I write for MandateWire's AOX, a Financial Times publication that reports on the activities of institutional investors and asset owners.
Irish pension funds latch onto consolidation craze
The launch of the Digital Operational Resilience Act in 2025, which introduced targeted rules on digital risk management, forced small and mid-sized standalone schemes to deal with increased costs and operational efforts, particularly around ICT resilience, third-party oversight and incident reporting.
What happens next after UK’s pension pooling deadline?
If you spent March 31 in relative quietude this year, more fool you. After all, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate.
“Private credit markets are not optional, they are necessary”: The stakeholders holding firm on private credit despite bubble fears
It’s been a bad time for private credit lately. 2025 saw high-profile defaults from First Brands Group, now on the verge of total liquidation, and Tricolour Holdings, which is facing over $900mn in potential losses.
As the old adage goes – although former Tricolour CEO Daniel Chu would probably disagree – there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, for some policy makers and investors, including Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, the failure of both firms set “alarm bells” ringing.
As the old adage goes – although former Tricolour CEO Daniel Chu would probably disagree – there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, for some policy makers and investors, including Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, the failure of both firms set “alarm bells” ringing.
Why asset owner investment in commodities may be ‘self-defeating’
Everywhere you look, it seems commodities are having a bit of a renaissance. The price of gold rose by 64 per cent in 2025 and earlier this week went past $5,000 for the first time.
Do asset owners think we are in an AI bubble?
Has a tech bubble actually formed?
The response from asset owners appears to be a resounding ‘no’, or at least, ‘not yet’.
The response from asset owners appears to be a resounding ‘no’, or at least, ‘not yet’.
All the cool kids are investing in... natural capital?
Nowadays, it’s hard to report on asset owners without hearing the words “responsible investing” at least once a month. Perhaps more than that if someone – and I won’t be naming names – is having a bad public relations moment.
Will hegemony of US equities continue?
It looks like Europe, faced with tariff uncertainty, huge US government debt and the prospect of Trump conducting a hostile takeover of the Federal Reserve, is starting to pivot away from US stocks.
Can Japan’s bumper year continue?
It seems nothing, not even a capricious Trump, can stop the rise of Japanese equities right now.
Just one more thing... a piece of the picasso
The wealthiest in society have long put their money into art, but let it never be said that investors are not creative, particularly when something like legacy is at stake.
Meet GACS, the multi-family office with an eye for Indian investments
With its family office holding split between London and Mumbai, GACS is well-positioned to meet the increasing demand for investing in India - or so its chief executive and founder, Anmol Goel, tells AOX.
Regulators are loosening the rules on crypto. Are asset owners interested?
If you’re an asset owner who values financially-lucrative investments then chances are you have weighed the benefits – and drawbacks – of crypto. Why wouldn’t you? After all, with great risk also comes great opportunity and if there’s one thing we know about crypto, it’s an extremely risky asset with the potential to either burn or make an investor’s returns.Earlier this year Donald Trump passed an executive order enabling 401k savings plans to invest in a range of alternative assets, including...
Rachel Reeves wants more pension schemes to invest in UK private assets. Can she succeed?
On the one hand, jumping on the private markets bandwagon may seem a sound investment decision. Private equity and private credit can both offer higher returns. As a result, the asset class has grown exponentially in the past decade. Consultants at Bain and Company predicted last year that private market assets under management would increase at more than twice the rate of public assets to reach as much as $65tn by 2032. There is also an increasingly large number of vehicles to give investors acce...
