FINANCIAL TIMES

THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2026

AI is making war deadlier but harder to win BIG READ, PAGE 21

UK £3.70; Republic of Ireland €4.10

Reform's patriots show no love of country JANAN GANESH, PAGE 23

Fed raises rates despite Trump pressure in bid to tame prices

- First quarter-point uplift since 2023 - War-driven inflation rattles FOMC

CLAIRE JONES — WASHINGTON

The US Federal Reserve has raised rates for the first time since 2023 as chair Kevin Warsh defied President Donald Trump's calls for lower borrowing costs in an attempt to curb the jolt of inflation sparked by the Iran war.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the benchmark federal funds rate a quarter point to a range of 3.75-4 per cent, in line with Wall Street's expectations.

The FOMC said the rise would “support a timelier return” of inflation to the Fed’s 2 per cent target – a goal they have missed for five-and-a-half years.

"The committee will deliver price stability," it added.

Warsh said inflation remained too high and had not improved significantly since he warned on price growth at the Jackson Hole symposium last month.

"The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long," the Fed chair said. "This summer's inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved."

He added the decision to increase rates was underpinned by the fact that “too many categories” of prices had inflation rates of more than 3 per cent on both a six and 12-month basis.

“We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective clearly and at sufficient speed. Today, the FOMC decided that this standard has not been satisfied.”

Warsh and other rate-setters are trying to stop the boom in energy prices ignited by the Middle East conflict from morphing into a wider inflation crisis. The decision comes just months before midterm elections in which affordability will be a main issue among voters.

Inflation Insights president Omair Sharif said the comments were “more hawkish than expected”, adding that the committee’s “very united” rate path signalled “another hike in 2027 after one more this year”.

Ahead of the meeting, investors had priced in a more than 90 per cent chance of a rate increase after the consumer price index reading for August signalled that the Fed's goal to lower inflation had stalled. A fresh set of interest-rate projections indicated most of the committee anticipate another quarter-point rate rise this year.

The Fed's preferred headline personal consumption expenditures price index is running at 3.7 per cent, nearly double the central bank's 2 per cent target, reflecting the sharp rise in fuel prices since the Iran war began in February.

The central bank's so-called dot-plots showed 12 members of the 19-strong committee expect another quarter-point rate rise before the close of the year. Another four expect two rate rises, with two anticipating borrowing costs remaining at their current level.

The committee highlighted progress on the other side of its mandate – delivering maximum employment – following a bumper jobs report for August. "Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little," the FOMC said.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves with rate expectations, rose 0.05 percentage points to 4.72 per cent — its highest since 2024. The dollar rose 0.6 per cent.

BoE rates in play page 2

Cash flood Republicans enjoy mega-donors' backing as billionaires tower over midterms

FT montage

America's mega-donors have overwhelmingly contributed to Donald Trump's Republicans in this year's race for Congress.

Sixteen of the 20 largest donors have ploughed money into the party's midterm campaign, according to an FT analysis of the most recent filings, representing special interests ranging from crypto to gambling and AI.

At a time of populist revolt against perceived elites, political money has become more concentrated among the ultra-rich. More than a third of the \$2.8bn raised for the 2025-26 election cycle comes from the 20 biggest donors.

Top Republican donors have also donated millions of dollars to Maga Inc, the Super Pac that backed Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. It now boasts a \$400mn electoral war chest.

Elon Musk, who spent more than \$250mn on Trump's 2024 election campaign, is also stepping up his support for Republicans in the midterms.

The world's wealthiest man gave about \$50mn to America Pac, a sum that the group had mostly spent by the end of June. US media has reported that the Tesla and SpaceX boss might spend \$100mn on the 2026 race. Midterms race page 7 Ilya Gridneff page 22

Briefing

Healey's allies predict Budget pain amid conflicts Britons should brace themselves for a painful Budget next month as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine are having a “significant impact on the economy”, people close to chancellor John Healey have said.—PAGE 2

▶ EU makes offer to Ottawa European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's offer to make Canada the first "associate member" has won praise from lawmakers yet was attacked by others in the EU bloc.— PAGE 4

Equity pullback forecast The world's best-performing sovereign wealth fund expects equities' outperformance to ease after posting 14 per cent growth despite being underweight on US technology stocks. — PAGE 9

▶ 'Murder-for-hire' arrests The US has charged five people in connection with what it called a "global assassination network" controlled by the Kremlin. The indictment includes claims of a murder-for-hire plot.— PAGE 4

▶ Watchdog alert on ethics The Financial Conduct Authority has warned financial services firms against taking a “slapdash” approach to ethics after hedge fund boss Crispin Odey was banned and fined.— PAGE 12

▶ Forced listing tests Tata India's biggest conglomerate is being pushed by the central bank into a \$120bn listing it does not want, potentially opening some of its most valuable companies to rivals and raiders.— PAGE 11

US and China plan talks US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart as the two sides try to bridge differences ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.— PAGE 7

Vodafone takes €1bn hit The UK telecoms group will miss out on over €1bn of potential earnings after Patrick Drahi struck a deal to sell his stake in their German broadband joint venture OXG.—PAGE 12

AI bosses' safety pledges create rifts among OpenAI and Anthropic staff

Wandsworth tax blow lays Tories' model council low

Wandsworth charges the lowest council tax in England but its half-century as the cradle of Thatcherism is drawing to an end with plans for a 94 per cent rise, the biggest ever. The Tory-led council is acting on changes to the way local authorities are financed, a Westminster move designed to divert funding to deprived areas. It is one of six low-tax councils whose residents are braced for bigger bills, with its leader accusing Labour of ‘trying to kill off local choice’. End of an era ▶ PAGE 3

CRISTINA CRIDDLE — SAN FRANCISCO

Bold promises by the bosses of Anthropic and OpenAI to constrain AI's development are creating tensions inside the two companies over security and other concerns, highlighting the practical challenges of turning rhetoric into reality.

Staff at the makers of Claude and ChatGPT are rushing to implement recommendations from their respective chief executives, Dario Amodei and Sam Altman, to slow AI's rate of progress in order to avert disastrous consequences, following a series of dire warnings from researchers.

The two chiefs have become ever more vocal in recent months over the need to “pace the frontier” of AI model development, culminating in a rare show of unity by the two rivals last weekend. Despite their public comments, little is in place internally to implement the new proposals, according to several people close to the companies.

Amodei published a detailed essay on Saturday calling for slower AI development, independent model evaluations and increased co-ordination between labs and governments globally. He has also called for legal protection from US competition rules that could inhibit such collaboration, which other AI labs are also anxious to secure.

Staff inside OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as the safety researchers they would rely on to conduct that work, were blindsided by the weekend's announcements. Though many employees agree on the need to slow down, they also fear that putting it into practice could jeopardise their work.

A particular issue inside both companies is the plan to embed outside evaluators within the labs to oversee model development. Some fear that this could compromise the security of their prized technology, according to people familiar with internal discussions, with one describing it as a source of “conflict”.

Amodei, who left OpenAI to found Anthropic in 2021 over safety concerns, has proposed that external testers should have “employee-like access” to the leading labs, including badges, laptops, entry to offices and access to internal tools.

Leading AI companies already engage third parties to test their models for performance and safety, but Amodei's proposal would substantially increase their role. While Altman said it was a Continued on page 11

DeepMind warning page 9 OpenAI funding round page 14

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UK 10 Yr	5.23	5.32	-0.09
UK 30 Yr	5.86	5.92	-0.06
JPN 2 Yr	1.80	1.81	-0.01
JPN 10 Yr	2.95	2.99	-0.04
JPN 30 Yr	4.08	4.11	-0.03
GER 2 Yr	3.21	3.25	-0.04
GER 10 Yr	3.51	3.53	-0.02
GER 30 Yr	3.87	3.89	-0.02

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NATIONAL

Economy

Inflation at 3.1% keeps rate rise in play

August price growth jump comes as BoE committee meets to set policy today

SAM FLEMING AND IAN SMITH

Inflation accelerated to 3.1 per cent in August, worsening the squeeze on households and businesses and keeping open the prospect of a Bank of England rate increase this year.

The figure released by the Office for National Statistics yesterday was above July's 2.9 per cent and in line with a Reuters poll of economists' predictions.

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Rising petrol prices were the main driver of the increase, with higher household energy bills also contributing, the ONS said.

The increase takes inflation further above the BoE's 2 per cent target as the Monetary Policy Committee prepares to set its interest rate today. The MPC is expected to hold at 3.75 per cent but signal that an increase might come as soon as November.

Despite the energy shock from the Iran war, the MPC has resisted lifting rates as officials await further evidence on whether higher inflation is becoming entrenched in the economy. The MPC voted 6-3 to hold rates at its meeting in July, exposing divisions on how to respond to surging oil and gas prices.

Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG, said rising energy prices were likely to test the BoE's "wait-and-see approach", adding: "Without a marked improvement in the outlook, the balance of risks could shift towards a rate rise before the end of the year."

The steep rise in global energy costs has prompted the European Central Bank to raise borrowing costs twice since June, while the Federal Reserve yesterday lifted interest rates for the first time since 2023.

The rally in oil prices poses a challenge to Prime Minister Andy Burnham. A steep rise in government bond yields is estimated to have more than halved chancellor John Healey's fiscal headroom before the October Budget.

Despite the pick-up in headline inflation, the data suggested that the spill-over of energy prices into the wider economy remained limited. Services inflation, watched by rate-setters as a gauge of domestic price pressures, held steady at 3.4 per cent in August, below economists' expectations of 3.5 per cent. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, remained at 2.6 per cent.

Francesco Pesole, strategist at ING, said there was “still no evidence that inflationary pressures are spreading beyond energy [which] gives BoE doves something to cling on tomorrow”.

Traders continued to expect a string of rate increases over the coming year, but dialled back expectations on the pace. They also cut bets on a move at this week's meeting from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.

Two-year gilt yields, which are more sensitive to changing interest rate expectations, fell 0.14 percentage points to 4.76 per cent. The pound slipped 0.3 per cent against the dollar to \$1.344.

Welfare bill

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Ministers look at rejig of disability assessments

CHRIS SMYTH

An overhaul of disability benefit assessments is being considered by ministers after a think-tank found that the current system did not link payments to claimants' level of need.

As the government seeks to stop young people being stuck on benefits for life, the Institute for Fiscal Studies set out options for saving billions of pounds a year from personal independence payments, the main disability benefit.

However, ministers must tread carefully. A backbench rebellion last year forced the abandonment of an attempt to save £5bn by restricting eligibility for Pip, a key moment in Sir Keir Starmer's downfall as prime minister. Andy Burnham is not expected to propose cuts in next month's Budget, despite growing pressure on the public finances.

But Sir Stephen Timms, the disability minister, is drawing up plans for reform of Pip, which is paid irrespective of employment status to compensate for the extra costs of ill health. His review is minded to scrap the current points system, said people familiar with his thinking. Instead, applicants would undergo an initial assessment and those with the most severe disabilities or terminal illness would be fast-tracked for payment.

Those with fluctuating conditions, including mental health problems, would be given detailed face-to-face assessments and offered support from a broader menu of options. For some, this would mean equipment, aid, transport or therapy instead of payments.

Rising claims at all ages have pushed the cost of Pip from £14bn a year in 2019 to £25bn, and this is forecast to rise to £34bn in current prices by 2030. Last year, 8.2 per cent of all 16 to 64-year-olds in England and Wales claimed the benefit, up from 5.5 per cent in 2019.

Eduin Latimer, senior research economist at the IFS, said the current system was “a bit blunt”. But he warned that to be sure of saving money, eligibility would have to be restricted.

The Department for Work and Pensions said: “The Timms Review interim report made clear that Pip is no longer fit for purpose. The recommendations from the final report . . . will pave the way for sustainable reform.”

Door dash Burnham visits sports-car maker's tech hub

Andy Burnham clambers out of a McLaren sports car yesterday as the prime minister visited the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, south-west London. Burnham met Nick Collins, McLaren Group chief executive, right, as well as workers on the production lines. McLaren to make SUV, page 9

[EMPTY]

Revenue

Healey weighs raising tax on high-stake slot machines

STEPHANIE STACEY AND GEORGE PARKER

John Healey is looking at raising gambling taxes in his Budget, according to people briefed on the issue, but wants to ensure that any move does not hit traditional venues, such as pubs, bingo halls or seaside arcades.

Officials are considering ways to increase machine gaming duty, the tax levied on slot machines, in a way that is targeted at betting shops and so-called adult gaming centres.

Gambling industry figures have warned that an increase to the tax on slot machines would shut hundreds of high street shops and cost thousands of jobs in a sector already reeling from steep tax rises at last year's Budget.

But the chancellor and Prime Minister Andy Burnham believe that AGCs — the slot machine venues generally open 24 hours a day — have become a blight on the high street and damaged lives. "This is something that Andy really cares about," said one Labour official.

Healey is under pressure to act in next month's Budget from former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown but is also facing fierce lobbying against the move from the gambling sector.

The then chancellor Rachel Reeves was persuaded in her Budget last year that a heavy new tax on the sector — in addition to her other increases on gambling levies — would damage pubs, bingo halls and seaside arcades. Those concerns have prompted the determination to target the machine gaming tax on betting shops and AGCs.

The Treasury declined to comment on Budget “speculation” but one government insider said: “John doesn’t want to stop working people having fun in traditional venues or putting 2p into a slot machine in a seaside arcade. But that is different to these adult gaming centres."

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pubs Association, said that fruit machines made “a huge difference to the bottom line because pubs are hit with so many taxes already”.

The Social Market Foundation, a cross-party think-tank, estimated in June that doubling the levy on so-called Category B slot machines to 40 per cent would boost tax revenues by up to £458mn a year.

Category B machines have higher stakes and restricted to licensed gambling venues, such as AGCs, betting shops and casinos. Such a move would spare the lower-stakes machines commonly found in pubs and seaside arcades.

Modelling from EY commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council — an industry lobby group – found that such a tax increase could lead to up to 1,470 betting shop closures and 15,900 job losses.

Stella David, chief executive of Ladbrokes owner Entain, told Burnham in a letter on Friday that increasing the levy in line with the Social Market Foundation's proposals would cost her company about £100mn. That would hit "businesses already struggling to absorb major tax increases" from the last Budget, she claimed.

Richard Harris, chief executive of Rank Group, which owns Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo, said gambling companies were not “scaremongering” about the impact of tax rises, noting that more than 500 betting shop closures had been announced since November.

Gambling has been a particular target of Burnham's agenda to revitalise “hollowed-out” high streets.

Fiscal headroom

Chancellor's allies warn of 'challenging' Budget ahead

GEORGE PARKER, SAM FLEMING, DELPHINE STRAUSS AND IAN SMITH

The country should brace itself for a painful Budget next month as global conflicts push up government borrowing costs and drive speculation about interest rate rises, people close to chancellor John Healey have said.

Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine were having a “significant impact on the economy”, Healey’s allies said, with analysts predicting that the £24bn fiscal “buffer” would take a battering. “This is a really challenging Budget,” said one.

Andy Burnham, prime minister, yesterday echoed the message that the wars would make for a “challenging” Budget, amid warnings from a former adviser that markets were doubtful of his ability to keep public spending under control.

Andy Haldane, former BoE chief economist, said that markets suspected the prime minister was leading “a traditional tax and spend socialist government with better TikTok videos”.

Burnham rejected Haldane's comments to LBC, saying they did “not tell the story – we are not that” and adding: “I’ve taken difficult decisions . . . to reprioritise government spending, putting digital ID on hold for instance. We will take difficult decisions to make sure the economy remains on track.”

Healey, a former defence secretary, has told colleagues that international factors are weighing on his planning, including the advance of Houthi rebels on the Red Sea coast of Yemen and the escalation of fighting in Ukraine.

“Both of these fronts are having a significant impact on the economy,” said one person close to the chancellor.

“John knows this better than anyone with his international outlook from defence and is using it as a basis for some early thinking into the Budget.”

The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee will set out at midday today the reasoning behind its interest rate decision. Investors expect rates to stay at 3.75 per cent with UK inflation set to rise above the 3.1 per cent reached in August.

Speculation about increases in policy rates in the UK and elsewhere, including the Eurozone and US, has contributed to a sell-off in sovereign bonds, driving up government interest costs.

This has sharply curtailed the Budget “headroom” that Healey has against the key fiscal rule. Many economists estimate the impact of higher borrowing costs alone has halved the fiscal buffer from the near-£24bn that former chancellor Rachel Reeves had in March.

The fiscal rule requires the government to bring the current budget, which excludes investment spending, into surplus by the end of the parliament.

The Office for Budget Responsibility is working on the forecasts that will underpin the October 28 Budget. Unlike in previous Budget rounds, the OBR is set to provide only a single forecast to the Treasury. Previously, it provided three sets of “pre-measures” forecasts but the November 2025 Budget was riven by speculation over how those outlooks were changing, adding to the turbulence in the lead-up to Reeves’ final Budget as chancellor.

Government borrowing costs rose above 5.4 per cent this week, their highest since 2007, in a global bond sell-off triggered by the Iran war.

Additional reporting by Ashley Armstrong

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Regional powers

Local leaders poised for greater role in water group oversight

JIM PICKARD, GILL PLIMMER AND JENNIFER WILLIAMS

Andy Burnham is considering a new system of oversight for the water sector that would give mayors and other local political leaders greater responsibility for companies in their regions.

The prime minister said in a speech in June that he wanted to “ensure all parts of the UK are able to take greater public control of essential services, like water, housing, energy and transport”.

Now he is looking at creating nine regional bodies that would set objectives for water companies in England and holding them to account.

The bodies would reflect Burnham's desire to have greater public control of water companies but are unlikely to satisfy MPs and campaigners calling for renationalisation after years of poor performance and rising debt.

The idea of regional bodies overseeing the sector was proposed by Sir Jon Cunliffe in the “Independent Water Commission” published in July last year, although it was not taken forward by the previous administration under Sir Keir Starmer.

The Daily Telegraph first reported that ministers were considering reviving Cunliffe's plan for regional planners to oversee water providers. One official said this was an “option” although other officials said it was “speculative” given that the plans had not been finalised.

Cunliffe, who did not consider renationalisation as an option, suggested that the regional authorities should be responsible for planning, funding, setting water body objectives and monitoring delivery.

The authorities would consist of may-ors or local council leaders as well as experts from areas such as transport and agriculture. Under Cunliffe's plans the bodies would not displace the national water industry regulator, currently Ofwat.

The main recommendation in Cunliffe's report – which has been accepted by ministers – was for Ofwat to be dismantled and replaced with a more powerful regulator for the sector.

Its economic functions would merge with the water-related responsibilities of the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, under the proposals.

Ofwat sets limits on what water companies can charge customers over five-

With the flow: one water industry adviser said the utilities would be ‘pretty relaxed’ about proposals for regional boards Andrew Matthews/PA

year periods while adjudicating on whether they are investing enough in their infrastructure.

One water industry adviser said the utilities would be “pretty relaxed” about the proposals for regional boards as they did not equate to state control and there had already been signalling about having local government leaders on boards.

Burnham vowed to “end 40 years of neoliberalism” when he stood in the Makerfield by-election this summer, which paved the way for his seizing the premiership.

He called the water industry a “leaking monument to that approach — a country run in the private, rather than public, interest”.

More than 60 MPs spoke in favour of ending water privatisation in a parliamentary debate on Monday.

Ash Smith, founder of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, who organised the debate, said “the idea that the public could exert control over something they didn’t own was an insult to the intelligence of the people who have been studying this industry for so long.

“Only full public ownership will drive the radical changes this country needs.”

End of an era as Thatcher's model council lifts tax by $94 \%$

Wandsworth blames Labour funding system but critics say rise is ‘political’

CHRIS SMYTH AND MARI NOVIK

For Margaret Thatcher, it was the exemplar local authority. “Where Wandsworth has led, let other Conservative councils follow,” she told the Tory party conference in 1982. The south London borough blazed the trail that came to be known as Thatcherism – privatisation of local services, right to buy for council tenants and, above all, low taxes.

But on Tuesday night, Wandsworth's half-century era of ultra-low council tax came to an end as its Conservative administration announced plans for a 94 per cent rise, the country's biggest ever annual increase.

Andy Burnham has often cited the 1980s as the decade when Britain took a wrong turn. Wandsworth Tories have accused his government of serving its revenge very, very cold, with the end of the borough's low-tax experiment marking a symbolic moment in the new prime minister's repudiation of Thatcher's model.

Wandsworth, a prosperous residential area, said the move to raise tax was forced by a change in funding. The council's central government grant has been cut by 40 per cent as funds are diverted to more deprived areas, mainly in the north and Midlands.

Angela Rayner, the local government secretary who began the changes before Burnham took office, has been accused by the borough of “deliberately targeting” low-tax councils. “I don’t think it is about the place for her. It is about the nature of our low-tax offer, which they regard as simply wrong," said Robert Morritt, Tory leader of the council.

“For decades, residents in our part of London have made a conscious choice to support efficient, well-run low-tax councils, and they are now being penalised for that.”

Rayner argues the existing system is “unfair” and has seen deprived areas, which struggle to raise tax locally, hit doubly hard by reductions in council funding during the austerity years. She is reallocating government grants on a new formula based on assessment of local needs, including population age and deprivation.

Crucially, this deducts what local areas could raise if they imposed council tax at the national average, £1,940 per year for a band D property. This rises to £2,392 once precepts for combined authorities and others are included.

Wandsworth charges the lowest council tax in England, at £509.84 for Band D, plus a £510.51 precept set by the Greater London Authority. Its share of the Band D bill will rise to £1,468 from April. The total, including the GLA precept, will almost double to £1,978.

Wandsworth is one of six councils, all in London and the South East, with “historically very low bills” where ministers have given the green light for significant increases.

Elizabeth Campbell, Tory leader of Kensington and Chelsea — one of the six

Reallocation: Wandsworth's central government grant has been cut by $40\%$ as funds are diverted to more deprived areas. Below, Margaret Thatcher Greg Balfour Evans/Alamy

NATIONAL

— accused ministers of a “totally political . . . attack on inner London”. She would have to impose “very large tax rises” as well as cutting services. “Our residents know what is coming but it is just going to be very, very brutal, very difficult, very unpleasant and very fast.”

Morritt acknowledges that a rapid rise is “going to be a shock” for Wandsworth residents and “will be super difficult” for some. He accused ministers of “trying to kill off local choice”, saying democracy “ultimately should mean that local people can vote for lower tax, more efficiently run councils”.

Rayner's team says the changes are not a judgment on the low-tax model but a byproduct of a reformed system designed to help deprived areas. One government figure pointed to Wandsworth's £194mn of reserves.

"For too long, an outdated council funding system, based on decades-old data, has entrenched inequality, leaving councils on a cliff edge and communities in deprived areas facing service cuts and rising bills, while some councils in less deprived areas have benefited disproportionately, building up their reserves," they said.

Labour argues that Wandsworth's low rates were enabled by the decision of Sir John Major's Conservative government to bake in higher central government grants when it created council tax in 1993 to allow them to continue to hold it up as an exemplar. The Tories spent much of the 1980s using Wandsworth's low rates as a stick to attack Labour profligacy, after the Conservative council leadership elected in 1978 enacted the platform that became Thatcherism.

“It was absolutely totemic,” said Robert Colvile of the Centre for Policy Studies, a right-leaning think-tank that championed the Wandsworth model. “It was hugely important as proof of concept — it was one of the first to do ‘right to buy’, one of the first to privatise services and to focus on cutting costs.

"One academic study called it the cradle of Thatcherism. At a time when Ken Livingstone was running the Greater London Authority from the hard left, it was an alternative vision of how you could run local government."

Colvile branded Rayner's reform "a pretty high-handed act of national con-

'One study called it the cradle of Thatcherism. It was an alternative vision of how you could run local government' Robert Colvile, Centre for Policy Studies

trol from a government that claims to believe in devolution".

But Kate Ogden of the Institute for Fiscal Studies argued that the choice about tax levels remained with local residents. The reforms were “saying if you set higher council tax you can keep the money for better services, and if you want to have lower council tax bills that is fine, but we are not going to give you higher grant funding to make up for that”, she said.

While assessments of need were always political, she added, the previous funding formula was “arbitrary and quite hard to defend”. Residents in areas such as Wandsworth would now have to accept that lower council tax “comes with consequences for public services”.

Simon Hogg, leader of the Labour group in Wandsworth, said the increase was “cruel and unnecessary”, accusing the Tories of imposing a big rise so as to cut taxes before the next local elections in 2030. “There is no financial need for a vast increase this year. The decision is purely political,” he said.

Labour, he promised, would “keep any council tax increase below 5 per cent”.

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Terrorism claim

US charges five over ‘assassination network’

DoJ says Russia-backed global group plotted to kill and 'cause destruction'

KAYE WIGGINS — NEW YORK ELLA LEE, AMY MACKINNON, JOE MILLER WASHINGTON

The US has charged five people in connection with what it called a “global assassination network” controlled by the Kremlin in a sweeping indictment that includes claims of a murder-for-hire plot on American soil.

The Department of Justice said the group, composed of Russian, Cuban and Venezuelan nationals, was paid to conduct surveillance and plotted to kill dissidents in the US and Lithuania. It also targeted military and civilian infrastructure in European countries that are supportive of Ukraine.

Jamie McDonald, New York's top federal prosecutor, on Tuesday said: "The defendants, working for the intelligence services of Russia, conspired to cause destruction and mayhem around the world, including right here in the United States."

The defendants were at large, he added. The DoJ said the Russian intelligence network, known as RIS, had operated since at least 2024.

The indictment marks a rare public example of an alleged Russian-backed assassination plot in the US. British and

European officials have accused the Kremlin's intelligence services of being behind the murder and attempted assassination of dissidents, dating back to the mid-2000s.

Moscow has stepped up efforts to target its critics and disrupt European support for Ukraine since its full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.

The US indictment charged Yuri Khrameev, Kirill Khrameev, Oemis Romagoza Durruthy, Yaidel Delgado Suarez and Angel Eduardo Castro with participating in a conspiracy to finance terrorism. Yuri Khrameev, Suarez and Castro were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

Suarez, described by the DoJ as a "prolific recruiter" for RIS, allegedly sought to enlist US-based individuals for surveillance and targeted killings. He and Castro are accused of offering a US resident \$40,000 to "eliminate" or "disappear" an unnamed prominent Russian dissident believed to live in the US.

Prosecutors said the US resident agreed to “take pics”, or surveil, the intended target but would not do “the other stuff”.

The US government also said Yuri Khrameev recruited a US resident to assassinate an individual in Lithuania who he accused of “spreading dirt about my country”. Khrameev allegedly offered the US-based individual \$25,000 to kill the dissident and suggested the killing could be carried out by "throwing a bottle of gasoline" or "sticking a knife" in the person.

The US-based individual declined to help murder the dissident because they believed there was no way to carry out the killing without being caught, according to charging papers.

US attorney-general Todd Blanche touted efforts to crack down on terrorism on Tuesday, saying FBI data showed a 38 per cent increase in arrests related to foreign terrorist groups compared with the Biden administration.

German officials earlier this month blamed Moscow after an explosive-laden drone was discovered near a Ukrainian plane at Leipzig airport.

Partnerships. Carney visit

Europe digests 'open door' offer to Canada

Bloc members wary of wider repercussions and legality of von der Leyen's grand gesture

HENRY FOY — BRUSSELS ANDY BOUNDS — STRASBOURG

Ursula von der Leyen's audacious offer to make Canada the EU's first "associate member" won a standing ovation from European lawmakers and an embrace from Prime Minister Mark Carney.

But away from the ringing applause, officials in Berlin and other EU capitals were far less impressed with the European Commission president's decision to promise something that not only does not exist, but is not in her power to give.

German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius promptly noted that while Berlin was open to “discussing new partnership models” with Canada, the term “associate member” should be “reconsidered”. In Brussels, diplomats predicted a clash between the head of the EU’s executive and the member states to whom she answers.

“We cannot decide on something that does not exist,” said one diplomat. A second said the idea would probably “die” in talks with member states. “It’s classic [von der Leyen],” noted a third. “Promise first, get approval later.”

Von der Leyen said yesterday that closer ties with Canada would include defence-industrial co-operation, a tech alliance and joint Arctic projects, as well as initiatives on energy, critical minerals and economic security.

"In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible," von der Leyen said.

Carney, who was educated in the UK and served as Bank of England governor, started his premiership with a trip to Europe when he declared that Canada was “the most European of non-European countries”.

His push for deeper ties with the EU has accelerated in recent months as his relationship with the Trump administration has soured.

In January, Carney made a plea at the Davos forum for “middle powers” to coalesce and stand up to the US and China. Four months later, on the sidelines of a summit in Armenia, Carney and von der Leyen sketched the broad strokes of this “associate membership”.

At that meeting, the Canadian leader also accepted her invitation to travel to

Bilateral ties: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney left, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the European parliament in Strasbourg yesterday — Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/AP

Strasbourg for her “State of the Union” speech – and to give his own address to the European parliament. Carney is due to speak to MEPs today.

“We need partners,” Carney told senior EU officials in May, according to people briefed on the discussions in Yerevan. He cited Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and Washington’s general belligerence towards Ottawa.

But in the days leading up to von der Leyen's speech, aides repeatedly revised how she would describe Canada's proposed status, according to people briefed on the process – a sign of the delicate balance she must strike between proposing ambitious ideas to EU capitals and keeping them onside.

“We must urgently reimagine our partnerships,” von der Leyen ultimately said. “So, I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU.”

Many EU ambassadors consulted ahead of the speech warned about any big upgrade in ties with Canada, citing the failure to fully implement the 2017 Ceta trade deal, the risks of prioritising

Ottawa over other important partners, and the danger of provoking Trump.

EU capitals, which in May rejected a German proposal to grant a form of “associate membership” to Ukraine, have also been historically opposed to creating ad hoc special categories for third countries.

Even some of von der Leyen's own officials voiced scepticism. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters after the speech there would be no special treatment for Ottawa, given that partners such as Norway and Switzerland follow EU rules and even pay into the bloc's shared budget.

"When it comes to the single market, the rules are the same for everyone," he said. "But I think with Canada, we still have so much possibility to explore."

Many in Strasbourg were enthusiastic about von der Leyen's pitch.

"We know we can't upset the member states, but we also can't upset third countries who want closer ties," said an EU official in defence of von der Leyen's decision.

"And what was she supposed to say?"

'Canada wants to turn to Europe and, in this more dangerous world, we must be bold and embrace them'

Valérie Hayer, Renew Europe

Carney was sitting right in front of her, in a room full of European lawmakers that love him. If you don't push the envelope, you get left behind."

Valérie Hayer, president of the EU's liberal Renew Europe political group and a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, said she was “delighted” the Commission president had adopted her long-held call for a “deeper, more strategic EU-Canada relationship”.

“Canada wants to turn to Europe and, in this more dangerous world, we must be bold and embrace them.” Hayer told the FT.

Still, EU officials said, the Commission president faces a battle to get capitals on board with her proposal before a summit with Carney in Canada on October 29-30.

"There is no appetite [among EU capitals] to set a precedent that could later apply to other candidate countries," said a fourth EU diplomat. "In an optimistic scenario, this could lead to a deeper trade relationship and one or two additional summits."

Additional reporting, Aysun Bora in Berlin

Online protection

EU to restrict social media and chatbots for children under 15

BARBARA MOENS AND HENRY FOY BRUSSELS

The EU is set to ban the use of social media, certain gaming platforms and AI chatbots by children under 15 without parental supervision, as part of a wider push to protect them online.

“No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech yesterday. “Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide the rules, not big tech.”

Details of the measures will be unveiled in a so-called Kids Act today, in response to political pressure from several EU countries. Countries including France and Greece have long been pushing Brussels to impose restrictions on children's access to social media.

In a speech that laid out threats to the EU, von der Leyen described AI as “the second tipping point of our times” — alongside climate change — and said humanity could only “unlock AI’s possibilities” if the risks were “addressed”.

“[AI] models being developed will allow hacking on a level we never thought possible. And they will soon be in the hands of adversaries who see the world very differently from us,” von der Leyen said. She proposed that Brussels “team up” with countries such as Canada and the UK “on model evaluation, verification, early warning, AI security and much more”.

According to a draft proposal of the social media restrictions seen by the FT, children under 13 will only be allowed access with supervision from parents. Children between 13 and 15 will only be allowed to create accounts with parental control and with certain restrictions, such as time limits.

“We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content,” von der Leyen said in yesterday’s speech. “We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualised images.

“We are reversing the burden of proof. Platforms will have to prove to us that they are safe. Because it is not about our minors accessing social media. It is about when and how do we allow social media to access our minors.”

Social media companies, online gaming services and AI chatbots will have to introduce safeguards to curb abuse and addictive behaviour. AI companion and chatbot services will also have to avoid designs that encourage children to form unhealthy emotional attachments or expose them to harmful exchanges.

The companies will be obliged to verify the age of users using an official verification app. If they do not comply with the rules they will risk fines of up to 6 per cent of their global annual turnover, according to the draft.

The restrictions on minors would come in addition to existing EU digital rules, including the AI Act and the Digital Services Act, which govern how platforms handle illegal and harmful content. US President Donald Trump has accused Brussels of targeting American companies and threatened tariffs in response to enforcement actions.

Commission officials argue that concerns over the impact of social media on children's mental health now extend well beyond Europe.

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Company ownership

Disclosure push has gone 'too far', says Liechtenstein

MERCEDES RUEHL — ZURICH

Europe's drive to expose the true owners of companies has gone “too far” and handed hackers a new target, Liechtenstein has warned, after a cyber attack hit the principality's beneficial ownership register.

Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, a member of the country's ruling family and chair of Finance Liechtenstein, told the FT he was “very much in favour of all the anti-money laundering procedures”, but accused Europe of “bureaucratic zeal”.

“This is not only for the financial business; it goes for all businesses. The cost of this disclosure has become enormous,” he added.

The warning comes as Europe pushes ahead with a system linking national beneficial ownership registers across the EU and European Economic Area, including Liechtenstein.

Prince Michael said linking the databases would “multiply the risk” exposed by the Liechtenstein breach in July, in which hackers copied data relating to about 31,000 companies, trusts, foundations and other legal entities.

They obtained information including names, dates of birth, nationalities and countries of residence of beneficial owners. Liechtenstein authorities have said they do not yet know who was responsible or what their motive was.

The prince, who also heads Industrie- und Finanzkontor, a company that sets up and manages trusts and foundations for wealthy families, said the breach was unlikely to check Europe's appetite for collecting financial information. “I think it will not wake up the European Commission, unfortunately,” he said.

Liechtenstein, whose financial industry specialises in trusts, foundations and wealth management, has in recent years overhauled its regulatory system as well as adopted automatic exchange of tax information and European anti-money laundering rules. It is not an EU member but belongs to the European Economic Area, requiring it to adopt large parts of the bloc's rules.

Science

Human brain tissue grown in mice promises medical leaps

MICHAEL PEEL — LONDON

Scientists have genetically engineered mice brains to enable human cerebral tissue to take root in them, in a breakthrough that promises to boost efforts to develop treatments for diseases and developmental disorders.

The rodents grafted with human brain tissue showed different behaviours from their unmodified peers, such as walking differently when subjected to oxygen shortages, the researchers said.

"These animal models offer a unique opportunity to study how disease-associated alterations in human brain circuitry manifest in an intact nervous system," said Sergiu Paşca, research leader and professor at Stanford University.

“Neuroscientists will be able to learn much more about the causes and mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and pregnancy-incurred disorders and to test possible interventions to correct or prevent them.”

Paşca's team engineered and bred the mice so that almost all of their cerebral cortex – the brain's outermost layer – was absent, according to a paper published in Nature yesterday. That gave the grafted human brain tissue room to grow and form connections with its rodent host's brain and spinal cord.

The human tissue was grown from stem cells that were originally derived from skin and are capable of differentiating into most body cell types.

The researchers exposed the engineered mice to a low-oxygen environment for five hours, mimicking a cause of cerebral palsy in humans when it occurs during pregnancy or around birth.

The oxygen-starved rodents found it harder to maintain their balance and gait, while their unengineered peers were almost unaffected.

The study could aid better understanding of the causes of other conditions including schizophrenia, epilepsy and profound autism, Paşca said.

The research was a “technical leap”, said Oscar Marín, professor of neuroscience at King’s College London.

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US-China clash over AI revives tension ahead of Trump-Xi talks

Rivalry engenders discord on how to manage potentially existential dangers

ELEANOR OLCOTT AND JOE LEAHY
BEIJING
ZIJING WU — HONG KONG
DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO — WASHINGTON

American researchers have raised the alarm this month over the potentially existential threat posed by artificial intelligence – but their Chinese counterparts say US determination to dominate the technology makes it harder to find common ground on safety.

Chinese think-tanks and technology companies have had unofficial talks with American counterparts ahead of a summit meeting next week between US President Donald Trump and China's leader Xi Jinping that will be closely watched for signs their governments can co-operate on AI risks.

People involved in the talks in recent weeks said the two sides shared many concerns about the dangers posed by powerful, potentially uncontrollable AI systems. But technological rivalry between the US and China made it more difficult to agree “guardrails” to manage risk, they said.

These tensions came to the fore after Anthropic's boss Dario Amodei published an essay last weekend calling for the leading US labs to slow the pace of AI development.

Amodei also argued that any slowdown should create mechanisms for the US to maintain its technology advantage over China, including by restricting Beijing's access to advanced chips and cracking down on Chinese groups training their models using outputs from US rivals, in a process called distillation.

Xiao Qian, vice-dean of the Institute for AI International Governance at Tsinghua University in Beijing, whose department has been involved in the unofficial talks with US counterparts, said Chinese experts were disappointed by Amodei's comments.

“We feel a kind of concern or disappointment because experts from the AI safety community in China want to do something together with the US on managing frontier risks, but then Amodei's essay really made people feel that the space for co-operation was even more limited or narrow than expected,” Xiao said.

Amodei's linking of the issue to national security “makes it even harder for any possible co-operation”, she said. “So things are getting more and more complicated.”

The Communist Party nationalist tabloid Global Times on Monday attacked Amodei's claim that a Chinese lead in AI would pose “grave danger for the United States and the world”.

The claims “risked turning AI safety into a geopolitical, zero-sum issue rather than addressing a global challenge that requires co-operation among major AI powers”, the paper quoted an unnamed Chinese “expert” as saying, adding that Amodei was driven by “commercial interests”.

Ahead of the Trump-Xi summit on September 24, people familiar with discussions inside the US government said they had very low expectations for the leaders to agree on anything substantial regarding AI.

INTERNATIONAL

Seeking the advantage: AI-powered robots at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing in June — Ng Han Guan/AP

China said in May that the two leaders had agreed to set up an AI dialogue at a summit in Beijing, but formal talks on the issue have not taken place since. Trump said he had discussed AI “guardrails” with Xi, but last weekend he said there was no need for them in the US.

Another source of friction is US allegations that Chinese labs are cutting corners by developing models through distillation. At a ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chengdu in July, US commerce department official Bill Guidera raised concerns about distillation in discussions with the Cyberspace Administration of China, according to people familiar with the talks. Chinese officials rejected the accusations as unfounded and argued that they ignored domestic companies' independent advances.

The White House has publicly warned Beijing that the US would take action against China over distillation. The National Security Agency and other national bodies last week accused several Chinese groups, including Deep-

Seek and Alibaba, of distillation, which they said was done “likely with Chinese government awareness”.

Chinese experts say accusations of distillation make consensus difficult. "Claims attributing the development of Chinese models to distillation from US models . . . create both security concerns and political pressure surrounding co-operation on advanced technologies," said Sun Chenghao, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University.

Several experts noted that both sides were focused on different AI threats. While the debate in the US was focused on existential threats and how to stop AI getting out of control, regulators in China focused on existing risks such as hacking and how to prevent dissemination of politically sensitive material.

"It is not in China's interest to kick in strong supervision now since the country is behind in AI," said a person familiar with Chinese regulators' thinking.

Several executives and investors in leading Chinese AI groups said there

'Experts from the AI safety community in China want to do something with the US on managing frontier risks'

was also little meaningful discussion within them about catastrophic or existential AI risks.

“You don’t hear discussions about AI safety at investor meetings at all,” said one investor in two Chinese large language model groups. “Only very recently there started to be some talks among researchers and over coffees, but nothing to the extent of the US . . . People are very focused on advancing their capabilities.”

Even so, concerns over AI risk are moving up China's political agenda. On Sunday, the Ministry of State Security issued one of the most comprehensive warnings yet from a senior Chinese authority about the dangers posed by AI, outlining threats ranging from cyber attacks to political instability.

The person close to Chinese regulators said the statement was a “hint to the US that there is room for AI talks during the Xi-Trump meet-up” by demonstrating that Chinese officials “do care about the agenda of the AI threat”. DeepMind warning See Companies

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Trade truce

Bessent and He to hold weekend summit

US Treasury secretary and counterpart seek to bridge countries' differences

DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO — NEW YORK

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent will meet his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng in New York on Sunday as the two sides try to bridge differences ahead of next week's summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Washington.

Bessent and Jamieson Greer, US trade representative, will host the Chinese vice-premier and his delegation for a final round of negotiations before Trump welcomes the Chinese president to the White House next Thursday, according to a US official.

The meeting comes as the two sides remain at odds over several issues, including AI competition and rare earths, and ahead of the expiry in November of the trade war truce that the US president and Xi agreed in South Korea last October.

Trump will host the Chinese president for meetings and a state dinner, just four months after he met him in China in May. Xi has not visited Washington since 2016. He met thenpresident Joe Biden in San Francisco in 2023 and Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2017.

Trump and Xi reached a ceasefire in their trade and technology war last

The meeting comes as the two sides remain at odds over several issues, including rare earths

October when they met in Busan, South Korea, following months of tit-for-tat measures, including tariffs and export controls.

In Busan, Trump agreed to postpone the imposition of export controls that would have affected thousands of Chinese companies. Beijing held back draconian restrictions on exports of rare earths and critical minerals.

Ahead of the summit in Washington, China has pushed to extend the Busan truce for the rest of Trump's term. But several people familiar with the talks said the US was insisting on a six-month extension only, partly because it believed China was not fully living up to the commitments on rare earths.

The US has also been pushing China to ease restrictions on rare earth exports to

Japan, in a move designed partly to help an ally but also because the restrictions are having a knock-on impact on US supply chains.

Washington and Tokyo are particularly concerned about China slowing exports of yttrium, a metal used in an array of products including lasers, aircraft engines and semiconductors, which is hard to substitute.

The two sides have also been hammering out details of a Board of Trade that Trump and Xi agreed to create in Beijing. The mechanism would identify products in non-sensitive areas for tariff reduction.

US politics. Midterm elections

Billionaires line up to bankroll Republicans

Mega-donors overwhelmingly back Trump's party as cash floods into race for Congress

IAN HODGSON AND ALEX ROGERS
WASHINGTON
EVA XIAO AND MICHAEL TAFFE
NEW YORK

America's mega-donors are overwhelmingly backing Donald Trump's Republicans in this year's race for Congress, as billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street bankroll the party's midterm push.

Sixteen of the country's 20 largest donors have ploughed money into the Republican campaign, according to the FT's analysis. George Soros is the stand-out Democratic backer. Other megadonors have funnelled cash to candidates pushing for the deregulation of cryptocurrency and gambling or to promote AI.

The findings reveal another US election drawing colossal sums to shape the outcome – and also show how the wealthiest donors are tilting Republican, even as the party trails Democrats in the polls. It also marks a reversal from the 2024 presidential race, when Kamala Harris raised and spent more money than Trump but lost.

“What you’re seeing is a mild break from expectations,” said Stanford political scientist Adam Bonica, who has studied donations from America’s wealthy since 1980. It is not unusual for top donors to lean Republican, but the balance this time is “especially skewed”.

The money is flowing through several channels. Some of the largest donors are financing candidates directly. Some are building huge war chests around industries such as crypto.

A smaller group are using networks of Super Pacs to funnel funds into House and Senate races, and intervened in primaries first – where the money had extra influence.

At a time of populist revolt against perceived elites, political money has become more concentrated among the ultra-rich. More than a third of the \$2.8bn raised for the current 2025-26 election cycle comes from the 20 biggest mega-donors, according to an FT analysis of the most recent filings.

In more than 30 House and Senate contests, more than a third of outside spending came from groups that received at least 80 per cent of their money from mega-donors, defined as people who each gave at least \$5mn.

"We now have a system that is geared

US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk during their close association in early 2025. The Tesla and SpaceX boss is expected to spend \$100mn supporting Republicans in the 2026 race Allison Robbert/AFP/Getty Images

towards and depends on these ultra-wealthy mega-donors," said Brendan Glavin, research director at Open-Secrets, a non-profit that tracks campaign spending.

These wealthy elites “pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the system and really have an outsized effect”, he said.

Top Republican donors have also donated millions of dollars to Maga Inc, the Super Pac that backed Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. It now boasts a \$400mn electoral war chest.

Special interest groups have also contributed. Crypto entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss donated about \$11mn. Silicon Valley tycoons Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and their spouses have given \$18mn, while OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his spouse donated \$25mn.

Maga Inc has so far spent just \$10.8mn, backing Trump-allied Republicans in Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina. A new group, No Going Back Pac Inc, has booked more than \$89mn in advertising across two dozen House and Senate races since it was formed on September 1, including at least \$10mn deployed since Monday. Although Maga Inc has not confirmed its ties to the group, the two share a treasurer, address and depository bank.

Elon Musk, who spent more than \$250mn on Trump's 2024 election campaign, is also stepping up his support for Republicans in the midterms.

The world's wealthiest man gave about \$50mn to America Pac, mostly last year, and the group spent almost all of it by the end of June. The Super Pac launched an \$8mn-plus ad campaign in early September. US media has reported that the Tesla and SpaceX boss could spend \$100mn on the 2026 race.

The crypto industry has amassed one of the election's largest war chests, using its growing clout under Trump to back candidates who support the sector.

Fairshake, a crypto Super Pac, has raised more than \$99mn in individual contributions – nearly all from a handful of companies and investors, including Coinbase, Ripple, and Andreessen and Horowitz.

The political spending comes as Washington makes crucial decisions on AI, Big Tech and digital currencies, said Columbia law professor Richard Briffault. "There's just a huge amount that's financially at stake."

Fairshake has transferred \$65mn to Super Pacs supporting candidates from both parties – all designed to promote and defend crypto – in races from Illinois to Alabama and Texas.

Some billionaires have financed multiple Super Pacs, adding another layer between themselves and the candidate they are trying to elect.

‘We now have a system that is geared towards and depends on these ultra-wealthy mega-donors’

The Uihlein family, shipping magnates from the Upper Midwest, almost entirely funded two campaign groups focused on Republican primaries in Wisconsin and Kentucky.

JB Pritzker, Illinois' billionaire Democratic governor and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, provided nearly 80 per cent of the money raised by a Super Pac that spent close to \$9mn supporting Democrat Juliana Stratton's US Senate bid.

Citadel chief executive Ken Griffin, another Republican billionaire backer, has used several vehicles to intervene in races around the country. He is the sole backer of Fighting for Wyoming and American Patriots, which supported candidates in Wyoming and Tennessee, and also accounted for about one-third of the funds raised by a group that spent about \$2.8mn opposing the Democratic challenger to Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska.

The concentration of wealthy donors' money is stark in primaries in safely Democratic or Republican districts, where the party contest can in effect decide who goes to Congress.

Donors might have realised that early spending in those primaries could be more efficient than during a general election, said Stanford's Bonica.

Pritzker's money helped propel Stratton to victory in Illinois. In Texas, Lone Star Rising Pac, funded mostly by tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, had deployed \$15mn to support Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, including \$1.5mn from Hoffman in support of his primary campaign.

Crime

South Africa vows justice for women after backlash over killings

MONICA MARK — JOHANNESBURG

A wave of killings of women in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, has caused fear and anger even in a country accustomed to high rates of violence and crime.

Two women were found brutally murdered days apart this week, the latest in a series of grisly discoveries in the city's east – close to its international airport – that have shone a spotlight on an epidemic of violence against women.

Since July, the mutilated bodies of eight women have been found in fields, along highways and on pathways in the Ekurhuleni area, all of them half-naked and showing signs of assault.

The first victim was identified in July, a 37-year-old woman who had been strangled with cable ties. Police said they were investigating the possibility that the eight deaths were linked.

The killings have brought fresh attention to South Africa's longstanding crisis of violence against women and its femicide rate, one of the world's highest. Women were killed in the country at a rate of 12.2 per 100,000 in 2022, nearly six times the global rate, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Images have circulated widely of a smiling Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo running in a marathon. The 38-year-old mother disappeared on September 9 after leaving her Kempton Park home for her usual evening run.

"In this country, we are prey," Sakane Mokoena, her friend and fellow runner, posted on Instagram.

Rose Ncube, who lives in Kempton Park, said she had stopped allowing her two daughters, aged 13 and eight, to walk to nearby shops or play in the park.

“I am scared for them. It is not good for them to stay inside, but they are safer this way,” said Ncube, a 41-year-old accountant. “I can’t describe the fear. You try to put it out of your mind but in South Africa, something happens again and again to remind you.”

Cyril Ramaphosa, president, said on Tuesday he had “directed that these cases be prioritised and that no stone be left unturned in bringing those responsible to justice”, but there has been widespread anger at what campaigners say is a lacklustre government response to the violence.

Kayan Leung – a deputy director of Lawyers for Human Rights and member of #NotFitForPurpose, an advocacy group campaigning for legal changes in the area – said: “This is not new . . . the gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa is a pandemic.”

Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence and femicide a national crisis in 2019, but the government had failed to properly fund or implement a national plan since then, campaigners said.

The violence cuts across class and race. Last year, the murder of Olorato Mongale, 30, after a date with a man she had met at a mall sparked widespread anger, as did the killing of teacher Kirsten Kluyts, who was murdered while in upmarket Sandton in 2023. Kluyts' killer was convicted this week.

The killings have prompted a backlash against police advice that women should take measures to protect themselves. "We are tired of being told to be vigilant when women are already doing everything possible to stay alive," said Women For Change, an advocacy group.

Prosecution

Binance was vehicle for Iran oil cash, US says

CHRISTIAN BERTHELSEN AND JILL R SHAH — NEW YORK

Two Chinese companies used Binance accounts to launder \$61mn in payments for black-market Iranian oil and attempted to funnel the funds back to the Iranian government, US prosecutors have alleged.

The Department of Justice filed a forfeiture complaint seeking to seize the funds, which were sent through a network of digital wallets that received and distributed more than \$1.5bn in proceeds from the illicit sale of Iranian oil, according to the US government. At least some of the funds were used to finance terrorism, prosecutors said.

They added that the \$61mn in transactions subject to the US forfeiture effort occurred in May and June last year and were frozen in the ensuing months. "Individuals and entities have used cryptocurrency trading accounts at Binance to conduct cryptocurrency transactions representing the proceeds of black-market sales of Iranian oil to buyers in China that were funnelled to the government of Iran, its agents, and its proxies to finance terrorist activities," prosecutors said in the seizure complaint.

In a prepared statement, a Binance spokesperson said: "This case was not filed against Binance and does not allege wrongdoing by Binance.

The case was filed against currency in digital wallets, not against Binance or two Chinese companies

“Binance has zero tolerance for sanctions violations or illicit activity, and Binance did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals. We will continue to co-operate with law enforcement on this matter.”

The case was filed against currency in a series of digital wallets, not against Binance or the two Chinese companies, Hexa Whale Trading and Blessed Trust. The DoJ also did not specify the terrorist activity the funds were used to finance.

Binance pleaded guilty to US criminal charges in 2023 related to breach of anti-money laundering laws and paid a \$4.3bn fine.

The group's founder, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to failing to protect against money laundering and was sentenced to four months in federal prison.

US President Donald Trump pardoned Zhao in October last year, as he has embraced cryptocurrencies during his second White House term and overhauled US regulatory oversight of the industry.

An Abu Dhabi fund purchased a \$2bn Binance equity stake from Zhao last year and paid entirely using USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company controlled by Trump's family.

Binance.com does not operate in the US. US customers are served by a separate entity, Binance.US.

The company remains subject to a monitorship until 2028 under a plea agreement it entered with the US Treasury and justice departments.

Economic blueprint

Hong Kong follows China with first 5-year plan

WILLIAM LANGLEY — GUANGZHOU

Hong Kong has unveiled its first-ever five-year plan, a sweeping economic blueprint that is seen as bringing policymaking in the once freewheeling entrepôt more in line with China's state-planning model.

The plan, which covers the period to 2030 and was released alongside city leader John Lee's annual policy address, marked a significant departure for a financial hub that until the 1960s resisted gathering GDP data for fear of encouraging state intervention.

"The five-year plan is Hong Kong's economic and societal blueprint for the next five years. It is a forward-looking, strategic and directional guiding document," Lee told the city's legislature yesterday.

The five-year plan, which coincides with mainland China's own 15th five-year plan, touches on areas including a mega-metropolis under construction in Hong Kong's northern reaches and efforts to strengthen technology and industry, as well as the promotion of traditional Chinese medicine and foods.

In an opinion piece published in local media this week, Lee offered reassurances that the plan did not herald the demise of capitalism. “I have also been asked whether formulating a five-year plan would change Hong Kong’s original system. The answer is no,” Lee wrote. “The plan will uphold Hong Kong’s rule of law and capitalist system.”

Authorities in Hong Kong hope the plan will rejuvenate an economy that has been battered by pro-democracy protests in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic. The city's officials have come under pressure from Beijing to deliver tangible gains on housing and new developments after cracking down on political dissent and overhauling the electoral system to ensure a “patriotic” legislature and, in effect, bar opposition.

Hong Kong leader John Lee with the inaugural five-year plan yesterday

The plan's real significance was in how it demonstrated a more active mode of policymaking, said Gary Ng, senior economist at French investment bank Natixis. "We can talk about many of the . . . details, but it is really about the change in the way of policymaking."

Experts said official intervention could threaten the vigorous free markets that characterised Hong Kong in the past. The Heritage Foundation, a rightwing US think-tank, ranked the city's economy as the freest in the world for 21 consecutive years until 2015.

"I doubt that it [the plan] will make the economy more vibrant and able to adapt to changing market conditions. But it brings [Hong Kong] in line with the practice on the Chinese mainland." said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at Soas.

A botched attempt to use crypto to finance a bold Venezuelan deal has become one of the European nation's biggest ever scandals

PAUL CARUANA GALIZIA — LONDON

In late November 2023, on a boat off Abu Dhabi, a senior executive at Poland's biggest state-backed energy group turned to a young trader and gave him a deceptively simple instruction: "Go out and get me Venezuelan oil."

The executive was Samer Awad, who had been appointed to lead Orlen's new Swiss trading arm just a year earlier. The trader was Kam Ho "Alex" Tse, the founder of Dubai-based Hannon International, an upstart oil-trading outfit.

What followed is a bizarre and sprawling commodity dispute, involving hundreds of millions of missing dollars, vast sums of cryptocurrency and, ultimately, very little Venezuelan oil.

Warsaw prosecutors have charged Awad and other former executives at Orlen Trading Switzerland with criminal mismanagement. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has folded the scandal into a wider clean-up of state companies, saying: "Poles must learn the truth."

An FT investigation – based on company documents, shipping data, blockchain analysis, court filings and interviews with those involved – reveals how a race for oil and cryptocurrency turned into one of Poland's biggest scandals.

The saga opens a window on a shadowy corner of the oil market, where little-known intermediaries and cryptocurrency replace conventional buyers and payment channels, offering traders outsized profits but with serious risk.

Awad and Tse's meeting in Abu Dhabi in 2023 came during the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Hannon, Tse's company, was hosting a party to coincide with the race. Orlen was sponsoring one of the teams. The two men had done deals before, Tse for a Chinese company and Awad as an independent trader.

Awad was born in Lebanon and spent time as a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Tunis, then studied law in Krakow. He entered the oil industry via a trading house involved in the UN's Iraq oil-for-food programme, then set up an oil-services group before trading crude from Iran and Venezuela.

In August 2022, Orlen appointed him as its trading arm's first chief executive.

Tse, then just 25, had started his career at a fuel trader in Hong Kong. He had worked in Basra, managing Iraqi oil trades, but most of his work was on Venezuelan oil.

In October 2023, Washington eased oil sanctions on Venezuela for six months in the hope that the country's revolutionary socialist leader, Nicolás Maduro, would allow democratic elections. But US curbs imposed in 2019 had driven away buyers and choked conventional payment channels, leaving Venezuelan crude cheap but difficult to buy.

For PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company, crypto offered a workaround. The company had increasingly demanded advance payment in USDT, Tether's widely traded crypto pegged to the dollar, that could move over public block-chains outside the conventional banking system. The respite from sanctions did not reverse this trend.

Orlen's trading arm, OTS, was intended to expand its trading capability and help Poland diversify from Russian oil after the shock of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It had \$600mn to trade with.

Gambling a large chunk of that money on oil from a pariah state, paying through an intermediary in digital currency was not the obvious choice for a European state-backed energy group.

Tse said he told Awad about the need to use USDT and that he assumed a company like Orlen would balk at dealing in crypto. A person familiar with Awad's account said Hannon's payment arrangements were its own business; Awad's job was to pursue bold trades.

OTS jumped in with both feet. A few days after the November 2023 boat party it signed a contract to buy about 6mn barrels of PDVSA's main heavy blend, Merey 16, from Tse's company Hannon for \$345mn. OTS expected the deal to generate a profit of \$25mn to \$30mn, a person familiar with Awad's account said. Orlen said "confidentiality obligations" prohibited it from commenting.

The contract did not mention cryptocurrency and did not identify any intermediaries. It required a two-thirds advance. Within five days, OTS had wired Hannon \$230mn.

Then things began to go wrong. Tse had founded Hannon two-and-a-half years earlier with three employees. Now that the group had \$230mn of Orlen's money, along with \$15mn of Hannon's own, Tse had to get the oil from PDVSA, and the USDT to pay for it.

He turned to an Italian, Vitonicola Mariano, who ran a company called Lexcor Energy. Mariano's CV included stints as director of a now-closed Italian restaurant in London, a film-production

Poland races to recover \$230mn after audacious Caracas oil play went wrong

'Proceeding with [tanker Olympic Trophy's] departure would result in a breach of contract. We eagerly await positive news from your end'

How Orlen lost \$230mn Orlen makes a two-thirds advance payment in US dollars to Hannon for 6mn barrels of Venezuelan oil. Hannon adds \$15mn

Exact amount of Tether that Gold Mar received from Horizon in exchange for \$27mn is unknown * Hannon said that the remaining 54mn USDT went on conversion fees and other attempts to secure oil Source: FT research

company, and a business that helped arrange visas for Russia, where he lives.

Mariano told Hannon that he was “a nominated agent of PDVSA” and shared as evidence a confidentiality agreement with the state oil company, according to documents seen by the FT.

On the day that Tse and Awad signed their deal, Hannon said that it agreed a matching deal, seen by the FT, with Mariano's Lexcor Energy, incorporated in the UK. The entity has only ever filed dormant accounts. Lexcor said the contract was signed by Lexcor Energy CA, a Venezuela operating entity with its

own resources. It added that the contract signed by the UK company did not appear to be authentic, which Hannon disputes.

Tse turned to getting his hands on USDT to pay for the oil. He used a Dubai financial services group he had dealt with previously, which provided 80mn USDT for a commission of some \$400,000. That left another \$160mn or so to convert.

He then went to two companies that Hannon said were recommended by Lexcor, though Mariano denies that.

The first was Horizon Global, a recently incorporated Dubai company. Hannon sent Horizon \$135mn but said it received only 85mn USDT, leaving a \$50mn shortfall that is now the subject of a court case in Dubai. Horizon is contesting the claim and did not respond to requests for comment.

The second was Gold Mar International Trading, another recently incorporated Dubai group. Mariano denies any connection to Gold Mar but his name appears on company emails, the authenticity of which he also disputes.

Hannon sent Gold Mar \$30mn in December 2023, expecting it to be converted into USDT and then “onward remittance to PDVSA by Lexcor” to secure the crude. The money has never reached PDVSA.

While Orlen's money moved through Dubai, three supertankers chartered by the Polish energy group were on their way to Venezuela. They anchored near the José terminal, the country's main crude export hub, in mid-December.

Awad was expecting Tse to deliver the 6mn barrels in three stages by a deadline of December 19. But for weeks the tankers waited, empty, as Orlen accumulated demurrage – charges payable when a chartered vessel is held beyond the agreed period. Hannon blamed the loading delays on a PDVSA repricing, then said the Venezuelan group was giving priority to larger buyers in the rush before the sanctions window closed.

Awad and Orlen were running out of patience with Hannon, which was running out of patience with Mariano. Pressed for updates in December 2023, Mariano claimed in a WhatsApp message to Tse's colleague that he was just getting papers to "delsy" — then Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodríguez.

By January, with three months left of the sanctions window, Tse decided to take things into his own hands. He and a colleague went to Venezuela, bringing USB sticks containing huge sums of USDT, and hired an armoured car and bodyguards “for fear of kidnapping”.

Caracas offered no shortage of brokers claiming access to PDVSA. This web of intermediaries and cryptocurrency deals triggered a PDVSA-Crypto corruption investigation, which burst into public view with arrests in March 2023. As the pair arrived in Caracas, the

probe was tearing through the local oil industry. Brokers would be there today, gone tomorrow.

On January 5 2024, Tse said that his colleague met a man called José

Castillo of an agency called Synergy.

According to Tse, Castillo said that he could secure the oil, so Tse's colleague handed him a USB stick containing the digital keys to 60mn USDT.

For weeks, there was little documentary evidence that the payment would produce oil. Then a high-ranking Venezuelan official sent Awad a photo seen by the FT of an apparent PDVSA export schedule for the José terminal, covering March and April, with OTS's three supertankers each listed alongside 1.9mn barrels of Merey 16.

Tse said his colleague met Castillo on January 28 and handed him another USB stick, this time with 50mn USDT.

On the PDVSA schedule, the loading dates alongside Orlen's supertankers were marked "TBN": to be nominated. No date was ever finalised. Before March-April, the period covered by the schedule, Hannon said it had lost contact with Castillo. The FT was unable to reach Castillo for comment.

Another \$110mn was gone. And still no oil. As Tse and Awad wrestled with the disaster of their deal, they decided to try their luck buying other types of oil from PDVSA. The idea was to reduce what Hannon owed OTS, according to internal OTS emails. But the first attempt to make a deal for 1mn barrels of a lighter PDVSA blend on January 10 backfired, when OTS found the crude to be heavily contaminated and rejected it.

On January 26, OTS tried again with Hannon, agreeing to buy 1mn barrels of Venezuelan fuel oil. But the deal also required advance payments in USDT, and Tse was running down his stockpile.

A few days later, Mariano of Lexcor told Hannon that Gold Mar had returned about 21mn USDT of the funds it received in December, according to an email seen by the FT, whose authenticity Mariano disputes. Gold Mar did not respond to a request for comment on these specific points. Lexcor said it had “no knowledge” of them.

With the fuel-oil contract signed and more USDT available, Tse said he tried a new Caracas broker, Juan Rodríguez of Consulting Services. On February 25, Tse said his colleague gave Rodríguez a USB stick giving access to 11mn USDT.

Two days later new managers took control of OTS.

Law and Justice (PiS), a conservative-nationalist party that governed Poland for eight years, had lost power to Tusk's coalition. The new government began overhauling the management of state companies. Under PiS, Orlen had been run by Daniel Obajtek, who had grown the company into Europe's third-largest refiner. Tusk accused PiS of using state companies for patronage. His new government pushed out Obajtek and Awad.

Orlen's new boss, Ireneusz Fafara, was surprised by what he saw as the company's weak governance and the number of people "associated with politics" working there. One of the most alarming things he discovered was the deal with Hannon.

On March 8, a ship chartered by Orlen loaded the equivalent of roughly 500,000 barrels of fuel oil at José, or half the volume it expected under the contract with Hannon. On the same day, Tse's colleague had a second meeting with Rodríguez, handing him a USB stick containing another 11mn USDT.

By March 20, there was no sign of the second half of the fuel oil cargo, and Tse said he had lost contact with Rodríguez. The FT could not reach Rodríguez.

In Tse's account, he had given \$132mn to two brokers and received little in return. His company says another \$54mn was lost to crypto fees and other attempts to secure oil about which it offered no details. Hannon said it was advised by its Venezuela contacts not to keep records of crypto dealings.

By the end of March 2024, Orlen, now under new management, had had enough. On March 28, as demurrage costs mounted and the sanctions window narrowed, OTS ended the original contract. "We hope that you can give us another 5 days," Tse pleaded in an email to OTS's new boss the following day.

A few hours later, Tse's colleague emailed OTS about one of its tankers, Olympic Trophy, which was set to leave Venezuela. "Proceeding with departure would result in a breach of contract," he wrote. "We eagerly await positive news from your end."

But OTS had moved on. The transaction had become an accounting and legal crisis. An internal email ahead of an April 4 meeting with KPMG asked staff to analyse the pre-payment, prospects for recovery, possible impairment and fraud, sanctions exposure and Swiss insolvency obligations. An entry rated recovery of funds from Hannon at “10 per cent with probability 50 per cent”.

Orlen's ships left Venezuela. Only one, which held the half-load of fuel oil valued at \$28.8mn, had anything to sell.

According to an internal OTS estimate, shipping costs across its Hannon contracts were \$72mn – more than it ever expected to earn from the original Merey 16 trade.

More than two years later, Orlen is still trying to recover the \$230mn it advanced to Hannon. The dispute is in arbitration but Hannon said it did not have anywhere near the funds.

“Hannon has participated in all stages of the arbitration and will continue to do so,” said David McCoy of ADG Legal in Abu Dhabi, the company’s lawyer. “Hannon remains open to a constructive dialogue with Orlen about resolving this matter amicably.”

At the heart of the dispute are two radically different accounts of what Hannon had been hired to do. Hannon said it was acting as a “sleeve”, buying Venezuelan oil with USDT because OTS was not allowed by Orlen to do so directly.

A person familiar with Awad's account said that he had no control over Hannon's downstream suppliers or cryptocurrency arrangements.

Orlen and OTS are more categorical, saying Hannon was not hired as an intermediary: its obligation was simply to deliver the oil, and any use of third parties did not “diminish its liabilities to OTS under the sales contract”.

Meanwhile, Warsaw prosecutors are investigating former Orlen executives over alleged “inadequate oversight” of the \$600mn cash-pooling facility that funded OTS’s trading. Obajtek denies responsibility for OTS’s trades, saying Orlen’s board acted collectively and approved its access to a pool of cash, not individual contracts. Now a PiS MEP, he

added he had been told not to comment further because of criminal proceedings in which he was

"questioned several times", but not charged.

The charges against Awad and ex-OTS colleagues, which they deny, have not been tested at trial. Awad was detained in the UAE in January 2025 on an

courts rejected Poland's extradition request and he was released.

A person familiar with Awad's account said the fuel oil cargo showed that Hannon could obtain product from PDVSA and that, given more time, the Merey 16 could have been loaded. Hannon takes the same position.

Orlen said Hannon had four months, missed every delivery deadline and had no prospect of completing the trade before the sanctions window closed.

There was, in the end, also more time. Two days later, hours before the sanctions relief window closed, Washington gave traders another 45 days to complete their Venezuelan oil deals. Additional reporting, Jorge Sanchez-Cano

Untapped resource Industrial group Dangote's \$1.6bn IPO aims to draw Nigerians into stock trading with low entry price ✉ PAGE 13

Companies & Markets

AI must never outpace safety, says DeepMind founder Legg

- Sector veteran warns on models race - Institute launched to ‘elevate’ debate

JOHN THORNHILL AND MADHUMITA MURGIA

Google DeepMind's co-founder Shane Legg has warned that AI must never run ahead of safety, amid calls for a slowdown in frontier model development.

“Capabilities are advancing very, very quickly,” Legg said in an interview with the FT. “But we can’t let capabilities get ahead of safety.”

Legg said that the latest essay by Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei calling for slowing, but not pausing, the release of frontier models because of safety risks was “interesting directionally” and “worth considering”.

"But we need to really work through the details of that and how that would work in practice," he added. Legg's com-

‘It seems like this is really the moment’ to engage in discussion with the launch of the DeepMind Institute

ments came as he launched the DeepMind Institute to explore the implications of artificial general intelligence, which the company defines as a system that exhibits all the cognitive capabilities of the human brain.

Despite the technology's advances, Legg said it was premature to declare that AGI – a term he helped coin – had been achieved, despite recent claims by executives at Nvidia and OpenAI.

Legg said that he remained “comfortable” with his long-held forecast that there was a 50 per cent chance of achieving “minimal” AGI by 2028.

Legg now serves as chief AGI scientist at Google DeepMind. Sir Demis Hassabis stepped down as the Google-owned AI lab's chief executive to become chair last month.

The third co-founder, Mustafa Suleyman, is now a senior executive at Microsoft.

The new DeepMind Institute aimed to “elevate” the debate around AGI by making the company’s technical research accessible to a broader audience, Legg said. Its other two directors are Hassabis and James Manyika, Google’s senior vice-president.

"The public discourse is really lighting up now. And people are taking the possibility of powerful general intelligence very, very seriously," said Legg.

“So it seems like this is really the moment to start to engage in a broader public discussion around many of these fascinating topics.”

Legg rejected claims this month by Greg Brockman, OpenAI's president, that the launch of its latest GPT-6 Astra model showed "we are now in the AGI era". "AGI has arrived," said Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief, pointing to Astra.

Accepting that characterisations of AGI varied, Legg said it was not even clear that Astra met OpenAI's definition of the term: being able to do most economically valuable cognitive labour.

The institute is initially publishing three essays on AI safety, economic policy and principles for a “new utopianism”. Legg, the site’s managing editor, said that the institute would cover a wide range of subjects related to AGI, such as science, education, society, policy, philosophy and human flourishing. Many essays would be written by Google staff, with others from outside experts to encourage a diversity of debate.

One on “chain of thought” reasoning models, by DeepMind researchers Rohin Shah and Anca Dragan, criticised the speedy release of OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model, which they said showed a “downward trend” in transparency.

Manyika said that the only AI race that Google wanted to be in was “the race to get it right”.

Screen test McLaren joins Lamborghini and Ferrari in SUV sector amid effort to spur sales

McLaren sells more than 2,000 of its supercars a year, down from a record 4,800 in 2018 — Bing Guan/Bloomberg

KANA INAGAKI — WOKING

McLaren is to launch its first SUV in a move that the British sports-car maker hopes will boost sales enough to build a second plant in the UK.

The plan for the vehicle comes as the carmaker, armed with a £500mn investment from its Abu Dhabi owner and a debt-cleared balance sheet, seeks to end years of losses.

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley and Aston Martin have all expanded outside their supercar ranges, launching SUV-sized models that have helped increase sales and profits.

"There's not a region that I can think of where the SUV hasn't taken . . . very significant market share, particularly in the luxury segments," said chief executive Nick Collins.

Collins declined to share details of its first four-door “performance SUV”, which will run on a hybrid engine, but the product is expected to be launched in the next few years. As part of the investment, McLaren said it also planned to build a new assembly plant in the UK, although the location had not been decided.

McLaren sells more than 2,000 cars a year, less than half of a record 4,800 vehicles it sold in 2018. The group produces all of its cars in the UK from a plant in Woking, which has a targeted production capacity of roughly 3,000 vehicles.

Michael Straughan, chief operating officer, said other luxury brands all generated sales volumes of between 2,000 and 6,000 from their SUV models. Combined with its supercars, he said “the capacity isn’t there now”.

"I think this management team is very keen to make sure that . . . we don't overstretch ourselves financially but we still have to meet the growth targets that we've set ourselves," said Straughan

McLaren's pivot to hybrid vehicles comes despite last year's merger with premium UK electric-vehicle start-up Forseven Holdings.

"We'll do an EV when our customers ask us to do one, and they're not asking right now," Collins said.

For the first time, McLaren will also design and build its engines and transmissions in-house, while the new investment will also be used to boost its carbon-fibre capabilities and upgrade its paint shop to meet increasing personalisation needs.

The company had come to realise that owning parts of the supply chain “allows you not only to drive higher levels of technology . . . but it also allows you to drive the pace of execution in the company”, Collins said.

CYVN Holdings, the Abu Dhabi government-owned investment company now called L'imad, last year bought McLaren from Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and is to invest \$2bn over the next five years.

Booming NZ sovereign fund expects easing of equities rally

NIC FILDES — SYDNEY

The world's best-performing sovereign wealth fund expects the recent outperformance in global equities to ease after it posted 14 per cent growth in the year to June despite being underweight on high-flying technology stocks.

New Zealand's superannuation fund gained prominence after it was named the top-performing sovereign wealth fund last year by data provider Global SWF based on its performance over the previous two decades, when its average annual returns exceeded 10 per cent.

The fund, which supports the pensions of New Zealand's retirees and is about half invested in equities, said yesterday that it grew 14.2 per cent to NZ\$94.4bn (\$54.2bn) in the year to the end of June. The rise came despite the fund being underweight on US stocks, where the S&P 500 index rose by more than 20 per cent in the same period on the back of investor enthusiasm for AI.

As a result, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund – which is invested in timber, property and private investments alongside equities – slightly lagged behind its own passive reference benchmark, which is 80 per cent invested in global equities.

Jo Townsend, chief executive of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which runs the fund, said a concentrated portfolio might have captured recent gains in the short term but that a diversified strategy was more suited to its long-term mandate. “Returns for US equities over the past couple of years are close to double annualised returns for the past 20 years,” she said. “So we would expect there to be some reversion to the mean at some point.”

The fund lowered its 20-year annual return outlook from 7.8 per cent earlier this year to 7.2 per cent, which Townsend said reflected a view that returns on equities would ease after a strong period of outperformance.

New Zealand Superannuation was the country's largest taxpayer last year, and Wellington has invested NZ\$27.4bn into the fund since it was established in 2001. Over the past 20 years, it has significantly outperformed its passive reference fund, generating NZ\$22bn more than the benchmark in that period.

Neighbouring Australia's Future Fund, whose board has A\$356bn (\$254bn) under management, reported a slightly higher return of 14.8 per cent in the year to June.

Switzerland has turned fierce tax competition into a national sport

BUSINESS INSIGHT EUROPE Mercedes Ruehl

As countries across Europe compete to lure the world's wealthy and their money, Switzerland has a peculiar advantage: it has spent decades competing with itself.

European governments are wrestling with how much they can tax highly mobile companies and wealthy individuals without driving them away — or how much they should offer to persuade them to come. Greece and Italy, particularly, are stepping up the competition to draw people and business in Europe.

But Switzerland has been conducting its own version of this experiment for decades. Its 26 cantons compete fiercely for companies, wealthy residents and the taxes they bring. When there is a dispute over where someone really lives, rivals can end up in court, with judges examining everything from water bills and supermarket shopping to toilet-paper purchases to decide which canton gets to collect the tax.

Politicians are happy to join in. Heinz Tännler, finance director of low-tax Zug, has suggested that left-run cities such as Zurich drive away the taxpayers his canton attracts. He has described them as some of Zug's most useful economic promoters.

The latest prize in this cantonal contest is Vontobel. The 102-year-old private bank said last month it would move its headquarters and more than 1,500 employees from Zurich to a new campus in Baar, in Zug, from 2030. About 300 client-facing staff will remain in central Zurich.

For Zurich, it is unquestionably a loss. A prominent headquarters, jobs and tax revenues will cross the cantonal border. The move has revived debate over whether Switzerland's largest city is doing enough to compete with its lower-tax neighbours.

The country's highly decentralised federal system gives cantons wide powers over taxation, while municipalities also set their own rates. The result is something akin to international tax competition compressed into a country of 9mn people.

Lucerne this year narrowly dethroned Zug as the canton with Switzerland's

lowest corporate tax burden (11.66 per cent vs 11.71 per cent), compared with about 19 per cent in Zurich and 14 per cent in Geneva. For wealthy individu-

The finance director of Zug has suggested left-run cities such as Zurich drive away the taxpayers that his canton attracts

als the gaps can be wider still: the top personal income tax rate is about 22 per cent in Zug, compared with more than 40 per cent in Geneva. Schwyz, next to Zurich, has become a favourite home for wealthy residents drawn by some of the country's lowest personal tax rates.

SGS, the testing and inspection group that had long been headquartered in Geneva, completed its move to Baar in Zug this year. The company had said the “value creation” — or financial benefits — of moving to Zug, including incentives, was twice as high as relocating to another office in Geneva.

Geneva is responding to concerns. Its voters approved a corporate tax overhaul in 2019 that sharply reduced rates for many companies and backed cuts to personal income tax in 2024. And now the canton is pursuing another prize. Millennium Management, one of the world's biggest hedge funds, is in discussions with the canton over a tax deal as it considers expanding its presence there.

Vontobel says tax was not behind its move. The bank needed space to bring together staff spread across seven Zurich buildings. Baar offered a modern campus, good transport links and room to expand. Daniel Leupi, Zurich's finance chief, has also pushed back against suggestions of an exodus from his canton. Only one other company among the city's 50 biggest corporate taxpayers has moved to a lower-tax canton over the past decade, he wrote in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

There are limits to playing Zug at its own game. Leupi estimates that cutting Zurich's cantonal profit tax rate from 7 per cent to 6 per cent would cost the city SFr150mn. Replacing that revenue would require groups employing 75,000 people. Zurich, he argues, does not have room for them.

That gets to the clever part. A group moving from Zurich to Zug is a defeat for Zurich, but not necessarily for Switzerland. Baar is little more than 20 minutes by train from Zurich. Companies and taxpayers can cross tax borders without leaving the same economic region, let alone the country.

Other governments are trying to decide how much sovereignty they can monetise to attract the global rich. Switzerland has made its cantons compete to do much the same thing. “It’s good to try to be better than your neighbours,” said a Swiss executive. “That’s the way our federalist system works.”

mercedes.ruehl@ft.com

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The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution, but does not constitute a distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. 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The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in the U.S. and/or its affiliates, nor any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any others who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who is affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliated with any other person who are affiliatedwith an entity that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may requirea certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may requirea certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of Shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require a certain number of shares that may require an additional number from which they should have been issued upon request. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution of services provided in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed, so it is required to provide information about its current stock price, market capitalization, and market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalizationas well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as market capitalization as well as marketcapitalization and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution anddistribution, respectively, all rights reserved to common stock prices, equity securities, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bonds, bondshares or issuers discussed in this report. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution andDistributionNOTICE HEREBY GIVEN that by an order dated 15 September 2006, a copy of the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be approved by the Company's shareholding will be awarded to request. The Company is not necessarily distributed or distributed to any particular purpose of distribution or distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and distribution and Distribution

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Banks

Revolut hackers demand \$3mn ransom

Threat to sell data to other criminals unless fintech pays within 24 hours

TOM WILSON AND LAITH AL-KHALAF LONDON

Hackers who claim they were behind a data breach at Revolut have threatened to sell the confidential records of hundreds of customers to other criminal groups unless the British online bank pays a ransom of \$3mn within 24 hours.

The group, which calls itself iamnotavillain, published the ultimatum online yesterday afternoon next to a digital countdown clock.

The public demand is unusual given hackers usually prefer to make ransom requests privately and go public only if the target refuses to pay or engage, usually by publishing details of the hack on a dark-web leak site.

The message told Revolut to pay "6,000 XMR / \$3,000,000 . . . otherwise all the data will be sold, and the blood will be on your hands".

XMR is the cryptocurrency Monero, which is popular with hackers given its transactions are difficult to trace.

The group told the FT that it was using the website to make its demands for the first time and that there had not yet been any negotiations with Revolut.

The FT contacted the hackers via Telegram after they first set up the website late on Monday, displaying redacted screenshots of some of the information allegedly obtained from the bank.

Shortly after posting the ransom demand, the hackers sent the FT a 60-second screen-capture video showing an unseen user moving through the

The UK bank is ‘working closely with relevant law enforcement and regulatory authorities’

cache of purported Revolut documents.

The documents shown in the video appeared to include Revolut customers' driving licences, passports, identity pictures used during the "know your customer" verification process and transaction histories.

The data breach is understood to have affected at least 680 customer accounts at Revolut.

The hackers obtained the files by compromising an Italian government email system, which they used to pose as law enforcement and demand information on specific Revolut client accounts over several months, the FT reported on Tuesday.

The group said that it selected the targets by using blockchain analysis to identify Revolut accounts with significant crypto holdings.

Most of the accounts came from Switzerland and France but Revolut also handed over data on residents in 31 other mainly European countries, including the UK, Germany and Spain, the hackers added.

Since launching in 2015, Revolut has become Europe's biggest fintech, operating as a bank in more than 30 countries and serving 80mn customers. It was recently valued at \$115bn in a secondary share sale.

Several affected customers expressed concern that their personal data was compromised in this way.

Revolut declined to comment on the purported hackers' ransom demand.

The bank previously said that it was providing affected customers with “immediate support” and “working closely with relevant law enforcement and regulatory authorities”.

Industrials. Carbon reduction

ArcelorMittal faces price test at green steel plant

French division's boss hopes clients will cover higher costs of Dunkirk furnace's output

ALICE HANCOCK — LONDON SEBASTIEN ASH — FRANKFURT

ArcelorMittal might struggle to charge more for steel produced at its new €1.3bn low-carbon plant, the Dunkirk facility's boss has warned, exposing the challenge facing the industry in Europe: how to curb emissions while remaining competitive and profitable.

The group's flagship electric-arc furnace, which should cut greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of steel by two-thirds compared with a traditional blast furnace but whose costs are far higher, is scheduled to start production in 2029.

Bruno Ribo, chief executive of ArcelorMittal France, said it had “no real visibility” over how quickly demand for green steel would grow or whether buyers “will be able to pay more”.

Pointing to European carmakers, among the region's biggest consumers of steel, Ribo said the group had made assumptions over how much it could charge, "but the uncertainty level on this hypothesis is very, very high".

Green steel is typically 20 to 30 per cent more expensive because of the large upfront investment needed for new plants and the electricity required to power them.

Decarbonised steel production also uses a higher than normal proportion of recycled steel, presenting a further challenge because processes need to be adapted to the differing chemical composition of scrap metal, Ribo said.

The decision to go ahead with the Dunkirk furnace followed months of lobbying by ArcelorMittal and steel industry bodies for greater protection against cheaper imports, which have undercut European producers already suffering from lower demand.

Data from the continent's steel industry body Eurofer shows that imports of the alloy from outside Europe rose to 26 per cent of the region's supply from 20 per cent between 2016 and 2025, while EU production declined to 57.3mn tonnes from 69.3mn tonnes.

"Our market is being flooded by imports . . . normally if you have a recession imports also go down," said Axel Eggert, Eurofer director-general. "But imports didn't go down. Only our own sales went down and that's not normal."

Measures introduced by the EU this year have raised hopes within the indus-

ArcelorMittal's Dunkirk site in 2023. Below, French President Emmanuel Macron and ArcelorMittal France chief Bruno Ribo among a group visiting the new low-carbon facility, which will start production in 2029 — Nathan Laine/Bloomberg: Isa Harsin/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM

try that some of the pressure will ease.

The carbon border adjustment mechanism, which aims to impose the same carbon cost on imports as on goods made in the EU, came into force at the start of the year. New trade quotas introduced on July 1 are intended to cut the amount of steel that can be imported duty-free by 47 per cent compared with 2024 levels.

Brussels also eased the requirements of the EU emissions trading system in July in response to industry concerns, delaying a planned phaseout of free carbon permits by four years.

ArcelorMittal has secured electricity for the Dunkirk plant from the nearby Gravelines nuclear power station at a guaranteed price through an agreement with French state energy group EDF, as well as subsidies via a French energy certificate scheme.

Improved conditions in Europe have helped lift steelmakers' share prices. Thyssenkrupp is up 55 per cent this year, Salzgitter more than 30 per cent and ArcelorMittal almost 70 per cent.

Talks for India's Jindal Steel to buy a stake in Thyssenkrupp's steel unit were halted in May after the German company said assumptions underpinning the sale had "significantly changed in recent months".

Jindal had pledged to invest €2bn in an electric-arc furnace and a direct-reduction plant, which extracts iron from iron ore using natural gas or hydrogen rather than the traditional coke-fuelled blast furnace, with the project supported by €2bn in German government subsidies.

Thyssenkrupp has struggled to find a buyer willing to meet its asking price for the steel unit and assume pension liabilities estimated by analysts at about €2.7bn. Earlier talks with Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský also stalled and were abandoned last year.

As restructuring measures progress and market conditions improve, unions have urged Thyssenkrupp to list the steel division. "Financially, the conditions have not been so good for a long

'The pace of the transition has proven more complex and challenging than anticipated'

time," said one person close to Thys- senkrupp's supervisory board.

The person added that the steel business would have to show investors it could generate enough cash to fund the investment needed to reduce emissions.

Stronger market sentiment is not enough to resolve the industry's deeper problems. Decarbonisation projects across Europe have stalled as concerns about energy security and economic competitiveness have taken precedence over emissions reduction.

Those postponing projects include Germany's Salzgitter and Czech steelmaker Třinecké Železárny. The German group in late July formalised plans to install a new electric-arc furnace at its site in Duisburg, backed by €200mn of federal and state funding. Meanwhile, Sweden's SSAB delayed projects due to permitting and grid connection delays.

The industry initially presented such projects as part of an “ambitious vision”, said Alon Olsha, metals and mining analyst at BloombergNEF. But the expected subsidies, regulatory frameworks and a touted hydrogen network have not materialised, so steelmakers have “retrenched from a lot of their plans”.

ArcelorMittal's Dunkirk project is a scaled-down version of its original €1.8bn plan, which included a second electric-arc furnace and a direct-reduction iron plant. The company also scrapped a similar project in Germany.

"The pace of the transition has proven more complex and challenging than anticipated, as economic, technological and geopolitical factors have shifted many of the assumptions our earlier plans were based on," the company said in its latest sustainability report.

Geert Van Poelvoorde, ArcelorMittal's former chief executive for Europe who left last month, told the FT the electric-arc furnace in Dunkirk would only replace one of the site's blast furnaces, meaning the financial risk was limited.

France was also one of the few European countries where the economics stacked up, he added. “In Germany I have no electricity at a decent price, in Belgium they are working on nuclear, and in Spain they are working on renewables, but we have no back-up for the moment.”

The tighter trade quotas are expected to cut imports by about 10mn tonnes a year. “Everyone’s gearing up to push more metal into the market,” Olsha said. “But if those imports actually remain more elevated than expected or demand remains weak … they could be bringing volumes into the market when there’s already enough and then put pressure on prices.”

Oil & gas

Exxon secures approval for Texas carbon capture project after tight vote

JAMIE SMYTH — NEW YORK

ExxonMobil has been granted permission to store carbon dioxide emissions in underground wells in Texas following a high-stakes battle with opponents over safety and economic objections.

Regulators in Texas narrowly approved the company's application in a vote on Tuesday that paves the way for Exxon to advance a \$5bn-plus plan to build the world's largest carbon capture pipeline network on the US Gulf Coast.

The permit for the Rose CCS project will enable Exxon to inject about 53mn tonnes of its clients' $\mathrm{CO}{2}$ emissions into three underground wells it has drilled at sites in Jefferson County, about 90 miles east of Houston. Buyers of Exxon's oil and gas products release about 700mn tonnes of $\mathrm{CO}{2}$ annually, it says.

Exxon is seeking to connect industrial customers to a 900-mile network of pipelines that can transport $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ into porous-rock formations underground. The plan reflects Exxon's broader bet that groups historically associated with producing and selling fossil fuels can also profit from decarbonisation.

Carbon capture and storage is the process of trapping planet-warming emissions of $CO_{2}$ before they reach the atmosphere, compressing the gas and

'When you think about the carbon capture and storage, we're talking many tens of billions of investment'

injecting it deep underground for permanent storage.

While a first wave of facilities in recent decades struggled to make money even with public subsidies, global investment in CCS rose from \$4.1bn in 2024 to \$6.6bn last year. The number of carbon capture plants operating commercially rose by a third to 77, with a further 44 under construction.

Several US oil companies are backing carbon-removal projects, including Occidental Petroleum, which plans to operate the world's largest carbon extraction plant in Texas from 2027.

The technology extracts $CO_{2}$ directly from the air so it can either be permanently stored or reused.

Representatives on the Railroad Commission of Texas voted two to one in favour of granting Exxon the permit on Tuesday after a public hearing that reflected public and political opposition to CCS in Louisiana and Texas.

Dominic Genetti, Exxon's senior vice-president of CCS, said that approval of the first permit was a “major milestone”. “When you think about the carbon capture and storage itself, plus the industry it can attract, we’re talking many tens of billions of investment.”

Community groups raised concerns about safety issues while some critics slammed CCS technology for relying on tax breaks advanced by former president Joe Biden to make it economic.

“It’s the last thing that ratepayers and taxpayers should be on the hook for,” said Jason Isaac, a former Republican politician and founder of the American Energy Institute, a think-tank.

Wayne Christian, the commissioner who voted against approving the permit, failed in an attempt to delay the vote. He said that permitting CCS technology was the most controversial decision to come before the committee over the past decade.

Financials

Litigation funder Gramercy warned ousted lawyer to settle £36bn BHP dam collapse claim

SUZI RING — LONDON

The US hedge fund bankrolling a £36bn lawsuit against miner BHP over a dam collapse in Brazil that killed 19 people warned the UK lawyer running the case to settle the claim just weeks before backing his removal as head of his firm.

The boss of Gramercy pushed Tom Goodhead, who was then chief executive of litigation boutique Pogust Goodhead, to settle the case after BHP and fellow miner Vale made an offer of roughly \$1.4bn. Goodhead believed the offer was too low to resolve the £36bn case on behalf of more than 420,000 Brazilian claimants.

Robert Koenigsberger, Gramercy's managing partner, told Goodhead that he would not “play litigation roulette”, and if he did not settle the case his law firm would end up with nothing.

Goodhead's removal has triggered concerns among claimants over how

Pogust has represented their interests, underlining the tensions that can arise between lawyers, litigation funders and the clients they serve.

The case is becoming a cautionary tale of the challenges of litigation funding, where external backers bankroll a case in return for a slice of any damages awarded.

"I'm not here to play litigation roulette. We did litigation finance to get to this point. So if we get to this point and a reasonable deal is on the table . . . and we don't take it for whatever reason, I can't as a fiduciary go raise more capital," Koenigsberger told Goodhead in a June 2025 phone call.

Koenigsberger told Goodhead that if he was not willing to “take victory”, he ran the risk of making no profit from the case. “We’ll find a way,” he said. “It’s not going to be a zero for us, it’ll be a zero for you guys.”

Excerpts of the call between Koenigsberger and Goodhead were cited in a letter last month, seen by the FT, from a body representing most claimants to Pogust Goodhead. The letter warned Pogust that it would be fired as the group's lawyers on the case if the firm did not address a series of concerns.

Two months after the conversation, Goodhead was ousted as CEO of his law firm in a move supported by Gramercy.

The revelation is among concerns raised by the “client committee” — a group representing the claimants over the 2015 Mariana disaster — in the letter. The committee claimed the law firm had been under the control of Gramercy and not acting in the clients’ best interests since Goodhead was removed. The group had previously tried to fire the law firm last year before backtracking.

"I was under pressure from Gramercy to make a settlement that would have been vastly undervalued for the claimants," Goodhead told the FT. "It's absolutely no coincidence that I was removed from the law firm eight weeks . . . after having refused that settlement."

In response, Gramercy said Goodhead had been “removed for cause” over financial allegations, which are disputed. Goodhead denies that he breached any of his duties and has said his spending when he was at the firm was disclosed and was “entirely ordinary in the context of a multibillion-dollar, founder-led business”.

The client committee has in recent weeks instructed Bailey Glasser International, a new UK arm of the US class action firm, to manage the case. Bailey Glasser said this month that Goodhead had joined the firm. UK litigation boutique Hausfeld will also be acting on the lawsuit.

Litigation funder NorthWall Capital, which invested alongside Gramercy in the case, is providing financing for the rival legal team, according to people with knowledge of the situation. North-Wall declined to comment.

Gramercy said Goodhead was seeking involvement in the Mariana Dam litigation to “attempt to profit from the outcome of the case” and that he and North Wall are doing “a huge disservice” to the victims of the dam collapse.

NorthWall said Gramercy's claim was "false", adding that decisions about legal representation were "a matter for the claimants and their legal advisers".

Pogust claims the committee does not have the power to remove it from the case. Changing to a new firm could have an adverse effect on the claimants, said Pogust, adding that its priority was to ensure clients had a complete picture before making any decision. Both Pogust and the committee have filed claims at London's High Court to determine the issue.

In a statement, Pogust Goodhead said: "Clients are being encouraged to walk away from an established litigation structure on the representation that they can simply move to another firm with no material consequences. Yet those decisions may affect the very contracts, funding, insurance protections and litigation timetable that have enabled this case."

More than two dozen lawyers have resigned from Pogust Goodhead in the past year, including a number over concerns that Gramercy, which has provided more than \$700mn in funding to the law firm for its cases, has tried to interfere in the firm and its work.

Gramercy has consistently denied having any involvement in Pogust Goodhead's management or its cases. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has said it is “closely monitoring” the situation.

The change in representation comes as the case is set to go to trial in April 2027.

An English court ruled in November that the miners were liable for damages, with the next trial set to determine how much BHP and Vale must pay.

Tata Trusts hold a majority stake in Tata Sons

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Tata Sons weighs next move after being forced to list against its will

A ruling by India's central bank could leave the conglomerate's most valuable units open to raiders

CHRIS KAY — BENGALURU MICHAEL STOTT — NEW DELHI KRISHN KAUSHIK — MUMBAI

India's biggest conglomerate is being forced by the central bank into a \$120bn listing it does not want, potentially opening some of the country's most valuable and closely held companies to rivals and raiders.

The Reserve Bank of India last weekend rejected an appeal by software-to-Range Rover maker Tata for an exemption from rules requiring it to list its holding company.

A listing may value Tata Sons at more than \$120bn, according to analyst estimates, which would make it India's largest initial public offering. It would profoundly transform the ownership and governance of the renowned Mumbai-based business house, which has remained closely held for more than a century.

It would, however, be a major blow for Noel Tata, chair of the charitable trusts that control the group and a scion of the founding family, who has resisted an IPO.

The “RBI would not make a decision as big as this without getting an implicit informal go-ahead from the government”, said Nirmalya Kumar, visiting professor at the Indian School of Business and a former Tata executive, echoing a sentiment voiced privately by other senior executives familiar with Tata.

Noel has argued that a listing would fatally undermine Tata Sons' ability to exercise long-term stewardship of the vast conglomerate, which assembles Apple iPhones, runs Air India and makes products including Tetley tea, steel and Jaguar Land Rover cars.

Disagreement over whether to list was a crucial factor in a boardroom feud this year, which culminated in long-serving Tata Sons chair N Chandrasekaran announcing last month that he would step down at the end of his term next February. This means Tata faces the prospect of being forced into a complex listing as it is seeking a new leader for the holding company.

Senior executives and foreign investors in India have long complained about what they say is the increasingly arbitrary nature of regulation in the country, citing uncertainty about the rule of law as a deterrent to investment.

“A company which does not want to go public is being forced to by the government,” said a person close to Tata Sons, adding that the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the process “is going to do serious damage to foreign investment”.

Nitin Potdar, a lawyer who has advised several multinationals in India and worked for Tata in the past, said the RBI's shifting rules on listing requirements suggested it was applying the law in a selective manner.

Most large Indian companies' ownership is "structured in a way whereby the actual owner is always hidden" and "to avoid transparency", he said.

“No one asks them to put their ownership into one structure,” said Potdar. “And here is a conglomerate which has transparently said: ‘I am one holding company’ . . . and you want to penalise that company.”

More than two dozen Tata businesses, including IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services and retail chain Trent, are already listed. Tata Sons wields control over them through large stakes.

Listing the holding company could

Tata Motors' Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull, UK. Noel Tata, below, has argued against a listing — Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg: Kanishka Sothalia/Bloomberg

Sarvajanik Seva Trust 0.10% -

Sources: Tata Group; FT research make some of those subsidiaries targets for corporate raiders, especially as some shareholders have already said they would sell in the event of a listing.

Tata Sons' largest minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji – a debt-laden construction and engineering group with longstanding ties to the Tata family – has long pushed for a listing to sell part of its 18 per cent stake.

Rival conglomerates "will have an interest in Tata Sons", said a person who serves as a director in its subsidiaries.

The regulatory clash stems from the RBI's move in 2022 to classify Tata Sons as an “upper-layer” non-bank financial company under rules introduced to compel India's biggest “shadow banks” to go public and face tougher supervision.

The RBI said at the time that its push to list shadow banks was aimed at introducing more transparency and reducing systemic risks in the financial sector.

In an attempt to remove itself from the framework that triggered the listing requirement, Tata Sons in March 2024 formally sought to surrender its RBI-imposed registration as a core investment company after repaying its borrowings. However, the RBI changed its policy this year and set Rs1tn (\$10.4bn) in assets as the threshold for large shadow banks, long after Tata, which has Rs2tn in assets, applied to deregister. This meant the conglomerate was still caught by the listing rules.

Several people familiar with Tata said the RBI's listing order would not have come without a nod from the top level in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, given the company's outsized importance to the Indian economy.

The RBI, finance ministry, Tata Trusts and Tata Sons did not respond to requests for comment.

People with knowledge of the company said Chandrasekaran did not oppose a listing, while Noel – who took charge after the death of his half-brother Ratan Tata two years ago – has accused the outgoing chair of ignoring the trusts' wishes to remain private.

Modi's government has taken a keen interest in Tata's stability. Last year, two senior ministers held an extraordinary meeting with Noel and Chandrasekaran as the group was engulfed in a governance crisis. Since then, the two men's

The regulatory uncertainty around the process 'is going to do serious damage to foreign investment'

relationship has deteriorated further, according to people close to them.

"It's a little bit like an Indian soap opera," said Kumar at the Indian School of Business. "It's quite a headache for Noel."

Executives close to Tata said the group's leadership was considering its options ahead of a board meeting today, including whether to mount a legal challenge to the RBI decision, which could delay a flotation.

“Litigation through India’s court system . . . has historically run long,” said Sumit Agrawal, managing partner at Mumbai-based Regstreet Law Advisors and a former officer at India’s capital markets regulator. He cautioned, though, on Tata’s “low probability of success”.

“Indian courts have historically given RBI wide deference on prudential and systemic classification matters,” he said, “generally applying a light-touch reasonableness standard rather than second-guessing the regulator’s technical judgment.”

An executive close to Tata acknowledged a legal challenge would give the company “some time, but I don’t think it will be more than that”.

The ultimate decision on how to respond will depend on the charitable trusts, but that process could prove complicated. One of the principal bodies, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, faces regulatory scrutiny and has been blocked from conducting business or board meetings until its conclusion.

A person familiar with the matter said Tata's management team under Chandrasekaran had already started working quietly on IPO paperwork this year, but that a listing could still take two years.

"In the long run, there is no way they can escape this listing," said Kumar. "It's like fighting a tide . . . the only thing is they can delay this tide."

Energy

∅rsted urges Brussels to act over ‘unfair’ Beijing aid

IAN JOHNSTON — BRUSSELS

Europe must act against Chinese wind-turbine makers that benefit from “unfair” state support, but cannot afford to close itself off from global supply chains, the boss of Danish wind-farm developer ∅rsted said.

Rasmus Errboe hailed the windpower sector as a “European industrial success story” as he backed efforts by the EU to clamp down on Chinese manufacturers with access to large government subsidies.

“Competition needs to happen on fair and equal terms,” he told the FT. “We’ve in recent years seen the European Commission being much more active in addressing unfair trading practices. I see this as a necessary and also natural development.”

EU officials are keen to protect the European wind industry and prevent it from replicating the fate of the continent's solar industry, which has been decimated by competition from cheaper rivals from China.

The OECD found that Chinese solar companies received the most subsidies of any manufacturers in the sector by a “significant margin”.

The Commission is currently investigating Goldwind, the world's largest turbine manufacturer, over whether it benefited from unfair subsidies to outcompete European rivals.

José Luis Blanco, chief executive of German turbine-maker Nordex, has called for “non-western” companies to be banned from selling turbines to the EU under cyber security rules.

The EU is concerned about developing an over-reliance on high-value Chinese technology. In the wind sector, this includes key components such as gearboxes and blades, but there are fewer worries about lower-value parts used in these components.

Arguing that his priority was a “thriving” European wind sector, Errboe said: “If you look at the entire value chain for wind, this obviously does not mean closing ourselves off to the outside world. Developers and equipment manufacturers benefit from access to a global supply chain.”

China's presence in Europe's wind-turbine industry is small, accounting for less than 3 per cent of new turbine capacity last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

Chinese turbine manufacturers' attempts to break into the sector have been restricted, with leading company Ming Yang shut out from the UK's offshore market on national security grounds.

European wind is on track for a record year, with 24GW of capacity set to be installed in 2026. Wind provides about a fifth of Europe's electricity. Wind Europe, the trade body, says that total offshore and onshore wind installations will grow to 436GW by 2030.

The record installation marks a turnaround for a sector that was heavily disrupted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which drove up borrowing costs. But it is still short of the EU's aim to install 500GW of wind production as part of a target for 42.5 per cent of Europe's energy needs to come from renewables by 2030.

Brussels is under pressure from member states including France to replace a later 2040 renewables target with a “clean energy” version that would include nuclear deployment.

Additional reporting by Rachel Millard in London

Safety pledges create rift among staff at OpenAI and Anthropic

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“great idea” that OpenAI would also adopt, their consensus is far from complete. OpenAI said it wanted to work with other labs but that its approach to the issues was more pragmatic than that of Anthropic.

OpenAI also said it had “already taken concrete steps, including pausing certain frontier training, to pace development”, while Anthropic had not put its research on hold.

Implementing the chief executives' commitments to increase access for third-party experts while balancing security and data protection will pose big practical challenges, according to people close to both companies.

Some staff members are concerned about granting outsiders too much access to systems that are both extremely powerful and the focus of intense rivalry within the tech industry.

AI labs already have strict security measures for employees, including only granting access to certain systems or restricting training data.

In recent months, OpenAI has tried to further restrict access to protect intellectual property and sensitive information and to prevent rogue employees from tampering with systems. The company said providing meaningful access while protecting sensitive systems required careful design.

“Right now, most third-party organisations have much, much less access than even the lowest-access full-time employee. So probably there will need to be some kind of binding requirement to establish this across the industry,” said Miles Brundage, a former OpenAI researcher who is now executive director at the AI Verification and Evaluation Research Institute.

Anthropic said it had long worked with third-party assessors and intended to embed an evaluator within the company in the near future.

The independent organisations that act as evaluators have gained prominence this year after security breaches by AI agents during testing and development at OpenAI and Anthropic.

Two non-profits, METR and Redwood Research, led an investigation into OpenAI agents' July attack on AI developer site Hugging Face, reviewing logs from more than 1,200 agents.

OpenAI said the collaboration set an important precedent for the industry and could inform future investigations. They received laptops from OpenAI with evidence and were able to work from the company's San Francisco headquarters and interview staff. The two research groups did not receive payment for the investigation, published last month.

However, the investigation attracted criticism for its extremely limited scope, with specific dates that confined it to the Hugging Face incident.

Other critics have accused the safety organisations of being too cosy with the AI labs to provide effective oversight. "Stop pretending METR is independent when it is intertwined with Anthropic's investors and staff," White House AI adviser David Sacks said in a post on X on Sunday.

METR said it did not accept donations from AI companies or their staff and that its employees had to declare conflicts. "Our goal is to get information from inside these companies into the public domain," it added.

David Krueger, who used to work at the UK's AI Security Institute, the government agency that tests models, said governments rather than AI labs should determine access. "All of these organisations only have the access that the AI companies grant them, and that is just completely inadequate," said Krueger, a professor of responsible AI at the

University of Montreal. “[The focus on evaluations] gets the burden of proof fundamentally backwards; it creates a precedent of acting like AI systems are safe until proven dangerous.”

Amodei has advocated for federal legislation requiring permanent embedded evaluators and third-party audits, and a narrow antitrust exemption so companies can collaborate on voluntary rules in the meantime.

Other labs are also seeking an antitrust waiver, worried that without one, they could be targeted by future administrations for illegally collaborating.

Big Tech lobbyists have been visiting lawmakers this week in Washington, pushing for an antitrust carve-out to be tacked on to the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass defence budget bill.

'Stop the AI race' protesters at OpenAI's headquarters in July

Attorney-general Todd Blanche declined to say if companies would need an antitrust waiver. "To the extent that those companies are looking to regulate themselves or fix problems that they have, that they should do that, but working with us if necessary," he said, adding that the Department of Justice was "not going to try to regulate AI".

The push for guardrails faces opposition from President Donald Trump, who on Monday called AI safety concerns a “hoax” and said a slowdown in American research would harm the US and let Chinese technology catch up.

“Traditional auditors and risk assessors have been thinking about the trust problem for centuries,” said Rajiv Dattani, co-founder of the Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company, a start-up building auditing for insurance of AI. “The AI industry can draw on successes and failures from electricity, cars, financial audits and nuclear energy.” Additional reporting by Joe Miller in Washington and George Hammond in San Francisco

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Corporate governance

Odey case is lesson for firms, FCA says

Ethical behaviour is of paramount importance, watchdog warns City

MARTIN ARNOLD — LONDON

Financial services companies taking a “slapdash” approach to ethics will be punished under new rules designed to stop the type of “horrific” behaviour that led to hedge fund boss Crispin Odey being fined and banned, the financial watchdog has warned.

Therese Chambers, co-head of enforcement at the Financial Conduct Authority, told the FT that its stricter rules against harassment and other bad behaviour that came into force this month would ensure “people can speak up” and be protected.

Her comments came after Odey lost his legal challenge against a lifetime ban and fine imposed by the FCA for frustrating attempts to discipline him over his alleged sexual harassment of female employees of his now-defunct hedge fund.

Chambers said the regulator did not have enough data to know if Odey's case was symptomatic of “a genuinely widespread problem” of sexual harassment in the City of London. But she added: “We’ve all heard of specific incidents like this, which are pretty horrific.”

Since it banned and fined Odey last year, the FCA has given itself more power to tackle such behaviour by expanding its rules on non-financial misconduct beyond banks to the 37,000 other financial services groups it regulates from the start of this month.

“It’s the firms that are perhaps a bit more slapdash about the way they operate where there may well be gaps in the way that they treat their staff and the way in which they report and oversee incidents in the workplace,” said Chambers. “Those are the firms that need to be very mindful of these new requirements.”

During the court hearing, Odey was confronted with more than 46 sexual harassment allegations by former staff of the hedge fund he founded, as well as accusations of falsifying company minutes, misleading investors, bullying colleagues, trying to silence victims and threatening the regulator.

Chambers said the tribunal's decision was “very gratifying” and she hoped it would encourage more victims of harassment and bullying to speak up. “This is very much an instance of the system being there to protect people who are being mistreated who might otherwise feel that they can only operate in a culture of silence where they’re not able to call bad behaviour out.”

London's Upper Tribunal on Monday published scathing findings against Odey, concluding that he had “a warped set of values”.

But it said the case had not hinged on whether or not there had been “sexualised misconduct in the workplace”.

Instead, the judges upheld the FCA's findings that Odey “lacked integrity” and acted with “reckless disregard” for his company’s corporate governance and breached the regulator’s rules by twice firing executives who were trying to investigate his alleged misconduct.

Chambers said a vital lesson from the Odey case was that “ethical behaviour is of absolutely paramount importance when you’re managing other people’s money”.

Odey, who did not respond to a request for comment, has two weeks to appeal against the judgment.

Retail

Hugo Boss picks Ashley son-in-law as next chair

LAURA ONITA — LONDON FLORIAN MÜLLER — FRANKFURT

Hugo Boss has appointed Frasers Group chief executive Michael Murray as chair of its supervisory board, as Mike Ashley's retail group strengthens its grip on the German fashion brand.

The move, announced yesterday, comes after previous chair Stephan Sturm stepped down this week amid pressure from Frasers, which has become Hugo Boss's largest shareholder.

Robert Palmer, a former accountant who was previously Frasers' company secretary, will also join the supervisory board subject to appointment by the local court, Hugo Boss said.

Sports Direct owner Frasers has raised its stake in Hugo Boss to near 48 per cent after a takeover offer launched in June and has said it intends to lift its holding above 50 per cent. Hugo Boss is an important supplier to Frasers, which also owns House of Fraser and upmarket clothing chain Flannels.

Retail tycoon Ashley, who owns 74 per cent of Frasers, last month told the FT he did not intend to install Murray, his son-in-law, as chief executive of the German group. “No, we don’t need to do that . . . We’ll show them a bit of Dunkirk spirit – quote me, I don’t care,” he said.

Hugo Boss announced Sturm's departure on Monday, after Frasers said this month that it was “reviewing whether it continues to support” him as chair, following a clash over dividend payments last year. Hugo Boss subsequently terminated its share buyback programme.

Frasers said Sturm's departure had been mutually agreed following discussions between the two sides over the composition of the supervisory board.

Murray has sat on the German group's board since May 2025. Yesterday, Hugo Boss chief executive Daniel Grieder said he had “consistently supported” the group's strategy and “together with Frasers” shared its view regarding the group's vast “untapped potential”.

Frasers first bought a stake in Hugo Boss in 2020 as part of its push into premium fashion, and has raised its holding since then. It mounted a €2.7bn takeover offer for Hugo Boss in June, which the German group urged shareholders to reject for undervaluing the company.

Import tax Nissan wants British levy on Chinese cars

Nissan yesterday unveiled plans to invest £170mn to build a hybrid SUV at its Sunderland plant — Dominic Lipinski/Bloomberg

Nissan's European boss has called on the UK to impose import tariffs on Chinese cars and water down the country's electric vehicle targets to ensure the long-term competitiveness of Britain's largest car plant.

The Japanese group yesterday unveiled plans to invest £170mn to build a hybrid SUV at its Sunderland plant as talks continue with China's Chery to share vehicle production.

But the future of UK automobile manufacturing has been overshadowed by the EU's new “Made in Europe” rules, which are designed to protect against unfair competition from China but could also exclude UK cars from EU subsidies, tax breaks and public procurement schemes.

“I assume that to have the UK [as] part of the EU, Europe cannot have corridors to the UK where Chinese [cars] are going to flow to the market through the UK,” Massimiliano Messina, chair for Africa, the Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania, said. “The whole UK has to adjust some of their tariff policy.”

BYD, Chery and other Chinese rivals have rapidly expanded in the UK

market in the absence of higher tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles imposed by Brussels. Nissan is among those hit by cut-throat competition from Chinese rivals. Its market share in Europe and the UK fell to 2.1 per cent during the first half, lower than BYD's 2.4 per cent, as sales fell 10 per cent from a year earlier, according to European car industry body ACEA.

To help car manufacturers in the UK, the government plans to dilute the

'Europe cannot have corridors to the UK where Chinese [cars] are going to flow to the market'

current zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires 80 per cent of new cars sold in Britain to be all-electric by the end of the decade. That cap is expected to be cut to 50 per cent.

Messina said that “40 per cent will be better [but] 50 per cent is something that to us makes sense financially”.

The addition of a fourth model – the Kicks – comes as the Japanese

carmaker plans to share production with Jaecoo and Omoda owner Chery to lift the factory's utilisation rate, which is close to 50 per cent.

Messina said Nissan was waiting for the Chinese group to finalise the volumes and models it wants to produce in Sunderland. But in a sign of tough negotiations, he indicated that there were other potential partners to secure the plant's future.

"Sunderland is . . . probably the best plant we have at Nissan globally. And there are many people interested in our capacity to produce. So Chery is the first in the line," he added. "But we have many options still available."

The new investment by Nissan will be a boost for the UK's automotive industry, which has come under pressure from higher US tariffs, energy costs and competition with Chinese rivals.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “The decision to build this new model in Sunderland is a huge vote of confidence in the UK’s manufacturing and automotive future.” Kana Inagaki

Financial services

Revenues at PwC's UK unit fall after slide in Middle East business bites

ELLESHEVA KISSIN — LONDON

PwC UK's revenues fell last year for the first time in more than two decades as it was hit by a prolonged slide in its Middle East consulting business.

PwC said yesterday that total revenue for the UK group, which includes operations in the Middle East, fell 3 per cent to £6.2bn in the 12 months to June.

Revenues in the Big Four firm's Middle East business contracted 15 per cent to £1.7bn, with the fall outweighing a 2 per cent increase in sales by its larger UK-based operations.

Despite the fall in revenues, average pay for the firm's near-1,000 partners rose to a record £935,000 as it reduced staff numbers and cut costs. PwC UK's senior partner, Marco Amitrano, was paid £4.8mn, up from £4.3mn a year earlier.

The record payouts came as the firm cut back on hiring, slashing staff numbers across the UK and Middle East by 4,000 or almost 12 per cent.

It is the second year of falling sales in PwC's Middle East business, which has been hit by a wider slowdown in lucrative Saudi Arabian consulting projects, previously the engine for rapid growth at the firm.

PwC said that it had been a “challenging year” for its Middle East business,

Average pay for the near-1,000 partners rose to a record £935,000 as PwC reduced staff and cut costs

citing “the impact of regional conflict, wider market disruption and currency movements”.

The firm had last year cut the jobs of about 60 partners and 1,500 staff in the region after being hit with a year-long ban on winning work from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

The firm this year parachuted in its UK managing partner Laura Hinton to run the Middle East business as it sought to navigate the slowdown. PwC is the first of the Big Four firms – which also include Deloitte, EY and KPMG – to report its UK results for the most recent financial year.

The firms are grappling with a sector-wide slowdown and the rapid development of AI, which threatens their business models.

Technology is automating routine consulting and audit tasks and raising questions about the industry's labour-intensive staffing model, while firms are simultaneously shifting more work offshore.

In the year to June, PwC's consulting unit was the laggard with revenues falling about one-tenth to £1.8bn.

Sales at its risk-advisory unit declined a similar proportion, while revenues in its tax, audit and deal advisory divisions were flat or rose slightly.

Even before the fall in revenues in its most recent financial year, PwC's revenues had flatlined in 2024-25.

Sales growth across the group had hovered between 9 per cent and 16 per cent annually for three financial years between 2022 and 2024 as the firm benefited from a post-pandemic surge in demand for consultants and rapid growth in the Middle East.

Telecoms

Vodafone takes €1bn hit from Drahi OXG deal

KIERAN SMITH AND EUAN HEALY LONDON

Vodafone will miss out on more than €1bn of potential earnings after Patrick Drahi struck a deal to sell his stake in their German broadband joint venture OXG – a move that saw the French-Israeli billionaire escape liability for previously agreed payments.

The UK telecoms group was in line to receive deferred payments of €487mn and a potential €595mn earnout from Drahi's Geodesia Holding, provided that OXG achieved certain milestones and business performance objectives.

But Société Générale, which agreed to acquire Drahi's 50 per cent in OXG this month, will not be subject to the same commitments, said people familiar with the deal terms. Vodafone has not informed investors of the change.

Vodafone said the replacement of Drahi with SocGen had provided “the best option between rollout funding certainty and strategic flexibility, and that was reflected in the terms that were agreed". It added: "We're supportive of [Altice's] exit and replacing them with SG as a committed investor."

At the time that the FTSE 100 group partnered with Drahi's telecoms unit Altice to launch OXG in 2023, the billionaire was already grappling with the

‘We are surprised Vodafone has walked away from its expected proceeds’ James Ratzer, New Street Research

impact of higher interest rates on his telecoms empire, which had been financed with billions of dollars of junk debt.

New Street Research analyst James Ratzer said Vodafone's choice of Drahi, who in June agreed a deal to sell his French telecoms unit SFR for €20.35bn to ease debt woes, as its partner had proven "to be the wrong one".

He added: "Given Drahi's guarantees [on OXG] were renewed last year and he is due to receive cash from the SFR deal, we are surprised Vodafone has walked away from its expected proceeds."

French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel acquired a 16 per cent stake in Vodafone in July, becoming the FTSE 100 group's largest shareholder. Niel has since increased his stake to 19 per cent.

OXG committed to spend €7bn to roll out fibre broadband to more than 7mn homes in Germany over a six-year period after its launch. But higher than expected build costs have slowed progress with the network reaching just 1mn homes as of this month.

The first of Drahi's deferred payments was not due until OXG passed 1.5mn homes and Vodafone had not been expecting to receive any payment until at least its 2028 financial year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Drahi's stake in OXG has been heavily scrutinised by creditors to his telecoms group, Altice, after he controversially shifted his holding in the broadband venture, along with several other assets, out of the reach of lenders owed €8bn.

Altice declined to comment.

Aerospace & defence

Oxford spin-off creates turbojets for drones

SYLVIA PFEIFER — OXFORD

An Oxford university spin-off has developed a range of low-cost turbojet engines with the Ministry of Defence to power drones, as the UK seeks to boost its domestic defence capabilities.

Technology start-up Alloyed said the engines, which were designed digitally and built using 3D printing, could power everything from small drones to larger aircraft and be produced much faster than conventional turbines.

The partnership comes as the UK, along with its European allies, races to boost its homegrown capacity to produce weapons at speed and at scale after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Defence groups have been racing to deliver jet-powered interceptors to help Ukraine and its allies counter Russia's new high-speed drones, which have rained down on Ukrainian cities. Russia's jet-powered Geran drones have been able to evade Ukraine's air defences at a far higher rate than their propeller-driven predecessors.

Alloyed chief executive Michael Holmes said: "We and our allies need to give the Ukrainians the means to shoot those things out of the sky, which requires jet turbines." The company was in touch with "most" well-known drone, missile and interceptor companies, he added.

Alloyed says its engines, built using 3D printing, will be cheaper than rival products and faster to make

Holmes said the company's goal was to “tailor engines to missions much faster”, adding that Alloyed would be able to design and produce new variants in months rather than years.

Alloyed is already manufacturing two engines: a smaller version now in production and a larger engine which progressed from initial concept to flight-ready status in less than seven months.

Founded in 2017 by materials engineers from the university, Alloyed specialises in the design of entirely new lightweight but strong metal alloys. The company builds complex engine parts with powdered metal using 3D printers, helping drastically to reduce development times and costs.

Holmes said that while the cost would vary depending on the size of the engine, “as a rule of thumb, we’ll be aiming to be 30 per cent cheaper than what’s on the market at the moment, [and] we will be aiming to be up to 30 per cent more power efficient”.

The company's ambition is to manufacture engines for the UK and adopt a franchise model for allies. Under that model, Alloyed would send instructions in digital files on how to design and make the relevant alloys to manufacturers abroad, allowing them to print the parts and engines themselves.

The engines are also designed to have civilian applications. Current and past customers have included Boeing and BMW, as well as consumer electronics companies developing lightweight augmented-reality glasses.

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Equities. Retail investors

Dangote's \$1.6bn IPO aims to attract millions of Nigerians into stock trading

Flotation has a low entry price but many people are unaware or have more pressing needs

JACOB JUDAH — IDASO, NIGERIA DAVID PILLING — LONDON

Chukwuka Kosisochukwu sits on an empty bucket beneath the ramshackle entrance to his hardware store on the outskirts of Lagos.

For months, he has studied the stock market in the hope of spotting an opportunity too good to pass up. He recently learnt that what he was looking for may be on his doorstep.

His store looks on to a highway where heavy lorries emblazoned with the name of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a mammoth refining and petrochemicals plant down the road, thunder by around the clock.

Aliko Dangote, the multibillionaire industrialist who owns the complex, began selling a small stake on Monday at roughly the cost of a bottle of Pepsi or 25 naira (\$0.40) per share.

It is a price that could see millions of Nigerians, who can buy in with as few as 10 shares, dabble in the stock market for the first time.

“I would rather have a share of Dangote in place of a Pepsi,” said Kosisochukwu, who recently signed up to an online brokerage, allowing him to participate. “This is a big-time opportunity.”

He is not alone. The 700,000 barrel-a-day facility, which began operations two years ago and hit full capacity in February as the Iran war started disrupting energy supplies and sent the crude price soaring, is aiming to raise \$1.6bn in the initial public offering.

That would value it at \$49bn — much more than the \$20bn it cost to build.

It will be by some distance Africa's largest IPO and offers Nigeria a once-in-a-generation moment to begin creating a nation of investors and to advertise itself abroad as back in business after

‘This will play a significant role in accelerating the development of an investment culture’

Opportunity: Chukwuka Kosisochukwu recently signed up to an online brokerage that allows him to participate in the Dangote IPO organised by CEO Aliko Dangote (below) Jacob Judah/FT/Victor Adewale/Bloomberg

years in the economic doldrums, said analysts.

There is near-universal optimism among brokers in Lagos about the sale, although many are involved in some way in the IPO.

“This is a watershed moment,” said Gbadebo Adenrele, an investment banker at United Capital, one of the 26 issuing brokers, adding that the IPO was a chance to deepen Nigeria’s capital market by drawing in new investors.

"This IPO will play a significant role in accelerating the development of an investment culture among individuals and families," he added.

Philip Anegbe, head of investment research at stockbroker CardinalStone, said anyone working with stocks in Nigeria was being inundated with requests from those eager for information.

The firm, which is one of the issuing brokers and has produced research on the IPO, expects Dangote's share price to rise by about 30 per cent over 12 months.

The refining giant hopes its IPO, which follows an oversubscribed private placement that raised \$2.5bn for a stake of about 6 per cent, will help finance a push to double capacity to 1.4mn barrels per day by 2028.

The plant's rapid growth has already helped transform Nigeria, which despite being a major oil producer has long imported its refined products, into a critical exporter of diesel and aviation fuel.

Dangote himself has referred to the offering as the “People’s IPO”. He is targeting about 10mn individual investors from when the offer opened on Monday until its close on October 13.

Trading in the shares on the Nigerian exchange, the NGX, is expected from mid-November.

It helps that many Nigerians see Dan-gote, whose efforts to build a sprawling conglomerate out of a cement business in northern Nigeria have made him Africa's richest man, as somebody whose business sense is widely admired.

“I trust Dangote in anything to do with business,” said Abdulkadir Abdulkadir, an agricultural planner in far northern Nigeria who is considering buying between 100 and 200 shares.

The low cost of entry made investing feasible for the first time for many outside major cities, he added.

"It is democratic. It gives a common sense of belonging to feel that I can also participate in a process for rich people in Lagos or the big men in Abuja," he said.

In the past, Nigerians would have needed to go through a traditional financial institution to participate in an IPO but a host of new online brokers have been authorised to act as intermediaries.

Muzakallah Muzammil, a mathematics tutor in north-central Nigeria, said he had recently downloaded the Bamboo app, a start-up broker modelled on Robinhood, so he could buy about 100 shares.

"The Dangote Refinery pushed me to do this but if I see another brand which I trust, then it might encourage me to create a portfolio," he said.

Bamboo told the FT that it was expecting to process at least 1mn new registrations from those wanting access to the IPO.

"It is really as retail as you can get," said co-founder Richmond Bassey, adding there was also demand from diaspora Nigerians and Africans more widely.

More broadly, the IPO could bolster a long-awaited rebound in the Nigerian economy, which has whipsawed from crisis to crisis.

There have been painful efforts to strengthen output through sweeping economic reforms, including removing expensive fuel subsidies and unifying the country's multiple exchange rates.

The listing could prove that a pathway existed to raise significant equity on domestic markets, said Adenrele.

But the country where, according to the World Bank, almost 40 per cent of adults have no bank account has a long way to go.

Under the shadow of the sprawling pipes at the entrance to the Dangote refinery, which belched flames as it worked away, dozens of bored truckers were loitering on a morning last week, waiting their turn to collect diesel that could then be taken to filling stations the length and breadth of Nigeria.

Not one was aware of the impending

Our global team gives you market-moving news and views, 24 hours a day ft.com/markets

stock sale. Asked whether he had heard that Dangote was intending to sell stock, Joshua Alabi hung out of his window looking bemused. "Are you the one selling it?" he asked the FT, after having asked his brother to explain to him what a stock was.

The FT spoke to two dozen Nigerians in poorer neighbourhoods around the Dangote refinery and around Lagos.

Few knew about the impending IPO. But only one of them said they would not consider investing if they had been aware.

There had been a strict moratorium on advertising the proposed sale imposed by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

That limited the number who might have known about the IPO to mainly younger Nigerians keeping track of discussions on social media.

Abdullahi Umari, a granite salesman, was sitting alongside a friend at a table strewn with betting booklets for English football matches.

“If they want us to know, then they must come and make a jingle,” he said, referring to the catchy tunes that accompany Nigerian advertising campaigns. “He can buy, I can buy, but they must come here and explain.”

Others have more pressing concerns.

“If I had the money, I could buy it. I would buy and keep,” said Alimi Oluwafemi, a welder, as he hammered a wonky piece of corrugated iron under the bored eyes of two apprentices.

"I don't have food now. I am broke," he added. "Dangote has already made his money. He may not know that the pay down here is so weak."

Strait of Hormuz crisis threatens to undermine long-term LNG demand

MORAL MONEY

Simon Mundy

D

onald Trump's administration has scrapped a rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants – the US president's

latest move to drive growth in the country's fossil fuel sector.

But this year's war with Iran is creating new threats to that "energy dominance" agenda.

Trump returned to power last year promising a new age of international growth for US sales of liquefied natural gas.

On his first day back in office, he signed an order reversing his predecessor Joe Biden's pause on approvals for new LNG export terminals – part of a drive to boost the uptake of US fossil fuel resources and “unleash energy dominance”.

But the conflict that Trump entered into this year in the Middle East has created new risks to the outlook for US LNG sales as the developing markets that were meant to drive long-term growth recoil at soaring prices and turn increasingly towards low-cost renewables.

To be clear, the turmoil in gas markets since the Iran war began in February has meant a short-term windfall for US LNG exporters.

The blockage of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz from Qatar – which previously accounted for a fifth of global LNG supplies – has created a shortage with inevitable price consequences.

The Japan-Korea Marker for LNG prices, a key benchmark, which started the year below \$10 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), reached more than \$22 per MMBtu in March.

Having moderated somewhat over the summer, it has been surging again over the past month, reaching a new high for the year this week above \$25 per MMBtu.

This has brought bumper revenues for US exporters, who have increased their LNG shipments to “near maximum output levels”, according to a recent update from the government’s Energy Information Administration.

Helpfully for the sector, new terminal capacity approved before the Biden pause has now come into action, enabling a 23 per cent rise in US LNG exports in the first half of the year.

But while the price jump is boosting LNG profits for now, it is threatening the foundations of future growth — especially in the developing Asian economies that the sector has been counting on to drive increases in long-term demand.

These countries have been cutting back their gas power generation in response to the higher prices – in India, for example, it fell 25 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

In India and other Asian economies, such as Vietnam, that has brought a near-term bounce in coal-fired generation, the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel.

But the gas squeeze has also strengthened policy moves in the region to accelerate the shift to renewables.

This month, Thailand announced a goal of helping 1mn households install 5 gigawatts of rooftop solar panels in an effort to reduce reliance on gas, which at present fuels most of the country's power generation.

Recent government strategy documents envisioned a far smaller long-term role for gas-fired power than had been the case previously, said

'It's about energy transition or we'll be subjected to what's happening in the Middle East forever'

Christopher Doleman, Asia gas specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Similar dynamics are emerging across much of Asia. Vietnam's Vingroup has cancelled a \$6.8bn plan for the country's biggest gas-fired power station, instead moving to build a plant using solar and wind power backed by battery storage.

Prices for large-scale batteries have declined dramatically over the past three years, offering a newly cost-effective source of grid flexibility that threatens one of the key arguments for gas plants, which can be fired up more quickly than coal power stations.

This has enabled countries including Pakistan to significantly expand their plans for the deployment of renewable power.

Last month, Pakistani power minister Awais Leghari announced a new national target of achieving 90 per cent clean generation in the national power mix by 2035, saying battery storage would be “a strategic asset for our energy sovereignty” by reducing reliance on imported gas.

Within the US, solar and wind plants now account for the vast majority of new generation capacity being added to the grid.

Gas power is, however, getting a boost from the surge in data centre construction to serve the AI needs of US tech companies.

Many developers are building on-site gas plants to power their new data centres rather than endure long waits for grid connections.

Yet the increased US demand for gas power is causing yet another barrier to international growth — by creating huge delivery backlogs for gas plant turbines and sending their prices surging.

This was a major factor behind the strategic rethink on gas power in south-east Asian countries such as Thailand, said Doleman at the IEEFA.

In its recent annual report, the International Gas Union predicted that global gas demand would resume its strong upward trend after a decline this year.

"The longer-term structural role of gas in meeting accelerating global energy demand will continue," said the trade body's president Andrea Stegher.

But in many of the developing economies driving that energy demand growth, doubts about gas's role appear to be rising.

"It is about the energy transition," Thai energy minister Akanat Promphan said after this month's rooftop solar announcement, "because otherwise we'll be subjected to what's happening in the Middle East forever."

Moral Money For more on the drive for cleaner, fairer capitalism, sign up to our email newsletter

Eurozone

Social media echo chambers can distort inflation expectations

Paul Donovan Markets Insight

he Iran war has once again thrust inflation to the forefront of popular consciousness. Earlier this year, searches on Google Trends

for “inflation” were almost twice the level of 2022.

Most economies' current inflation pressures are due to energy prices passing down supply chains plus the lingering hangover of tariffs in the US.

By tradition, a central banker is supposed to adopt the detachment of the character Vicomte de Valmont in the film Dangerous Liaisons and coldly dismiss such things as “beyond my control”.

But the current risk of rising inflation expectations is creating some concern among policymakers. For some of them, expectations are perversely idolised as a policy objective in themselves.

This reverence overlooks two points: expectation creation is very different from the past; and expectations alone are just meaningless noise.

Consumer and corporate inflation expectations are measured by survey evidence. Surveys today are not answered in the way that they used to be.

Social media sensationalises everything it touches. In the Michigan consumer survey of May 2025, 29 per cent of respondents believed that US inflation would be above 15 per cent within a year. Inflation at the time was 2.4 per cent.

The only other time 15 per cent plus inflation expectations were close to that reading was 1980 when inflation was at 14.8 per cent.

When a consumer's phone is an echo chamber and rising mocha prices produce a stream of irate influencers complaining about affordability, it is easy to abandon economic reality. Add ever more extreme political partisanship, and surveyed expectations become pure theatre. The corporate underling filling in a sentiment survey form may also pay more attention to their phone than their corporate strategy.

Policymakers who refuse to recognise that social media has changed things risk overstating the importance of today's higher reported inflation expectations.

If a genuine signal lurks in the warped data, do expectations then matter? They only do if they change economic behaviour. If people say one thing and do another, expectations are just unnec-

Policymakers can set aside consumer and company expectations as neither group is acting on them

essary noise. For two groups in the economy, that is exactly the situation today.

Consumers' inflation expectations matter if they affect wage bargaining or alter consumption patterns. No major economy comes close to suggesting the existence of a wage-price spiral.

Wage growth is benign. Discounted by inflation expectations, real US wage growth is actually falling. Higher inflation expectations might shift demand earlier, say by encouraging people to buy now to avoid paying more later.

There is some evidence of this taking place in the US in early 2025, in anticipation of the tariffs. But current consumer trends are not suggesting frontloading demand. Consumers are complaining and then just carrying on as before.

Corporate inflation expectations tend to be about producer prices. Inflation expectations are relevant if companies have pricing power. Because companies tend to raise prices at set intervals (for instance, on a six-month cycle), they may try to add inflation expectations to current pricing. That would lead to “inflation-beating” price increases – a second-round effect central banks should worry about.

There is no evidence of this in the major economies today. Costs are being passed on (with an almost indecent alacrity). Beyond that, pricing power seems to be limited. Consumers and companies can expect whatever they want about inflation – for now they lack the ability or the will to act.

The group that does have the power to turn expectations into action is bond investors. If their expectations rise, the nominal cost of borrowing will rise. What is more economically troubling is that the real cost of borrowing may also rise.

In a darkly dystopian world where inflation is unpredictable and economists are not believed, investors may demand not only compensation for inflation but an insurance premium for inflation uncertainty risk.

That adds directly to the real cost of borrowing for both the government and private sector, affecting fiscal policy and investment (and then economic growth). The lesson is that social media is spoil-

The lesson is that social media is spoiling survey-based inflation expectations ing survey-based inflation expectations – and, for now, policymakers can set aside consumers' and companies' expectations as neither group is acting on them. But bond investors still have the ability and willingness to act.

For now, bond vigilantes are the key group whose inflation expectations should carry weight in policy setting.

Paul Donovan is chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management

For the last 100 years, we have set the standard for insight, authority and quality journalism. In times of change and crisis, we've helped readers make sense of what shapes banking. As the financial landscape continues to shift, The Banker enters its second century as banking's most trusted guide.

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- Retreat for crude oil prices helps push global stocks and bonds higher - Changing rate expectations fuel rally in short-dated UK gilts

A service from the Financial Times

THE BANKER

- Investors also snap up German Bunds and French sovereign debt

Global stocks and bonds gained ground yesterday, helped by a fall in oil prices after their recent rally.

On Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index was 1 per cent up by lunchtime in New York while the blue-chip S&P 500 was 0.5 per cent higher.

Chipmakers gained ground, having sold off earlier in the week on fears that a proposed slowdown in AI development would translate into lower spending by tech giants. Intel rose 5.5 per cent and Nvidia gained 2.1 per cent.

Elsewhere, the pan-regional Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt's Xetra Dax gained 0.6 per cent.

In oil markets, Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 3.2 per cent at \$105.25 per barrel while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 3.6 per cent to \$102 per barrel.

In government bond markets, gilts were particularly strong after inflation data for August suggested that higher energy prices due to the Middle East conflict might be having a limited impact on prices in the rest of the economy.

increases by the Bank of England ahead of the central bank's meeting today. Markets are now pricing in a roughly 20 per cent chance of a rise this week, down from 35 per cent before the data.

The changing expectations fuelled a rally in short-dated UK government debt.

Headline inflation in the UK accelerated to 3.1 per cent, in line with economists' predictions, but services inflation came in slightly below expectations at 3.4 per cent.

Interest rate-sensitive two-year UK gilts had their biggest daily gain since May, pushing the yield down 14 basis points to 4.76 per cent as investors bought the debt.

The benchmark 10-year gilt yield fell 9bp to 5.30 per cent.

The data allowed traders to pare back their expectations for interest rate

"Services inflation, the measure most closely watched . . . for underlying

Markets update

	US	Eurozone	Japan	UK	China	Brazil
Stocks	S&P 500	Eurofirst 300	Nikkei 225	FTSE100	Shanghai Comp	Bovespa
Level	7609.28	2544.07	63923.00	10688.47	3891.60	185880.85
% change on day	0.31	0.44	0.69	0.28	0.71	-0.33
Currency	$ index (DXY)	$ per €	Yen per $	$ per £	Rmb per $	Real per $
Level	99.69	1.154	155.115	1.345	6.71	5.150
% change on day	0.07	-0.048	0.026	-0.267	-0.08	-0.170
Govt. bonds	10-Year Treasury	10-year-Bund	10-year JGB	10-Year Gilt	10-year-bond	10-year-bond
Yield	4.96	3.51	2.95	5.23	1.70	14.33
Basis point change on day	-0.03	-0.02	-0.04	-0.09	0.00	-0.16
World / Commods	FTSE All-World	Oil - Brent	Oil - WTI	Gold	Silver	Metals (LMEX)
Level	74.715	105.19	96.99	4352.62	64.54	5734.30
% change on day	0.41	-2.54	-3.73	1.48	1.36	0.37

inflation and second-round effects, clearly surprised to the downside," said Tomasz Wieladek, European at T Rowe Price, adding that the data "confirms that, despite the large energy shock from the Middle East, domestic disinflation is clearly on track. "These data clearly provide a strong challenge to the current market pricing of four to five hikes over the next year," he said.

In Germany, the 10-year Bund yield fell 2bp to 3.51 per cent while French government bond yields of the same maturity moved 3bp lower to 4.47 per cent. Emily Herbert

Explore now

Main equity markets

Biggest movers

Prices taken at 17:00 GMT Sep 16

Siemens Energy	3.10
ASM Int'l	2.88
Verbund AG	2.83
RWE	2.81
Arcelor Mittal	2.28

AP Moller-Maersk A	-3.91
AP Moller-Maersk B	-3.65
Stellantis	-3.33
Capgemini	-2.81
Volkswagen pfd	-2.64

Based on the constituents of the FTSE Eurofirst 300 Eurozone

Barratt Redrow	11.72
Kier Group	11.49
Bellway	7.06
Taylor Wimpey	5.87
Persimmon	5.78

The Ground Truth image contains only a stylistic horizontal line, which must be ignored according to Rule 2. No text or placeholder characters should be output.
All data provided by ICE. www.ice.com

Diversified Energy	-4.84
Ithaca Energy	-3.41
Frasers Group	-2.62
Harbour Energy	-2.57
St James's Place	-2.52

Equities

OpenAI weighs up further funding round at \$1.2tn valuation before IPO

GEORGE STEER — NEW YORK

GEORGE STEER — NEW YORK GEORGE HAMMOND — SAN FRANCISCO

OpenAI has held early conversations with investors about raising another private funding round at a \$1.2tn valuation before its planned IPO as it seeks to capitalise on the success of its latest AI model.

The ChatGPT maker, which in March raised \$122bn at an \$852bn valuation, including the new money, has recently held discussions with large backers about a fresh capital raising that would increase its value to about \$1.2tn, according to people familiar with the matter.

The conversations with investors are at an early stage and the figure could change over the coming months, the people added.

Whether to go ahead with the private round and its timing would depend on when OpenAI opts to go public, according to one of the people, who added that the conversations had been initiated by investors rather than the company.

Chief executive Sam Altman on Saturday said a listing was unlikely to come before 2027. He has said it would be an “ill-advised moment” to go public amid rising concerns about the existential risks posed by AI.

Altman's company is looking to capitalise on renewed demand for its products following the release of its latest

The company is looking to capitalise on renewed demand after the release of its latest models

models, GPT-5.6 in July and Astra earlier this month.

Those models have boosted the company's revenue growth after a relatively slow start to the year, during which rival Anthropic leapfrogged OpenAI to a \$965bn post-money valuation and investors questioned OpenAI's direction and price tag.

The ChatGPT maker confidentially filed its IPO prospectus in June but has since pushed back the timing of its listing.

A further private funding round would give longtime backers such as SoftBank and Thrive Capital a chance to increase their exposure to the company but will probably extend their wait for the big payouts they are expecting from an IPO.

OpenAI “needs capital”, one of the people said, referencing the billions of dollars the company has burned through in recent years to train its models. The start-up, which spent \$34bn last year, insists it has ample resources after the March fundraising.

The group's annualised revenue passed \$40bn last month after a 20 per cent leap following the launch of GPT-5.6, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Anthropic is on track to be profitable for the second quarter in a row, on an adjusted basis, the FT reported last week.

It is expected to go public as soon as October at a valuation of around \$2tn. OpenAI declined to comment.

Techs Hardware & Equip	76.80
Alternative Energy	76.80
Health Care Providers	34.70
Nonlife Insurance	31.52
Energy	30.51
Oil Gas & Coal	30.40
Industrial Metals & Mining	27.33
Basic Materials	24.22
Telecommunications Svc Providers	23.08
Telecommunications	23.08
Aerospace & Defense	19.35
Banks	18.85
Construction & Materials	13.79
Electronic & Electrical Equip.	13.10
Financials ex Inv Co.	12.40
Financials	11.93
Industrials	11.42
Chemicals	10.65
Industrial Transportation	10.03

Sep 15Regions & countries	No ofstocks	USSt�les	Daily%Chg	Month%Chg	YTD%Chg	US TotalRet	YTD%TotalRet	Gr DivYield
FTSE Global Indices
Global	10108	1245.28	-0.54	-2.79	11.19	2151.80	12.62	1.62
Global Large Cap	1868	1171.34	-0.53	-2.11	11.30	2382.86	12.68	1.53
Global Mid Cap	2393	1409.53	-0.57	-4.42	11.48	2309.55	13.10	1.93
Global Small Cap	5847	1412.14	-0.63	-5.05	10.92	2718.60	11.94	2.05
Global ex Eurozone	9458	1321.27	-0.57	-2.64	11.60	2224.76	12.94	1.53
Global ex China	7589	4207.56	-0.54	-2.78	12.00	6965.56	13.43	1.60
Global ex US	8559	812.17	-0.63	-2.63	11.68	1615.85	13.92	2.47
Global ex UK	9878	1233.65	-0.55	-2.82	11.32	2233.69	12.70	1.57
Global ex Japan	8752	1299.47	-0.53	-2.86	10.73	2263.52	12.16	1.60
FTSE Regional Indices
Americas	1975	1728.15	-0.47	-2.80	10.92	2887.78	11.91	1.21
Asia Pacific	6323	914.65	-1.04	-2.09	17.45	1644.02	19.28	2.03
Asian Pacific ex Japan	4983	1145.70	-2.07	-2.33	16.79	2273.95	12.07	2.07
Europe	1458	692.92	-0.24	-3.83	5.59	1491.30	8.32	2.87
Europe ex UK	1220	798.71	-0.24	-4.65	5.05	6558.58	7.76	2.79
Eurozone	613	722.96	-0.14	-4.62	6.07	1540.31	8.70	2.77
Americas	388	757.86	-1.17	-1.48	7.39	1698.38	11.31	4.52
FTSE Developed Indices
Developed	5353	1293.28	-0.50	-2.94	11.54	2208.41	12.90	1.53
Developed ex North America	3597	766.34	-0.55	-3.02	13.30	1545.17	15.71	2.53
Sep 15Sector	No ofstocks	USSt�les	Daily%Chg	Month%Chg	YTD%Chg	US TotalRet	YTD%TotalRet	Gr DivYield
Digital Information Services
Software & Computer Svcs	538	3598.19	-0.91	0.05	0.22	4380.06	0.68	0.56
Media	163	818.22	-1.66	-0.39	-10.13	1176.51	-9.51	0.95
Technology	2381	871.26	0.09	-5.09	39.67	953.71	40.20	0.57
Semiconductors	693	6756.07	-0.28	-4.07	39.42	9575.78	39.99	0.57
Tech Hardware & Equip	1231	4858.22	-0.52	-2.31	21.14	6379.31	21.66	0.56
Technology	203	1217.56	-0.93	3.81	14.59	124.16	14.94	0.31
Telecommunications Equip	114	544.08	-0.26	-4.65	62.74	628.63	63.80	0.82
Telecommunications	259	546.89	0.01	-1.51	32.37	1348.54	34.57	.99
Telemec Svcs Produkte	145	465.51	0.34	2.63	6.16	1039.64	9.18	3.43
Electromotive Electrical Equip	345	2017.17	-0.14	-9.26	18.19	2909.52	19.17	1.03
Financials
Finance & Credit Services	112	882.87	-2.02	-4.15	-10.91	1384.46	-9.79	1.59
Financials	1152	726.54	-0.77	-1.69	1.95	1516.52	12.53	2.75
Insurance	71	669.15	-0.38	1.09	12.53	1400.42	14.24	3.25
Banks	489	539.16	-0.68	-1.65	15.58	1256.29	18.65	0.22
Mortgage Real Estate Inv Tsts	9	93.68	-1.65	-8.31	-10.61	218.97	-4.05	13.61
Nonlife Insurance	125	1087.89	-0.34	-0.08	5.28	1863.56	8.32	2.66
Inv Banking & Brokerage Svcs	344	1238.86	-1.10	-2.83	3.88	1993.22	5.32	1.66
Transaction Processing Svcs	56	146.61	-0.44	1.53	1.71	153.85	0.05	0.84
Real Estate
Real Estate	646	915.52	-0.49	-5.00	0.32	1120.01	2.97	3.85
Real Estate Inv & Svcs	339	335.45	-1.12	-4.96	-11.57	689.66	-9.71	2.80
Real Estate Investment Tsts	318	545.56	-0.29	-5.02	4.76	1499.36	7.72	4.18
Consumer Goods & Services
Consumer Digital Services	98	328.42	-0.64	-1.79	1.15	333.09	1.40	0.33
Consumer Discretionary	1513	1169.81	-1.49	-5.47	-6.61	1698.68	-5.79	1.25
Consumer Devices	715	1351.36	-1.34	-2.77	-6.95	1843.43	-5.34	3.25
Consumer Staples	627	964.13	-0.66	-1.79	1.86	3765.32	-5.29	3.09
Retailers	267	1878.53	-1.67	-7.10	-0.86	2586.86	-0.24	0.85
Pets Care Drug & Grocery Srs	196	557.03	-0.61	-1.50	0.06	934.11	2.68	2.58
Personal Goods	141	751.60	-1.70	-8.82	-18.50	1166.42	-10.20	2.20
Travel & Leisure	296	1123.58	-1.81	-4.33	-1.00	918.67	0.01	1.43

Day ↗ 0.62% Month ↗ 2.23% Year ↗ 4.11%
Day ▷ -0.33% Month ▷ 11.40% Year ▷ 29.08%
EUROPE

Effective 07.11.2025

Company	Turnover(E)	Pre - tax(E)	EPS(p)	DIV(p)	Pay Day	XD
Advanced Medical Solutions Group	Int 115.5m (110.8m)	335k (8.5m)	-0.030 (2.850)	0.000 (0.000)	-	-
Aptitude Software Group	Int 28.8m (32.8m)	840k (1.8m)	1.100 (2.500)	1.800 (1.800)	Oct 16	Sep 24
Barratt Redrow	Fin 6.1bn (5.6bn)	363.5m (273.7m)	17.100 (13.600)	1.000 (12.100)	Nov 13	Oct 08
City Of London Inv Trust	Fin - (-)	114.2m (107.3m)	22.520 (21.570)	5.700 (5.400)	Nov 30	Oct 22
London Security	Int 127.6m (116.9m)	14.1m (12.3m)	80.400 (70.800)	0.000 (0.000)	-	-
Nippon Active Value Fund	Int - (-)	5.4m (5.2m)	2.450 (2.430)	0.000 (0.000)	-	-
Pan African Resources $	Fin 1.2bn (540.0m)	534.4m (196.6m)	17.600 (7.160)	2.989b (1.638)	Dec 15	Dec 03
Schroders Cap Glb Inv Trust	Int - (-)	-747k (-934k)	-0.120 (-0.120)	n/a (n/a)	-	-
Supermarket Income Reit	Fin - (-)	84.5m (60.7m)	6.900 (4.900)	1.545 (1.530)	Aug 21	Jul 23
Volvere	Int 22.2m (23.8m)	691k (2.9m)	21.860 (80.300)	0.000 (0.000)	-	-

Stock Market movements over last 30 days, with the FTSE All-World in the same currency as a comparison

WORLD MARKETS AT A GLANCE

Change during previous day's trading (%)

Dow Jones Ind

FTSE EuroFirst

Day ▷ -0.08% Month ▷ -3.17% Year ▷ 13.70%

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Australia	All Ordinaries	8974.50	8949.30
Australia	S&P ASX 200	8696.50	8672.50
Australia	S&P ASX 200 Res	7795.90	7667.00
Austria	AIX	6810.44	6746.53
Belgium	BEL 20	5733.49	5724.35
Belgium	BEL Mid	6588.07	6534.01
Brazil	Bovespa	195800.85	186502.64
Canada	S&P TSX 60	2103.20	2094.56
Canada	S&P TSX Comp	35739.69	35592.07
Chile	SS&P/OLX IGPA GEN	56920.02	56920.02
China	China FSE A200	11376.62	11300.69
China	China Shanghai A	4080.40	4051.72
China	China Shanghai B	205.62	2044.84
China	China Shanghai Comp	3891.68	3864.28
China	Shenzhen A	2581.30	2557.34
China	Shenzhen B	1165.50	1159.92
Croatia	CROBEX	4390.39	4401.99
Cyprus	CSE M&P GEN	317.81	315.63

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Czech Republic	Czech Republic PK	2744.49	2752.20
Denmark	DMMC Copenhagen 20	1560.08	1563.76
Egypt	ESX 30	54822.70	54939.20
Estonia	OMX Tallinn	2204.35	2201.74
Finland	OMK Helsinki General	13778.54	13670.39
France	French CAC40	8140.59	8090.28
France	SBF 120	6173.50	6133.49
Germany	M-DAX	31276.77	31135.75
Germany	Tec-Dax	3984.52	3976.62
Germany	XETRA-Dax	25537.75	25402.28
Greece	Athens	2698.76	2695.21
Greece	FTSE/ASIA	6928.65	6919.59
Hong Kong	Hang Seng	24313.76	24667.24
Hong Kong	HS China Enterprises	8206.37	8204.91
Hong Kong	HSCC Red Chip	4078.20	4068.59
Hungary	Bux	154181.95	153518.25
India	BSE Sensex	74336.45	74003.82
Indonesia	Jakarta Comp	6436.85	6461.15

Aug 14 - Sep 16	— Index — All World
FTSE 100		London

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Ireland	ISD Overall	14340.23	14136.68
Israel	T Israel 125	415.35	4082.19
Italy	FTSE Italia All-Share	54517.69	54076.13
Italy	FTSE Italia Mid Cap	60107.77	59548.69
Italy	FTSE MIB	51989.12	51555.19
Japan	Nikkei 225	63923.00	63484.10
Japan	Topix	4061.72	4037.16
Kuwait	KSK Market Index	9516.86	9483.23
Latvia	OMX Riga	983.99	962.59
Lithuania	OMX Venus	1493.60	1492.73
Luxembourg	LuxX	1972.67	1960.02
Malaysia	IPC Mexico City	63507.11	54716.98
Malaysia	FTSE Bursa KLDI	1679.21	1679.21
Morocco	MASI	17984.00	18190.19
Netherlands	AEX	1096.14	1095.87
Netherlands	AEX All Share	1462.89	1459.13
New Zealand	NZX 50	13622.72	13484.22
Nigeria	SE All Share	24471.79	244304.51

MARKET DATA

FTSE All World

Aug 14 - Sep 16
	Index	All World
Xetra Dax		Frankfurt

Day ↗ 0.80% Month ↘ -2.99% Year ↗ 22.29%

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Norway	Dolo All Share	2544.57	2532.42
Pakistan	KSE 100	168621.80	169392.33
Philippines	Manila Comp	5916.94	6007.78
Poland	Wig	153024.96	153698.41
Portugal	PSI 20	9540.66	9446.63
Portugal	PSI General	6451.95	6389.32
Romania	Romania BET Index	31693.28	32697.81
Russia	Russia Traded Index in USD	988.10	988.10
Saudi Arabia	TAHAR/OL All Share Index	10779.95	10781.62
Singapore	FTSE Strata Times	5635.41	5638.64
Slovakia	SAX	326.48	326.48
Slovenia	SBI TOP	3179.00	3179.27
South Africa	FTSE/JSE All Share Index	113551.10	114021.27
South Africa	FTSE/JSE Res	71466.77	71300.69
South Africa	FTSE/JSE Top 40	105986.21	106494.57
South Korea	Kospi	6717.97	6627.26
South Korea	Kospi 200	1060.05	1042.46
Spain	Spain BRX 35	19635.80	19555.90

\$ per £

Aug 14 - Sep 16
	Index	All World
● Nikkei 225		Tokyo

¥ per \$ 0.0258%

Day ↗ 0.71% Month ↘ -0.91% Year ↗ 0.77%
STOCK MARKET: BIGGEST MOVERS

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Sweden	OMX Stockholm 30	3250.63	3218.94
Sweden	OMX Stockholm AS	1123.86	1113.96
Switzerland	SMI Index	13868.66	13808.87
Taiwan	Weighted Stock Index	45848.90	45511.49
Thailand	Bangkok SET	1562.73	1578.66
Türkiye	BIST 100	13122.58	13892.30
UK	FTSE 100	10688.47	10658.13
UK	FTSE 4Good UK	9284.47	9246.73
UK	FTSE All Share	5753.95	5732.76
UK	FTSE techMARK 100	9247.58	9121.76
U.S.A.	Dow Jones Composite	16285.47	16377.96
U.S.A.	Dow Jones Industrial	52651.07	52003.11
U.S.A.	Dow Jones Transport	20100.00	20649.81
U.S.A.	Dow Jones Utilities	408.78	406.20
U.S.A.	Nasdaq 100	25916.36	28537.84
U.S.A.	Nasdaq Composite	26183.38	25981.57
U.S.A.	NYSE Composite	24138.08	24128.46
U.S.A.	S&P 500	7609.28	7595.73

FT.COM/MARKETSDATA

£ per € 0.2220%

Oil Brent \$

UK MARKET WINNERS & LOSERS

EURO MARKETS ACTIVE STOCKS

Day $\gg$ 0.45% Month $\gg$ -4.71% Year $\gg$ -9.76%

Country	Index	Latest	Previous
Venezuela	IBC	6844.64	6742.55
Vietnam	Viet Nam Index	1810.11	1811.15
Cross-Border	Euro Stoxx 50 (Eur)	6266.50	6236.50
Netherlands	Euronext 100 ID	1807.08	1877.01
Cross-Border	FTSE 4Good Global ($)	21102.55	21030.75
Cross-Border	FTSE All World ($)	746.67	744.11
Cross-Border	FTSE €300	2544.07	2533.03
Cross-Border	FTSE Eurotop 100	4912.44	4895.25
Cross-Border	FTSE Global 100 ($)	5712.47	5682.59
Cross-Border	FTSE Gold Min ($)	5926.27	5926.27
Cross-Border	FTSE Limbitx Top (Eur)	6564.10	6587.40
Cross-Border	FTSE World ($)	1396.21	1391.13
Cross-Border	FTSEurofirst 100 (Eur)	7073.89	7048.56
Cross-Border	FTSEurofirst 80 ID	8525.79	8479.96

ACTIVE STOCKS	stock traded m's	close price	Day's change
Intel	60.87	102.45	5.31
Nvidia	39.62	215.87	3.70
Huntington Bancshares	27.93	16.36	-0.39
Tesla	16.22	361.00	4.42
Apple	13.19	332.71	1.37
Super Micro Compton	13.17	36.71
Amazon.com	12.87	247.88	-0.54
Advanced Micro Devices	11.10	523.52	19.32
Palantir	8.97	171.91	-0.65
Micron Technology	8.15	928.86	1.25
BIGGEST MOVERS	Close	Day's	Day's

ACTIVE STOCKS	stock traded m's	close price	Day's change
Lloyds Bkg Gp	322.76	1.11	0.02
Vodafone	61.15	1.31	-
Rolls-Royce	35.25	14.41	0.20
JD Sports Fashion	33.37	0.76	-
BP	32.71	5.67	-0.14
Tesco	32.61	4.76	-0.03
Barclays	31.36	4.75	0.05
NatWest Group	30.90	7.02	0.13
Glencore	29.37	5.71	-0.05
Taylor Wimpey	25.39	0.81	0.04
BIGGEST MOVERS	Close	Day's	Day's

	price	change	change%
Ups
Intel	102.45	5.31	5.46
GE Vernova	926.75	43.94	4.98
Dell Technologies	568.84	25.33	4.66
Edwards Life	89.40	3.66	4.27
Teradyne	346.86	14.01	4.21
Downs
Diamondback Energy	195.02	-16.50	-7.80
EOG Res	145.84	-7.90	-5.14
Occidental Petroleum	60.38	-3.14	-4.94
First Solar	192.50	-9.84	-4.86
Conocophillips	134.66	-6.56	-4.65

CURRENCIES

ACTIVE STOCKS	stock traded m's	close price	Day's change
Stellantis	58.76	4.34	-0.15
Intesa Sanpaolo	32.22	6.74	0.04
Enel	21.80	8.90	0.16
Banco Santander	17.87	12.69	0.02
Nokia	17.48	8.84	0.15
Banco De Sabadell	12.74	3.69
Telefonica	11.01	3.71	0.02
Royal KPN	10.48	4.21	0.05
Iberdrola	10.42	20.24	0.20
EDP	10.10	4.75	0.10

BROZEST MOWERS
	Close price	Day's change	Day's change%
Ups
Barratt Redrow	3.09	0.32	11.72
Kier Group	2.87	0.30	11.49
Bellway	20.92	1.38	7.06
Taylor Wimpey	0.81	0.04	5.87
Persimmon	11.62	0.64	5.78
Downs
Diversified Energy	10.62	-0.54	-4.84
Ithaca Energy	2.83	-0.10	-3.41
Frasers Group	7.63	-0.20	-2.62
Harbour Energy	2.73	-0.07	-2.57
St James's Place	10.85	-0.28	-2.52

BIGGEST MOVERS
	Close price	Day's change	Day's change%
Ups
Siemens Energy	137.12	4.12	3.10
ASM Int'l	771.60	21.60	2.88
Verbund AG	61.70	1.70	2.83
RWE	59.92	1.64	2.81
Arcelor Mittal	64.68	1.44	2.28
Downs
AP Moller-Maersk A	21620.00	-880.00	-3.91
AP Moller-Maersk B	22450.00	-850.00	-3.65
Stellantis	4.34	-0.15	-3.33
Capgemini	105.65	-3.05	-2.81
Volkswagen pfd	78.88	-2.14	-2.64

ACTIVE STOCKS	stock traded m/s	close price	Day's change
Nippon Tel & Tel	152.91	177.10	-1.00
SoftBank Grp Corp	67.20	6183.00	-96.00
SoftBank Corp	65.78	248.80	-1.80
Mitsubishi UFJ	33.68	3655.00	-13.00
Tokyo Electric Power	33.67	544.00	14.20
Taiyo Yuden	28.60	9364.00	167.00
Fujikura	26.20	4839.00	95.00
Archion	23.81	274.00	-
Nippon Steel	23.31	682.70	4.70
Nissan Motor Co	22.01	313.80	1.20

FTSE 100	price(E)	% Chg week	% Chg ytd
Winners
BAE SYSTEMS	20.29	6.87	18.38
Babcock Intl	10.21	6.34	-17.82
Barratt Redrow	3.09	5.11	-18.97
Legal & General	3.01	4.48	14.78
Persimmon	11.62	4.31	-14.46
AstraZeneca	121.36	4.17	-11.99
BT Group	2.06	4.02	11.82
Brit. Amer. Tobacco	41.91	4.00	-0.55
Vodafone	1.31	3.63	32.89
Kingfisher	3.01	3.55	-3.87

BIGGEST MOVERS	Close price	Day's change	Day's change%
Ups
Eneos Hldgs	1474.00	70.00	4.99
GS Yuasa	5456.00	229.00	4.38
Screen Holdings	12670.00	530.00	4.37
Panasonic Holdings	4381.00	176.00	4.19
Tekai Carbon	2056.50	79.50	4.02
Downs
Sumitomo Pharma	1517.50	-65.00	-4.11
Konami Group	20675.00	-610.00	-2.87
LY Corp	554.30	-10.60	-1.88
Aeon Co	1328.50	-22.50	-1.67
Oriental Land	3002.00	-51.00	-1.67

FTSE ACTUARIES SHARE INDICES

FTSE 250	price(£)	% Chg week	% Chg ytd
Winners
Kier Group	2.87	17.51	29.37
Playtech	4.41	11.08	55.63
Vistry Group	2.81	7.49	-56.13
Rightmove	5.01	7.32	-3.50
Trainline	1.99	6.49	-9.89
Qinetiq Group	4.98	6.37	12.68
Wickes	1.92	5.71	-18.13
NCC Group	1.32	5.42	-5.03
GB Group	1.59	5.15	-38.05
Bytes Technology Group	4.02	4.80	12.05

FTSE Small Cap	price(£)	% Chg week	% Chg yld
Winners
The Smarter Web Company	0.42	23.98	30.46
C&C Group	1.06	18.34	-21.63
Aptitude Software Group	2.50	14.68	-14.97
TT Electronics	1.75	8.02	52.97
AVI Japan Opportunity Tst	1.80	5.87	4.94
Record	0.45	5.18	-20.46
Lindell Train Investment Trust	5.70	5.17	-12.31
PayPoint	6.25	4.86	32.10
Hostelworld Group	1.10	4.27	-12.00
Forterra	1.42	4.26	-23.41

Industry Sectors	price(£)	%Chg week	%Chg ytd
Winners
Real Estate Investment & Svcs	1997.36	4.11	-6.74
Construction & Materials	15581.11	3.87	13.79
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech	23496.52	3.63	-8.35
Tobacco	45302.62	3.62	-4.66
Health Care	16426.19	3.47	-8.48
Telecomms Svc Providers	3529.47	3.35	23.08
Telecommunications	2262.55	3.35	23.08
Hold Goods & Home Const	8374.05	3.06	-22.36
Consumer Services	4033.04	1.99	-2.75
Aerospace & Defense	23968.84	1.97	19.39

Losers
Antofagasta	35.94	-10.11	9.61
Ass Brit. Fds	18.39	-8.96	-13.54
Glencore	5.71	-8.71	40.43
Anglo American	39.13	-6.28	26.84
Halma	34.60	-6.28	-2.20
Weir	26.38	-5.38	-7.31
Rio Tinto	72.02	-5.26	20.15
Fresnillo	29.15	-4.39	-12.57
JD Sports Fashion	0.76	-4.27	-9.73
Lon Stock Ex	81.50	-4.25	-8.96

Sep 16	DOLLAR			EURO			POUND
	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Week's Mid	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Week's Mid	Closing Mid
Argentine Peso	1507.9968	0.2791	-6.5034	1739.9267	-0.5073	-24.0117	2028.7635
Australian Dollar	1.4022	-0.0002	0.0192	1.6179	-0.0009	0.0071	1.8864
Bahrainian Oinar	0.3710	-	-	0.4350	-0.0002	-0.0042	0.5072
Bolivian Boliviano	10.1500	-0.0400	-2.4930	11.7111	-0.9753	-3.0197	13.6553
Brazilian Real	5.1502	-0.0088	0.0472	5.9422	-0.0130	-0.0006	6.9287
Canadian Dollar	1.3006	0.0022	0.0141	1.6079	0.0018	0.0012	1.8749
Chinese Yuan	953.3500	-1.7400	27.8850	1099.3753	-3.2729	22.0801	1202.6885
Chinese Yuan	6.7064	-0.0070	-0.0018	7.7378	-0.0117	-0.0749	9.0224
Colombian Peso	3118.7600	15.1000	23.3400	3598.4554	15.7153	6.8105	1495.8240
Costa Rican Colon	447.5000	0.8900	-2.5000	516.3257	0.7812	-7.7896	602.0448
Czech Republic	21.0785	0.0235	0.2424	34.3200	0.0155	0.0524	10.9999
Danish Krone	6.4793	0.0033	0.6175	7.4553	0.0006	3.0066	8.7165
Egyptian Pound	52.2000	0.2400	1.0100	60.2284	0.2484	-9.6017	70.2273
Hong Kong Dollar	7.8446	0.0002	5.9038	9.0511	0.0041	-0.0672	10.6238
Hungarian Forint	315.8476	-0.9761	3.2950	364.4250	-1.3250	-3.3950	424.9257
Indian Rupee	95.9587	-0.0018	0.8575	110.7165	0.0549	-0.0472	129.0973

Losers
THG	0.27	-15.21	-41.23
Trustpilot Group	2.19	-14.83	33.45
Pan African Res	1.21	-10.04	-0.08
Atalaya Mining Copper	9.44	-8.93	10.35
Hochschild Mining	5.84	-8.74	13.83
Energean	7.92	-8.50	-10.67
CMC Market	6.76	-7.90	126.09
Baltic Classifieds Group	1.96	-7.79	-3.25
Raspberry Pi Holdings	5.40	-6.82	79.88
RHI Magnesita	27.75	-6.57	-0.18

Losers
-6.00	Alternative Energy	38.90	-11.85	76.89
41.12	Industrial Metals & Mining	9451.14	-8.84	27.37
48.11	Tech Hardware & Equip	108.99	-6.82	79.89
26.17	Basic Materials	10443.39	-6.54	24.22
25.59	Precious Metals & Mining	35902.35	-5.13	3.99
43.04	Automobiles & Parts	829.60	-4.99	-42.01
-12.76	Finance & Credit Services	13135.63	-4.02	-9.30
16.08	Electronic & Electrical Equip	14420.09	-3.65	13.10
-5.48	Food Producers	7271.55	-3.61	1.58
-5.06	Industrial Engineering	13949.97	-3.14	-0.40

WeeksChange	Sep 16	DOLLAR			EURO			POUND
		Closing Mid	Day's Change	Weeks Mid	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Weeks Mid	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Weeks Mid
-25.753	Indonesian Rupiah	17680.0000	-5.0000	175.0000	20399.1840	-15.4970	11.1100	23785.7890	-70.9390	44.6310
0.0107	Israeli Shekel	3.0276	-0.0157	0.0072	3.4503	-0.0191	-0.0246	4.0732	-0.0312	-0.0233
	Japanese Yen	155.1150	0.0400	1.8800	179.9717	-0.0392	0.4898	208.6940	-0.5045	0.8590
-3.4877	Mexican Peso	129.5000	-0.5200	0.1000	145.4171	-0.3598	-1.2942	22.0228	-0.8034	-1.2745
0.0086	Kuwaiti Dinar	0.3084	-0.0003	-0.0003	3.3558	-0.0005	-0.0037	0.4149	-0.0015	-0.0008
0.0038	Malaysian Ringgit	4.0870		0.0175	4.7156	-0.0022	-0.0242	5.4985	-0.0147	-0.0209
0.0024	Mexican Peso	11.1385	-0.0078	0.2485	13.7271	-0.0164	0.1945	23.0568	-0.0721	0.1502
-0.0752	New Zealand Dollar	1.7360		0.0274	2.0023	-0.0009	0.0130	2.3354	-0.0063	0.0183
-2.3399	Nigerian Naira	1327.7500	1.1700	-1.2850	1531.9062	0.6200	-15.9686	1786.2283	-3.2019	-16.2147
-8.2887	Norwegian Krone	9.3487	0.0059	0.1695	10.7895	0.0060	0.0860	12.5772	-0.0206	0.1158
-1.0955	Pakistani Rupee	177.1750	-0.2150	-0.1090	1918.8496	-0.4006	-3.1717	23.4774	-1.2879	-3.1669
0.0122	Persuvian New Sol	3.3655	-0.0107	0.0119	3.8830	-0.0142	-0.0227	4.5277	-0.0257	-0.0205
0.8039	Philippine Peso	62.7535	-0.0885	0.2185	72.4049	-0.1344	-0.4395	84.4254	-0.3425	-0.3876
0.0141	Polish Krone	3.7718	0.0159	0.0740	4.3563	0.0163	0.0450	5.8819	0.0078	0.0592
1.0262	Romanian Lou	4.5624		0.0508	5.2940	-0.0005	0.0095	6.1380	-0.0141	0.0193
0.1171	Russian Ruble	84.3250	0.1000	0.8750	97.2942	0.0690	-1.3382	113.4467	-0.1687	-2.1059

	£ StrngSep 16	Day'schg %	EuroIndex	£ StrngSep 15	£ StrngSep 14	Year ago	Div Yield	Cover	P/E ratio	XO and adj	Total Return
FTSE 100 (100)	10688.47	0.28	9711.01	10658.13	10697.57	9931.38	3.09	2.20	14.73	268.06	12588.57
FTSE 100 ex Investment Trusts (95)	3497.19	0.28	3177.38	3497.58	3500.43	3251.79	3.12	2.08	15.41	88.76	34425.09
FTSE 250 (250)	24070.20	1.06	21868.99	23818.74	23834.48	22470.38	3.17	2.59	12.19	565.79	22753.11
FTSE 250 ex Inc (164)	24879.27	1.27	22604.07	24567.39	24569.49	23006.14	3.20	1.71	18.22	616.11	24102.21
FTSE 350 (350)	5817.98	0.37	5285.93	5796.72	5616.29	5403.23	3.09	2.24	14.41	144.90	13578.58
FTSE 350 ex Investment Trusts (259)	5751.85	0.35	5225.84	5731.73	5751.28	5351.90	3.13	2.05	15.60	145.67	6851.15
FTSE 350 Higher Yield (135)	5207.18	0.14	4730.99	5199.76	5208.64	4626.85	4.19	1.91	12.47	165.08	14668.96
FTSE SmallCapex (251)	5741.50	0.63	5175.21	5760.35	5760.41	5381.47	3.75	1.81	16.47	69.72	13848.57
FTSE SmallCapEx (176)	8042.23	0.58	7306.37	7998.00	8024.35	7537.89	3.91	1.45	17.67	209.60	15565.84
FTSE SmallCap ex Inc (99)	6614.63	0.66	6009.72	6571.46	6573.29	6260.89	3.71	0.67	40.19	148.80	13253.35
FTSE SmallCap Financials ex Inc (13)	151.13	0.45	143.65	150.46	150.64	150.06	5.22	1.60	11.97	5.11	200.53
FTA All-Share (529)	5753.95	0.37	5227.75	5732.76	5752.13	5350.38	3.10	2.23	14.44	143.40	13561.58
FTA All-Share ex Inc (358)	5645.89	0.35	5129.57	5626.03	5645.11	5253.82	3.13	2.04	15.66	142.88	9227.39
FTF Hedging (41)	12573.70	0.39	11423.84	12524.81	12512.07	13205.03	5.19	-12.16	-1.58	212.04	30314.65
FTF Hedging ex Inc (21)	16431.50	0.53	14582.64	16345.00	16216.66	24338.42	4.64	-1.91	-11.31	611.51	38997.30
FTA All-Small (220)	5576.75	0.57	5066.75	5544.90	5564.02	5246.47	3.93	1.07	23.69	144.33	13829.07
FTA All-Small ex Inc (120)	4962.61	0.65	4508.78	4920.36	4930.84	4745.49	3.73	0.60	44.67	112.76	12567.36
FTA All-Share (527)	780.36	0.67	761.27	787.13	786.45	795.04	3.81	1.85	16.47	8.85	9927.39
FTA All-Share Technology (20)	1951.57	0.48	1773.13	1942.33	1981.39	2154.29	2.53	21.65	21.26	46.47	3006.76
FTA All-Share Telecommunications (5)	2262.30	0.46	2055.41	2251.91	2244.86	1638.12	3.12	0.80	40.33	41.30	4280.42
FTA All-Share Health Care (12)	16260.42	0.23	14773.41	16222.72	16252.96	17767.22	2.43	2.42	17.02	355.09	16546.88
FTA All-Share Financials (233)	8652.03	0.76	7860.80	8586.70	8677.44	7738.99	3.46	2.90	9.98	262.21	11355.25
FTA All-Share Real Estate (38)	788.92	1.22	749.83	779.41	774.77	779.49	4.97	1.13	17.80	30.04	994.85
FTA All-Share Consumer Discretionary (68)	5945.65	0.84	5401.92	5896.10	5908.92	6097.31	2.59	1.97	19.64	115.58	6902.06
FTA All-Share Consumer Staples (28)	19666.90	-0.26	17886.36	19717.19	19908.29	20151.95	4.13	1.40	17.35	504.78	21146.48
FTA All-Share Industrials (79)	12132.98	1.19	11029.78	11998.59	11944.46	10902.88	1.55	2.06	31.21	153.64	15160.38
FTA All-Share Basic Materials (22)	11250.70	0.85	10262.71	11232.37	11373.76	9108.88	2.63	2.02	18.92	252.22	18123.46
FTA All-Share Energy & Finance (3)	11708.51	2.13	10840.07	11848.04	11864.27	11743.62	3.67	2.27	14.67	244.57	12451.51
FTA All-Share Utilities (5)	10740.22	2.17	9758.01	10512.37	10442.40	10509.92	3.82	1.53	17.05	285.58	15299.09
FTA All-Share Software & Computer Svcs (18)	2112.41	0.45	1919.22	2102.93	2145.55	2341.56	2.55	1.82	21.56	50.75	3504.74
FTA All-Share Tech Hardware & Equip (2)	3843.78	3.35	3492.27	3719.28	3725.58	2276.41	0.00	0.00	41.41	0.00	5399.10
FTA All-Share Telecoms Svc Providers (5)	3524.12	0.46	3201.84	3507.94	3496.99	2863.35	3.12	0.80	40.03	64.34	6106.36
FTA All-Share Healthcare Providers (2)	11337.64	0.22	10300.82	11312.66	11368.52	8413.29	1.03	1.79	54.40	28.78	10903.86
FTA All-Share Medical Equipment & Svcs (2)	5251.88	-0.03	4771.42	5253.51	5283.28	6125.00	2.13	2.73	11.23	105.27	5568.78
FTA All-Share Pharmaceuticals & Biotech (8)	23427.86	0.24	21285.39	23370.73	23425.02	25560.82	2.42	2.44	16.95	514.99	21477.08
FTA All-Share Banks (13)	9294.70	0.86	8444.77	9215.98	9349.90	7620.31	3.56	2.61	10.76	303.71	10133.35
FTA All-Share Retail & Credit Services (7)	10434.52	0.49	11388.96	11498.88	11586.89	10986.89	3.62	2.69	16.98	33.97	10986.89
FTA All-Share Inv Banking & Brokerage Svcs (3)	12857.03	1.07	11681.25	12721.54	12846.31	13207.98	3.87	2.79	9.27	390.61	21291.52
FTA All-Share Closed End Investments (171)	15334.46	0.66	13932.13	15233.92	15281.97	14072.94	2.63	6.20	6.13	279.37	10667.13
FTA All-Share Life Insurance (5)	8391.99	1.00	7624.55	8308.51	8270.08	8294.18	4.82	1.16	17.81	376.43	12678.97
FTA All-Share Nonlife Insurance (5)	6805.03	-0.13	6182.71	6813.91	6773.67	5711.05	3.51	1.41	20.16	224.06	16692.16
FTA All-Share Real Estate Inv & Svs (10)	1903.64	0.61	1729.55	1892.16	1888.03	2306.18	2.28	1.79	24.40	33.65	6195.79
FTA All-Share Real Estate Investment Trts (20)	1977.50	1.31	1756.66	1951.88	1939.14	1926.13	5.38	1.09	17.11	81.34	3855.97
FTA All-Share Automobiles & Parts (1)	833.85	-2.21	757.59	852.68	862.36	1437.94	0.00	0.00	-0.74		953.50
FTA All-Share Consumer Services (2)	3700.98	-1.24	3444.29	3638.41	3839.73	3889.56	2.22	1.77	25.42	84.26	5204.17
FTA All-Share World Goods & Home Cost (8)	6847.31	6.88	6221.12	6480.37	6377.04	8888.71	4.57	1.68	13.07	130.81	7172.25
FTA All-Share Aerospace & Deformar (9)	4451.74	-0.07	4144.99	4448.66	4448.66	4448.66	-0.07	-0.07	-0.07	-0.07	-0.07
FTA All-Share Personal Goods (3)	14103.33	2.67	12865.37	13792.18	13860.05	15672.83	0.27	11.75	31.84	37.50	11928.31
FTA All-Share Media (10)	12434.29	-0.23	11297.18	12463.36	12569.07	12326.17	3.23	1.78	17.35	33.24	9739.41
FTA All-Share Retailers (19)	2674.54	0.31	2429.95	2666.37	2653.91	2591.68	2.78	2.77	12.97	51.32	3861.99
FTA All-Share Travel & Leisure (24)	9779.45	1.50	8885.16	9635.16	9720.12	9692.99	1.98	1.67	30.27	148.53	10703.88
FTA All-Share Beverages (5)	16568.18	0.51	15033.02	16494.16	16755.44	15618.32	3.22	1.54	20.09	188.93	14751.22
FTA All-Share Food Producers (10)	7677.22	0.08	6975.14	7671.34	7713.84	7556.92	2.82	1.96	18.08	115.21	8181.68
FTA All-Share Tobacco (2)	45302.70	-0.81	4119.78	4561.39	46031.59	47515.58	5.83	1.31	12.89	1486.54	56275.25
FTA All-Share Construction & Materials (16)	15989.64	4.31	14543.02	15353.25	15221.44	14300.56	2.72	2.21	16.66	304.27	21950.67
FTA All-Share Aerospace & Deformar (9)	25087.85	1.78	2227.69	2549.96	2549.96	2454.46	-0.02	-0.02	-0.02	-0.02	-0.02
FTA All-Share Exploration & Electrical Equip (11)	16915.59	1.05	15369.58	16714.49	16722.05	14821.05	0.99	2.88	35.22	140.20	17730.36
FTA All-Share General Industries (6)	5730.75	0.95	5206.68	5677.03	5640.95	5275.72	2.95	1.86	23.74	81.89	8514.64
FTA All-Share Industrial Engineering (8)	15087.28	1.34	13707.55	14888.29	14834.19	15129.60	2.34	1.61	26.60	238.66	22045.37
FTA All-Share Industrial Support Svcs (25)	10298.13	0.10	9329.11	10257.47	10339.95	10512.10	2.24	1.48	30.17	198.03	12864.00
FTA All-Share Industrial Transportation (7)	6535.91	1.11	5583.20	6464.32	6525.86	5995.34	4.16	1.80	13.34	224.75	7481.59
FTA All-Share Precious Metals & Mining (4)	33972.64	2.25	30865.85	33224.83	33760.37	32669.13	2.69	2.65	14.00	911.89	26992.86
FTA All-Share Chemicals (1)	8551.23	0.33	7769.22	8525.53	8463.86	7671.18	3.91	0.79	32.29	282.46	8561.08
FTA All-Share Oil & Gas & Coal (1)	11370.38	-2.15	10300.54	11619.70	11410.52	8705.65	3.55	2.51	11.21	305.01	18604.95
FTA All-Share Alternative Energy (1)	17.58	4.79	17.50	6.78	7.21	9.94	0.00	-0.00	-0.16	17.00	0.58
FTA All-Share Chemicals (3)	14052.94	-2.22	12788.09	13868.68	13563.44	12491.44	-0.04	-0.04	-0.04	-0.04	3335.33
FTA All-Share Financials ex Inv Co (62)	214.02	0.78	203.43	212.25	214.94	1903.33	3.64	2.38	11.57	7.05	273.77
FTA All-Share Gas Water & Multi-unit (8)	9295.03	1.93	8445.00	9119.07	9067.63	9258.32	4.14	1.44	16.79	270.48	16537.88
FTA All-Share Industrial Metals & Mining (11)	10181.95	0.50	9250.81	10130.86	10274.67	8008.63	2.56	2.05	19.08	258.55	18494.68
FTA All-Share Pesc Care Drug & Grocery Stn (1)	4698.51	-0.22	4269.74	4708.88	4751.08	4902.73	3.49	1.40	20.43	128.25	7265.11
NON FINANCIALS (28)	6311.75	0.20	5734.54	6290.86	6300.88	5966.81	2.95	1.89	17.90	142.43	12962.37

FTSE SECTORS: LEADERS & LAGGARDS
FTSE GLOBAL INDICES

UK RECENT RIGHTS ISSUES

Company Name Petra Diamonds Ltd

Event Rights Issue: 10 for 17 at 16.5p p.s., payable in full by Nov. 21 (xr 07.11.25).

Sep 16	DOLLAR				EURO			POUND
	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Weeks Change	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Weeks Change	Closing Mid	Day's Change	Change
Saudi Riyal	3.7561	-	0.0011	4.3338	-0.0020	-0.0395	5.0533	-0.0135	-0.0393
Singapore Dollar	1.2733	0.0002	0.0100	1.4691	-0.0004	-0.0027	1.1730	-0.0043	-0.0003
South African Rand	16.2675	-	0.2550	18.7694	-0.0090	0.1197	21.8855	-0.0585	0.1686
South Korea Won	1308.9500	9.4500	37.6000	1579.4945	10.1556	23.0476	1841.7169	7.8193	29.2921
Swedish Krona	9.7700	0.0029	0.2017	11.2830	-0.0020	0.1264	13.1562	-0.0313	0.1670
Swiss Franc	0.8189	-0.0003	0.0111	0.9449	-0.0009	0.0040	1.1018	-0.0034	0.0062
Taiwan Dollar	31.8965	0.0020	0.3960	36.8022	-0.0152	0.1066	42.9119	-0.1121	0.1812
Thai Baht	33.2850	-0.0200	0.3375	38.4042	-0.0415	0.0768	44.7800	-0.1468	0.1492
Tunisian Tiger	2.9255	0.0115	0.0108	3.3755	0.0117	-0.0147	3.8593	0.0051	-0.0067
Turkish Lira	48.6578	0.0187	0.1802	56.1410	-0.0051	-0.3205	65.4614	-0.1499	-0.2859
UAE Dirham	3.6728	-	0.0002	4.2377	-0.0020	-0.0402	4.9412	-0.0132	-0.0403
Pound Sterling	0.7433	0.0020	0.0060	0.8577	0.0019	-0.0011	1.0000	-	-
United States Dollar	1.8000	-	0.1538	1.5378	-0.0055	-0.0128	1.3454	-0.0036	-0.0109
Vietnamese Dong	25998.5000	34.5000	91.5000	29997.0690	25.5250	176.8140	34977.0820	-47.0570	-159.2880
Euro	0.8667	0.0004	0.0081	1.0000	-	-	1.1660	-0.0025	0.0015

9.17	Consumer Services	-2.75
8.63	Personal Care Drug & Grocery	-4.24
7.40	Tobacco	-4.66
6.06	Real Estate Investment & Svcs.	-6.74
3.98	Consumer Digital Services	-6.88
3.02	Leisure Goods	-7.10
2.83	Pharmaceuticals & Biotech	-8.35
2.19	Health Care	-8.48
1.67	Finance & Credit Services	-9.30
1.58	Personal Goods	-9.65
1.12	Technology	-10.14
0.92	Biotechnology	-10.29
-0.40	Software & Computer Svcs.	-10.37
-2.27	Medical Equipment & Svcs.	-14.26
-2.45	Hhold Goods & Home Const.	-22.36
-2.67	Automobiles & Parts	-42.01

Sep 15Regions & countries	No ofstocks	USDSiscngs	Daily%Chg	Month%Chg	YTD%Chg	USDTotalRet	YTDTotalRet	Gr DivYield
Developed ex Canada	5146	1298.35	-0.50	-2.92	11.57	2211.44	12.92	1.51
Developed ex Europe	4162	1515.44	-0.54	-2.76	12.72	2402.18	13.81	1.30
Developed ex Eurozone	4776	1386.24	-0.53	-2.78	12.05	2296.54	13.30	1.43
Developed ex US	3804	797.19	-0.52	-3.08	13.00	1595.86	15.32	2.48
Developed ex UK	5123	1380.98	-0.51	-2.98	11.69	2300.43	13.00	1.47
Developed ex Japan	3897	1360.58	-0.48	-3.03	11.05	2341.56	12.40	1.50
Developed Asia Pacific	2318	851.81	-0.94	-1.93	25.15	1530.34	27.08	2.11
Developed Asia Pac ex Japan	962	1110.68	-1.25	-2.38	33.87	2445.24	36.45	2.30
Developed Europe	1191	705.34	-0.23	-3.85	5.36	2155.63	8.09	2.87
Developed ex Europe ex UK	861	629.23	-0.23	-4.56	4.73	1713.56	7.49	2.79
Developed Eurozone	577	718.12	-0.14	-4.71	5.84	1529.83	8.47	2.77
Developed Europe Asia Pac	3509	768.00	-0.55	-3.03	13.27	1549.42	15.68	2.53
FTSE Emerging Indents
Emerging	4755	1074.31	-0.95	-1.43	8.16	2088.18	10.19	2.43
Emerging Asia Pacific	4005	1199.29	-1.17	-2.31	8.34	2193.18	10.06	1.93
Emerging Europe	259	368.95	-0.87	-0.40	19.35	839.04	22.29	2.66
Emerging Eurozone	36	4888.16	-0.04	37.14	29.04	6885.73	31.92	2.67
Emerging Asia Korea	5254	4264.74	-1.06	-1.37	18.94	2465.03	18.94	2.44
Emerging Plus Korea&Poland	2722	5145.31	-1.16	-0.93	28.40	9515.47	30.54	2.09
Advanced Emerging	1230	1504.78	-0.74	0.58	38.11	3273.16	40.77	2.52
Secondary Emerging	3525	985.39	-1.12	-3.26	-10.86	1745.89	-9.21	2.35
Sector	No ofstocks	USDSiscngs	Daily%Chg	Month%Chg	YTD%Chg	USDTotalRet	YTDTotalRet	Gr DivYield
Hhold Goods & Home Const	121	515.31	-0.47	-5.27	-4.02	886.02	-2.59	2.34
Tobacco	15	1388.47	-0.62	1.52	12.53	4407.55	15.65	4.41
Health Care
Health	850	1163.76	-0.22	-0.56	4.90	1841.86	6.35	1.64
Health Care Providers	118	1798.27	-1.25	-0.99	10.25	2249.87	11.60	1.55
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech	522	1028.51	-0.41	0.45	9.88	1790.61	11.67	1.85
Medical Equipment & Svcs	210	1640.44	0.89	-3.30	-9.66	2010.97	-9.01	1.02
Agricultural Food & Beverages
Food Producers	306	634.83	-0.83	-3.40	0.82	1140.09	3.51	3.22
Beverages	104	859.94	-0.58	-2.45	8.59	1547.88	10.91	2.97
Energy
Electricity	371	726.91	1.58	4.53	35.87	1577.66	39.04	2.90
Electricity	248	643.57	-0.72	-5.21	-0.74	1516.00	1.33	2.98
Alternative Energy	88	95.90	-0.68	-3.53	3.75	119.71	5.93	3.67
Alternative Energy	67	368.36	-0.62	-13.43	-1.04	498.62	-0.75	0.42
Oil & Gasoline	304	757.68	1.69	5.86	38.23	1717.49	41.96	3.02
Gas Water & Multi-Utilities	117	694.03	-0.38	-3.46	2.11	1753.46	4.86	3.66
Utilities	405	675.20	-0.63	-4.42	0.18	1615.26	2.36	3.05
Transportation
Automobiles & Parts	299	1044.42	-0.95	-0.68	-14.10	1176.89	-13.17	1.56
Industrial Transportation	386	1402.69	-0.74	-3.83	11.95	2450.71	13.98	2.31
Industrials
Aerospace & Defense	102	2830.14	-0.66	-13.22	-0.21	4326.55	0.52	1.17
Industrial Engineering	330	2296.56	-0.20	-5.02	17.63	3643.27	18.77	1.42
Industrial Metals & Mining	95	280.74	-0.04	-3.75	8.94	200.00	2.73	1.99
Industrial Services & Resources	374	1078.97	-1.00	-2.75	18.73	2156.31	20.92	2.34
Industrials	235	1287.59	-0.58	-0.99	0.19	1889.80	1.23	1.29
Industrials	2063	1531.64	-0.52	-6.91	6.85	2448.63	8.04	1.49
General Industrials	204	924.89	-0.44	-8.22	13.08	1659.25	14.44	1.63
Resources & Materials
Basic Materials	997	1046.98	-0.59	-1.02	14.21	1949.23	16.14	2.11
Chemicals	433	1661.42	-0.22	-2.30	14.76	1906.48	16.68	2.12
Construction & Materials	461	1366.91	-0.79	-8.51	3.37	2700.10	2.99	2.07
Wastewater & Disposal Services	40	415.28	-0.81	-1.43	0.90	4585.83	1.88	1.27
Precious Metals & Mining	95	1540.75	-0.46	4.42	8.43	2739.31	9.96	1.57

UK COMPANY RESULTS

FTSE 100 SUMMARY

	Close (p)	%Chg	Close (p)	%Chg
3i Group	2668.00	2.65	Intl Cons Airlines	418.20
Aberdeen Group	239.20	-0.75	ICG	1872.00
Admiral	3862.00	-0.67	Interlink Group	5880.00
Airtel Africa	346.20	-0.92	Investec	660.00
Alliance Witan	1347.00	0.60	JD Sports Fashion	76.24
Anglo American	3913.00	1.29	Kingfisher	300.60
Antofagasta	3594.00	2.66	Land Securities	636.00
Assoc. Brit. Foods	1839.00	-0.11	Legal & General	300.60
AstraZeneca	12136.00	0.17	Lion Finance	13700.00
Autotrader Group	499.60	0.91	Lloyds Big Gp	111.25
Aviva	714.60	0.37	LondonMetric Prop	179.80
Babcock Intl	1021.50	2.81	Lon Stock Ex	8150.00
BAE Systems	2029.00	1.15	M&G	336.70
Barclays	475.35	1.07	Marks & Spen	371.10
Barratt Redrow	308.80	11.72	Melrose Ind	479.30
Beejay	1304.00	-	Metler Energy	2822.81
BP	566.80	-2.33	Nat Grid	1134.00
Brit. Amer. Tobacco	4191.00	-0.76	NatWest Group	702.20
British Land	402.60	1.77	Next	14560.00
BT Group	205.80	1.03	Pearson	1188.00
Bunzl	2600.00	0.39	Pershing Square Hldgs	3738.00
Burberry	1009.00	3.21	Persimmon	1162.00
Centrica	152.40	2.52	Polar CapTech	643.50
Coca-Cola Europac	7700.00	0.20	Prudential	981.00
Coca-Cola HBC AG	4584.00	-0.48	Reckitt Benckiser	5506.00
Compass	2297.54	-1.27	RyA	2543.00
Complacercenter	5295.00	0.86	Rentokil Initial	328.00
Convatec	216.20	-1.01	Rio Tinto	2702.00
Croda International	3150.00	-0.16	Rolls-Royce	1440.60
DCC Energy	6330.00	-0.08	Sainsbury (J)	335.30
Diageo	1623.00	0.87	Schroders	587.50
Diploma	7170.00	0.91	Scot Mort Inv Tst	1478.00
Endeavour Mining	4510.00	1.55	Segro	942.00
Entain	499.80	0.30	Severn Trent	3008.00
Experian	2784.00	-0.11	Shell	8276.50
F&C Inv Trust	338.80	0.12	Smith & Nephew	1042.00
Fresnillo	2915.00	2.24	Smiths Gp	2557.00
Games Works	17720.00	0.06	Spirax Group	6855.00
Glencore	570.90	-0.89	SSE	2401.00
GSK	1865.50	0.62	Standard Chartered	2287.00
Haleon	339.80	-0.21	Standard Life	943.00
Halma	3460.00	1.11	St James's Place	1085.00
Hiscox	1894.00	0.32	Tesco	476.20
Howden Joinery	759.50	2.43	The Sage Gp	1011.50
HSBC	1507.80	0.27	Tritax Big Box	147.80
IG Group	1316.00	0.53	Unilever	4640.00
IMI	3046.00	1.74	Utd. Utilities	1362.00
Imperial Brands	2490.00	-1.03	Vodafone	131.40
Informa	886.60	-0.74	Weir	2638.00
InterCont'l Hotels	11413.40	1.32	Whitbread	2341.00

UK RECENT STOCK ADDITIONS

	Close (p)	%Chg		Close (p)	%Chg
ATC Music Grp	187.50	-	Mendell Helium	5.00	-0.99
Braevra Solutions	162.50	-	Meridian Mining	96.80	-2.42
Coastal Africa Group	200.00	-	Pathos Comms	27.00	-
Comish Metals	101.00	2.02	Power Probe	51.50	-8.04
Dauch Corp	448.00	-1.75	Rift Helium	7.20	-0.69
EDX Medical Group	8.50	-	Serval Resources	35.00	-
Generation Essentials	96.63	0.27	Sintana Energy	20.75	-
Halo Minerals	9.13	-	Sunbelt Rentals	5390.00	0.75
iForex Financial	145.00	-	Tapir Holdings	44.00	-
Mayflower Acquisition	696.85	0.27	The Smarter Web Co	42.40	0.40

52 Week

United Kingdom (USD)
FT GLOBAL 500: THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMPANIES

Stock	52 Week
	Price	+/Chg	High	Low	Yld	P/E	MV (lb)
Australia (AUD)
ANZ Group Holdings	37.12	-0.42	41.00	32.46	5.86	19.07	111.95
BHP Group	59.25	-1.34	68.77	39.30	4.08	30.60	301.24
Commonwealth Bank	152.50	-2.47	185.59	146.98	3.31	23.37	255.20
CSL Ltd	174.26	2.69	222.47	90.00	2.33	27.10	83.62
Macquarie Group	239.03	-6.01	267.90	187.31	3.37	24.42	91.70
National Australia Bank	38.22	-0.50	49.45	35.48	4.45	17.29	119.15
Westfarmers	72.83	0.26	94.70	70.80	3.05	28.74	82.68
Westpac Banking	34.35	-0.18	43.32	33.46	4.48	17.10	117.49
Belgium (EUR)

Afrikauber-busch indev	68.76	-0.26	76.18	48.87	1.17	25.95	123.58
Brazil (BRL)
Itau Unibanco Holding	46.70	0.45	47.80	32.50	0.00	0.00	262.35
Itau Unibanco Holding Prfd	42.67	0.32	49.67	36.96	0.00	0.00	230.81
Petroleo Brasileiro	56.23	1.97	56.14	30.96	0.00	49.84	418.48
Petroleo Brasileiro Prfd	50.43	1.51	50.69	29.31	0.00	0.00	274.67
Vale	74.60	-0.88	91.62	56.54	0.00	84.06	317.48
Canada ($AP)

Stock	Price	+/-Chg	52 Week			P/E	M/w (bl)
			High	Low	Yld
Finland (EUR)
Nordex Bank Abp	17.64	0.04	17.98	13.60	0.00	12.69	60.03
France (EUR)
Air Liquide	166.24	-0.64	189.80	154.86	2.02	31.86	106.09
Airtus	194.80	-0.20	221.30	157.42	1.64	36.34	154.34
AAA	43.62	-0.05	45.66	36.55	5.32	12.15	91.21
BNP Paribas A	101.30	-1.50	113.82	65.12	5.73	10.59	113.13
Compagnie de Saint-Cobain	69.58		95.86	85.88	3.31	10.39	34.43
Crédit Agricole	18.35	-0.09	20.40	15.37	0.00	8.42	56.11
Doverne	61.58	-0.70	60.14	60.64	3.65	23.78	42.08
Dassault Synthons	21.01	-0.24	30.36	15.82	1.29	23.34	28.19
ENSE	23.61	0.06	29.88	17.78	4.37	15.33	60.03
EssilorLuxottica	144.40	-3.30	323.90	144.65	2.77	27.77	67.04
Hermes International	1375.00	-39.00	2300.00	1388.00	1.31	31.30	145.16
L'Oréal	381.20	-3.00	405.80	338.85	1.89	29.99	203.05
LMV Intl Me Honduras	406.45	-11.00	654.70	405.25	3.20	18.59	201.03
Safran	322.30	0.70	366.50	262.60	1.04	42.41	134.83
Sorfixi	74.21	-1.22	91.15	71.25	5.55	9.48	89.63
Schneider Electric	275.30	3.25	312.30	220.40	1.53	32.05	159.29
TotalEnergies	80.49	0.96	81.34	49.24	4.35	11.68	183.65
Vinci	110.60	-0.10	143.15	110.05	4.57	12.79	64.93

Canada (US$)
Agricola Eagle Mines	273.76	-0.63	348.94	188.48	0.91	23.36
Alimentation Conscute-Tand	79.67	-2.24	95.15	68.30	1.08	27.38
Bank of New York	241.22	-2.72	259.23	188.60	1.08	27.38
Bank of Nova Scotia	129.88	-0.02	131.72	87.38	3.51	26.72
Brookfield	51.66	-0.63	102.59	51.93	0.75	92.25
Brookfield Asset Mgmt	63.79	-1.10	86.51	56.09	4.38	36.45
Canadian Imperial Bank	157.81	-0.99	172.87	109.29	2.71	21.07
Canadian National Railway	169.60	-0.21	185.25	126.96	2.16	29.86
Canadian Natural	71.70	1.76	72.35	41.67	3.49	17.49
Canadian Pacific Airways	123.88	-1.11	133.38	96.50	0.80	39.33
Constellation Software	2870.26	-89.61	4500.00	2190.00	0.19	966.42
Enbridge	67.40	0.37	80.65	62.42	5.76	35.29
FleetBoston	61.08	0.13	63.88	47.48	1.18	10.18
Royal Bank of Scotland	294.21	-0.98	306.38	199.27	2.48	25.81
Shopify Inc.	180.80	-5.38	253.10	129.01	0.00	121.34
Suncor Energy	99.99	4.41	98.57	53.02	2.40	26.11
TC Energy	84.96	-0.09	100.18	69.41	4.13	33.98
The Toronto-Dominion Bank	168.99	0.73	175.33	105.95	2.60	20.46
Waste Connections	222.02	-2.05	251.45	203.46	0.88	53.50

Germany (EUR)
adidas AG	141.90	-2.00	196.40	129.95	1.97	19.02	25.54
Allianz	444.60	0.10	454.60	338.80	3.85	15.54	168.13
BASF	51.84	-0.54	55.05	41.48	4.34	28.48	46.27
BMW	62.86	0.14	97.92	56.40	7.00	5.29	38.71
Deutsche Bank	33.34	-0.81	35.84	23.82	3.00	10.55	63.70
Deutsche Borsch	277.40	-4.80	291.90	200.10	1.51	42.09	51.10
Deutsche Telekom AG	28.90	-0.03	34.36	23.53	3.46	14.67	148.16
DHL Group	55.00	-0.01	58.30	39.99	3.41	14.80	64.12
Deutschmen Technologies	54.33	0.29	88.83	31.27	0.64	70.56	70.95
Mercedes-Benz Group	46.56	-0.10	62.34	42.62	7.52	4.57	44.83
Merck	130.90	0.35	148.80	100.70	1.68	20.49	16.92
Muenchen Bank	512.80	2.20	575.60	437.40	4.68	24.49	65.11
Porsche	45.12	0.11	50.66	35.62	2.24	11.42	20.55
Rheinmetall	1028.60	31.90	2008.00	900.20	1.12	62.30	48.12
SAP	167.08	0.82	244.30	127.50	1.34	30.47	229.83
Siemens	258.80	-3.00	291.70	198.00	2.07	24.58	202.38
Siemens Energy	133.00	0.34	191.66	90.30	0.53	211.11	114.53
Siemens Healthsysteme	38.87	-0.12	49.71	32.81	2.57	20.35	43.85
Volkswagen	81.15	-0.05	110.20	71.00	6.41	6.11	23.95
Volkswagen Privat	81.02	-0.44	109.15	69.20	6.49	6.10	16.71

Kuwait Finance HouseMexico (MXN)	0.77	-0.00	0.85	0.77	3.12	23.12	15.22
America Movil B	19.91	0.07	24.49	17.48	2.71	0.00	1238.10
Wal-Mart de Mexico	45.54	-0.50	63.97	45.36	2.55	0.00	794.51
Netherlands (EUR)
Adyen	931.60	-19.90	1600.80	772.40	0.00	51.16	29.52
ASML Holding	1378.80	-9.00	1741.00	685.20	0.56	69.25	535.18
Heineken	71.88	-0.16	80.44	63.90	2.67	15.42	40.64
ING Groep	31.69	-0.23	32.30	20.23	3.58	16.01	91.06
Praxus N	36.45	0.53	63.94	35.19	0.77	6.89	79.69
The Magnum Ice Cream Co	16.70	-0.50	17.68	11.02	0.00	34.79	10.22
Universal Music Group NV	14.69	-0.10	25.32	13.93	3.54	34.15	27.00
Norway (NOK)

Stock	Price	+/-Chg	High	Low	Yld	P/E	M/V (bl)
Shin-Eltsu Chemical	5683.00	-57.00	7930.00	4366.00	2.39	22.53	11300.59
SoftBank	256.60	-0.20	251.50	202.60	3.51	22.08	12036.04
SoftBank Group	6279.00	440.00	27695.00	3365.00	0.18	7.19	35664.69
Sony Financial Group	163.00	-0.80	210.00	129.30	4.91	20.48	1103.57
Sony Group	3725.00	-63.00	4776.00	3043.00	0.94	68.10	22220.80
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial	6842.00	-108.00	7260.00	3869.00	2.63	16.61	28007.30
Takeda Pharmaceutical	5647.00	110.00	6033.00	4102.00	3.49	60.43	3567.52
Tokio Marine Holdings	8679.00	-124.00	8468.00	5300.00	3.03	28.92	15624.79
Tokyo Electron	50650.00	-306.00	81260.00	22760.00	0.91	40.37	23706.86
Toyota Motor	3021.00	-4.00	4000.00	2666.00	3.31	10.23	44931.46
Kuwait (KWD)

EquinorRepublic of Korea (KRW)	423.80		426.00	226.40	3.39	218.45	1013.20
LG Energy Solution	365500.00	14000.00	527000.00	290500.00	0.00	78.72	85527.00
SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS	1412000.00	-8000.00	1987000.00	962000.00	0.00	58.61	65362.82
Samsung Electronics	248500.00	-500.00	374500.00	75900.00	0.68	37.62	0.00
Samsung Electronics Pref	187100.00	3700.00	243500.00	61200.00	0.90	176.91	150123.65
Samsung Epis	333000.00	2500.00	773000.00	37500.00	0.00	263.66	8286.06
SK hynix	1690000.00	-7000.00	2987000.00	325000.00	0.18	27.24	0.00

Agricultural Bank China A	6.90	-0.10	8.68	5.79	3.76	8.85	22.03
Bank of China A	6.57	-0.07	6.73	5.13	3.59	8.88	15.68
Bank of Communications A	7.56	-0.06	7.77	6.37	4.45	7.00	437.77
China Construction Bank A	10.93	-0.18	11.23	8.50	3.70	8.41	231.53
China Life Insurance A	37.62	-0.66	51.92	32.32	2.59	6.90	783.38
China Merchants Bank A	41.10	-0.73	43.79	35.28	4.91	7.21	847.85
China Petroleum Chemical A	5.29	-0.08	8.11	4.43	4.10	20.19	513.33
China Shenhua Energy A	46.98	-0.22	51.18	37.68	4.28	17.66	860.30
China Yangtze Power A	28.50	-0.13	29.57	25.38	3.51	20.21	697.34
OTIC Securities A	26.35	-0.26	31.49	23.77	3.18	13.44	321.48
Cont Amurex Tech A	316.36	-20.75	468.75	326.00	1.13	19.60	1349.66
East Money Information A	18.17	-0.05	28.50	17.22	0.55	23.75	287.49
Fascsim Int'l End A	60.80	-0.77	84.95	47.35	1.61	34.16	1206.52
IDBC A	8.13	-0.09	8.40	6.85	3.94	8.13	2.19
Industrial Bank A	17.92	-0.23	21.90	16.44	5.95	5.18	379.24
Jiangsu Hengpu Pharma A	43.37	-0.44	43.37	31.25	1.25	43.37	275.75
Luzhou Huatai Finance A	1272.75	-5.21	1569.00	1151.01	4.08	19.38	1591.04
Luzhou Precision Food I	51.63	-1.15	81.78	44.57	0.46	22.55	379.06
Middle Group A	87.23	0.43	89.50	71.02	4.93	15.04	607.35
PetrolChina A	11.11	0.07	13.69	8.04	4.59	12.92	1.80
Ping An Insurance Group A	53.90	-0.83	74.88	46.90	5.06	7.02	574.58
Postal Savings Bank China A	5.38	-0.06	6.29	4.76	4.24	7.38
Shenzhen Mind Bio-Med A	160.30	0.20	246.98	130.66	2.65	23.87	194.25
Wuling Yong A	69.70	-0.15	127.10	69.60	7.40	30.21	270.55
Zijin Mining Group A	31.68	-0.57	44.94	24.11	2.53	16.25	652.66

Saudi Arabia (SAN)
ACWA Power	178.70	-3.90	252.60	154.50	0.26	74.46	136.97
Al Rajhi Bank	66.20	-0.20	113.00	62.00	4.55	16.97	397.20
Saudi Arabian Mining	62.15	-0.80	79.90	54.00	0.00	79.68	241.69
Saudi Arabian Oil	25.52	-0.14	27.96	23.08	5.32	17.72	61.76
Saudi Basic Industries	48.16	-0.42	64.00	48.20	5.40	94.43	144.48
Saudi National Bank	40.80	0.02	45.24	33.30	5.64	10.10	244.80
STC Co	43.60	-0.26	45.38	41.14	5.05	14.68	218.00

BioNTechHong Kong (HKD)	96.69	-2.17	124.00	79.52	0.00	46.26	24.45
AIA Group	76.05	0.60	92.15	68.95	2.60	128.68	786.86
HKEX	393.80	-3.60	460.20	360.00	3.54	28.03	499.27

India (UNR)
Bajra Finance	1009.70	-24.50	1117.60	788.40	0.59	52.99 6286.35
Brah Amrit Ltd	183.00	-2.00	2174.70	1745.00	1.31	13.89 1401.20
HCL Technologies	1255.00	46.00	1770.00	1030.00	4.78	19.56 3495.65
HECIC Bank	717.00	9.00	1020.35	682.00	1.81	14.48 10151.97
Hindustan Unilever	1940.00	6.00	2667.55	1927.00	2.11	44.35 4558.21
ICICI Bank	1522.00	-27.15	1473.90	1187.55	0.89	21.40 3704.25
Infosys	107.00	37.80	1727.85	984.00	4.46	16.68 4366.66
Mitsubishi Mifco Bank	298.00	-2.25	436.50	256.25	5.62	9.28 3333.68
Maruti Suzuki	409.00	-9.15	435.15	345.40	0.16	16.61 4214.56
Lansin & Toubro	3693.00	-65.00	4440.00	3288.65	0.99	32.93 5297.08
Life Insurance Corp	392.00	-11.70	936.60	386.50	2.55	13.78 4568.80
Maruti Suzuki India	12265.00	-145.00	17371.60	12232.10	1.14	26.27 3865.16
Reliance Industries	1238.00	-22.00	1611.20	1250.55	0.49	24.01 16728.22
State Bank of India	969.40	-27.60	1234.80	821.40	1.79	11.15 8948.16
Sun Pharmaceutical Inds	1835.00	-7.00	2047.55	1547.25	0.87	40.24 4402.68
Tata Consultancy Svs	2250.00	48.00	3336.70	1976.00	2.89	16.77 8140.70

Singapore (SGD)
DBS Group Holdings	76.75	-0.91	79.05	50.08	4.14	19.99	218.28
Overseas-Chinese Banking	31.00	-0.85	32.57	16.19	3.39	1901.84	139.97
United Overseas Bank Ltd	41.33	-1.00	45.15	33.25	3.85	14.97	68.73
Singapore (USD)
JOYY A	77.28	0.10	80.90	54.24	6.96	309.12	50.46
Sea /Singapore A	102.65	-6.03	196.45	77.05	0.00	38.74	56.10

Agricultural Bank China H	6.31	-0.10	6.64	5.05	4.81	8.09	193.96
Alibaba Group Holding	107.20	1.30	186.20	88.65	0.96	129.16	2131.67
Bank of China H	5.96	-0.13	6.14	4.11	4.63	8.05	497.97
Bank of Communications H	8.03	-0.14	8.16	6.33	4.90	7.43	280.97
BPO H	79.05	-1.15	115.40	71.40	0.52	22.08	291.17
China CITIC Bank H	8.44	-0.07	8.60	6.50	5.48	7.03	125.61
China Construction Bank H	9.61	-0.28	9.90	7.18	4.91	7.39	23.10
China Life Insurance H	28.96	-0.84	36.16	20.90	3.94	5.31	215.50
China Merchants Bank H	51.20	-1.55	53.70	43.34	4.44	8.98	235.05
China Petroleum Chemical H	4.63	-0.12	5.70	3.98	5.43	17.67	110.11
China Shenhua Energy H	45.48	0.04	49.62	36.58	5.16	16.67	153.61
OTC Securities H	24.56	-0.32	32.50	23.24	3.98	12.53	84.09
IDCC H	7.49	-0.16	7.76	5.56	4.99	7.49	650.09
JCI com A	106.30	0.30	143.80	95.80	3.69	15.43	265.38
Meituan B	74.75	-0.30	109.70	63.65	0.00	19.47	418.33
Midea Group H	99.70	-0.30	101.70	77.65	5.04	17.19	64.89
NetEase	187.10	5.00	248.00	168.80	2.46	17.67	600.98
Norgo Spring H	39.44	-0.30	56.25	38.96	2.87	27.95	198.57
PetroChina H	9.97	0.06	12.22	6.99	5.89	11.60	210.46
Ping An Insurance Group H	53.05	-0.55	74.70	50.00	5.83	6.91	395.09
Prudential Savings Bank China H	5.33	-0.06	5.87	4.48	5.00	7.30	105.83
Tencent Holdings	436.80	8.20	688.00	411.00	1.21	17.73	3990.92
Kimcoy B	26.50	-0.66	59.90	21.30	0.00	16.36	565.25
SinoXM Group H	33.30	-1.32	46.99	26.58	2.76	17.08	199.43
China (USD)
Full Truck Alliance	8.06	-0.09	14.07	7.46	2.87	268.67	150.32
Futu Holdings A	108.72	-2.39	202.53	80.50	2.35	10.40	83.28
PDD Holdings A	78.08	-1.30	139.41	71.94	0.00	31.23	443.38
Denmark (DKK)

Bank Central Asia	6400.00	-100.00	8750.00	4820.00	0.00	13.70	7889.60
PT Banto Renewables	3150.00	40.00	10725.00	2300.00	0.13	0.00	214.27
Italy (EUR)
Assicurazioni Generali	45.63	0.42	45.48	31.76	3.59	18.78	70.02
Enel	8.74	-0.00	10.31	7.69	5.61	23.62	88.87
Eni	24.43	0.42	25.02	14.48	4.50	17.33	73.97
Foscari	352.70	0.55	431.20	269.00	0.85	51.04	62.53
Intesa Sampaolo	6.70	-0.01	6.94	4.81	5.61	29.12	118.44
Stellantis	4.49	-0.05	10.49	4.37	0.00	6.03	13.00
UniCredit SpA	82.58	-1.89	86.42	57.36	3.81	16.18	128.96

Canon	4405.00	-25.00	5633.00	3967.00	3.62	15.35	5981.90
Chandra Pharmaceuticals	6500.00	86.00	10700.00	6250.00	2.03	14.65	10911.67
Daimler & Company	2105.50	-9.00	4178.00	2290.00	3.53	18.76	5264.10
FAST RETAILING	66620.00	-14.00	86690.00	44380.00	0.96	27.30	21198.88
Hisco	5211.00	-104.00	6035.00	3626.00	1.07	39.01	23968.16
Honda Motor	1675.00	-4.00	1762.50	1238.00	4.18	15.79	7552.77
HOYA	22330.00	-100.00	30430.00	19550.00	1.30	30.02	7479.93
ITOCOH	2321.00	-19.50	5995.00	1882.00	1.90	18.13	18350.64
Japan Tobacco	6736.00	-17.00	7218.00	4723.00	4.01	23.59	13560.00
KDDI	3044.00	-26.00	3121.00	2307.50	2.76	16.58	12188.66
Kayacor	75690.00	-30.00	67360.00	51510.00	0.73	41.22	18401.09
Mitsubishi	4910.00	-81.00	6012.00	3425.00	2.55	23.28	16218.70
Mitsubishi Heavy	3701.00	-60.00	5336.00	3494.00	-0.78	37.44	12455.67
Mitsubishi U.S. Geni Fds	3688.00	-52.00	3813.00	2230.50	3.62	17.21	45026.76
Mizuho Financiero	5380.00	-12.00	5487.00	3787.00	2.76	17.41	12185.67
Michiho Financial Group	8588.00	-132.00	8864.00	4565.00	1.74	17.10	21032.67
Nintendo	8118.00	-150.00	14363.00	6544.00	2.00	22.27	10449.98
Nitin	178.10	-0.20	178.90	142.60	3.03	14.12	16127.01
Recruit Holdings	16945.00	360.00	18215.00	6040.00	0.15	48.16	24846.33

Naspers N	743.98	15.35	131.44	715.00	0.68	88.19	569.21
Spain (EUR)
Banco Santander	12.67	-0.11	13.12	8.10	1.53	13.92	184.37
BBVA Spoin	24.90	-0.18	25.49	15.39	2.99	95.77	138.97
CaixaBank	13.16	-0.01	13.55	8.53	3.08	38.71	91.80
Berdrolsa SA	20.04	0.33	22.08	15.33	2.75	36.30	133.73
NxtEx	52.58	-1.14	59.42	44.34	2.70	119.23	163.67
Sweden (SEK)
Atlas Copco A	193.25		212.30	149.45	1.55	35.59	648.85
Atlas Copco B	168.65	0.50	185.20	134.00	1.78	31.10	263.55
EQT	302.60	-5.40	383.00	258.00	1.65	489.85	371.17
Investor B	397.85	-1.25	426.80	280.85	1.41	7.74	724.86
Volvo B	330.20	-5.20	374.50	244.90	3.94	19.49	525.91
Switzerland (CHF)
ABB	76.68	1.24	89.14	53.78	1.23	29.61	139.80
Alcon	55.18	0.18	68.34	47.80	0.51	53.06	27.57
Civ €inanciers Richesten	169.85	-3.20	202.20	127.20	1.94	36.22	91.31
Givaudon	3215.00	9.00	3592.00	2566.00	2.24	36.11	29.69
Holcim	68.08	-0.62	82.54	60.10	2.50	21.14	38.59
Lorsa Group	537.20	3.00	597.80	454.60	0.93	60.16	37.73
Nestle	77.89	-1.31	87.09	70.29	3.98	22.19	200.69
Nordstrom	113.84	-0.08	132.68	96.03	3.25	37.32	231.64
Roche Holding	367.80	-0.60	383.00	264.60	2.66	22.73	38.24
Roche Holding Pref	360.60	-0.80	375.80	291.00	2.72	22.29	253.34
Sika	179.75	-1.10	197.60	120.35	2.06	27.65	28.85
Swiss Re	140.00	1.55	153.85	114.05	4.50	10.73	41.83
UBS Group	41.86	-1.47	45.04	28.25	2.05	21.36	137.21
Zurich Insurance Group	600.80	6.80	626.00	521.00	4.99	18.79	90.86

Hon Hai Precision	246.50	-2.00	314.00	187.50	2.91	18.11	3469.67
MediaTek	4430.00	-130.00	4970.00	1130.00	1.21	66.96	7109.94
Taiwan Semicon Mfg	2385.00	5.00	2535.00	1250.00	1.09	35.996	1848.70
United Arab Emirates (AED)

United Kingdom (GBP)
		2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012
3i Group Plc	26.68	0.69	44.97	18.25	3.17	4.95	27.39
AstraZeneca	121.36	0.20	157.32	98.92	1.97	24.74	188.24
BAE Systems	20.29	0.23	23.60	15.29	1.86	29.49	60.90
Barclays	4.75	0.05	5.54	3.54	2.42	10.85	63.77
BP	5.67	-0.14	6.09	3.99	4.43		89.01
British Amer Tobacco	41.91	-0.32	53.26	36.77	5.85	11.94	90.48
Compass Group	22.98	-0.29	25.81	20.00	2.21	28.07	39.07
Diagen	16.23	0.14	19.04	12.96	2.29	27.96	36.14
Experian	27.84	-0.16	38.83	22.03	1.86	22.77	24.66
Glencore	5.71	-0.05	7.07	3.04	2.21		67.00

COMMODITIES

Stock	Price	+/-Chg		High	Low	Yld	P/E	MV (bl)
GSX	18.66	0.12	22.82	14.55	3.75	13.22	75.47
Haleon	3.40	-0.01	4.16	2.74	2.15	18.27	29.89
HSBC Holdings	15.08	0.04	16.10	9.59	3.69	16.76	256.66
Lloyds Banking Group	1.11	0.02	1.18	0.81	3.60	15.89	64.40
London Stock Exch Grp	81.50	-0.50	101.40	66.84	1.94	34.19	39.45
National Grid	11.34	0.24	14.29	10.26	4.28	17.31	57.00
NatWest Group	7.02	0.13	7.26	5.04	4.98	13.13	55.80
Reckitt Benckiser Group	50.56	-0.10	65.23	36.64	4.28	10.80	32.07
RELX	25.43	0.07	35.75	19.91	2.71	22.58	44.38
Rio Tinto	72.02	0.55	91.17	45.55	4.84	15.79	90.40
Rolls-Royce Holdings	14.41	0.20	15.86	9.90	0.76	20.75	119.62
Shell	35.77	-0.76	37.59	25.54	3.15	15.88	205.43
Unilever	46.40	-0.01	55.42	36.44	3.56	12.49	99.96

INTEREST RATES: OFFICIAL
	Rate	Current	Since	Last
US	Fed Funds	3.50-3.75	18-12-2025	3.75-4.00
US	Prime	6.75	18-12-2025	7.00
US	Discount	3.75	18-12-2025	4.00
Euro	Repo	2.40	17-06-2026	2.15
UK	Repo	3.75	18-12-2025	4.00
Japan	O'night Call	1.00	16-06-2026	0.75
Switzerland	SNB	0.00	19-06-2025	0.25

INTEREST RATES: MARKET
Sep 16	Overnight	Change		OneMonth	ThreeMonth	SixMonth	OneYear
		Day	Week
SOFR	3.620	0.000	-0.020	3.882	3.976	4.130	4.392
EURIBOR	-	-	-	2.460	2.682	2.946	3.326
ESTR	2.190	0.000	0.002	2.443	2.534	2.724	3.035
SARON	-0.039	0.000	-0.001	-0.050	-0.046	-0.045	-0.046
SONIA	3.731	0.001	0.001	3.796	3.913	4.136	4.520

Rates are fixed at 11am UK time.

BONDS: TEN YEAR GOVT SPREADS

BONDS: TEN YEAR GOVT SPREADS
	Bid Yield	Spread vs Bund	Spread vs Bond		Bid Yield	Spread vs Bund	Spread vs Bond
Austria	3.65	0.14	-1.31	Italy	4.24	0.73	-0.72
Australia	5.32	1.81	0.36	Japan	2.95	-0.56	-2.01
Belgium	4.03	0.52	-0.93	Netherlands	3.53	0.02	-1.43
Brazil	14.33	10.82	9.37	Poland	6.27	2.76	1.31
China	1.70	-1.81	-3.26	Portugal	3.78	0.27	-1.18
Denmark	3.32	-0.19	-1.64	Spain	3.88	0.37	-1.08
France	4.37	0.86	-0.59	Sweden	3.15	-0.36	-1.81
Germany	3.51	0.00	-1.45	UK	5.23	1.72	0.27
Ireland	3.53	0.02	-1.43	US	4.96	1.45	0.00

United States (USD)
3M Co	164.67	2.65	184.90	13.34	1.89	29.04
Abbott Laboratories	102.03	-1.06	137.49	81.97	2.47	32.91
AbbVie	263.04	1.27	267.47	190.75	2.63	74.31
Accenture Plc	193.40	-1.60	291.09	118.15	3.37	15.31
Adobe	257.76	-7.84	370.86	190.12	0.00	14.74
Aflac	117.55	0.54	130.22	105.43	2.08	12.63
Air Products & Chemicals	290.56	3.43	314.87	229.11	2.49	30.62
Airtel A	168.32	-2.33	193.45	110.81	0.00	44.89
Alphabet A	344.98	-4.41	406.81	235.84	0.26	17.11
Alphabet C	341.43	-4.28	404.47	236.69	0.26	16.94
Altira Group	69.81	-0.00	77.06	54.70	6.36	14.57
Amazon.com	246.42	-5.12	267.20	196.00	0.00	19.70
AMD	504.20	10.79	564.73	149.85	0.00	127.00
American Electric Power	120.61	-1.62	140.58	105.70	3.15	20.72
American Express	324.43	-3.35	387.49	290.97	1.17	21.05
American International	75.98	-0.31	87.29	71.25	2.63	13.74
American Tower Intl	177.71	-0.97	198.21	136.85	0.00	16.88
American Water	559.34	0.80	572.56	422.37	1.22	13.33
AMETEK Inc	234.45	0.80	261.16	179.24	0.58	34.18
Amgen	375.65	-5.85	447.03	269.77	2.68	23.16
Amphend A	77.65	-0.90	178.52	78.36	0.64	36.98
Analog Devices	361.35	0.33	445.91	223.47	1.22	42.66
Aon Plc A	304.67	-6.67	382.34	302.44	1.08	16.72
Apollo Global Mgmt	127.00	-1.31	153.29	99.56	1.77	44.72
Apple	331.34	-1.74	344.57	235.03	0.33	37.82
Applied Materials Inc	421.17	-3.04	739.67	168.53	0.50	36.06
Applivin A	331.46	-2.78	745.61	297.50	0.00	25.38
Ares Management	129.10	-2.42	186.85	95.80	4.18	59.22
Arista Networks	192.84	5.03	214.89	114.52	0.00	59.89
Arthur J. Gallagher	248.04	-5.26	313.55	100.75	1.13	40.66
At&T Corp	267.71	-1.77	315.13	180.81	0.00	18.88
Affidusion Corp A	189.81	-2.96	198.60	56.01	0.00	903.86
Autodesk	226.50	-2.43	326.71	185.50	0.00	29.15
Auto Data Processing	276.53	-0.10	294.93	188.16	2.46	25.21
AutoZone	2860.25	-105.27	4357.81	2865.13	0.00	19.19
Baker Hughes A	56.72	-0.06	70.41	43.92	1.62	18.01
Bank of New York Mellon	154.67	-2.99	165.84	103.11	1.63	17.86
Becton Dickinson	185.92	3.01	213.08	140.11	2.26	32.06
Berkeley Hathaway A	73850.51	2854.99	96002.81	88000.00	0.00	96.92
Berkeley Hathaway B	516.76	1.81	537.74	464.01	0.00	19.92
BlackRock Finance	1056.66	-6.94	2125.94	917.39	2.17	24.98
Blackstone	126.70	-1.59	190.09	101.73	2.62	28.34
Block A	76.31	-1.18	66.92	48.21	0.00	135.02
Boeing Co	208.69	-0.58	254.35	176.77	0.00	75.16
Booking Holdings	59.65	-0.24	74.53	48.81	0.00	18.88
Booking Holdings	171.32	-4.03	5624.69	150.14	0.96	18.93
Boston Scientific	43.87	-1.18	105.65	42.20	0.00	17.62
Bristol Myers Squibb	63.73	-0.37	68.64	42.52	3.95	13.98
Broadcom	339.27	-5.45	495.00	289.96	0.77	42.04
Cadence Design Systems	273.96	-5.10	416.69	262.75	0.00	54.14
Capital One Financial	206.85	0.17	259.63	174.24	1.55	11.40
Carrier Global	55.54	-1.72	76.76	50.24	1.73	39.11
Cavana A	66.90	-3.97	466.89	56.12	0.00	30.00
Caterpillar	783.54	-0.46	1073.46	430.61	0.83	33.57
CBE Group A	140.11	-0.79	174.27	121.69	0.00	36.11
Cencora	323.29	-2.94	377.54	244.82	0.74	23.89
Charles Comms A	141.20	-2.15	285.82	111.55	0.00	3.63
Cheniere Energy	270.98	-3.30	300.09	166.20	0.82	20.47
Chipotle mexican Well	177.41	-1.77	218.81	138.82	0.00	17.71
Chipotle Mexican Grill	34.83	-2.20	42.81	28.04	0.00	31.95
Chubb	341.86	0.01	365.91	265.30	1.19	95.76
Cintas	198.95	-1.87	219.16	161.16	1.05	40.03
Cisco Systems	110.07	0.01	130.37	66.34	1.53	32.76
Citigroup	136.17	-0.01	147.96	93.66	1.97	19.15
Cloudflare Inc A	327.23	-3.13	334.60	158.83	0.00	564.19
CME Group A	275.09	-5.37	329.16	218.31	4.11	23.21
Cognizant Tech Sol A	63.28	-0.82	87.03	37.08	2.09	13.52
Coinbase Global A	172.11	-19.34	402.16	139.11	0.00	44.47
Colgate-Palmolive	87.00	-0.89	99.33	74.55	2.44	34.25
Comcast A	24.42	-0.46	33.15	21.28	5.41	7.80
ConocoPhillips	141.22	4.55	139.81	85.57	2.38	18.68
Constellation Energy	258.69	-4.68	412.70	228.63	0.66	25.38
Dartemar Int'l	31.64	-0.22	48.13	30.83	1.49	14.29
Derivian	143.57	-0.03	271.78	76.15	0.78	64.67
Corteva	83.39	0.85	90.97	60.53	0.86	50.54
Costco Wholesale	901.35	-17.56	1066.50	844.06	0.05	45.27
Coupang A	14.68	-0.43	34.08	14.45	0.00	34.14
CRH	87.69	-1.29	131.55	86.84	1.78	17.30
CrowdStrike Holdings A	242.49	7.11	786.00	174.14	0.00	6660.25

Precious Metals
Gold	4352.62	63.55
Silver ($)	64.54	0.87
Platinum	1786.13	12.23
Palladium	1307.01	5.75
Iron Ore	96.95	0.26

Bulk Commodities
Baltic Dry	3327.00	-33.00
Richards ICE Futures	125.40	-1.85

Data provided by ICE. www.ice.com

The prices listed are indicative and believed accurate at the time of publication. No offer is made by ICE or the FT. The FT does not warrant nor guarantee that the information is reliable or complete. The FT does not accept responsibility and will not be liable for any loss arising from the reliance on or use of the information. For further information contact newspapers@ice.com

BONDS: GLOBAL INVESTMENT GRADE

Base Metals
Aluminium	3273.50	22.00
Copper	14238.00	154.50
Lead	1885.50	12.00
Nickel	16135.00	158.00
Tin	52505.00	539.00
Zinc	3814.00	-10.00

Energy	Price	Change
Brent Crude	105.19	-2.74
Natural Gas	2.90	-0.02
Light Crude Oil	101.96	-3.87
3.5 Fuel Oil	558.24	6.69
Euro Naphtha Oil	864.46	10.70

See FTSE website for more details www.ftse.com/products/indices/gilts. © 2026 Tradeweb Markets LLC. All rights reserved. The Tradeweb FTSE Gilt Closing Prices information contained herein is proprietary to Tradeweb; may not be copied or re-distributed; is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely; and does not constitute investment advice. Tradeweb is not responsible for any loss or damage that might result from the use of this information.

Stock	Price	52 Week				P/E	M (p)
		Chg	High	Low	Yld
ONEOK	94.72				4.52	16.30	59.71
Oracle	140.35	-4.44	329.50	114.50	1.43	21.66	424.38
O'Reilly Automotive	85.16	-2.06	108.72	82.59	0.00	26.95	68.89
Old World Gaming	68.05	-2.06	108.72	82.59	0.00	26.95	68.89
PNC Finl	146.67	0.54	167.25	137.62	2.97	21.73	340.67
Paychex	122.46	-0.40	139.24	92.25	1.14	25.73	64.46
Palantir Technologies A	172.56	-0.75	207.52	106.37	0.00	135.87	397.01
Palo Alto Networks	375.09	1.15	398.88	139.57	0.00	914.85	306.82
Parker-Hannifin	925.00	-3.83	1099.94	715.37	0.86	32.02	116.59
Paychex	118.30	-0.21	135.78	85.45	4.02	24.14	42.11
PayPal Holdings	53.81	-0.22	79.22	38.46	1.04	10.10	46.03
PepsiCo	135.50	-0.84	171.48	133.73	4.37	17.74	184.94
Pfizer	27.55	-0.17	29.21	23.58	6.24	35.78	157.03
Philip Morris Intl	194.11	-0.75	207.76	142.11	3.03	27.89	302.54
Phillips 66	264.93	7.67	265.43	126.74	1.92	15.07	105.71
FMC Financial Services Gp	240.78	-1.94	258.96	176.88	3.32	13.24	96.06
Progressive	221.31	0.29	249.14	189.20	0.18	11.08	128.60
Prologis Inc	135.84	0.65	153.35	111.03	3.15	30.05	129.09
Prudential Financial	119.31	-0.19	127.72	91.89	4.69	10.76	41.16
Public Storage	296.68	1.28	335.55	256.54	4.04	28.20	55.44
QUALCOMM	187.00	-0.55	194.50	147.00	1.97	23.50	137.92
Regeneron Finance	58.71	-0.56	67.94	55.86	5.55	42.65	55.55
Republic Services	774.11	-19.63	859.34	541.00	0.49	18.49	78.29
Republic Services	223.04	-2.81	233.42	196.41	1.20	31.59	68.30
Robinhood Markets A	110.45	-3.88	153.86	63.52	0.00	47.81	87.33
Roblox A	50.24	-1.05	142.00	33.88	0.00	35.63	33.66
Roper Technologies	383.94	-10.67	521.28	305.96	0.95	15.93	37.97
Ross Stores	226.26	-3.78	257.00	143.39	0.79	27.16	72.28
Royal Caribbean Group	249.30	-6.04	356.39	232.10	2.21	92.68	66.86
RTX	195.50	0.16	226.88	155.64	1.49	34.00	263.49
S&P Global	412.52	-6.02	552.25	381.61	0.94	25.09	121.61
Salesforce	255.65	-3.78	269.11	146.32	0.69	23.37	210.40
Schlumberger	54.20	0.88	60.46	31.64	2.18	12.02	80.44
Sempra	81.20	-1.79	101.04	79.59	3.24	23.54	53.10
ServiceNow	141.90	-0.45	373.63	81.24	0.00	83.96	146.72
Simon Property Group	204.10	-0.67	238.50	172.19	4.41	14.40	66.04
Snowflake A	322.98	-9.37	354.56	118.00	0.00	104.86	113.95
Sanofi	57.74	-0.17	64.56	43.58	0.00	10.88	137.95
Southern Co	85.95	-1.05	100.83	83.80	3.54	20.61	98.87
Southern Copper	189.39	1.04	223.88	105.10	2.09	28.44	159.91
Spotify Technology	558.26	1.95	745.00	405.00	0.00	250.34	114.94
Starbucks Corp	96.58	-2.49	110.51	77.99	2.57	55.83	110.10
Strategic A	129.60	-7.34	365.21	81.81	0.00	1.31	47.25
Stryker	281.50	-0.37	392.55	267.00	1.25	28.93	107.98
Synopsys	367.70	-13.73	539.48	366.00	0.00	63.73	70.46
Targa Resources	285.68	-1.57	307.94	144.14	1.75	27.23	61.26
Target	154.40	-4.30	170.75	83.44	3.01	15.95	70.14
TE Connectivity	201.42	-1.95	252.56	190.27	1.55	19.59	58.31
Tesla	356.58	-2.39	498.83	297.38	0.00	302.19	1438.33
Texas Instruments	263.43	0.01	334.03	152.73	2.16	39.65	240.58
The Alstate	257.21	-1.27	277.22	168.08	1.68	5.09	65.04
The Charles Schwab	107.79	0.48	114.53	83.86	1.19	19.53	186.41
The Cigna Group	288.90	-1.15	315.47	239.51	2.16	12.16	76.34
The Coca-Cola	88.71	-0.64	92.49	65.35	2.38	26.64	361.68
The Kroger	62.25	-0.68	76.25	42.50	2.25	26.25	137.96
Thomson*	322.25	-1.29	377.77	289.86	0.99	29.54	78.46
The TJX Cos	124.60	-1.39	170.00	124.87	1.54	22.78	137.06
The Williams Cos	71.63	-0.32	80.08	56.19	2.93	28.54	87.62
Toronto Fisher Scientific	641.39	27.77	647.00	435.27	0.29	34.46	237.15
T-Mobile US	180.47	-2.43	244.24	165.66	2.26	18.84	193.59
TradeComms	422.73	-3.28	505.87	348.06	0.99	32.05	93.01
TransDigm Group Inc	1085.00	25.22	1463.03	1102.37	0.00	32.91	59.98
Travelers	377.97	-0.08	398.69	252.26	1.32	10.01	78.84
Truist Financial	50.46	0.36	56.20	40.78	4.12	11.44	61.64
Uber Technologies	71.43	-1.20	101.99	65.41	0.00	15.46	145.90
Union Pacific	283.99	-1.09	315.99	214.32	2.00	23.67	168.71
United Parcel Service B	102.35	-0.11	122.41	82.00	6.41	19.02	76.70
United Rentals	989.13	-4.67	1179.18	701.59	0.78	23.74	61.57
UnitedHealth Group	375.93	-7.62	461.62	255.97	2.47	24.10	337.43
US Bancorp	62.22	-0.46	66.08	45.02	3.47	12.42	96.94
Valero Energy	387.04	14.09	389.76	155.29	1.21	16.55	114.32
Verizon Communications	51.45	0.16	59.08	43.00	5.50	13.40	27.76
Vermilion Media Group A	37.49	-0.07	59.00	27.17	4.00	0.00	5.20
Vertex Pharmaceuticals	514.63	-4.88	560.25	374.17	0.00	29.73	130.44
Visa A	375.62	0.34	385.57	293.89	0.71	31.91	640.10
Vistra A	141.53	0.80	219.82	132.66	0.65	23.59	47.50
Walmart	108.09	-0.99	135.16	98.88	3.92	39.02	857.56
Walt Disney	106.42	-2.17	117.09	92.19	1.41	21.85	183.75
Waste Management	217.25	-0.84	248.13	194.11	1.74	30.68	86.84
Wells Fargo	89.72	1.01	97.76	72.78	2.23	12.89	271.31
Welltower	232.76	-1.45	255.20	163.75	1.46	101.20	167.76
Workday A	190.67	-3.54	249.85	110.36	0.00	38.75	37.37
WW Grainger	1269.53	-7.98	1419.91	906.52	0.78	32.31	59.80
Yum Brands	140.77	-5.56	170.14	137.33	2.13	17.62	38.42
Zendesk A	73.43	-0.24	148.75	71.00	2.88	11.98	30.34

Tradeweb

VOLATILITY INDICES

Agriculture	Price	Change
Corn	530.50	-5.25
Wheat	209.25	1.25
Rapeseed	550.50	-3.75
Sunflower Seed	10030.00	-109.00
Soybeans	1314.25	-4.50
Soybeans Meal	358.80	-1.30
Cocoa (ICE Liffe)	4314.00	157.00
Cocoa (ICE US)	5982.00	59.00
Coffee (Robusta)	3430.00	-72.00
Coffee (Arabica)	358.30	10.20
White Sugar	526.30	1.50
Sugar #11	17.90	-0.04
Cotton	81.14	0.04
Orange Juice	144.45	-7.70
Maple Leaf	4324.08	57.90
Live Cattle	220.03	-0.68
Feeder Cattle	339.80	-0.48
Lean Hogs	79.10	0.03
Palm Oil (Malaysian)	1218.75	0.00

Sources: Energy: NYMEX. Base Metals: LME / London Metal Exchange. Corn, Wheat, Soybeans: CBOT. Live Cattle, Live Feeder, Lean Hogs: CME.

Stock	Price	+/-Chg
Crown Castle	73.25	-0.92
CSI	48.66	-0.25
Cummins	528.02	-3.08
Goodwin Health	94.46	-1.36
Danaher	209.36	6.11
Derm & Co	684.04	2.58
Del Technologies C	543.51	9.23
Diamondback Energy	211.53	5.80
Digital Realty Trust	179.27	0.13
Dominion Energy	63.87	-0.59
DoorDash A	198.26	-5.28
DR Horton	140.20	0.79
Duke Energy	117.77	-1.25
Eaton Corp	392.40	-0.76
Ecolab	274.60	-0.91
Edwards Lifesciences Corp	85.74	0.22
Elevance Health	417.54	-6.70
Elvi City & Co	1136.11	-2.17
Emerson Electric	147.00	-0.40
ESG Resources	153.74	5.20
Equinix	1006.98	8.26
Exelon	42.20	-0.53
ExxonMobil Hldgs	169.32	4.24
Fastenal	49.41	-0.03
FedEx	308.26	-4.31
Ferguson Ent	215.11	-7.20
FICO/ISSAC	985.96	-15.54
Fiserv	50.02	-0.97
Flutter Entertainment	99.91	-0.74
Fortinet Inc	172.37	2.19
Freeport-McMoRan	69.38	0.04
Garmin	278.97	-1.41
GE Aerospace	307.05	-10.51
GE Healthcare Tech	64.07	-0.18
General Dynamics	882.80	-1.03
General Dynamics	358.60	1.79
General Motors	85.37	-1.79
Gilead Sciences	146.30	-0.11
Goldman Sachs Group	976.67	-11.78
HCA Healthcare	423.82	-1.67
Hilton Worldwide Holdings	307.79	-2.81
Home Depot	305.48	-5.39
Honeywell International	203.44	2.06
Howmet Aerospace	224.67	-2.46
IBM	248.37	-0.72
Illinois Tool Works	268.60	-0.44
Intel	97.14	-0.05
Interactive Brokers Grp A	88.80	-1.95
Intercontinental Exchange	156.90	-0.85
Intuit	239.27	-9.88
Interactive Surgical	377.16	-1.03
Johnson & Johnson	267.20	0.88
Johnson Controls Intl	138.29	0.53
JPMorgan Chase	352.49	2.36
Kenyaue	17.92	0.01
Keurig Dr Pepper	31.49	-0.09
Kimberly Clark	98.67	-0.41
Kinder Morgan P	30.77	-0.19
KKR & Co	100.00	-2.27
KLA	168.02	-1.07
L3Harris Technologies	249.66	0.73
Lam Research	270.87	-2.62
Linde	462.96	-1.45
Lockheed Martin	533.46	4.08
Lowes*	194.61	-3.56
Lululemon athletica	98.37	-0.33
L|Horton Petroleum	410.00	14.36
Marriott International A	337.24	-3.22
Marsh	179.76	-0.67
Marvell Technology	221.70	2.88
Mastercard A	573.27	-1.15
McDonald's	252.78	-4.71
McKesson	899.56	-11.39
Medtronic	93.75	-0.05
Merck & Co	143.79	-1.06
Meta Platforms A	670.24	4.64
MetLife	98.22	0.47
Micron Technology	927.60	3.57
Microsoft	497.12	-8.29
Mondelez International A	62.10	-0.29
Monster Valley	44.63	0.43
Moody's	467.16	-1.86
Morgan Stanley	206.28	-0.30
Motorola Solutions	469.14	-4.99
MSCI Inc-A	544.60	-9.05
Nasdaq	89.23	-2.34
Netflix	77.90	-2.42
Newmont Corp	124.19	1.12
NextEra Energy	81.07	-0.56
Nike B	36.22	-0.83
Norfolk Southern	320.22	0.17
Northrop Grumman	531.25	3.86
Nu Holdings A	14.19	-0.22
NVIDIA	212.17	1.21
NXP Semiconductors	226.35	2.12
Occidental Petroleum	63.52	1.74

	Red Date	Coupon	Bid Price	Bid Yield	Daily	Weekly
US$
Morgan Stanley	30/01	4.00	98.04	4.57	0.13	-0.45
Trust Finl Corp	28/06	4.12	99.42	5.12	0.00	-0.16
National Rural	32/11	4.02	92.70	5.27	0.21	-0.77
Washington Gaslight Co	36/03	5.78	97.97	5.02	0.00	0.00
Northern States Power	28/03	8.13	100.66	5.05	0.00	0.00
Oklahoma Gas & Elec	28/04	6.50	102.54	4.58	0.00	-0.10
Euro
Germany	25/08	2.22	88.26	3.25	0.13	-0.40
Spain	46/10	2.88	80.79	4.35	0.41	-0.10
Belgium	47/06	1.50	59.31	4.71	0.29	-0.27
France	48/05	2.00	60.92	4.99	0.31	-0.54
£ Sterling
United Kingdom	46/12	4.25	81.67	5.80	0.69	0.69
United Kingdom	47/07	1.50	47.88	5.86	0.45	0.45

BONDS: BENCHMARK GOVERNMENT

	Sep 16	Day Chg	Prev	52 wk high	52 wk low
VIX	16.69	-0.51	17.20	35.30	13.38
VXD	15.84	-0.11	15.95	42.71	2.43
VDAX	18.97	-0.97	19.93	35.58	13.53

	Red Date	Coupon	Bid Price	Bid Yield	Daily yield chg	Wkly yield chg	Mnthly yield chg	Year yield chg
Australia	06/54	4.75	85.76	5.79	-0.04	0.10	0.25	0.54
	04/27	4.75	99.93	4.86	-0.02	0.07	0.28	1.49
Austria	02/33	2.88	96.45	3.53	0.00	0.10	0.34	0.65
	10/53	3.13	85.09	4.07	-0.02	-0.02	0.11	0.24
Belgium	06/54	3.25	76.96	4.82	-0.03	0.03	0.23	0.54
Canada	06/27	1.00	98.83	2.82	0.00	0.00	0.03	-0.18
	12/55	2.75	75.26	3.93	0.00	0.03	0.13	0.15
Denmark	11/33	2.25	93.73	2.78	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.20
	11/39	4.50	110.97	3.45	-0.04	0.07	0.28	0.52
Finland	09/27	0.50	97.51	3.06	-0.07	0.13	0.29	0.92
	09/33	3.00	96.22	3.61	-0.03	0.09	0.34	0.63
France	05/54	3.00	69.50	5.07	-0.03	0.04	0.27	0.63
	11/33	3.50	96.12	4.13	-0.04	0.15	-0.63	-0.23
Germany	08/33	2.60	95.18	3.39	-0.03	0.09	0.35	0.68
	08/53	1.75	65.85	3.86	-0.02	-0.02	0.14	0.37
Greece	06/28	3.88	100.90	3.33	-0.09	0.03	0.43	0.89
	06/33	4.25	101.38	4.01	-0.05	0.71	0.40	0.73
Ireland	10/32	0.35	83.29	3.44	-0.24	-0.05	0.46	0.81
Italy	12/27	2.63	99.30	3.24	-0.04	0.14	0.38	0.99
	03/34	4.13	100.62	4.14	-0.05	0.10	0.42	0.83
Netherlands	01/54	2.00	68.95	3.85	-0.02	-0.03	0.11	0.28
	07/33	2.50	94.35	3.44	-0.04	0.08	0.33	0.64
Poland	04/28	2.75	97.32	4.52	-0.11	0.07	0.28	0.67
	10/33	6.00	99.81	6.03	-0.11	0.12	0.48	1.09
Portugal	07/32	1.63	90.16	3.53	-0.05	0.11	0.39	0.74
Spain	10/52	1.88	61.12	4.44	-0.04	-0.01	0.16	0.40
	10/33	3.50	99.03	3.70	-0.05	0.09	0.35	0.65
Sweden	11/33	1.75	96.30	2.50	0.00	0.00	0.00	-0.14
Switzerland	03/36	2.50	118.68	0.32	0.00	-0.02	-0.22	-0.92
United Kingdom	06/28	0.00	92.52	4.62	-0.17	0.04	0.27	0.85
	10/53	3.75	71.33	5.88	-0.07	-0.02	0.07	0.66
United States	11/33	4.50	97.72	4.88	-0.04	0.14	0.35	0.91
	11/53	4.75	91.14	5.37	-0.04	0.04	0.06	0.54

GILTS: UK CASH MARKET

Sep 16	Price	Yield	Red Yield	Day	Week	High	Low
Tr 1.25pc '27	97.46	1.28	4.39	0.10	0.01	97.53	95.50
Tr 0.875pc '29	89.05	0.98	4.72	0.34	-0.14	91.00	0.01
Tr 1pc '32	81.75	1.22	4.91	0.46	-0.25	85.07	81.01
Tr 4.25pc '36	92.62	4.59	5.25	0.62	-0.28	99.39	91.67
Tr 4.5pc '42	87.63	5.14	5.68	0.71	-0.02	96.45	86.50
Tr 3.75pc '52	72.16	5.20	5.85	0.64	0.10	81.50	71.32
Tr 4pc '60	73.37	5.45	5.82	0.83	0.26	83.52	72.34

Closing prices and highs & lows are in traded currency. Market capitalisations are in local currency. Highs & lows are based on a rolling 52 week period

GILTS: UK FTSE ACTUARIES INDICES

Price IndicesFixed Coupon	Sep 16	Dayschg %	TotalReturn	MonthReturn	YearReturn	Yield
Up to 5 Years	84.46	0.33	2651.86	-0.30	0.88	4.69
5-10 Years	142.15	0.74	3385.34	-1.11	-1.49	5.10
10-15 Years	140.44	0.96	3692.00	-1.23	-2.91	5.49
5-15 Years	140.03	0.81	3435.27	-1.14	-1.93	5.26
Over 15 Years	163.38	1.30	3260.87	-1.05	-6.28	5.79
All stocks	124.33	0.73	3115.13	-0.80	-1.96	5.46

Index Linked	Sep 16	Day's chg %	Month chg %	Year's chg %	Total Return	Return 1 Month	Return 1 Year
Up to 5 Years	364.24	0.24	0.43	2.54	3178.73	0.44	3.36
Over 5 Years	468.38	1.25	0.29	-2.06	3672.70	0.47	-1.45
5-15 Years	457.67	0.78	-0.04	1.06	3846.12	0.16	1.82
Over 15 Years	467.24	1.77	0.64	-5.02	3529.40	0.80	-4.55
All stocks	466.40	1.03	0.32	-1.14	3732.70	0.46	-0.49

Yield Indices	Sep 16	Sep 15	Yr Ago
5 Yrs	4.86	4.99	4.26
10 Yrs	5.28	5.39	4.59
15 Yrs	5.59	5.68	4.88
20 Yrs	5.75	5.83	5.02
45 Yrs	5.64	5.73	4.91

Real Yield 0% Inflation	Sep 16	Dur Yrs	Previous	Yr Ago
Up to 5 Years	1.11	2.66	0.98	0.73
Over 5 Years	2.34	16.27	2.38	1.90
5-15 Years	2.05	9.51	2.07	1.61
Over 15 Years	2.46	23.02	2.51	2.01
All stocks	2.28	13.37	2.32	1.86

Real Yield 5% Inflation	Sep 16	Dur Yrs	Previous	Yr Ago
Up to 5 Years	0.77	2.66	0.79	0.43
Over 5 Years	2.29	16.27	2.36	1.88
5-15 Years	1.96	9.51	2.02	1.54
Over 15 Years	2.44	23.02	2.50	2.00
All stocks	2.23	13.37	2.29	1.82

FT

FINANCIAL TIMES

Energy Source

Profit. Power. Politics.

Tech - Software & Services
Computacenter	5285.00	45.00	6045.00	2348.00	1.48	36.08	149.15
NCC Group+	132.20	0.20	161.60	107.20	3.52	23.61	1149.44
The Sage Grp	1011.50	4.50	1181.00	771.66	2.22	26.80	4555.29
Triad Group	385.00	-	430.00	236.00	2.34	38.81	-

Main Market

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week				Vol000s
			High	Low	Yld	P/E
Aerospace & Defence
BAE Systems■	2029.00	23.00	2360.00	1529.00	1.86	29.49	7529.15
Chemring Group	534.50	-	650.75	446.52	1.52	30.03	791.13
Automobiles & Parts
Ford Motors	997.51	-3.27	1319.04	841.76	4.47	-5.64	-
Banks
ANZ Group	1961.89	-0.21	2126.50	1590.55	5.88	19.01	4982.14
Banco Santander	1090.00	10.00	1122.00	709.00	1.53	13.97	153.85
Bank of Nova Scotia	6944.90	24.79	7000.37	4680.82	3.50	-	613.58
Barclays■	475.35	5.05	554.10	353.55	2.42	10.85	31362.15
Canadian Imperial	8471.92	63.68	9198.88	5824.92	2.69	-	322.22
HSBC■	1507.80	4.00	1610.00	959.29	3.69	16.76	17355.84
Lion Finance Gp*	13700.00	120.00	13750.00	7305.00	2.31	9.53	75.78
Lloyds Bnkg Gp■	111.25	2.35	117.90	81.04	3.60	15.89	322755.30
NatWest Group▲	702.20	13.00	726.00	504.00	4.98	13.13	30903.40
OSB Group▲	519.00	10.00	647.50	479.00	6.92	6.87	1367.59
Perm TSB Group	252.14	0.55	291.66	183.29	0.62	6.48	30.19
Royal Bank of CA	15190.70	47.77	16187.03	10628.25	2.47	-	663.45
Stand Chart▲	2287.00	21.00	2332.00	1351.50	2.25	15.75	3846.41
...7.375%PI	108.50	-	128.84	106.00	6.80	-	67.04
..8.25%PI	125.00	-	143.80	122.50	6.60	-	7.53
Toronto-Dominion	9039.41	35.49	9256.88	5643.29	2.60	-	825.12
Westpack	1825.12	9.44	2275.39	1755.74	4.47	17.14	4773.49

Elementis♦	169.40	2.20	195.40	136.00	1.97	-29.22	690.58
Johnson Matthey	2286.00	10.00	3245.25	2192.00	4.49	-29.97	373.85
Victrex	953.00	11.00	1024.00	515.00	6.25	29.78	417.44
Construction & Materials

Galliford Try Hldgs	612.00	40.00	640.00	415.00	3.27	18.16	318.63
Morgan Sindall	4140.00	114.00	5730.00	3938.00	3.94	11.13	143.03
Electronic & Electrical Equip
discoverGrp Grp	771.00	4.00	840.00	505.00	1.69	25.53	462.03
Halma	3460.00	38.00	4902.00	3251.40	0.72	35.10	511.23
Morgan Adv Mat	247.00	5.50	261.00	179.80	4.94	32.93	567.22
Oxford Instruments	2728.00	94.00	3318.00	1682.00	0.87	32.25	109.33
Renishaw	5070.00	112.00	5490.00	3110.00	1.54	44.01	76.34
TT Electronics	175.00	4.40	176.00	93.00	-	-6.14	362.26
XP Power	1848.00	74.00	2060.00	843.00	-	-44.00	48.38

Financial General
3i Group■	2668.00	69.00	4497.00	1825.00	3.17	-	-
Aberdeen Group+	239.20	-1.80	265.00	179.60	6.10	11.07	3952.17
Bridgepoint Group	286.00	1.60	351.50	212.00	3.32	57.20	775.90
City of London Inv	485.00	-10.00	508.00	349.00	7.01	13.14	230.93
Close Bros	392.00	-	556.15	318.40	-	-5.86	384.76
ICG	1872.00	16.00	2340.00	1424.87	4.65	11.22	1496.77
Investec	660.00	6.50	690.00	499.36	5.83	8.56	1957.96
Jupiter	160.20	1.60	214.50	123.00	3.75	8.34	1357.35
Liontrust	284.00	5.00	358.00	223.00	6.69	18.44	97.82
London Stock Ex■+	8150.00	-50.00	10140.00	6894.00	1.94	34.19	1238.52
Rathbones Group+	1604.00	-2.00	2500.00	1580.00	6.23	14.87	119.03
S & U	1995.00	-	2458.50	1620.00	5.76	10.22	0.53
Schroders	587.50	1.00	589.50	365.80	3.74	17.23	1352.77
St James's Place+	1085.00	-28.00	1575.50	1038.75	1.66	10.86	2438.26
TP ICAP Group	328.80	-0.40	355.00	235.50	5.23	13.05	1171.52
Vanquis Banking Gp	77.30	0.60	132.00	72.30	-	24.16	1140.62

AIM

	Price	+/- Dly Dng	52 Week		Yld	P/E	Vol 000s
			High	Low
Aerospace & Defence
Cohort●	1178.00	34.00	1538.00	881.10	1.52	22.55	97.27
Velocity Composites	19.25	-0.25	25.00	12.00	—	-9.62	22.04
Basic Resources (Ex Mining)
Cropper J	640.00	-10.00	660.00	250.00	—	20.78	10.31
Construction & Materials
Accsys Tech	68.10	0.60	79.84	58.10	—	29.74	34.81
Electronic & Electrical Equip
Checkit	23.50	—	27.00	12.35	—	-9.04	316.47
LPA	88.50	—	92.00	34.00	—	-33.52	42.89
Thorpe FW	247.00	2.00	320.00	240.00	2.90	11.39	110.70
Financial General
Arbuthnot Banking●	780.00	-10.00	1080.00	760.00	7.05	7.15	20.17

Investment Companies

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week				Dist - Prem
			High	Low	Yld	NAV
Conventional (Ex Private Equity)
3i Infra	392.00	2.00	399.50	325.00	3.43	404.66	-3.86
Abf GVIT	91.00	0.50	96.77	76.00	6.70	98.01	-7.60
Abf Sml	1720.00	10.00	1786.00	1408.07	2.78	1906.60	-10.37
Aberdeen Asia Foc	442.00	2.00	464.00	348.00	1.46	486.93	-8.98
Aberdeen Asian Inc Fund	315.00	2.00	357.00	246.00	5.96	339.18	-7.77
Aberdeen Eq Inc	444.50	2.50	473.00	359.25	5.20	452.43	-2.34
Aberdeen UK SmlI	503.00	5.00	539.00	441.50	2.78	545.71	-9.00
Alliance Witan	1347.00	8.00	1394.00	1178.00	2.18	1417.20	-5.42
Alliance Tech	706.00	9.00	764.00	477.86	—	757.40	-8.83
Artemis UK Future Lead	377.00	-4.00	405.00	321.00	4.10	430.00	-10.61
Aurora UK Alpha	245.00	—	279.00	222.09	1.92	274.36	-10.32
AVI Japan	180.50	4.00	194.00	154.50	1.22	182.45	-2.19
BG China Growth	292.00	-2.00	331.04	284.00	0.86	324.19	-9.27
BG Euro	122.50	1.00	133.00	91.40	0.59	133.08	-7.80
BG Japan	1092.00	12.00	1092.00	811.10	0.92	1191.06	-9.66
BG Shin	172.20	3.40	176.00	123.05	0.40	188.10	-9.75
BG US Growth	354.00	4.00	369.50	261.00	—	360.28	-5.07
Baillie Gifford UK	213.00	1.00	231.00	180.12	2.91	234.46	-9.60
Bankers IT	149.20	1.40	154.80	125.20	1.89	162.68	-8.83
Biotech Growth	1604.00	18.00	1786.00	912.00	—	1709.48	-7.13
BckR Amer Sml	281.00	1.00	289.55	205.00	5.30	274.92	1.91
BckR Energy & Res	179.00	-1.00	205.00	127.00	3.46	187.56	-2.01
BckR Front	191.00	-1.00	208.00	164.50	3.98	194.07	-1.69
BckR GtEur	576.00	7.00	625.00	506.95	1.24	613.55	-6.46
BckR I&G	233.00	—	240.00	200.00	3.30	255.57	-6.33
BckR Smir	260.00	3.50	288.40	230.80	3.05	296.30	-12.88
BckR World Mining	975.00	18.00	1076.00	605.00	2.46	1002.56	-3.40
Brunner	1550.00	14.00	1588.00	1336.00	1.74	1724.30	-10.83
Caledonia Inv	378.00	—	402.00	312.00	2.03	594.67	-35.93
CarGen C$	2763.35	2.87	2945.27	2329.85	2.39	86.12	-39.24
City of Lon	579.00	3.00	599.00	495.00	3.88	571.28	0.86
COS NatRes	423.00	—	467.00	208.33	6.69	405.51	2.06
CT Healthcare	130.20	0.20	152.40	115.00	4.04	139.88	-6.35
CT MgdI	130.00	—	135.00	114.00	6.15	128.02	0.83
CT MgdG	325.00	—	330.00	272.23	—	327.95	-1.55
CT Cp&I	349.50	2.00	373.00	320.00	3.85	361.33	-4.02
CT UK HIT B	107.00	—	120.00	92.00	5.57	117.70	-9.65
CT UK HIT Ord	112.00	-3.00	126.00	97.00	5.32	117.82	-1.98
Dunedin Inc	311.00	3.00	323.00	275.00	6.48	334.47	-7.76
Edinburgh Inv	835.00	6.00	867.00	737.60	3.83	899.32	-9.73
Edin Worldwide	264.00	6.00	294.50	192.60	—	279.19	-7.71
The Euro SmlCo	231.00	0.50	247.21	193.80	5.47	249.10	-9.27
F&C Inv Trust	338.80	0.40	1332.00	325.80	1.24	370.41	-8.71
Fidelity Asian	619.00	2.00	672.00	546.06	3.31	638.31	-4.31
Fidelity China	243.50	2.50	339.00	239.50	3.70	259.42	-8.85
Fidelity Emer Mkts	1450.00	16.00	1574.00	896.00	1.37	1571.97	-9.77
Fidelity Euro	420.00	3.00	447.50	367.50	2.43	439.46	-4.59

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week		Yld	P/E	Vol 000s
			High	Low
Food & Beverages
AEP Plantations	204.00	4.00	229.00	124.00	2.98	11.86	640.13
Assoc. Brit Foods	1839.00	-2.00	2359.00	1729.45	3.43	12.99	905.39
Barr (AG)	601.00	-1.00	715.32	581.00	3.11	14.22	209.63
Fevara	140.50	3.00	149.50	114.50	1.71	6.08	3.62
Coca-Cola HBC	4584.00	-22.00	5195.00	3270.00	2.25	20.64	583.50
Cranswick	5070.00	-30.00	5810.00	4775.00	2.22	17.13	168.71
Diageo#	1623.00	14.00	1903.91	1295.50	2.29	27.96	4389.04
Greencore	249.60	-0.20	307.50	191.10	1.04	18.91	1528.32
Kerry Group	7289.88	33.02	7646.35	5567.81	1.70	21.24	31.45
Tate & Lyle	558.50	-	580.00	319.40	3.55	25.39	587.88
Unileverw	4640.00	-1.50	5542.11	3644.00	3.56	12.49	7529.36

GN Store Nord	1083.93	-3.61	1429.97	984.75	—	13.91	292.28
Smith&Neph	1042.00	4.50	1426.59	1008.50	2.83	19.44	1627.79
House, Leisure & Pers Goods
Barratt Redrow	308.80	32.40	410.29	235.40	1.94	22.71	12020.53
Bellway	2092.00	138.00	2890.00	1715.00	3.44	15.75	399.58
Berkeley	3366.00	114.00	4442.00	2796.00	—	10.15	189.84
Burberry Group	1009.00	31.40	1376.50	953.40	—	—	3507.20
Cairn Homes	235.50	4.50	251.00	161.00	3.79	12.89	453.68
Games Workshop+	17720.00	10.00	23540.00	14070.00	3.16	28.40	74.09
Gleeson (MJ)	254.00	5.00	435.00	221.00	1.97	-76.51	51.68
Headlam Group#	10.50		67.80	4.64		-0.10
McBride	194.00	-1.40	214.10	106.20	1.60	10.96	491.66
Philips	1860.21	13.48	2413.42	1790.38	3.92	-43.38	1307.72
PZ Cussons+	97.70	0.40	114.00	65.09	3.79	20.79	349.20
Vistry Group	281.40	15.20	746.40	220.00	—	6.67	2087.75

Bodycote	953.00	12.00	958.00	585.00	2.44	30.74	727.91
Goodwin	14400.00	-340.00	28500.00	10200.00	2.29	19.50	20.43
Hill & Smith	2875.00	25.00	3220.00	1994.00	-	27.99	280.69
IMI+	3046.00	52.00	3166.00	2224.00	1.16	24.51	447.92
Melrose+	479.30	10.40	685.00	409.90	1.56	16.53	2482.01
RHI+	2775.00	25.00	3390.00	1920.00	5.56	17.78	23.25
Weir	2638.00	40.00	3580.00	2254.00	1.60	27.57	675.26

Coats Group	78.65	1.40	98.10	73.15	3.15	17.90	2834.65
Macfarlane◆	78.30	2.80	96.60	59.80	4.67	19.62	266.95
Smiths	2557.00	38.00	2754.18	2088.00	1.83	29.84	512.35
Industrial Transportation

Insurance
Admiral Group•	3862.00	-26.00	4128.00	2624.00	3.71	15.67	335.18
Aviva•	714.60	2.60	740.60	590.60	5.63	26.57	6122.03
Chesnara•	354.00	-1.00	378.00	265.00	6.49	-70.10	287.75
Ecclesiastical Insurance	136.50	—	155.00	134.03	6.32	—	39.80
Hansard Global	51.00	2.00	57.00	43.20	8.73	39.23	45.92
Hiscox•	1894.00	6.00	1904.00	1288.00	2.07	14.10	2174.48
Lancashire Hldgs	638.00	4.00	700.00	549.00	2.63	7.09	340.20
Legal & General•	300.60	6.30	318.10	217.20	7.29	30.09	22686.41
Old Mutual	64.80	0.20	78.80	54.77	6.70	7.20	682.66
Prudential•	981.00	7.20	1238.00	910.20	2.10	8.56	8766.67
Standard Life	943.00	13.00	960.00	620.50	5.95	-200.21	1741.04

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week		Yld	P/E	Vol 000s
			High	Low
BP Marsh	665.00	-1.00	710.00	613.00	5.46	5.02	24.48
Burford Capital	302.80	-13.40	974.50	279.80	3.12	14.05	220.52
Premier Miton Group	36.75	-	64.20	34.53	8.16	47.12	68.14
Food & Beverages
Camellia	5750.00	-50.00	6300.00	4800.00	4.52	-30.80	0.58
Fevertree Drinks	838.00	11.00	973.00	711.00	2.08	44.62	324.91
Nichols	1150.00	35.00	1240.00	880.00	3.38	19.60	27.80
House, Leisure & Pers Goods
Churchill	370.00	-	460.00	271.00	5.68	9.32	6.44
Frontier Dev	559.00	9.00	588.56	302.00	-	7.49	414.14
Portmeirion	52.00	-	138.00	47.14	-	-1.15	31.40
Sanderson Design Grp	76.00	-	80.00	40.00	1.97	25.50	11.35
Industrial Engineering
MS Intl•	1550.00	40.00	1800.00	1120.00	1.68	23.00	25.28

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week		Yld	NAV	Dist-) Prem
			High	Low
Fidelity Spec	464.00	4.00	479.50	378.00	2.23	462.32	-0.80
Finsbury G&I	788.00	-2.00	875.00	706.25	2.56	846.64	-6.91
The Glbl Small Co	188.20	0.80	198.60	162.72	1.67	197.41	-4.69
GRIT(susp)	1.25	—	1.25	1.25	—	14.40	-91.32
Hansa	332.00	-4.00	346.00	250.00	1.33	545.93	-38.47
Hansa A	332.00	2.50	340.00	244.00	1.33	545.93	-39.30
Hen FarEs	265.50	3.00	281.50	229.00	9.44	258.21	1.59
Hen High Inc	202.00	—	214.00	173.25	5.51	211.40	-4.59
Hen Smrl	950.00	13.00	998.00	769.00	3.05	1027.46	-8.44
Herald	2835.00	-35.00	3290.73	2285.00	—	3255.25	-11.10
HICL Infra	134.00	1.00	141.00	107.20	6.34	159.86	-17.54
Impax Env	430.00	1.50	494.76	379.00	1.19	475.94	-9.92
IntlBiotech	1105.00	20.00	1235.00	670.00	2.83	1134.29	-3.99
Intl PP	138.00	—	145.80	115.60	6.37	153.14	-10.26
Inv Asia Dragon Tst	491.50	4.50	519.00	389.00	3.91	525.96	-7.39
Inv Bond Inc	170.00	-0.50	178.50	150.11	7.21	167.77	1.58
JPM Amer IT	1208.00	12.00	1258.00	1041.00	0.95	1237.11	-3.47
JPM Asia G&I	574.00	2.00	652.00	424.05	5.42	583.04	-0.95
JPM China G&I	256.00	-1.50	313.00	253.50	5.30	285.49	-10.31
JPM Clavr	946.00	2.00	986.00	799.98	3.86	971.90	-3.21
JPMGblCore(susp)	84.20	—	86.60	68.00	—	—
JPM Emrg EMEA	232.00	-6.50	310.00	181.65	0.26	71.19	232.08
JPM Emrg	165.80	1.60	181.20	125.29	4.54	179.88	-8.83
JPM Eur Disc	624.00	7.00	666.00	548.00	2.56	670.67	-7.43
JPM Eur G&I	142.40	1.20	153.00	124.50	3.82	145.12	-2.56
JPM Em Mk Div	209.00	3.00	221.00	152.50	2.87	228.33	-9.16
JPM Gbl G&I	594.00	2.50	641.00	529.60	4.18	609.60	-2.93
JPM India Gwth Inc	848.00	—	1098.00	799.00	5.23	926.45	-8.08
JPM Japan	809.00	9.00	867.00	668.00	1.08	872.29	-7.78
JPM UK Sm	332.50	1.00	369.00	287.92	4.49	362.16	-7.51
JPM US Sml	415.00	-3.00	463.00	365.00	0.77	455.03	-9.03
Law Deb	1226.00	14.00	1290.00	991.00	3.02	1202.76	0.88
Lindsell Train	570.00	-4.00	760.00	529.50	4.91	6.83	-16.80
Lowland	185.50	2.50	191.50	146.28	3.71	201.62	-8.38
Marwyn Val	140.00	—	139.60	139.60	6.47	260.31	-46.21
Mercantile	273.00	4.00	290.50	234.31	2.31	299.53	-10.35
Merch. Tst	662.00	1.00	691.00	536.00	4.49	693.59	-5.29
Mid Wynd	778.00	—	806.00	682.00	1.07	794.01	-2.62
Monks IT	1588.00	8.00	1664.00	1366.00	0.06	1681.08	-5.99
Montanaro Eur	172.50	2.00	189.00	142.00	0.90	186.69	-8.16
Murray Inc	977.00	5.00	1036.00	854.66	4.20	1044.53	-7.14
Murray Intl	367.00	1.50	376.00	296.50	3.49	361.03	1.14
New Star IT	141.00	-2.00	148.00	111.00	2.52	202.48	-30.85
N. Atl Smrl IT	396.00	-4.00	434.00	328.00	1.77	649.49	-37.95
Pac. Horiz.	1088.00	20.00	1262.00	705.00	0.14	1202.97	-9.86
Pers. Assets	544.00	-1.00	558.00	515.00	1.03	547.46	-0.98
Polar Health	437.00	1.00	460.50	345.00	0.50	430.82	-0.14
Polar Fin.	252.00	3.00	260.50	199.16	—	254.25	-2.05

	Price	+/-	52 Week				Vol000s
			High	Low	Yld	P/E
Leisure
ME Group	120.00	0.40	200.00	98.50	6.99	8.00	1008.95
Media
Autotrader Grp♦	499.60	4.50	828.80	418.60	2.32	14.62	5085.96
Informa♦	886.60	-6.60	1000.00	719.00	2.54	—	6100.55
ITV	69.75	0.70	87.35	65.70	7.17	11.82	9100.18
Pearson	1188.00	2.00	1337.00	874.80	2.15	23.11	1538.37
Reach	39.95	-0.50	73.70	39.00	14.77	-0.95	1726.45
Relix♦	2543.00	7.00	3575.00	1991.00	2.71	22.58	3015.35
Rightmove	501.40	3.40	731.80	391.40	2.15	17.84	4712.66
STV Group	99.40	-3.60	124.50	95.60	—	-9.20	3.33
WPP	381.20	-2.90	412.60	218.50	3.93	7.58	3649.17

Mining
Anglo American+	3913.00	50.00	4348.00	2496.00	0.74	-15.92	2820.47
Antofagasta+	3594.00	93.00	4475.00	2254.00	1.62	35.87	925.48
BHP Group+	3176.00	48.00	3592.00	1918.00	4.04	22.07	640.91
Ferrexpo	27.72	0.70	87.23	25.22	—	-0.98	1046.73
Fresnillo+	2915.00	64.00	4472.00	2000.00	3.83	20.88	588.42
Glencorens+	570.90	-5.10	707.20	304.40	2.21	—	29368.91
Harmony	1455.71	23.93	1963.66	946.96	4.02	13.77	1675.39
Rio Tintos+	7202.00	55.00	9117.00	4555.50	4.84	15.79	3374.67

BP■	566.80	-13.50	609.40	399.35	4.43	-	32711.78
Capricorn	384.00	-	390.00	181.80	-	18.45	60.09
ExxonMobil Hldgs	12236.20	-	12431.00	12129.90	2.50	-	-
GeoPark	844.02	-	862.60	833.24	0.81	13.85	-
Helleniq Energy	1560.89	-	1579.76	1539.45	3.30	6.25	692.35
Imperial Oil CS■	9717.85	-311.72	10397.16	6229.98	1.91	-	431.09
TC Energy Corp	4603.45	-	4609.31	4520.77	4.07	-24.77	463.20

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week		Yld	P/E	Vol000s
			High	Low
Retailers
Caffyns	500.00	-	550.00	350.00	2.00	-12.29	-
Dunelm Group	754.50	-4.50	1174.00	707.00	9.34	9.80	1435.26
Halfords Group	248.00	2.50	276.10	123.80	3.63	16.32	515.93
Inchcape	805.00	2.00	895.00	640.50	4.17	11.10	605.42
JD Sports	76.24	-0.44	106.18	63.98	1.57	8.83	33369.11
Kingfisher	300.60	7.10	372.30	242.70	4.13	21.47	4512.11
Marks & Spencer	371.10	-4.50	418.33	301.10	1.13	29.22	12530.15
Saga	600.00	10.00	747.00	202.00	-	-	702.55
Sainsbury J	335.30	-1.50	380.30	293.70	4.09	19.38	7257.92
Tesco	476.20	-3.30	510.40	411.70	3.04	17.32	32606.94

AstraZeneca■	12136.00	20.00	15732.00	9892.00	1.97	24.74	5223.82
Chemical Works	2994.85	-	2994.85	2946.83	5.15	15.24	0.30
GlaxoSmKline■◆	1865.50	11.50	2282.00	1455.00	3.75	13.22	4888.43
Hikma Pharm◆	1565.00	8.00	1865.00	1187.00	4.08	11.57	327.01

REITS
British Land	402.60	7.00	451.60	331.80	5.74	-	-
Derwent London	1836.00	29.00	2196.00	1469.33	4.47	-	-
Great Portland Est	307.20	9.60	377.00	270.00	2.67	-	0.00
Land Securities	636.00	11.00	726.00	525.00	6.48	-	-
LondonMetric Prop	179.80	1.80	216.20	175.10	6.98	-	-
Primary Health Prop	93.15	0.90	109.60	87.40	7.84	-	-
Segro	942.00	7.00	997.40	628.00	3.35	-	-
Shaftesbury Capital+	140.20	2.00	155.10	124.10	3.07	7.50	5855.68
Tritax Big Box	147.80	3.80	175.00	139.80	5.59	-	-
Real Estate Inv & Services

Grainger	167.70	1.80	202.79	149.44	5.01	6.12	6212.88
Harworth Group	175.20	-1.60	185.00	116.80	1.04	60.41	532.20
Helical	188.00	-6.00	236.25	180.60	1.40	38.92	229.95
Mountview Estates	8800.00	50.00	10200.00	8350.00	5.97	16.86	0.33
Savills $\bullet$	1028.00	26.00	1142.00	791.46	2.29	19.77	709.13
Sirius Real Estate	92.15	0.60	113.00	86.80	5.96	7.09	2696.43
Smart (J)	113.50	1.00	140.00	106.00	2.86	8.68	22.00

Bunzl	2600.00	10.00	2898.00	1981.00	2.87	18.44	1913.42
Capita	240.00	-	416.00	215.00	-	-1.67	220.57
DCC Energy	6330.00	-5.00	6740.00	4188.00	3.42	-	217.53
Diploma	7170.00	65.00	7765.00	4970.00	0.88	51.99	455.70
Essentra	109.00	3.40	115.20	78.40	1.93	-	397.59
Experianx	2784.00	-16.00	3883.00	2203.00	1.86	22.77	2946.65
Hays	64.60	-0.65	78.45	28.68	0.68	-17.75	3491.79
Howden Joinery	759.50	18.00	981.00	713.00	2.90	15.44	1324.61
Intertek	5880.00	15.00	5880.00	3519.42	2.81	26.96	484.18
Johnson Service	134.40	1.40	172.10	123.80	3.72	14.45	1265.71
MITIE Group	210.60	0.60	214.00	134.80	2.14	31.91	6782.46
RS Group	718.50	2.50	768.50	536.90	3.19	20.77	1186.84
Vp	477.00	-17.00	620.00	420.00	8.28	-34.57	21.75

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week				Vol000s
			High	Low	Yld	P/E
Media
Mission Group	26.00	3.00	27.00	12.00	-	-1.22	524.90
Mining
Central Asia Metals	163.60	3.20	244.00	125.27	9.47	-5.17	979.64
Crism Therapeutics	10.75	-0.50	18.50	8.00	-	-2.11	180.99
Oil & Gas
BorSthnPet	10.45	0.54	14.00	7.60	-	-87.87	1599.05
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
Sareum Holdings	29.50	-0.50	40.00	9.50	-	-12.29	168.78
Retailers
Boohoo Group	24.50	0.90	29.50	10.30	-	-3.17	3118.53
CVS Group	1291.00	3.00	1648.00	1062.00	0.66	17.52	215.84

	Price	+/- Dly Chg	52 Week			Yld	NAV	Dis(-)Prem
			High	Low
Polar Tech.	643.50	11.00	743.50	419.75	—	699.37	-9.45
Rights & Iss IT	2450.00	-10.00	2520.00	1965.13	1.85	2872.84	-14.77
RIT Cap.	2520.00	-5.00	2645.00	1963.21	1.79	3221.00	-21.14
Ruffer Inv Pr	298.50	-0.50	319.00	281.26	2.08	312.03	-3.70
Schrd AsiaPac	826.00	8.00	892.00	635.00	1.57	910.70	-10.30
Schrd AsiaTotal	700.00	16.00	738.00	518.00	1.64	725.49	-4.96
Schroder Inc	367.00	4.00	380.00	314.00	4.01	386.16	-5.73
Schrd Japan	390.00	6.00	401.00	276.00	3.11	421.38	-8.37
Schrd Orient.	447.50	3.00	473.00	312.00	2.95	467.32	-4.56
Schrd UK Mid	758.00	15.00	790.00	652.00	2.98	788.90	-4.27
Scot American	548.00	-1.00	572.00	480.10	2.99	591.59	-7.69
Scot Mortgage	1478.00	20.00	1563.00	1015.74	0.31	1593.04	-9.08
Scot Oriental	274.00	4.50	296.00	240.00	1.24	293.37	-6.88
Strategic Eq.	374.00	3.00	415.00	330.00	1.14	423.54	-10.38
Temple Bar	416.50	3.50	429.50	344.50	3.75	415.84	-0.18
Tetragon	1040.62	-0.93	1446.64	892.96	3.36	—
TRIG	77.70	0.70	80.50	63.20	9.72	100.87	-24.14
UIL	207.00	—	206.00	206.00	3.86	274.24	-24.55
Utilico EmerMkts	281.00	-1.00	302.00	243.00	3.44	311.27	-10.56
Worldwide Hlth	376.50	2.00	401.50	320.00	0.64	402.92	-7.16

Conventional - Private Equity
CT PrivEq	467.00	3.00	592.00	439.84	6.06	694.33	-32.30
HGCapital	404.00	1.50	512.00	318.64	1.24	531.82	-23.84
HVPE	3270.00	—	3500.00	2765.00	—	4390.00	-25.74
ICG Ent	1404.00	-2.00	1611.42	1288.31	2.99	2029.63	-31.90
Pantheon Int	378.00	-5.50	409.00	330.50	—	521.30	-25.95
Partners PE €	612.35	1.34	945.52	583.57	9.80	11.58	-38.17
Conventional - Property ICs

AEW UK REIT	103.80	1.80	113.20	95.90	7.71	106.40	-4.67
TR Prop	288.00	1.50	364.50	282.50	5.59	316.75	-9.81
VCTs
Bmd 2nd VT	44.40	—	54.00	39.50	9.01	46.55	-4.62
Nthn 2 VCT	53.00	—	56.50	47.00	5.66	55.40	-4.33
Nthn 3 VCT	82.00	—	86.50	79.50	5.49	86.00	-4.65
Nthn Venture	56.00	—	59.50	53.00	5.54	58.60	-4.44
Zero Dividend Preference Shares

Aberforth GV	118.00	—	120.18	111.00	—	116.14	1.62
Investment Companies - AIM
Crys Amber	81.50	—	155.39	78.00	—	177.77	-54.15

Brit Amer Tobacco■	4191.00	-32.00	5326.00	3677.00	5.85	11.94	2698.21
Imperial Brands+	2490.00	-26.00	3632.04	2437.00	6.70	9.92	1348.84
Travel & Leisure
easyJet	668.00	—	683.80	332.60	1.98	10.15	2015.58
FirstGroup	172.70	2.10	225.80	152.10	4.17	8.07	983.13
Fullers 'A'	692.00	-6.00	780.00	550.00	3.06	17.64	28.57
IntContl Hotels+	11413.40	149.08	13305.06	8618.00	1.23	31.28	405.86
Intl Cons Air	418.20	10.20	492.90	332.70	1.63	6.84	10040.28
Whitbread	2341.00	18.00	3302.00	2098.00	4.14	18.99	608.64

Drax Group	819.50	17.50	937.50	661.00	3.70	39.59	1470.17
National Grid■	1134.00	24.00	1428.50	1026.00	4.28	17.31	19807.17
Pennon	449.80	2.80	606.00	439.25	6.51	23.19	3517.25
Severa Trent	3008.00	58.00	3335.00	2381.00	4.19	24.36	558.73
SSE+	2401.00	68.00	2767.50	1651.50	2.86	22.76	1987.30

	52 Week
	Price	+/- Dly Chg	High	Low	Yld	P/E	Vol 000s
Support Services
Christie	190.50	-2.50	199.60	90.00	1.84	37.50	23.09
LonSec	3750.00	100.00	3800.00	2100.00	2.59	19.33	-
NWF	156.00	-	187.50	110.00	5.58	8.39	33.20
Petards	8.75	0.25	12.50	7.00	-	-13.06	86.44
Renew	887.00	31.00	990.00	772.00	2.29	14.38	294.70
Tech - Software & Services

Oxford Metrics	36.60	-0.90	60.40	36.60	8.88	-66.55	173.08
Travel & Leisure
Gaming Realms	31.20	0.80	50.00	29.00	-	15.37	413.00
Jet2	1428.00	11.00	1612.00	980.00	1.18	6.76	407.71

Guide to FT Share Service

All data is as of close of the previous business day. Company classifications are based on the ICB system used by FTSE. FSTE 100 constituents are shown in bold. Closing prices are shown in pence unless otherwise indicated. Highs & lows are based on intra-day trading over a rolling 52 week period. Price/earnings ratios (P/E) are based on latest annual reports and accounts and are updated with interim figures. P/E is calculated using the company's diluted earnings from continuing operations. Yields are based on closing price and on dividends paid in the last financial year and updated with interim figures. Yields are shown in net terms; dividends on UK companies are net of 10% tax, non-UK companies are gross of tax. Highs & lows, yields and PER are adjusted to reflect capital changes where appropriate. Trading volumes are end of day aggregated totals, rounded to the nearest 1,000 shares. Net asset value per share (NAV) and split analytics are provided only as a guide. Discounts and premiums are calculated using the latest cum fair net asset value estimate and closing price. Discounts, premiums, gross redemption yield (GRY) and hurdle rate (HR) to share price (SP) and HR to wipe out (WO) are displayed as a percentage, NAV in pence.

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CG Asset Management Limited	(IRL)
20 King Street, London EC2V 8EG
Dealing: Tel +353 1434 5098 Fax +353 1542 2859
FCA Recognised

Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds	(IRL)
48-49 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JG
www.dodgeandcox.com +44 0203 642 3370

Bid Offer +/- Yield 24m 36m
The Ground Truth image displays a single, solid horizontal line, which is a stylistic or background element (like a rule line on paper). According to Rule 2, such lines must be ignored by the OCR result. The OCR content provided is "", which consists of no characters. Since the OCR output correctly ignores the stylistic line, it complies with Rule 2. Therefore, the OCR result is consistent with the Ground Truth.

MANAGED FUNDS SERVICE

Firm Name

Brown Advisory

Fund Name

US Sustainable Growth Fund USD

ISIN

IE00BF1T7322

Bid Price (11-09-2026)

39.85

Yield (11-09-2026)

0.00

Change (11-09-2026)

0.38

$\alpha$ lgebris INVESTMENTS

Algebris Core Italy I EUR	€	246.63	-	0.04	0.00	25.36	17.46
Algebris Core Italy R EUR	€	227.60	-	0.03	0.00	24.43	16.58
Algebris Financial Credit I EUR	€	227.29	-	-0.06	0.00	5.87	8.44
Algebris Financial Credit I GBP	£	201.50	-	-0.03	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Credit I USD	$	210.14	-	-0.05	5.86	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Credit R EUR	€	191.05	-	-0.06	0.00	5.18	7.79
Algebris Financial Equity B EUR	€	391.77	-	-2.89	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Equity R EUR	€	317.30	-	-2.35	0.00	27.05	27.76
Algebris Financial Equity Fund B GBP	£	327.71	-	-2.38	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Equity Fund B USD	$	494.15	-	-3.63	3.90	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Income I EUR	€	305.00	-	-0.84	0.00	15.65	16.99
Algebris Financial Income R EUR	€	268.27	-	-0.75	0.00	14.61	15.94
Algebris Financial Income Fund I GBP	£	224.24	-	-0.59	6.02	0.00	0.00
Algebris Financial Income Fund I USD	$	256.15	-	-0.69	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities I EUR	€	153.99	-	-0.12	0.00	3.40	5.65
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities R EUR	€	147.65	-	-0.12	0.00	2.83	5.13
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities I GBP	£	153.31	-	-0.11	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris Global Credit Opportunities I USD	$	158.23	-	-0.12	0.00	0.00	0.00
Algebris IG Financial Credit I EUR	€	118.49	-	-0.28	0.00	4.12	6.59
Algebris IG Financial Credit R EUR	€	114.48	-	-0.27	0.00	3.61	6.06
Algebris Strategic Credit Fund R EUR	€	114.30	-	-0.08	0.00	2.73	0.00
Algebris Global Equity Select B EUR	€	148.06	-	-0.66	0.00	9.59	11.16
Algebris Global Equity Select R EUR	€	140.76	-	-0.63	0.00	8.19	9.73

Artemis Corporate Bond I Acc	117.39	-	0.31	0.00	4.64	6.04
Artemis Global Income I Dis	244.48	-	1.32	0.00	2.17	0.50
Artemis High Income I Q Inc	74.95	-	0.05	0.23	2.05	2.80
Artemis Income I Inc	352.26	-	0.08	5.48	11.02	11.51
Artemis Monthly Dist I Inc	102.52	-	0.39	0.00	13.65	13.59
Artemis Short-Dn Strat Bond	132.80	-	0.35	0.00	5.85	7.03
Artemis SmartGARP Eur Eq I Acc	1024.74	-	6.62	0.00	27.69	29.04
Artemis SmartGARP Global Small Co I Acc	259.74	-	0.72	1.95	14.89	14.70
Artemis SmartGARP GloEmr Eq I Acc	348.51	-	0.34	0.00	29.89	24.98
Artemis SmartGARP Glo Eq I Acc	818.07	-	5.00	0.00	29.23	27.09
Artemis SmartGARP UK Eq I Acc	4852.64	-	43.92	2.41	27.30	24.93
Artemis Strategic Assets I Acc	110.45	-	0.28	0.00	3.53	3.17
Artemis Strategic Bond I Q Acc	124.33	-	0.22	4.46	5.91	6.50
Artemis UK Select Fund Class I Acc	1459.69	-	5.37	0.00	8.82	20.03
Artemis UK Smaller Cos I Acc	2587.10	-	13.54	1.81	3.80	8.58
Artemis UK Special Sits I Acc	1225.28	-	8.34	0.00	12.68	14.84
Artemis US Extended Alpha I Acc	576.30	-	0.04	0.00	13.97	17.46
Artemis US Select I Acc	569.46	-	-0.59	0.00	19.25	21.83
Artemis US Smir Cos I Acc	509.54	-	1.42	0.00	16.57	19.26

ASB Capital

ASB Capital
Gate Village 5, Level 4, Unit 11, DIFC,Dubai United Arab Emirateswww.asbc.com
ASB SUKUK - ACC	$ 103.74	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
ASB SUKUK - DIST	$ 97.18	-	0.00	0.50	0.00	0.00
ASB State Street Global Equity	$ 122.23	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
ASB Global Technology	$ 152.47	-	-0.81	0.00	0.00	0.00
ASB MENA Equity	$ 100.72	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

American Dynamic	$ 8997.55	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
American One	$ 10895.38	-	0.00	0.00	10.75	11.36
Bond Global	€ 1626.56	-	0.00	0.00	1.33	6.28
Eurocroissance	€ 1289.21	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Far East	$ 1227.73	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Blue Whale Investment Funds ICAVwww.bluewhale.co.uk info@bluewhale.co.uk							(IRE)
FCA Recognised-Ireland UCITS
Blue Whale Growth USD T	$	23.26	-	-0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00

Global Leaders Fund USD C	$ 32.07	-	-0.26	0.00	8.54	11.20
Global Leaders Sustainable Fund USD C	$ 18.81	-	-0.17	0.00	7.43	10.10
Global Sustainable Total Return Bond GBP B	£ 9.29	-	-0.01	0.00	0.00	0.00
Global Sustainable Total Return Bond USD B	$ 10.70	-	-0.02	0.00	0.00	0.00
US Equity Growth Fund USD B	$ 75.30	-	-0.57	0.00	8.05	10.62
US Flexible Equity Fund USD B	$ 41.72	-	-0.31	0.00	11.45	15.39
US Mid Cap Growth Fund USD C	$ 24.07	-	-0.25	0.00	8.49	9.70
US Small Cap Blend Fund USD B	$ 30.71	-	-0.11	0.00	9.90	11.10
US Smaller Companies Fund USD B	$ 45.91	-	-0.13	0.00	8.95	7.74
US Sustainable Growth Fund USD C	$ 39.51	-	-0.31	0.00	8.04	12.03
US Sustainable Value Fund USD C Acc	$ 17.72	-	-0.08	0.00	0.00	0.00

Canaccord WEALTH

Balanced Strategy	£	1.17	-	0.00	0.00	11.10	10.84
Balanced Strategy A	£	1.17	-	0.00	1.84	7.97	8.33
Cautious Balanced Strategy	£	1.47	-	0.00	0.91	8.74	8.80
Cautious Balanced Strategy A	£	1.05	-	0.00	1.84	6.35	6.94
Growth Strategy	£	2.64	-	0.00	0.76	0.59	5.01
Growth Strategy A	£	1.26	-	0.00	0.54	9.62	10.42
High Growth Strategy GBP	£	3.88	-	0.00	0.24	13.78	14.21
High Growth Strategy A	£	1.33	-	0.00	0.52	11.47	11.67
High Income Bond Fund B Monthly	£	0.98	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
High Income Bond Fund B Quarterly	£	0.98	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
US$ Growth Strategy	$	2.55	-	-0.01	0.21	14.42	14.71

Dealing Daily. Initial Charge Nil for A classes and up to 2% for other classes.

CANDRIAM BY NEW YORK LIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

TEN Recognised
Candriam Abs Ret Eqt Mkt Neutral-C Cap	€	228.30	-	0.53	0.00	1.91 3.53
Candriam Bds Euro High Yield Cap	€	1433.85	-	-1.01	0.00	4.22 5.90
Candriam Bonds Gbl Hi Yield-C Cap	€	287.60	-	-0.31	0.00	3.85 5.53
Candriam Bonds Glbl Infl Sh Dtion-I-Cap	€	165.04	-	-0.05	0.00	2.67 3.04
Candriam Bonds Total Return-C-Cap	€	143.08	-	-0.18	0.00	2.18 2.82
Candriam Diversified Futures-I-Cap	€	14000.52	-	19.08	0.00	-0.39 -2.01
Candriam Eqts L Australia Cap A$	A$	2343.32	-	-4.21	0.00	5.34 6.58
Candriam Eqts L Emerging Mkts Cap	€	1528.70	-	10.49	0.00	25.84 19.12
Candriam Equities L Biotech-C-Cap	$	1372.32	-	-37.20	0.00	20.58 20.78
Candriam Equities L Europe Innov-R-Cap	€	250.65	-	-1.27	0.00	-4.65 -1.88
Candriam Index Arbitrage-C-Cap	€	1536.21	-	0.31	0.00	1.49 2.57
Candriam Long Short Credit R-Cap	€	120.22	-	0.02	0.00	3.05 3.87
Candriam Risk Arbitrage-C-Cap	€	2765.13	-	1.31	0.00	3.15 4.00
Candriam Sust Bond Emerg Mkts I Dist	$	763.87	-	-2.02	0.00	5.37 2.62
Candriam Sust Bond Euro Corp R-Cap	€	109.89	-	0.03	0.00	2.86 4.46
Candriam Sust GlblHighYield-I-Cap	€	1250.89	-	-1.11	0.00	3.36 4.58
Candriam Eq Crl Econ-R-Cap	$	156.68	-	-0.62	0.00	5.51 4.56
Candriam Eq Clmt Action I-Cap	$	2081.51	-	-8.46	0.00	12.60 8.54
Candriam Sust Eq Emerging Mkts C-Cap	€	185.79	-	0.87	0.00	23.81 15.60
Candriam Sust Eq EMU-C-Cap	€	215.76	-	-0.17	0.00	7.64 7.33
Candriam Sust Eurp S&M Caps-I-Cap	€	2397.12	-	1.88	0.00	-0.65 0.10
Candriam Sust Eq World-C-Cap	€	46.02	-	-0.24	0.00	11.57 13.40
NYLIM GF US High YieldCorp Bond-R-Cap	$	173.32	-	-0.27	0.00	5.78 7.02

Other International Funds
Candriam Bds Euro Sh.Term Cap	€	2172.55	-	1.88	0.00	2.32
Candriam Bonds Credit Opportunities	€	220.73	-	-0.07	0.00	2.78
Candriam Bonds Emerg Mkt-C-Cap	$	3065.68	-	-7.09	0.00	7.15
Candriam Equities L Eurp Opt Dlt-I-Cap	€	249.28	-	-1.12	0.00	7.51
Candriam Equities L Global Deng R-Cap	€	381.76	-	-1.89	0.00	9.71
Candriam Equities Onco impt-I-Cap	$	3552.08	-	-6.40	0.00	7.62
Candriam Equities L Robt&Innv-Tech I-Cap	$	7599.77	-	-19.63	0.00	28.48

VT Cantab Balanced A GBP Acc	139.62	-	-0.22	1.80	9.32	8.89
VT Cantab Moderate A GBP Acc	137.98	-	-0.13	2.12	8.82	7.89
VT Cantab Sustainable Gbl Eq A GBP Acc	168.85	-	-0.40	1.37	8.73	9.02

Absolute Return M Inc	£	143.85	-	0.19	2.61	2.81	2.34
Capital Gearing Portfolio GBP P	£	39350.93	-	53.87	1.95	2.70	2.18
Capital Gearing Portfolio GBP V	£	191.42	-	0.26	1.94	2.71	2.18
Dollar Fund Cis D Inc	£	151.21	-	0.01	2.82	-1.64	-2.64
Dollar Hedged GBP Inc	£	93.38	-	-0.03	2.54	0.37	-0.37
Real Return Cls A Inc	£	181.79	-	0.05	2.55	-1.01	-2.44
UK Index-Linked Bond G Inc	£	105.21	-	0.15	2.10	0.83	0.00

Chartered Asset Management Pte Ltd

CAM-GTF VCC	$ 486477.90	486477.90	0.00	0.00	0.49	3.79
CAM Gti VCC	$ 1440.68	-	0.00	0.00	20.88	4.69
RAIC VCC	$ 1.94	-	0.00	0.00	8.97	-1.66

CP Global Asset Management

International Mutual Funds
CP Multi-Strategy Fund	$ 466.99	-	0.23	0.00	11.90	13.23

CP Capital Asset Management Limited

CP Dual-Purpose Fund	$ 217.88	-	-0.06	0.00	0.00	0.00
CP Global Alpha Fund	$ 509.96	-	-0.15	0.00	11.19	12.61
CPS-Master Private Fund	$ 616.61	-	-0.02	0.00	11.01	12.47

Dodge & Cox® Worldwide Funds

Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds-Emerging Markets Stock Fund
Emerging Markets Stock Fund A USD Acc	$	16.10	-	-0.12	0.00	26.33
Emerging Markets Stock Fund A GBP Acc	£	16.89	-	-0.10	0.00	23.24
Emerging Markets Stock Fund D GBP Dis	£	15.28	-	-0.09	1.69	20.78
Emerging Markets Stock Fund A EUR Acc	€	16.94	-	-0.13	1.51	22.84

Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds-Global Bond Funds
EUR Accumulating Class	€	18.04	-	-0.03	0.00	2.54	3.57
EUR Accumulating Class (H)	€	12.01	-	-0.03	0.00	3.41	3.89
EUR Distributing Class	€	11.13	-	-0.01	0.00	-1.93	-0.99
EUR Distributing Class (H)	€	7.35	-	-0.01	5.05	-1.16	-0.69
GBP Distributing Class	£	11.68	-	0.00	4.75	-1.67	-1.36
GBP Distributing Class (H)	£	8.33	-	-0.01	4.70	0.69	0.85
USD Accumulating Class	$	15.03	-	-0.03	0.00	5.44	5.91
CHF Distributing Class (H)	Sfr	7.49	-	-0.02	0.00	-3.51	-3.17

Dodge & Cox Worldwide Funds-Global Stock Funds
USD Accumulating Share Class	$	48.92	-	-0.27	0.00	14.59	16.68
GBP Accumulating Share Class	£	59.71	-	-0.22	0.00	11.78	13.79
GBP Distributing Share Class	£	38.36	-	-0.14	0.00	9.31	12.29
EUR Accumulating Share Class	€	63.66	-	-0.31	0.00	12.74	12.86
GBP Distributing Share Class (H)	£	21.06	-	-0.11	0.00	12.58	14.37
USD Distributing Class	$	20.00	-	-0.11	0.00	13.04	15.08
CAD Accumulating Class	C$	64.25	-	-0.29	0.00	15.45	17.51

USD Accumulating Share Class	$	60.01	-	-0.31	0.00	12.57	15.37
GBP Accumulating Share Class	£	69.27	-	-0.24	0.00	9.82	12.51
GBP Distributing Share Class	£	40.35	-	-0.14	0.00	9.01	11.63
EUR Accumulating Share Class	€	67.42	-	-0.32	0.00	7.74	11.37
GBP Distributing Share Class (H)	£	22.68	-	-0.12	0.00	11.23	13.92
USD Distributing Class	$	21.98	-	-0.12	0.00	11.74	14.44

Authorised Inv Funds
EdenTree Global Impact Bond	85.62	-	0.05	4.23	-1.06	0.09
EdenTree Green Impact Equity	129.70	-	0.10	0.95	6.56	8.29
EdenTree Green Impact Infrastructure	78.40	-	0.12	6.62	-2.66	-6.26
EdenTree Global Sustainable Government Bond	95.83	-	0.07	3.11	0.00	0.00
EdenTree Sustainable European Equity A	485.50	-	1.20	1.85	12.05	13.45
EdenTree Sustainable European Equity B	490.80	-	1.10	0.00	12.02	13.43
EdenTree Sustainable Global Equity A	451.90	-	-0.20	0.53	8.98	9.11
EdenTree Sustainable Global Equity B	456.00	-	-0.30	0.95	8.94	9.08
EdenTree Sustainable Managed Income A	139.80	-	0.60	4.03	5.21	4.53
EdenTree Sustainable Managed Income B	151.50	-	0.60	4.00	5.66	4.92
EdenTree Sustainable Short Dated Bond	95.40	-	0.15	4.58	0.21	0.96
EdenTree Sustainable Sterling Bond A	84.00	-	0.20	4.99	-0.92	0.35
EdenTree Sustainable Sterling Bond B	96.99	-	0.23	4.99	-0.32	0.95
EdenTree Sustainable UK Equity A	246.50	-	0.70	1.80	4.56	3.57
EdenTree Sustainable UK Equity B	245.80	-	0.60	2.17	2.66	3.52
EdenTree Sustainable UK Equity Opp A	317.40	-	-0.20	1.50	1.66	4.88
EdenTree Sustainable UK Equity Opp B	324.10	-	-0.10	1.96	1.61	4.85

Allocator World Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	4.29	-	0.00	1.00	15.28	15.57
American Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	84.94	-	-0.45	0.00	9.21	12.28
American Special Sits W-Acc-GBP	£	29.08	-	-0.09	0.41	4.29	8.18
Asia Funds W-Acc-GBP	£	28.71	-	0.31	0.51	31.74	21.72
Asia Pacific Opps W-Acc	£	3.36	-	0.01	0.69	9.15	5.51
Asian Dividend Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	3.65	-	0.01	2.05	21.86	16.44
Cash Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	1.21	-	0.00	3.84	0.00	0.00
China Fund W-Accumulation-GBP	£	2.44	-	0.00	1.53	13.18	-0.18
Emerging Mkts NAV		1548.14	-	-23.83	0.00	0.00	0.00
Enhanced Income Fund W-Inc-GBP	£	0.94	-	0.00	7.00	-1.45	-1.96
European Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	31.34	-	0.14	1.49	5.71	7.59
Global High Income Bond W-Acc-GBP	£	1.56	-	0.00	5.69	5.37	7.24
Sustainable Euro Equity Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	7.13	-	0.03	1.18	7.81	7.92
Sustainable Global Equity Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	42.21	-	0.02	0.31	6.26	6.96
Japan Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	10.71	-	0.06	0.89	20.82	18.97
Select 50 Balanced Fund Pl-Acc-GBP	£	1.53	-	0.00	2.17	0.00	0.00
Special Situations Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	73.48	-	0.26	2.26	17.55	18.92
Short Dated Corp Bond Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	12.62	-	0.02	4.81	0.00	0.00
Sustainable Water & Waste W-ACC-GBP		126.60	-	0.00	0.00	7.94	1.31
Sustainable Water & Waste W-INc-GBP		124.00	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
UK Select Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	4.65	-	0.01	1.80	5.00	8.13
Global Dividend Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	4.53	-	0.00	2.53	13.94	14.90
Global Enhanced W-ACC-GBP	£	3.53	-	0.01	4.21	13.68	14.31
Global Special Sits W-ACC-GBP	£	89.65	-	-0.05	0.20	16.93	16.15
Index Emerging Markets P-ACC-GBP	£	2.82	-	0.02	1.62	23.61	17.40
Index Europe ex UK Markets P-ACC-GBP	£	2.93	-	0.01	2.11	15.24	13.72
Index Japan P-ACC-GBP	£	3.29	-	0.01	1.46	17.06	16.23
Index Pacific ex Japan P-ACC-GBP	£	2.59	-	0.01	2.66	15.67	11.79
Index Sterling Corp Bond Fund P-ACC-GBP	£	0.95	-	0.00	5.27	0.00	0.00
Index UK P-ACC-GBP	£	2.50	-	0.01	2.66	16.77	15.76
Index US P-ACC-GBP	£	6.10	-	-0.02	0.87	14.64	16.99
Index World P-ACC-GBP	£	4.61	-	-0.01	1.15	15.35	16.39
MoneyBuilder Balanced Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	0.78	-	0.00	2.94	0.00	0.00
MoneyBuilder Dividend Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	1.63	-	0.01	3.64	-0.89	-1.54
Sust. MoneyBuilder Inc Fd Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	14.11	-	0.04	4.51	3.30	5.38
Multi Asset Alloc Adventurous Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	3.18	-	0.00	1.15	12.78	12.94
Multi Asset Alloc Defensive Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	1.56	-	0.00	0.00	5.66	5.44
Multi Asset Alloc Growth Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	2.54	-	0.00	1.13	10.19	10.27
Multi Asset Alloc Strategic Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	2.01	-	0.00	1.18	7.01	7.54
Multi Asset Balanced Inc Fd W-INc-GBP	£	1.02	-	0.00	0.00	3.12	2.77
Multi Asset Inc & Growth Fund W-INc-GBP	£	1.31	-	0.00	2.56	10.26	8.44
Multi Asset Income Fund W-INc-GBP	£	0.90	-	0.00	0.00	2.14	1.53
Multi Asset Open Advent W-ACC-GBP	£	2.49	-	0.00	1.68	12.05	11.31
Multi Asset Open Defen W-ACC-GBP	£	1.65	-	0.00	0.00	7.84	6.81
Multi Asset Open GrowthFund W-ACC-GBP	£	2.32	-	0.00	1.82	11.48	10.75
Multi Asset Open Strat. Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	1.96	-	0.00	2.41	9.29	8.46
Open World Fund W-Acc-GBP	£	3.41	-	-0.01	0.83	12.69	12.68
Strategic Bond Fund P-Acc-GBP	£	1.37	-	0.00	2.91	4.32	5.47
Index UK Gilt Fund P-Acc-GBP	£	0.76	-	0.00	4.52	1.56	1.87
Sustainable Asia Equity Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	2.74	-	0.02	0.76	23.86	13.98
Sust Multi Asset Balanced Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	1.21	-	0.00	1.31	0.00	0.00
Sust Multi Asset Con. Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	1.07	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Sust Multi Asset Gwth Fd W-ACC-GBP	£	1.32	-	0.00	1.15	0.00	0.00
UK Opportunities Fund W-ACC-GBP	£	2.67	-	0.01	2.24	0.00	0.00
UK Smaller Companies W-ACC-GBP	£	4.75	-	0.01	2.37	4.90	9.37

SICO BSC BHR
McInroy & Wood Portfolios Limited
Easter Alderston, Haddington EH41 3SF 01620 825867
Authorised Corporate Director-Waystone Management (UK) Limited

Stonehage Fleming Investment Management Ltd	(IRL)
www.stonehagefleming.com/gbi enquiries@stonehagefleming.com

Authorised Corporate Director-Waystone Management (UK) Limited

Troy Asset Management (1200)	(UK)
3rd Floor, Central Square, Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL
Order Desk and enquiries 0345 608 0950
Authorised Inv Funds

MANAGED FUNDS SERVICE

(No text to output)

Fundsmith Equity Fund

Bid Offer +/- Yield 24m 36m

Fundsmith LLP (1200)F
PO Box 10846, Chelmsford Essex CM99 2BW 0330 123 1815
www.fundsmith.co.uk, enquiries@fundsmith.co.uk

Marwyn Asset Management Limited							(CYM)
Regulated
Marwyn Value Investors	£	362.11	-	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Authorised Inv Funds
Fundsmith Equity T Acc	692.39	-	1.89	0.00	0.37	3.10
Fundsmith Equity T Inc	624.93	-	1.71	0.00	13.19	12.86

Guinness Global Investors
Guinness Global Equity Income Y GBP Dis	£	24.22	-	-0.12	2.05	9.56	11.16
Guinness Global Innovators Y GBP ACC	£	46.64	-	-0.21	0.00	12.01	15.57
Guinness Global Quality Mid Cap Y Gbp Acc	£	15.08	-	0.01	0.00	9.16	9.40

International Insurances
Holiday Property Bond Ser 1	£	0.49	-	0.00	0.00	-0.13
Holiday Property Bond Ser 2	£	0.66	-	0.00	0.00	1.57

Balanced Fund Acc	6882.70	-	14.60	1.87	3.97	0.00
Balanced Fund Inc	6461.00	-	13.70	1.91	2.06	2.27
Emerging Markets Fund ACC	2316.00	-	2.60	1.76	2.12	0.00
Emerging Markets Fund Inc	2074.40	-	2.30	1.79	0.14	-2.04
Income Fund Acc	3607.60	-	8.40	2.72	6.61	0.00
Income Fund Inc	3178.80	-	7.50	2.82	3.30	3.29
Smaller Companies Fund Acc	7065.60	-	56.20	1.30	3.24	0.00
Smaller Companies Fund Inc	6617.00	-	52.60	1.33	1.87	2.76

Ministry of Justice Common Investment Funds						(UK)
Property & Other UK Unit Trusts
The Equity Idx Tracker Fd Inc	2633.00	-	1.00	2.00	10.40	10.52
Distribution Units

Purisima Investment Fds (UK) (1200)F
3rd Floor, Central Square, Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL
Order Desk and Enquiries:0345 922 0044
Authorised Inv Funds

Global Total Fd PCG A	695.99	-	-1.11	0.42	14.02	17.63
Global Total Fd PCG B	685.20	-	-1.10	0.00	13.94	17.57
Global Total Fd PCG INT	668.26	-	-1.08	0.00	13.76	17.38

Purisima Investment Fds (CI) Ltd						(JER)
Regulated
PCG B	565.36	-	-3.09	0.00	15.72	19.96
PCG C	545.45	-	-2.98	0.00	15.46	19.69

Royal London
80 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4BY

Authorised Inv Funds
Royal London Sustainable Diversified A Inc	281.10	-	-0.40	1.54	3.79	5.57
Royal London Sustainable World A Inc	502.60	-	-1.30	0.75	10.25	11.33
Royal London Corporate Bond Mth Income	75.71	-	0.16	4.39	-0.33	0.82
Royal London European Growth Trust	288.20	-	1.20	1.12	9.72	10.09
Royal London Sustainable Leaders A Inc	1006.00	-	2.00	1.47	7.51	7.25
Royal London UK Growth Trust	867.40	-	3.40	1.71	10.85	10.70
Royal London UK Income With Growth Trust	257.30	-	0.90	3.85	7.68	7.95
Royal London US Growth Trust	654.50	-	0.50	0.01	13.86	17.04

Additional Funds Available
Please see www.royallondon.com for details

Nutshell Asset Management Ltd							(IRL)
Nutshell Asset Management Ltd, Ivybridge House, 1-5 Adam Street, London WC2N 6LEwww.nutshellam.com
Authorised Inv Funds
Nutshell Growth Fund Gbp Inst Founder	£	182.46	-	-1.27	0.00	13.59	15.53

Janus Henderson INVESTORS

SF Global Best Ideas Eq B USD Acc	$	293.36	-	-2.83	0.00	3.44	5.77
SF Global Best Ideas Eq D GBP Inc	£	329.94	-	-3.53	0.00	0.89	3.12

Ruffer LLP (1000) F 3rd Floor, Central Square, Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL Order Desk and Enquiries: 0345 601 9610 Authorised Inv Funds

Janus Henderson Absolute Return Fund A Acc	206.70	-	0.10	2.10	5.56	6.56
Janus Henderson Asian Divi Inc Unit Trst Inc	101.80	-	0.70	5.60	12.20	9.50
Janus Henderson Cautious Mngd Fund A Acc	351.60	-	1.20	3.80	6.84	8.33
Janus Henderson Cautious Mngd Fund A Inc	150.90	-	0.60	3.90	2.62	2.93
Janus Henderson China Opp Fund A Acc	1267.00	-	1.00	0.10	20.18	5.32
Janus Henderson Emerging Markets Asia A Acc	1786.00	-	6.00	0.00	23.61	17.20
Janus Henderson Emerg. Mkts Opps Fnd A Acc	296.40	-	1.00	0.00	18.43	14.32
Janus Henderson European Focus A Acc	592.20	-	2.70	0.10	0.00	0.00
Janus Henderson Euro. Sel Opps Fund A Acc	3135.00	-	11.00	0.20	10.75	10.65
Janus Henderson Fixed Int Mthly Inc Fd Inc	16.77	-	0.01	6.20	-0.57	-0.76
Janus Henderson Global Equity Inc Fnd Inc	86.59	-	0.12	2.60	9.10	8.49
Janus Henderson Global Select Fund Acc	6372.00	-	-34.00	0.00	8.67	13.97
Janus Henderson Global Sust Equity Fd A Inc	697.60	-	-4.00	0.00	8.28	11.61
Janus Henderson Global Tech Ldrs Fnd A Acc	6872.00	-	-7.00	0.00	22.24	26.05
Janus Henderson Instl UK Index Opps A Acc	177.18	-	0.87	2.30	16.49	15.56
Janus Henderson Multi-Asst Abs Rtn Fd A Acc	188.80	-	0.30	2.70	4.62	4.52
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Actv Fd A Acc	331.60	-	0.00	1.70	7.65	8.30
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Dist Fd A Inc	135.20	-	0.00	2.60	2.90	2.71
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Div. Fd A Acc	104.80	-	0.00	3.20	6.20	6.56
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Glbl Sel Fd A Acc	435.60	-	-0.60	0.00	8.64	10.36
Janus Henderson MultMgrInc&Gwth FdA Acc	229.60	-	-0.10	2.60	6.22	6.37
Janus Henderson Multi-MgrInc&Gwth Fd A Inc	159.40	-	0.00	2.60	3.07	3.04
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Mngd Fd A Acc	399.40	-	0.00	1.40	7.16	7.77
Janus Henderson Multi-Mgr Mngd Fd A Inc	368.30	-	0.00	1.20	5.80	6.30
Janus Henderson Sterling Bond Unit Trust Acc	226.40	-	0.60	4.30	2.68	4.59
Janus Henderson Sterling Bond Unit Trust Inc	54.68	-	0.14	4.30	-0.63	0.32
Janus Henderson Strategic Bond Fund A Inc	94.26	-	0.00	6.10	-1.58	-2.19
Janus Henderson UK Alpha Fund A Acc	195.40	-	1.10	0.90	9.46	13.42
Janus Henderson UK Eq Inc & Growth Fd A Inc	693.70	-	3.80	3.30	8.78	10.82
Janus Henderson US Growth Fund A Acc	2890.00	-	-21.00	0.00	11.01	14.98

WS Ruffer Total Return C Acc	595.07	-	-6.02	1.80	4.40	3.53
WS Ruffer Total Return C Inc	343.27	-	-8.01	1.84	2.41	1.00

Superfund Asset Management GmbH

Superfund Trend Gold	$ 1910.17	-	15.02	0.00	33.82	27.06
Superfund Trend Silver	$ 2068.92	-	16.16	0.00	52.06	37.25
Superfund Trend	$ 823.23	-	10.01	0.00	12.66	5.06
Superfund Bitcoin 0-2x	€ 96.45	-	0.00	0.00	8.58	15.88
Superfund Fund-of-Funds	$ 157.85	-	0.00	0.00	18.23	17.41

Oasis Crescent Global Eq Fd (USD) A (Dist)	$ 57.36	-	0.17	0.00	19.63	16.92
Oasis Crescent Global Inc Fd (USD) A Dist	$ 10.09	-	-0.02	0.00	-0.05	0.30
Oasis Crescent Low Equity Fund (USD) D Dist	$ 16.29	-	0.00	0.00	10.63	9.62
Oasis Crescent Med Equity Fd (USD) A Dist	$ 19.03	-	0.02	0.00	12.65	11.13
Oasis Crescent Prop Equity Fd (USD) A Dist	$ 10.58	-	-0.02	0.00	9.04	10.76
Oasis Crescent Short Term Inc Fd (USD) A (Dist)	$ 0.95	-	0.00	0.00	0.60	0.74
Oasis Crescent Variable Fund (USD) A (Dist)	£ 12.18	-	0.05	0.00	7.38	7.61

Private Fund Mgrs (Guernsey) Ltd							(GSY)
Regulated
Monument Growth 15/09/2026	£	616.43	622.29	0.00	1.26	3.44	3.22

SICO BSC BHR						(BHR)
Telephone - +973 1751 5700
Website - www.sicobank.com
Khaleej Equity Fund	$	583.47	-	-3.93	0.00	-3.81
Sico Gulf Equity Fund	$	198.62	-	0.17	0.00	10.57

SICO Capital KSA							(KSA)
Telephone - +966 11 521 3835
Website - www.sicocapital.com
SICO Kingdom Equity Fund	SAR	10.66	-	-0.27	0.00	1.39	-
SICO MENA Equity Fund	SAR	21.34	-	0.13	0.00	-1.37	4.80
SICO Capital Money Market	SAR	13.92	-	-0.03	0.00	-	-

Superfund Blockchain	€	23.84	-	-0.18	0.00	19.67	31.16
Superfund Gold Silver + Mining	€	20.54	-	-0.44	0.00	30.40	-
Superfund Quadriga All Seasons	€	15.00	-	-0.08	0.00	16.43	15.89
Superfund Inflation	Sfr	11.50	-	0.00	0.00	12.40	4.56

Authorised Corporate Director-Waystone Management (UK) Limited

Trojan Investment Funds
Trojan Ethical Global Inc O Acc	111.29	-	-0.49	3.05	-0.13	2.84
Trojan Ethical Global Inc O Inc	98.01	-	-0.42	3.11	-3.32	-0.93
Trojan Ethical O Acc	157.96	-	-0.14	0.68	6.76	7.09
Trojan Ethical O Inc	152.50	-	-0.12	0.68	5.44	5.81
Trojan Ethical Income O Acc	166.25	-	-0.08	2.60	2.72	5.59
Trojan Ethical Income O Inc	125.09	-	-0.07	2.70	0.01	2.79
Trojan Fund Acc	461.98	-	-0.30	0.81	6.35	6.12
Trojan Fund Inc	361.96	-	-0.24	0.89	7.54	5.01
Trojan Global Income O Acc	173.32	-	-0.74	3.35	1.58	3.08
Trojan Global Income O Inc	128.67	-	-0.55	3.42	-1.59	-0.14
Trojan Income O Acc	394.43	-	-0.11	2.82	4.27	5.35
Trojan Income O Inc	173.78	-	-0.05	2.92	-1.22	1.41

Trojan Funds (Ireland) Plc
Trojan Europe O EUR Acc	€	1.0192	-	0.00	0.00	0.00
Trojan Exclusions X GBP Acc	£	1.3215	-	0.00	0.00	6.28
Trojan Global Equity O GBP Acc	£	5.9364	-	-0.04	0.20	-0.28
Trojan (Ireland) O GBP Acc	£	1.8575	-	0.00	0.00	5.78

Guide to FT Funds Data

The fund prices quoted on these pages are supplied by the fund operators, fund managers and fund administrators. Details of funds published on these pages, including prices, are for the purpose of information only and should only be used as a guide. The Financial Times Limited makes no representation as to their accuracy or completeness and they should not be relied upon when making an investment decision. The sale of interests in the funds listed on these pages may, in certain jurisdictions, be restricted by law and the funds will not necessarily be available to persons in all jurisdictions in which the publication circulates. Persons in any doubt should take appropriate professional advice. Data collated by ICE. The fund prices published in this edition along with additional information are also available on the Financial Times website, www.ft.com/funds. The funds published on these pages are grouped together by fund management company. Prices are in pence unless otherwise indicated. The change, if shown, is the change on the previously quoted figure (not all funds update prices daily). Those designated \$ with no prefix refer to US dollars: Yield percentage figures (in Tuesday to Saturday papers) allow for buying expenses.

Prices of certain older insurance linked plans might be subject to capital gains tax on sales.

OEIC: Open-Ended Investment Company. Similar to a unit trust but using a company rather than a trust structure. Different share classes are issued to reflect a different currency, charging structure or type of holder. Bid price: Also called selling price. The price at which units in a unit trust are sold by investors. Offer price: Also called buying price. The price at which units in a unit trust are bought by investors. Includes manager's initial charge. Single price: Based on a mid-market valuation of the underlying investments. The buying and selling price for shares of an OEIC and units of a single priced unit trust are the same. Treatment of manager's periodic capital charge: 24 and 36 months: 24 and 36 month annualized performance figures calculated using the total gain (or loss) from that period. Performance formula is adjusted to consider the income distribution during the reference period. Yield: Calculating using the fund's projected annual income, divided by the latest available net asset value.

The prices appearing in the newspaper are the most recent provided by the managers/operators. Charges for this advertising service are based on the number of lines published and the classification of the fund. Please contact data@ft.com for further information. For further queries contact newspapers@ice.com

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ARTS

Why am I so angry? Marvel's Wolverine gets introspective

Marvel's Wolverine, above, is by turn questioning his motivations and slashing his enemies; in ‘Ghost of Yōtei’, below, central character Atsu has clear motivations for her battles in 17th-century Japan

The best action games now have narrative depth and character motivation, but this effort takes the fun out of the mayhem, finds Lewis Gordon

Wolverine, arguably the most rageful superhero, is having an introspective moment. One minute, he is pirouet-

ting across the screen in the new game Marvel's Wolverine, leaving a trail of mauled goons in his wake. Then, with the arrival of a cutscene, he questions his violent actions with the solemnity of a monk. Why is he so angry? What could he have experienced to justify such bloodlust?

The sense of déjà vu is impossible to shake: we have seen this inwards turn from an action video-game star before in recent years, namely with Kratos in 2018's God of War and 2022's God of Ragnarök. He went from wisecracking beefcake in the early 2000s – just as comfortable at a thronging sex party as he was in a bone-crunching battle – to a more sombre figure. In a flagrant, almost sacrilegious disregard of his official title, God of War, Kratos, too, questioned the very act of violence. Like Wolverine, he became a remorseful mass-murderer.

This self-reflexive turn seems to be the fate awaiting almost every star of modern action games, many of them created by Sony PlayStation studios. The bones of these titles, starting in the 1990s with nascent 3D games such as Tomb Raider, do not vary greatly: you spend a large portion of some 20 hours looking at the hunched back of a merciless protagonist oscillating between deadly combat and methodical exploration. This action-adventure model has not changed greatly in the past 30 years. What have evolved are the accompanying narratives, which can, on occasion, powerfully reframe these experiences.

At their most effective, as in 2020's The Last of Us Part II, they can plumb new emotional depths: in that game's case, the devastating effects of cyclical violence in a post-apocalyptic US whose moral compass has been shattered.

But Marvel's Wolverine never reaches those heights. “There’s a part of me, an angry part of me, that even I don’t remember,” says the main character at one point. “It scares me. I just want to be better.” But no sooner has he uttered these words than he returns, as if afflicted by short-term memory loss, to slicing and dicing, plunging his claws into the chest of some foe. Clearly, the violence’s extreme nature is intended to titillate, but Wolverine, unlike the player, is never allowed to revel in it. The gore is laced with guilt – and, really, where is the fun in that?

The dissonance between the self-serious narrative and the 18-rated action is heightened by a “Rage” meter which, should you fill it with the required chain of seamless kills, turns Wolverine into a death machine. In these moments, murder is further streamlined: just press the two shoulder buttons to instantly end the life of an enemy.

This Wolverine is a particularly dour action hero, but pulpier, more irreverent varieties are also available. Best of the current crop is Atsu, a woman seeking revenge for the murder of her family in last year's Ghost of Yötei, an open-world samurai adventure. Her motivations are clear and she does what she must with a katana, yet she is frequently chided by men merely for being a woman in 17th-century Japan. Further contextual complexity comes from the setting of Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido)

The gore is laced with guilt – and, really, where is the fun in that?

which was at that time being colonised by a southern shogunate. Atsu, who has close ties to the indigenous Ainu people, seeks to resist this.

As a result, the action in Ghost of Yōtei has meaning: when a fight beckons, there is ample narrative justification. Lashing out feels devilishly good as you channel Atsu's rage. Like the gale-strength winds that batter the game's romanticised version of Japan, she is a violent force of nature.

Beneath the unsuccessful narrative wrapping of Marvel's Wolverine, there should at least be enough satisfying combat to justify the ticket price. Alas, even in this regard, the game fails. It certainly looks stylish: animations blend seamlessly, allowing Wolverine to pull off spectacularly gruesome kills at a hair-raising clip. Yet, like the story, the fighting is quickly revealed to have little depth. Your thumb may begin to ache from mashing the square button.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword, a recently released samurai action-adventure set in folkloric Japan, offers more gratification for action aficionados. Created by the venerable Osaka-based studio Capcom, it simulates the actual clashing of blades, steel on steel, which leads to wonderfully distinct call-and-response combat duels. There is no emotional reckoning here; the cutting-edge sword-play is allowed to speak for itself.

That's not to say Way of the Sword lacks narrative ambition in its story of a hero charged with wielding a magical gauntlet to vanquish demonic foes in Edo-era Kyoto. A likeness of deceased Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, star of classic Akira Kurosawa films such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, takes the lead role, a daring postmodern mash-up that emphasises one of the game's main themes: the harmonising of tradition and modernisation.

Just as an astute back-story can sharpen an action game, a bad one can easily blunt it. Despite the razor-like claws of its protagonist, Marvel's Wolverine commits a genre cardinal sin: it is dull. Here, the grizzled Canadian is no animalistic force unleashed; he has been muzzled.

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The AI is also trained to identify equipment and vehicles

Autonomous systems are being rapidly integrated on the battlefield, as models advance in ways even their creators cannot fully predict – changing how wars are being fought. By Alison Killing, John Thornhill, Charles Clover and Fabrice Deprez

t first glance, the Saker Scout resembles thousands of other drones that now patrol the skies above Ukraine's front lines. A black quadcopter, it has a camera enabling a pilot to fly it remotely and deliver a 5kg explosive charge — usually a grenade or an anti-tank warhead.

But hidden beneath its carbon-fibre frame is a motherboard no larger than a credit card that may represent the next step in the evolution of war. Its machine learning software can recognise 47 categories of military equipment, from tanks to infantry, drawing virtual boxes around objects and assigning percentile confidence scores to everything it sees.

Before launch, the human operator selects which targets matter most, sets the confidence threshold needed for engagement, and defines a "kill box" — a geographic area inside which everything is a target. Once inside that box, the drone can search, identify and, if its confidence score is high enough, attack without waiting for another human command.

There is one crucial limitation: the machine can distinguish a tank from a truck, or infantry from artillery, but not whether the target is Ukrainian or Russian. The system therefore relies on a battlefield assumption – everything military inside the “kill box” belongs to the enemy.

“You should be sure there are no civilians, and not your own people,” says Rostyslav Olenchyn of Twist Robotics, the Ukrainian company behind the Saker Scout. “It is a very special weapon and used only in certain cases by special units.”

AI technology has changed how the war in Ukraine is fought. At the start of the conflict it could take 20 minutes to identify a target and launch a strike. Now that process can take less than two minutes, sometimes just seconds.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine occurred nine months before OpenAI released ChatGPT, a pivotal moment in the AI revolution. The conflict has consequently become a testing ground for the use of AI systems in kinetic warfare, with the lessons shaping the strategy of Ukraine and its western allies, as well as the US in its war with Iran.

But the war also demonstrates AI's limits. As the technology is rapidly integrated with military systems in both Ukraine and Russia, it has become clear to strategists and frontline operators that although AI has sped up decision-making and made war more lethal, it has not yet given either side a decisive advantage.

Still, as frontier AI models reach a point where they are developing faster than humans can control them, military and political leaders must begin to grapple with what happens when those limits are removed.

When militaries talk about AI, they are not talking about a single system.

They are referring to software being used at different stages of warfare — collecting and processing data, helping commanders identify and prioritise targets, and allowing drones to keep operating when communications are jammed.

AI-enabled software can process “mass data at a scale, a speed that human staff officers can’t do”, says Anthony King, professor of war studies and director of the University of Exeter’s Strategy and Security Institute. Rather than the sharp end of a conflict, King says the primary function of AI has been to improve “situational awareness and intelligence”.

The technology can help commanders make battlefield predictions, from the sustainability of a campaign to the rate at which munitions are being depleted. The advantage over human estimates, King says, is that these systems simply have “more evidence to look at”.

This matters because modern headquarters absorb huge quantities of information: drone footage, satellite imagery, electronic signals, human reports and data from sensors across the battlefield. Comparing all of that is “very labour-intensive”, says Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a UK-based defence and security think-tank. Battlefield management systems such as Ukraine's Delta and the US's Maven turn those streams into usable information.

These systems also allow militaries to compress the “kill chain” — the time it takes between identifying a target and executing a strike. This enables armies to strike first, and increases the number of viable targets — particularly those that are mobile.

On the front line, meanwhile, AI is still largely limited to narrow tasks: a drone stabilising itself in flight, or continuing towards a target after its link to the operator is jammed.

Kateryna Bondar, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' AI centre, says autono-

Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

The era of AI warfare has arrived

‘We call it the Manhattan project of the 21st century because it will change the battlefield dramatically’

FT

mous navigation, much of it adapted from drone-racing software, can help a drone adjust to wind and lock on to a target at speeds of up to 300kph. It has reduced training times for pilots to between 30 minutes and a day, while AI-assisted strikes are three to four times more likely to succeed.

Terminal guidance has proved especially valuable in the final phase of a strike, where jamming often severs the connection between pilot and drone. "It happens often that you'll lose control of a drone 100 or 200m from the target," a Ukrainian commander says. Once the pilot locks on to the target, the drone can continue the final approach even if the signal is lost.

AI-guided strikes are still relatively rare, says Oleksii Babenko, founder of Vyriy Drone, a Ukrainian drone maker that supplies the military. "Maybe 2 per cent of drones use some [artificial intelligence] so the drone understands what the target is, and finds the target itself . . . still, 2 per cent of five million drones is a lot."

When the AI identifies a target it will place a marker on it and adjust its trajectory for a precise strike

Additional work by Chris Campbell, Sam Joiner, Peter Andringa and Ian Bott. For the full story, go to ft.com/visual-investigations

Research into autonomous targeting of Russian long-range drones became more urgent after Moscow began sending waves of Shaheds against Ukrainian cities. In response, Ukrainian companies began developing interceptors that can identify and attack them.

Shaheds have a distinctive shape and fly in skies where there are few other aircraft. "You can be almost 100 per cent sure that these are the enemy drones," says Bondar.

Working within a narrow set of conditions is crucial for AI to work, says Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, an independent research institute. “A common problem with [computer] vision systems is that they cannot recognise the same object from even different angles.”

Russian forces have also scaled up their use of AI-powered drones over the past year. In July, a Russian drone used AI to target a petrol station without a human operator making the strike decision. It crashed into a wall and exploded, killing three people – reportedly the first documented deaths caused by a Russian self-targeting drone in Ukraine. In recent weeks, Russia has been using Shaheds equipped with AI targeting systems to hit Ukrainian ships on the Black Sea.

Ultimately, Kyiv hopes to raise its AI capabilities to the level of drawing up strategy. Danylo Tsvok oversees a newly established centre tasked with turning Ukraine's forces into “an AI-driven military”. He has described a hypothetical world in which a commander could tell an AI agent their intention – “I want to defend this position” – and draw up battle plans based on the system's recommendations. "We think this could be a game-changer," Tsvok says.

For many in Ukraine, struggling for personnel to continue staving off Russia, there is little alternative. “The goal is full autonomy,” says Maksym Savanevsky, in charge of marketing at The Fourth Law, a Ukrainian company that has developed drones equipped with terminal guidance systems. “We call it the Manhattan project of the 21st century because it will change the battlefield dramatically.”

he concept of an “AI-driven military” is deeply troubling to some experts, who point out that battlefields are seldom black and white theatres in which clean decisions are made.

Paddy Walker, an expert on AI ethics, says modern warfare is characterised by ambiguity which is difficult to code for or train an LLM to handle. “The hybrid, the grey zone, these are much more complicated battlefields . . . you’ve got to be processing the context.”

And while computer vision tools can help identify Shahed drones, there are limits to their effectiveness. Artem Martynenko, a lieutenant colonel in the Ukrainian military and an original architect of Delta, Ukraine's battlefield management system, says "accurately, autonomously detecting a soldier remains a problem", especially on a battlefield, where positions are often intermingled and concealment is essential to survival.

"The rule book says you always need a human making decisions," says one former employee of Palantir, which built Maven, and who is a veteran of the US military's drone warfare programme. "The challenge is, the computer is spitting out a list of 1,000 targets. And you're not moving fast enough. The problem is that the human becomes the bottleneck. And that analyst, he doesn't always care. He wants to go home or go get a cheeseburger."

Khlaaf of the AI Now Institute says these systems struggle with “uniform-like clothing”, vehicles, weapons and movement because they fall into a “broader and less predictable space”. Even lighting can lead a machine to confuse civilian and military vehicles.

The more these systems are used to find and classify targets, the more significant their limits become. The information they use can be fragmentary, outdated and ambiguous. Even curated data, such as a drone feed, can be incomplete, corrupted by sensor failure or environmental interference, or mislabelled, says Khlaaf.

The risk was illustrated in Iran earlier this year. AI-supported targeting systems enabled the US to hit 13,000 targets in the first 38 days of the conflict. This included a girls' school where more than 150 people, among them 120 children, were killed. The building had been part of a military compound, but a separate entrance and a wall were built around 2016, when the school was set up, according to local officials.

King says the strike showed the danger of systems “based on statistical correlation”: if the information fed into them is wrong or outdated, the result can be catastrophic. Mistakes in targeting are not new, but greater speed and scale can increase the risk of errors.

The AI-assisted target generation process for Israel's bombing campaign

in Gaza has also raised ethical questions. There was “political top-down pressure to do a lot of targeting, to demonstrate force”, says Schmitt, of the Royal Danish Defence College. It meant that in a military context, “officers had between 15 and 20 seconds to assess whether a target was legitimate or not”.

With such time constraints, “it’s difficult to understand how it would be possible to ensure that the target that they have in the crosshairs is a legitimate military target, which is what’s required by law”, says Jessica Dorsey, assistant professor of International Law and co-director of the Realities of Algorithmic Warfare Research Platform at Utrecht University.

And there remains limited understanding of how these systems reach their conclusions. The US state department says autonomous systems must be “transparent to and auditable by their relevant defense personnel”. Palantir says its tools allow operators to search back through the lines of data and documents that led to a specific suggestion.

But auditability of the data is not the same as understanding why a large lan-

Below: 'Dazzle' camouflage is being used on vehicles in Ukraine to confuse drones with AI-assisted object recognition Drone_Wars_/X

'It's difficult to understand how it would be possible to ensure that the target that they have in the crosshairs is a legitimate military target'

guage model recommended a course of action. With AI decision-support systems, Khlaf says, “there’s no way for us to investigate why a certain decision was being made. These models “implicitly automate what would traditionally be considered several decision points in the kill chain”. Palantir says they have built systems which enable their LLMs to use tools and operate step by step, making the models’ decisions more auditable.

Experts also worry about accountability. If an autonomous system kills the wrong people, it may be hard to determine whether the failure lies in flawed data, technical failures or human error. There is a risk the complexity could lead to a tendency to label incidents as accidents or to blame individual users rather than the state that built the system.

Madeleine Elish, a researcher at Google DeepMind, describes this as the “moral crumple zone” – when a human operator with limited control over an automated system bears the brunt of responsibility when it fails.

Legally, however, the buck stops with battlefield commanders. “Humans are responsible for the way that war is waged,” Dorsey says.

The rapid integration of AI into warfare is happening as these models become advanced in ways even their creators cannot fully predict.

The recent incident involving a swarm of OpenAI agents breaking out of a testing environment and hacking into AI developer Hugging Face showed frontier models pushing against attempts to constrain their behaviour. Some researchers believe so-called recursive self-improvement, or the ability of models to build their successors, could enable advances at a speed and intensity as yet unforeseen.

Anthropic says today's most advanced models are not reliable enough to autonomously select and engage targets. The company's attempts to put limits on the military use of AI have put it at odds with the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, the company's threat-intelligence report, released this month, found non-state actors using Claude to develop weapons, including an autonomous drone swarm designed to select human targets and detonate without a human in the loop. It documented Claude being abused by actors across the world – from China, Russia, Ukraine and Iran to Yemen, Sudan and Taiwan.

Soon the question may no longer be how far militaries are prepared to bring AI into the kill chain, but whether governments and AI companies will be able to determine those limits at all.

FINANCIAL TIMES 'Without fear and without favour'

ft.com/opinion

Britain's unsustainable pensions lock

It would be better to link state retirement benefits to earnings growth

It seems paradoxical, to say the least, that UK pensioners living on the state pension should from next year — in theory — have to pay tax on part of it; the state would be giving benefits with one hand and taking some back with the other. In practice, even though the state pension will exceed the tax-free income threshold for the first time in April, the Burnham government has said people relying on the basic pension will not pay tax during this parliament. But the situation highlights how unsustainable it has become to maintain the overgenerous “triple lock” on pension increases when public finances are so tight and income tax thresholds frozen until 2031 — hitting working people above all.

Introduced in 2011, the triple lock – which ensures the state pension rises annually by the highest of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent — was intended to address decades of relative decline in retiree incomes. Britain's state pension was also well below most OECD peers, though then, as now, it had more developed occupational and private pensions than many counterparts where state provision dominates.

The lock has partially achieved its aims. The state pension had dropped to about 16 per cent of mean earnings by 2010 but is about 26 per cent now, though still ungenerous by OECD standards. Pensioner poverty is well below 1990s levels, and below working-age poverty, though it has ticked up again in recent years. But the cost has been huge. State pension spending is £16bn a year higher than if there had been no triple lock, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. At £154bn a year, pension costs roughly equal defence and education spending combined.

The triple lock also means that the second-largest line item in the UK budget after health ratchets up inexorably even if earnings growth or inflation is low. Those increases compound over time. It has strained social cohesion, protecting state payouts for an expanding elderly cohort while the relatively shrinking working population who pay for them have faced ever-higher tax burdens.

But the political cost of ditching the lock has caused successive governments to balk. For the new Burnham government, it would mean breaking a Labour manifesto pledge from 2024. No government likes to do this, and every instance erodes trust in the political class. The previous Starmer government also discovered the perils of messing with benefits for the elderly, forced into a U-turn on its mishandled plan to means-test the winter fuel allowance.

Andy Burnham's government should not underestimate, though, the rumbling discontent among working people, especially the young, over the relative largesse towards pensioners. Linking

A totemic move to make rises in one of the government's biggest costs more affordable would send a strong message to investors

state pensions to earnings growth – potentially with an adjustment mechanism if inflation is high – would be fairer. It would better align growth in working-age and pensioner incomes, and tax revenues. About one in eight pensioners receives income only from the state pension and benefits, and campaign groups have warned that losing the triple lock could push more into poverty. But some of the savings could be funnelled into targeted support for the most needy.

While the total direct savings in this parliament may not be huge, a totemic move to make rises in one of the government's biggest costs more sustainable would send a strong message to investors. It would help ease pressure on bond yields and give the government more headroom to raise long-term investment in areas such as defence — as well as helping consumers, for example, through lower mortgage costs. The triple lock has become unsustainable, but it needs a bold politician to break it.

Opinion Economics

Where do new jobs come from?

Ann Kiernan

Soumaya Keynes

W

here do new jobs come from? The economist Joseph Schumpeter had an answer: waves of technology destroy old work, making way for the newer sort. Perhaps older readers remember punch-card operators and video rental shop managers, now made obsolete by the computer and digital revolutions. And maybe younger readers wonder whether they will live long enough for the only jobs left to be AI engineers.

Some 250 years ago, the economist Adam Smith emphasised a different source of new work: specialisation. Jobs are essentially bundles of tasks. Big markets allow people to unbundle those tasks, divide them up, and produce much more. Like his famous pin factory, which split manufacturing into parts (cutting wire, pointing it, etc), specialists vastly increased out-

Past trends could reverse if AI makes specialist subjects so accessible it is easier to do them in-house

put over artisanal pin makers doing everything on their own.

So . . . who is right? The answer is complicated by the two stories being hard to separate. Technology could enable specialisation, as when the computing revolution made it easier to co-ordinate between faraway factories. Advances in knowledge could push specialisation too, as it becomes unreasonable to expect one person to be an expert in everything.

Economic historians have tried to see through the fog, analysing past labour market revolutions to get a sense of which dynamics mattered. One group used court records to find evidence in favour of Smith, documenting how the job in Britain of “clock maker” in 1550 had fractured into tens of jobs including “watch engraver”, “watch gilder” and “watch spring maker” 200 years later. Over that period, bigger British markets saw more specialisation.

A recent study of the US labour market used a large language model to indicate whether jobs were “technology-related”. (A wind turbine erector would qualify, whereas a drama therapist would not.) Of the new employment introduced between 2011 and 2023, they calculated that the tech-related share was roughly a third. Substantial, though not a majority.

A new study of the Swedish labour market takes a longer view, armed with detailed data on jobs between 1880 and 2019 – using AI to assign every occupation two scores out of five. The first is a “Smithian” score, indicating whether the job is the result of specialisation. (Wholesale traders and radiologists get high marks.) The second is a “Schumpeterian” score, to reflect how strongly the job is associated with a new technology. (Big numbers for computer programmers and electricians.)

With the caveat that the lines between technology and specialisation can be blurry, the researchers get some interesting results. Over time, jobs with both high Smithian and Schumpeterian scores have become more important as a share of the total. But the jobs associated with the division of labour have contributed the bulk of the change. Between 1990 and 2019, strongly Smithian jobs accounted for 60 per cent of employment, compared to just a third for strongly Schumpeterian ones.

Relatedly, Smithian jobs seem much more likely to last than their highly Schumpeterian counterparts. Tech jobs are important for the jobs elsewhere that they enable. But they seem relatively vulnerable to becoming obsolete. Those punch-card operators were at the cutting edge . . . until they got replaced. Although we might fret now about AI sweeping away jobs in a wave of creative destruction, thinking about how it will affect specialisation could be more instructive. The Sweden study's authors calculated that around 70 per cent of employment between 1990 and 2019 was in occupations that existed at the end of the 19th century. What matters now is which tasks stay bundled within jobs and which move elsewhere.

As Luis Garicano, an author of the book Messy Jobs, put it to me, some bundles of tasks are only weakly held together, and are therefore ripe for AI disruption. He also noted that past trends could reverse if AI makes specialist subjects so accessible that it becomes easier to bring them in-house, rather than suffer the cost of co-ordinating with other experts. (Think of an economics columnist deciding to build her own website rather than pay a freelancer.)

The toe-treading has already begun. Data from OpenAI suggests that of work-related messages, around 17 per cent are already about tasks associated with another occupation. If the division of labour reversed, “that would be an unusual feature of this revolution relative to all the previous progress in science”, Garicano told me. But a final message of the research is that technological revolutions do not tend to be alike.

soumaya.keynes@ft.com

Letters

Madhumita Murgia's outstanding report ("Anthropic's \$2tn IPO puts trustees in spotlight", Report, September 9) revealed some of the secret workings of Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust. We already knew that the trust is meant to balance Anthropic's purpose ("the long-term benefit of humanity") with profit and that the trust's main power (on paper) is to appoint a majority of the board of directors.

Questions Anthropic needs to answer ahead of its IPO

It was Murgia's reporting that

Closing infrastructure gap requires more than finance

revealed it currently takes 85 per cent of investors' voting power to fire a trustee. We also now know that the trust meets weekly and with Anthropic leadership as often as every other week.

The £258bn shortfall in Britain's infrastructure funding identified in a report by the Public Private Partnership Commission, chaired by Sir John Armitt, is a significant challenge (Report, September 15). But closing that gap will require more than securing additional finance.

If you are not satisfied with the FT's response to your complaint, you can appeal to the FT Editorial Complaints Commissioner: complaints.commissioner@ft.com

First, certainty around long-term priorities and a credible and committed pipeline of projects that industry can plan around is key to enabling the private sector to invest in the skills, technology and capacity required to deliver at scale. If this could be backed by political consensus, so much the better.

Second, Britain's water, energy, transport and housing systems are closely connected, and investment needs to be planned accordingly. Homes and major developments can have funding and planning permission in place, but still be held back if the water, energy or transport capacity they depend on is not ready. So an integrated approach to planning infrastructure is critical.

For a company as risky to humanity's existence as Anthropic (“Anthropic scientist quits amid fears for humankind”, Report, September 10), many other questions remain about the rigour of its oversight body. Why are there no longer any trustees who

The prize could be an infrastructure network which delivers economic and social benefits and is resilient to climate change. The alternative is supporting declining infrastructure which is holding back vital growth in the UK.

Paula Walsh

Arup's MD for Europe, India, Middle East and Africa, London W1, UK

are experts in the attempt to align AI with human values? When (if ever) will the trust return to five members? Are the trust members working full-time in their role? How can conflicts of interest be managed when trustees can receive revolving-door employment at Anthropic? How exactly are new trustees selected or existing trustees renewed after their one-year term expires?

Presumably Anthropic will be asked to reveal more about the Long-Term

Poetic counterpoint to Trump's election 'dividend'

President Donald Trump's promise of a \$5,000 "dividend" for every adult citizen if his party retains Congress in November (September 11) recalls the penniless but unbowed voter in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "The Poor Voter on Election Day", who declares that "The wide world has not wealth to buy / The power in my right hand!"

How true, and how ironic. It is the self-styled chief executive and distributor of dividends, richest of men and master of tariffs, who now comes courting the seemingly lowly voter. In offering \$5,000 a head to buy an election he appears to believe is all but lost, he displays not his strength but his weakness and his need.

If voters are the shareholders in the American democratic enterprise, then the only dividend they are truly owed is the one Whittier long ago declared: "[their] palace is the people's hall / The ballot-box [their] throne".

Email: letters.editor@ft.com

That is a dividend no tariff can fund, and no president, however rich, can buy.

John Gaffney

Newmarket, County Cork, Ireland

Include daytime telephone number and full address Corrections: corrections@ft.com

Benefit Trust when it releases an official prospectus prior to any IPO. If Anthropic wants to maintain credibility as the AI lab most serious about safety, transparency and accountability it ought to go much further than the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission in its disclosures about the trust. Ewan Kingston

Assistant Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship Department, Santa Clara University, San Jose, CA, US.

Masters in Marxist norms?

FT Business Education has ranked Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Antai school third worldwide among 100 masters in management courses (FT.com, September 7).

Nothing wrong with being Chinese in China, of course, but we are entitled to more on the school's “global” vocation. You report that 95 per cent of the faculty are Chinese, while the school's website suggests that the 10-person “Executive Team” and the 36-strong “Academic and Academic Degrees Committees” are 100 per cent Han Chinese.

It would be useful to know what proportion are members of the Chinese Communist Party, and perforce propagate the party's singular lines on economics, society and geopolitics. Antai ranks 21st for "ESG and net zero" teaching, the hours spent on "ethics, social and environmental issues and climate solutions". Do these resemble what might be heard in most countries, or do they refract the CCP's views, say on ethnicity and "Marxist" norms? Matthew Olex-Szczytowski MBA Insead (4th in the FT rankings), Warsaw, Poland

OUTLOOK

BETHLEHEM

Bach choir is a rare symbol of unity in a US swing state

by Ilya Gridneff

n a Monday night in late August, Ryan Morrow joined 120 other members of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem to

take solace in song and transcend a country filled with political discord.

"We all may sing a different voice part within the hymn but we still sing one hymn, right?" he says.

Morrow, a 40-year-old music teacher, can trace his family roots back to the early Moravian settlers who founded Bethlehem in 1741 after fleeing what is now part of Germany and the Czech Republic. But he is the first of his family to join the choir.

For more than 125 years, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem has made this small city famous for its voice. It is the oldest Bach choir in the US, championed by the industrial tycoon Charles Schwab, who was president of both the Bethlehem steel mill and the Bach choir in the early 20th century.

From Carnegie Hall to the BBC Proms to Bachfest in Leipzig, the volunteer ensemble has performed at some of the world's best-known venues and festivals. Closer to home, it has become a rare symbol of unity in a divided state.

Bethlehem is one of the key electoral battlegrounds in the US. Donald Trump won this post-industrial Pennsylvania city's district by three points in 2016, lost by less than a point in 2020 and then won again by three points in 2024.

In July, the president sought to galvanise support for Republican

Congressman Ryan Mackenzie with a rally in Macungie, a 30-minute drive south from Bethlehem, ahead of a tight race in November's midterms.

In the same month, Quinnipiac University, a non-partisan university pollster, found that 56 per cent of Pennsylvanian voters approved of Democrat Josh Shapiro's performance as governor (although this was a four-point dip from last year).

It does not take long for choir board member Anthony Thompson, an 80-something former attorney, to state that he voted for Trump in the past three elections. “Who else could you have voted for?” he says. “I did not want the alternatives,” he adds.

Even so, Thompson insists that all politics are left at the choir door. Fellow board member Harold Black says people are fed up with talking about Trump. "When you're singing in a choir, or listening, you're not fretting over existential problems," he says. "You let the sound wash over you, to be free."

Choir master Christopher Jackson agrees. He says the choir “transcends the blue and red divide”. Via outreach and school programmes it tries instead to be useful to the community. “It is a refuge,” he says. “It presents an opportunity for people to come together, to step away from the divisions.”

Unlike other rustbelt towns across the US, Bethlehem did not face dismal decline after the closure of its steel mill in 1995. This is partly due to the arrival of companies like B Braun,

Mack Trucks and Crayola. This month yoghurt-maker Chobani announced a five-year plan to invest \$1.2bn in the Lehigh Valley, creating 900 jobs.

But there is notable poverty here, with low home-ownership levels and nearly 16 per cent of people living with an income that is below their basic needs. Rising housing costs and inflation are concerns that could increase political divergence. Census data shows that Bethlehem is split between a non-Hispanic white majority and a growing Latino population, at 56.1 per cent and 28.7 per cent respectively. Hispanic working-class families are becoming the new political battleground.

Still, Morrow believes that there is a unity in the Moravian faith that he thinks underscores the town's politics. A Protestant denomination, it calls for “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity”.

This seems to chime with the choir's executive director Leela Breithaupt's claim that significant donor support "entrusts the Bach choir continues as a central part of the fabric of our community for generations to come".

But Chip Dangelmajer, a 60-something small-business owner and choir board member, is more pragmatic about life in both Bethlehem and Trump's America. "I really don't care about red or blue," he says, before leaning in with a joke: "I just want to see the green."

ilya.gridneff@ft.com

Apple's trust premium in the age of AI

COMPANIES

Robert Armstrong

T

he new folding-screen iPhone will set you back \$1,999 for the base model — new territory for an Apple handset. Apple's stock is even more expensive, though. Trading at 36 times the coming years' expected earnings, its valuation multiple is higher than it has been since the early days of the iPhone, when the company was growing like wildfire.

This summer, Apple has opened up a big, sustained valuation premium over Microsoft (25), Alphabet (26), Amazon (27), Nvidia (18) and Meta (21). Among the “Magnificent Seven” only Tesla has a richer price-to-earnings ratio – and only because it is inflated by low earnings.

Apple never approached the top spot on the valuation table, even briefly, before late last year. For many years, its multiple was depressed by fears that its dominance in phones would prove fleeting, as Nokia's and BlackBerry's did. And then its growth rate was slow by big tech standards. That latter point remains true: the market expects Apple's earnings to grow at a high single-digit rate in the next few years, slower than its big peers. The company also faces new challenges, notably input cost inflation and slowing growth in its services business. And yet its valuation is pulling away. Why?

Explaining stock markets is more art than science, but here's an informed guess: Apple's valuation reflects investors' desire to own tech stocks that are not concentrated bets on AI. "Apple tends to be countercyclical from a risk appetite perspective," says David Vogt of UBS. A year or two ago, when enthusiasm for AI was running hot, there was no Apple premium to speak of. "What has changed is the view that doing billions in capex to support the AI model makers might not be the best investment." Apple is more or less sitting out the AI money fight.

Even before the latest wave of worries about the existential risk from self-improving frontier AI models, then, markets were signalling discomfort with the AI trade by giving Apple a premium. Having AI chief executives concede that they might lose control of their own technology, just as they are preparing for public listings, will not put anyone at ease. But there is more to the Apple pre-

Other tech businesses cannot even promise that their product will not go rogue and harm you

mium than the absence of AI risk in a market crammed with the stuff; Apple is selling trust in a world that is increasingly short of it.

Privacy is a cornerstone of Apple's sales pitch. Former boss Tim Cook almost never made a public presentation without hammering on Apple's promise to keep customers' data safe, even from Apple itself. The new CEO

John Ternus followed the pattern at the start of the new phone launch. “Apple Intelligence” – the AI tool that the company is building into its devices – runs locally where it can, and uses an encrypted “private cloud” when more computer power is required. Other companies “see [your] data as something to collect”.

The pitch has worked brilliantly at keeping Apple customers loyal; iPhone users almost never switch to other brands. And trust is exactly what the AI companies are missing right now and will need to establish if they are to live up to Wall Street's dizzy expectations.

Trust is built on accountability, but the AI companies – from hyperscalers like Google to model builders like OpenAI and Anthropic – have been unable and unwilling to make themselves accountable. Apple, in the internet age, promised: "your data will be safe." The AI companies cannot even promise that their product will not go rogue and harm you. Instead, they have focused on what someone else – the industry as a whole, third-party monitors, the government – needs to do to make sure their technology stays under control. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's letter calling for an industry "pause" is best read as an effort to socialise, rather than accept, accountability for product safety at his company. Until he and his company start making hard commitments, in the way Apple did with privacy, trust will remain beyond reach.

This is not to say that the Apple premium is safe in the age of AI. The company wants its devices to be the best host for AI services. In order to do that without spending hundreds of billions on its own AI infrastructure, its foundation models will run on Google's infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether this collaboration, and the attendant loss of complete control, can deliver a great experience while honouring the promise of privacy.

Apple is often described as a “walled garden” where the user experience is carefully cultivated. But AI does not like walls. So while AI companies should look to Apple’s trust-building model, Apple’s own model is going to have to change too.

robert.armstrong@ft.com

The UK right's patriotism problem

POLITICS

Janan Ganesh

S

adiq Khan says it is time to defend London against hostile propaganda from the American right. No. Just brush it off. It is beneath the dignity of the best city on Earth to rebut hate videos that someone called RedPill3000 or whatever posts from a ghastly Sun Belt condo. (Or from Moscow.) Also, the hatred is a perverse compliment. Which other city, century after century, unhinges people like this? Which has got inside the heads of tsars and French officials and now Maga? I don't know but the interest is not reciprocated.

It is at least nice to see whose side Khan is on. Others in British politics, further to the right, leave some doubt. Nigel Farage is tongue-tied whenever Americans smear his nation. Perhaps the Reform UK leader doesn't want to contradict his friends. Perhaps he agrees with them.

This month, two of Farage's colleagues stepped down after a television sting. In the footage, each seems to propose ways around British electoral law in order to receive a donation from an American. Soon after, Reform UK accepted a total of £72mn from two entrepreneurs who had until recently been living in Hong Kong and Thailand. As with Farage's silence about Maga's anglophobia, these gifts seem odd for a British nativist movement. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Koh Samui.

The British right has a patriotism problem. Or would, if Andy Burnham chooses to make an issue of it. Whatever else is wrong with the Labour prime minister – a certain glibness, for example – he seems at ease in his own country.

So do most of his compatriots. Some 57 per cent of Britons are “fairly satisfied” with life. You have to add up those who are “not at all satisfied” and “not very satisfied” just to reach 31 per cent. That share could be enough to elect Farage, of course, given the fragmentation of politics, but he would need to mobilise quite a lot of it and hope the more-or-less content majority doesn’t consolidate behind a cheerier party.

British voters, like American ones, are glum about their country in the abstract but not about their own lives. And so an opposition politician has to proceed with care. Bashing a vague “status quo” is fine. Cross into all-purpose negativity, however, and people start to ask questions. For example, if things are so irredeemable, what would be the point of a new government? Also, do I want to spend five years with this person?

If the right becomes what the left has stereotypically been – a drag to be around – it will lose. Ask yourself who was the last incoming elected prime minister who was a downer. Sir Keir Starmer became one in office and never recovered. The correct answer is perhaps Ted Heath in 1970, and even he just had a lugubrious personal manner rather than an apocalyptic view of Britain.

“Life is crap, vote for us” is a losing message. The first half is not true and, even if it were, the second does not follow. Farage, who built his career on studied bonhomie, used to know all this. Two things have changed since then. One is that he has grown morose with age. The other is that a movement of even bleaker people has grown around him: not just billionaires of a millenarian cast of mind but a voter base that likes very little about modern Britain. More Labour, Liberal

Bashing a vague 'status quo' is fine. Cross into overall negativity and people start to ask questions

Democrat and Green voters approve of King Charles than do Reform UK voters, whose view of other national institutions, and of their fellow citizens, is no sunnier.

If a socialist is someone who loves The People more than actual persons — the unsmiling Lenin being the classic case — a nationalist is not so different. An abstraction called Britain is dear to them, just not many currently existing three-dimensional elements of it. Even Kemi Badenoch can seem uncomfortable with the country as it is. According to the Conservative leader, Britain must never become “multicultural”. First of all, too late. Second, if the alternative is “assimilation”, as she suggests, where has it worked? France? She should state which of the following she regards as more harmonious, and less of a powder keg: London or Paris, Manchester or Marseille.

Years ago, some western conservatives got it into their heads that Russia, which has a lower fertility rate than Britain, was a fortress of Christian tradition. The constant need to believe that somewhere else has got things right is rather suspect. Oikophobia, the fear or rejection of one's own, is seen as a disease of the liberal left. Looking at Khan stick up for London, that seems unfair. Last year, Ed Miliband told Elon Musk to “butt out of our politics” while British conservatives stared at their shoes.

To run on patriotism from the left is audacious, but there are successful precedents. Mark Carney in Canada and Anthony Albanese in Australia did it, with some unwitting help from Donald Trump. Burnham is a more natural demagogue than either. He could stigmatise Reform as the plaything of Trump-smitten exiles and bitcoin bros whose first loyalty is to their purses. It is crude stuff and might arouse primal emotions among voters, but he is not going to win the next election with a flutter of those eyelashes alone. “Love it or leave it,” jingoes used to say to critics of their country. We love it, you left it, Burnham can say to at least a few Reform donors.

janan.ganesh@ft.com

We need an observatory for the cooling north Atlantic

Ben Judah

W e are standing on the threshold of pushing global temperatures up by 1.5°C, a level the Paris Agreement identi-

fies as significant for the tipping points it could trigger in the climate system. And yet, ironically, one of the most alarming of those tipping points, and one we are least prepared for in the UK, has to do with making part of the north Atlantic Ocean colder.

A string of scientific studies has shown that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or Amoc, which brings vast amounts of warm water from the tropics to northern regions and makes them remarkably more habitable than they would otherwise be at such latitudes, is weakening. Today a growing body of scientists believes this system is at risk of collapse if current warming continues through rising emissions.

Britain is particularly exposed. The science says that a collapse of the Amoc would lower London's average winter temperature to about 2°C, with once-a-decade extremes of -20°C. Across the country it could reduce the nation's share of arable land through severe drying from 32 per cent to just 7 per cent.

While we pursue net zero carbon emissions and are committed to Nato's target of spending 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035 to guard against the threat of war with Russia, this long-term risk needs diplomatic attention. Such a risk is too great for north Atlantic states not to take seriously.

Consider the research. As it stands, this is currently scattered and often contradictory. There is no single gold-standard research centre that can be used as a reference point for such a debate. We need more than our existing array – we need a consortium to conduct the full range of analysis and measurements to understand them and provide governments with an early warning system. The issue is distinctly lacking a political champion. This is an opportunity for Ed Miliband as foreign secretary to showcase effective climate diplomacy.

There is a diplomatic opening here that Britain should seize upon. Not just climate scientists but increasingly governments are alarmed. In 2025, the Icelandic National Security Council desig-

There is no gold-standard research centre that can be used as a reference point for such a debate

nated the collapse of Amoc a national security risk. Meanwhile, Norwegian experts have suggested doing the same while academics in Denmark have pushed for Amoc to be better included in IPCC research and the Nordic Council has published an official report on the risks of collapse.

The UK should convene a coalition of concerned north Atlantic states to establish an Amoc Observatory, with an early warning system to be the global reference point on the issue. A highly respected, impartial reference body, regularly updating concerned nations, could do for Amoc what disease-surveillance networks already do for pandemics. The World Health Organization's Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, running since 1952, flags dangerous new virus strains to governments long before they can spread unchecked. An Amoc Observatory could perform the same function for tipping-point risk, sustaining and building the case for action. The potential coalition would include Iceland, Denmark, including the autonomous government of Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada.

Establishing an Amoc Observatory would not mean starting from scratch. The UK is already investing £80mn in improving early warning methods and creating new technologies — such as constellations of low-cost ocean and ice sensors, data-gathering robots and drones — to monitor north Atlantic tipping points through Aria's Forecasting Tipping Points programme.

Centres of excellence like Exeter University have a longstanding global leadership role in modelling in this area. Both Exeter and Aria work closely with Nordic scientific and academic partners. A new Amoc Observatory would bring together these existing projects. With the Foreign Office cutting budgets, this could be achieved primarily through leveraging existing resources.

Picture the foreign secretary, assembling his peers from across the north Atlantic in London to launch such an observatory. After a summer of shocking, unprecedented heatwaves, with many Labour voters still considering the Greens, such an occasion would enable the government to renew the case for net zero under assault from President Donald Trump and the climate-sceptic right. The UK government would not be pursuing action because of some vague global temperature but to avert a tipping point that risks making life in Britain colder, drier and harsher.

The writer is a visiting fellow at Chatham House and a former Labour special adviser

EU should not boost resilience at the expense of its partners

Kazutoshi Aikawa

remember the Inflation Reduction Act? The Biden administration's objective then was clear: to accelerate the green transition and strengthen America's industrial resilience. Yet some of its provisions caused an outcry among US allies, particularly in Europe, because they risked disrupting investment and supply chains involving trusted partners.

The EU's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act appears to go further down the same path. It intends to strengthen European competitiveness and reduce strategic vulnerabilities. However, there are elements of the legislation that similarly risk creating unintended consequences for Europe's closest partners, including Japan.

Consider the proposed conditions in the IAA for financial support for corporate electric vehicles. Eligibility would depend on detailed EU content requirements, which are dubious in the light of WTO rules. Those overlook the reality of today's integrated supply chain ecosystem, inadvertently penalising trusted partners that are already deeply integrated into Europe's industrial base. Moreover, if EU-made components are sent outside the bloc and later return as finished products but are no longer treated as EU products, European companies themselves could also be affected.

An automobile is the product of years of research and development, which requires long-term capital investment and a network of suppliers across borders. A vehicle may be designed in one

An Industrial Accelerator Act would risk creating unintended consequences for allies, including Japan

country, contain components and technologies developed and produced in several others, and the whole be assembled somewhere else.

Japanese automobile companies have long invested in Europe. In 2025, they produced approximately 614,000 vehicles within the EU. They currently operate 13 manufacturing bases and 19 R&D centres with 160,000 European workers. In effect, they are contributing to Europe's industrial strength.

What is needed to enhance European competitiveness is to create a more reliable and secure supply-chain process encompassing trusted partners such as Japan – not simply focusing on the nationalities of car brands or where one part of the process, such as final assembly, takes place.

Today, competitiveness and economic security are increasingly two sides of the same coin. And Japan and the EU are showing how this works in practice.

Take critical minerals. France's Caremag rare earth refining project is being supported by Japan's Jogmec and Iwatani. Japan and France are investing up to €206mn together and have secured a long-term supply agreement for heavy rare earths, while the project will also process recycled materials. This is precisely what resilient supply chains should be: European industrial capacity combined with trusted international investment, technology and long-term commitments.

Europe has every right to promote domestic investment and strengthen its industrial base. It is also not unreasonable for governments to attach conditions to public support in accordance with international rules. The question, however, is whether those conditions recognise the realities of today's cross-border supply chain ecosystem and the value of international partnerships.

The IAA should not – even inadvertently – penalise the companies of close partners, which have invested deeply in Europe and become part of its industrial networks simply because their headquarters happen to be elsewhere. Trusted international partners are part of Europe's industrial strength.

In today's increasingly challenging geopolitical and geoeconomic environment, Japan and the EU will be stronger together. We have repeatedly proven that challenges can be overcome through collaboration and co-operation, and should do the same this time around.

The writer is Japan's ambassador to the EU

Mercedes Ruehl Switzerland has turned fierce tax competition into a national sport BUSINESS INSIGHT

St James's Place looks well attired for the AI wealth party

St James's Place is one of the worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks — David G/Alamy

arties with St James's Place aren't as raucous as they used to be. Executives and advisers from the UK's largest wealth manager

gathered at a luxury Hertfordshire hotel for an annual conference this week, but the focus was business rather than pleasure: out with celebrity guests, in with panel talks.

This fits in with the market zeitgeist: SJP is one of the worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks, down a fifth this year.

Investors fear the company might struggle to retain two important groups: customers and advisers. In the age of AI, the first may be wooed by chatbots that offer complex financial solutions for free: a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority earlier this year found that almost a fifth of respondents were already using AI to help with their finances.

Advisers, meanwhile, face temptation to jump ship amid pay changes and rising competition from the likes of KKR-backed Söderberg.

The two constituencies are linked of course. The selling point of wealth managers like SJP and Rathbones is not really their unique investing ability but the prestige and reassurance that comes from having a dedicated individual looking after your interests.

SJP's "partnership" of around 5,000 advisers is therefore its best defence against AI – and also against the many banks trying to break into the wealth management sector.

That means that it is important for SJP to keep the partners onside. The departure in July of two of its biggest firms – SJP runs on something like a franchise model — caused its shares to tumble 8 per cent.

Chief executive Mark FitzPatrick has been trying to overhaul the company's culture and fees after years of criticism, which may be more welcomed by clients than by advisers, many of whom did well under the old system.

Going back to the old regime of opaque client fees and luxury gifts for

There is certainly space to expand into: only 9 per cent of UK adults receive regulated financial advice

star advisers isn't really an option. Regulators would be unimpressed. But SJP is at least nearing the end of its awkward transitional phase, which also involved cost cuts and reviewing accusations of mis-selling. That means it should soon be able to focus on growth rather than historic issues.

There is certainly space to expand into: only 9 per cent of British adults receive regulated financial advice. The transfer of wealth from baby boomers to their children, along with increasingly high taxes and complex pension rules, will increase the number of people who need assistance.

SJP's adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to dip 5 per cent this year, according to analyst estimates gathered by Visible Alpha, because of the shift to a new charging structure.

But it is forecast to rebound with growth of more than 20 per cent a year between 2027 and 2029. That would boost morale among advisers and investors alike.

Some of the industry's fears around AI may actually help. Even clients who want a human touch will expect their advisers to keep up with tech-enabled offerings.

For the adviser, then, it helps to be part of a group with the largest investment budget and deepest datasets. And if AI helps each of them serve more clients, there should be plenty of money to fund champagne and parties, even if SJP isn't the one directly footing the bill.

Japan has good reason to welcome the arrival of driverless taxis

Japan is running short of taxi drivers just as cars are learning to drive without them. That convergence is set to face its first real commercial test.

Alphabet's autonomous driving unit Waymo, Japanese taxi app operator GO and taxi group Nihon Kotsu intend to launch Japan's first fully autonomous commercial taxi service in Tokyo next year with a small fleet before expanding to about 100 cars.

For companies such as Toyota Group that may seem like a rounding error. But if these first robotaxis prove that autonomous fleets can operate commercially in Japan, they would create an entirely new source of recurring vehicle demand for local automakers.

Japan has been relatively slow to embrace the electric car boom. Autonomous driving could develop differently. Japan has spent years laying the groundwork for commercial deployment through trials and regulatory changes.

For Waymo, Tokyo is its first planned commercial market outside the US as well as its first real test of whether its US business model can travel. Waymo says it now provides over 500,000 fully autonomous trips a week across 15 US cities, around 26mn rides on an annualised basis. Successfully transferring that model to Tokyo would serve as strong evidence that Waymo's technology and operating model can work beyond the US.

If Waymo proves that model can travel, Japan's carmakers would be among the biggest beneficiaries. Autonomous taxis operate across multiple shifts, racking up mileage faster than privately owned cars and shortening replacement cycles.

Nissan already has a clear route into that market. Earlier this year, Nissan, Wayve and Uber announced plans for a Tokyo robotaxi pilot using Nissan EVs equipped with Wayve's AI Driver, with rides available through Uber. Toyota and Waymo, meanwhile, agreed last year to explore developing a new autonomous-vehicle platform.

But crucially, Japan has a structural reason for robotaxis to grow. The country continues to face a shortage of taxi drivers. That shortage could accelerate robotaxi adoption.

While other countries debate the dangers of displacing drivers, Japan has reason to race ahead.

Oura will struggle to justify its pulse-racing valuation of \$16bn

What's your score? Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow aren't the only wearers of Oura smart rings to obsess over their daily sleep ratings. The Finnish-American wearables maker's upcoming initial public offering is the latest sign of investor interest in so-called preventive healthcare. But to justify a mooted \$16bn valuation, it will need endorsements of a more scientific kind.

The current wave of efforts to bind wearers ever more closely to devices, from connected glasses and wristbands to sensor-bearing socks, may bring in \$1tn in cumulative sales between this year and 2032, estimates tech specialist Counterpoint Research. Smart rings account for \$44bn, a fraction of the \$300bn-plus each for watches and hearing devices such as earbuds and smart hearing aids.

As care costs soar, the health-related uses become more valuable. Continuous monitoring might flag a problem sooner than a patient's next routine medical visit. Apple, Samsung and Google's Fitbit unit have variously got the green light for functions detecting potential arrhythmia, sleep apnoea and hypertension, among other conditions. Once a user has built up months or years of data in a particular device, they're less likely to swap to a rival.

Oura's business doesn't rely on regulatory approvals for its data or functions, but it is bang in the space between health gadget and medical device. Multiple clinical studies are using its data while last year the 13-year-old company appointed its first chief medical officer. A partnership with Essence Healthcare enables eligible plan beneficiaries to get an Oura ring with a subscription – and for their data to be monitored by the US insurer's doctors.

Being accepted into the medical orthodoxy could be financially transformative. But even then, the suggested valuation looks pulse-racingly high. Apple and Garmin, device makers par excellence, trade at around 20 times forward ebitda, according to LSEG. Even if Oura's ebitda doubles this year, it would be trading at 80 times. Profit would need to double three years in a row to bring its valuation into line with its much-larger peers.

To be more than a lifestyle gadget, Oura and rivals also need to overcome doctors' concerns: a survey this year from the American Medical Association showed four-fifths of doctors used wearables themselves, but raised professional issues including their legal liability and the cost of monitoring data.

Still, with two-fifths of Oura's new users being drawn in by word of mouth, wearables fans are already proving a persuasive bunch.

NIKKEI Asia The voice of the Asian century
CROSSWORD No 18,482 by STEERPIKE

Solution 18,481
JOTTER PAD

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1 Report murder? (8)

5 Bad knight caught in incursion (6)
9 Spoilt child clutches medal broken by Welsh bully (8)

10 Retreat from wood pursued by horned beast (6)

11 Maureen struggling to admit model's skilled in arithmetic (8)

12 Publication damning US ally is oddly ignored (6)

14 Formal meals initially cancelled by heads of top-flight rugby clubs (10) 18 Trained frogmen guarding island silence shopkeeper (10)

22 Revolutionary bumps into European count (6)

23 Remain at a standstill in Spooner's horse country (8)

24 Retracted affidavit, essentially about wife meeting Italian on vacation (4,2) 25 Salient changes involving international lists (8)

26 Taking portion of meagre fee, realtor flipped joint (6)

27 Keep going on about extremely baroque party (8)

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2 Passionate tale entertains medium (6)
3 Gold polish turned base of crown reddish-brown (6)

4 Companion taking tea, say, in opening of novel (7,3)

6 Sailor finally falls in the drink (8) 7 Material boys discovered chasing dog across ring road (8)

8 Flatten misshapen shield employing standard method (8)

13 Blend ultimately potent drink after three months without whiskey (10)

15 Bid to control outcome for criminal (8)
16 One might say waiter's high on Ecstasy (2,2,4)

17 Steerpike's peevishness about church upset halfwit (8)

19 Animal droppings mostly dumped in middle of Adriatic (6)

20 Partaking in fracas in opulent entertainment venue (6)
21 Promotional footage regularly claimed Greens made it up (6)

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The Business of Sailing

Thursday September 17 2026

www.ft.com/reports

Australia fights to reclaim SailGP title

Tom Slingsby racing: 'We sell ourselves as the most successful team, to hold that tag we've got to keep winning'

High-profile owners will help grow league, says team boss Tom Slingsby. By Samuel Agini

Ryan Reynolds has already turned little-known Welsh football club AFC Wrexham into a household name through a Disney-broadcast

documentary series. Sailing is his next challenge.

Since investing in the Australia SailGP Team with fellow actor Hugh Jackman last year, Reynolds has struck another deal with Disney. This time, the company's streaming platform will screen a new docuseries about the global sailing league from Reynolds's production company Maximum Effort.

Reynolds and Jackman, who co-starred in Hollywood superhero film Deadpool & Wolverine, “could exponentially grow” SailGP, says Australian team boss and driver Tom Slingsby.

Slingsby, a champion sailor, has high hopes for the behind-the-scenes series but he is conscious that sailing does not have the mainstream appeal of football.

“Obviously Welcome to Wrexham was a huge success but that’s dealing with football and that’s extremely popular worldwide, a lot more so than sailing,” Slingsby says. “I just want the sport to be celebrated and put out there and get more popularity.”

Slingsby knows what it takes to succeed in sailing. He won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and as a strategist for Team Oracle USA helped achieve the team's comeback to win the America's Cup the following year. In 2019, he led the Australian team to victory in the inaugural season of SailGP, the competition founded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and champion yachtsman Sir Russell Coutts.

The Australia SailGP team won the next two SailGP championships as well but the winning streak came to an end in 2024 when Spain's Los Gallos team broke Slingsby's grip on the title. The Australian outfit narrowly missed out to Emirates Great Britain last season.

Now in the final weeks of this year's competition, Slingsby's team, known as Bonds Flying Roos following a deal with the Australian clothing brand Bonds, is fighting to reclaim its title.

Bonds Flying Roos leads the pack going into the Geneva race on September 19-20, and is 17 points ahead of Los Gallos, a team owned by Israeli shipping tycoon Idan Ofer's Quantum Pacific Group.

But the SailGP format raises the stakes because gaining points in the early races only guarantees a spot in the winner-takes-all final, due to take place in November.

It would be the team's first championship since Jackman and Reynolds took a stake in 2025. Their arrival helped attract commercial partners including software company monday.com and online trading platform Blueberry.

"They do a post and they reach 100mn people and we do a post and we reach about 100,000," says Slingsby.

“Their involvement has had a huge impact,” he adds. “But also, the way we sell ourselves as the most successful team in SailGP, to hold that tag we’ve got to keep winning.”

Bonds Flying Roos generates “a bit over” \$10mn in annual revenue and is about to break even, he says. Commercial partnerships are the biggest source of revenue. Teams also take a cut from the league’s broadcast revenue. Slingsby hopes that broadcast and merchandise revenues increase. SailGP limits what teams can spend on operations and boat design to \$10mn, keeping costs down.

Despite the relatively low revenues, Slingsby estimates the team's valuation is in the ballpark of \$100mn, not out of kilter with rival SailGP teams. Those valuations are a sign that investors believe the league can grow.

Teams are now owned by external investors, with assets including the boats leased out to them by the central league.

Slingsby acknowledges the financial gap to teams in major sports leagues which trade for billions of dollars but notes the league's progress in its short life and the potential.

“You see what successful sporting franchises can be worth and ours are worth a lot less than that,” says Slingsby. “But if we do a good job with the promotion and growing the sport and the league then there’s a huge upside available.”

There are currently 13 teams in the league and Coutts, who is SailGP's chief executive, says six are now breaking even or almost profit-making. The league aims to reach 20 teams, he adds, Continued on page 2

Inside

Women challenge old-school culture Female representation is improving but there's still a big gender gap Page 2

Sailing tech reaches beyond marine sector Benefits of cross-industry collaboration Page 2

Ferrari Hypersail Using supercar tech to build a super-fast yacht Page 3

America's Cup enters new era Classic race makes bid to ensure future Plus career pathways Page 3

The Ocean Race aims for positive impact Event partner pushes organisers to rewrite rules of contest Page 3

THE YACHT-MASTER

The Business of Sailing

Women challenge old-school culture

Equality Female representation in sailing is improving but a big gender gap remains, writes Marianna Giusti

C

larisse Crémer was breastfeeding her two-month-old when she found out that her sponsor for the 2024 Vendée Globe race had dropped her.

France's Banque Populaire, one of ocean racing's biggest backers, terminated its contract with Crémer — then the fastest woman to sail solo around the world — after she took maternity leave, which the group said meant she was in “a situation which does not allow her to hope to obtain the number of points necessary to qualify”.

Public outcry ensued. “It had a huge emotional impact on me,” says Crémer, who later found a new sponsor and was able to compete in the race, before having a second baby. When women sailors secure sponsorship they are perceived to be “a bit too lucky”, she adds. “If we speak up a little bit, we’re just ‘angry women’. I wanted to prove [that] yes, you can be a mother and still perform.”

The sponsorship scandal highlights the gender barriers women sailors still face at all levels of the sector. Although female representation in sailing has made strides since 19th-century maritime superstitions branded women as “bad luck” on ships, recent data suggests today’s progress remains a drop in the ocean.

A survey published this year by The Magenta Project, a charity supporting diversity and inclusion in sailing and the marine industry, found that while female representation overall is increasing, more than two-thirds of the study's 2,500 respondents saw gender imbalance as a significant issue.

Sailing “still lives in the dark ages”, says professional yachtswoman Nikki Henderson, who was the youngest skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. “It’s still incredibly unusual to see a woman driving a boat into a marina. It’s

assumed that the man is the captain."

Being one of the few women sailing professionally comes with added scrutiny. “I didn’t feel like I was walking on solid ground,” says Henderson of her earlier career. “You don’t want to screw up even the tiniest amount, or you feel like it’s going to be taken away.”

Four-time competitor in The Ocean Race Abby Ehler recalls similar pressure, which meant “training on eggshells, trying not to make any mistakes”.

Pay disparity is also a problem. The Magenta Project found that, on average, female survey respondents in the sailing and marine industry earned 29 per cent less annually and 22 per cent less daily than men surveyed, which analysis suggested was due to differences in experience and access to certain roles.

The pay gap in sailing made headlines when Swiss professional offshore sailor

Elodie-Jane Mettraux left the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team ahead of the Women's America's Cup in 2024 claiming the financial conditions offered by the team to its female sailors were "not viable".

Magenta Project chief executive Victoria Low believes gender imbalance in sailing is largely a cultural problem, with the lack of gender regulation due to the sector's privately controlled nature.

"Sailing is essentially a private sport," she says. "If you had a massive yacht and you wanted to go sailing, you're going to go and call your mate aren't you? In order to make those fundamental changes, we need more female boat owners."

Round-the-world offshore races are dominated by men. The Vendée Globe had 15 per cent women competing in 2024 and The Ocean Race had 28 per cent in 2022-23. A broad skill set is

required to sail modern high-performance boats, and it is not just physical strength. "There is room for the guys that are gorillas," says Ehler, "but also for organisation, crew bossing [and] tactics."

There are, however, a growing number of international events rewriting the rules. This year, The

'You don't want to screw up or you feel like it's going to be taken away'

Ocean Race Atlantic, an offshoot of the round-the-world contest, mandated a 50:50 gender-balanced crew for the first time. The America's Cup race introduced a women's tournament in

Clockwise from left, racer Clarisse Crémer before the 2024 Vendée Globe; professional sailors Mia Karlsson and Sandra Marichal — Getty

2024, and in the same year the Paris Games had an equal split of male and female sailors — a first in Olympic history.

In adventure sailing, where people pay to sail under professional guidance, a few companies including Panexplore and 59° North have actively encouraged women to sign up after finding that their customers were mostly men, including organising all-women trips to help beginners feel more comfortable.

Professional yachtswoman JoJo Pickering set up a free online community called SheHelms to offer support to female sailors, with monthly meetings and a WhatsApp group. "Feeling like you're not on your own and you have support as a woman, I think makes a big difference," she says.

Balancing family life can be a challenge for professional crew with so much time spent at sea. Andy Schell and Mia Karlsson, co-founders of 59° North, take turns to look after their son at home while the other sails around the world.

"When you look around there are no moms in sailing," says Karlsson, yet there are "so many dads". They run a six-week sailing rota so that crew can spend time with their families, and more than half of the company's skippers are women. They all receive equal pay, says Schell: "We've never for one second considered that it should be different for men or women."

Panexplore reserves the deckhand jobs on board as entry-level positions for women. “It’s very difficult to get roles as a woman in the industry and so I try to give them an open door,” says Sandra Marichal, who manages Panexplore and left a career in technology and marketing to switch to sailing. “I was 36 when I tried to be a professional sailor and no one would hire me. I tried everywhere.”

When it comes to hiring skippers and mates, “women still write an essay to justify why they should work for us”, she says. “Whereas men are writing things like: ‘Oh, I know how to sail . . . Please hire me.’ It’s crazy!”

Australia fights to reclaim SailGP title

Continued from page 1 and to enter new markets including China and India.

“From a racing perspective, I think two fleets of 10 seems pretty good,” says Slingsby. He acknowledges that a larger league would intensify competition between teams for sponsors but sees that as “a small problem for growth”.

He recognises the uncertainty hanging over the conclusion to the SailGP season, with races scheduled to take place in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as they might get disrupted by the Iran war. But he trusts the SailGP leadership to handle what could be a tense situation.

It is an issue faced by many major sports leagues. Malaysia is set to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix on behalf of Bahrain in October. The original event was scheduled for April but had to move after Bahrain was hit by drone strikes. Qatar and Abu Dhabi are meant to host the final two races of the F1 season but could be similarly affected.

"At the moment, I think the plan is to do our final two events in the UAE, but I think if things escalate a lot of that may change. At the moment we're just sort of

Bonds Flying Roos makes over \$10mn in annual revenue and is close to breaking even

taking [SailGP's] lead," he says.

What is certain is that SailGP will keep racing in Australia, following a deal to keep Perth on the calendar until at least 2028. Could Bonds Flying Roos strike up the same following as the Wallabies rugby team or the Socceros in football?

"We've seen a lot of growth over the years, but we've got a long way to go if we want to be a recognisable sporting brand in Australia," says Slingsby. "The Wallabies are a long way ahead of us . . . that would be the goal one day: to make it like they did."

8:32 am Friday

Technology transfers prove key to latest sailing innovations

of commercial catamarans used to transfer crew to offshore wind projects.

Design

Rapid pace of development shows benefits of cross-industry collaboration, writes Victor Mallet

Alessandro Stagni and his Italian friends were not the first sailors to notice the problem, but they were among the first to do something about it: most small boats and yachts built in the past half a century are made of glass-reinforced plastic, known as fibreglass, which is durable at sea but very hard to recycle.

“We sail all around Europe,” says Stagni, a mechanical engineer and competitive sailor who is now the chief technology officer of Northern Light Composites in the Italian port town Monfalcone, “In each harbour you often see tens of boats abandoned there. For the last owner of the boat, it’s much easier to forget about it . . . but it ends up as microplastic in our seas.”

The friends, who have sailed together since childhood, launched their start-up seven years ago to develop recyclable composites as an alternative to fibre-glass in boat building.

Their patented product rComposite uses the recyclable resin Elium from the French chemicals company Arkema to make NL Composites' own championship-winning sailing boats (yachtmaker Beneteau is also starting to use Elium). The product, along with other composites such as EcoMinera from marine technology group Expedition Zero, illustrates just one aspect of the rapid pace of innovation in sailing.

Such materials are part of a bigger explosion of new products and systems in which industries from marine, aerospace, motor-racing and renewable energy cross-fertilise each other.

"All this [innovation in marine design] is coming from other industries, so there's definitely a transfer of technology," says Monaco-based superyacht designer Espen ∅ino.

He notes the increased importance of electric propulsion, computing power and sensors in yachts, for example. Lightweight construction materials such as carbon, along with the development of hydrofoils, have transformed design, he adds. He is even preparing for the use of small modular nuclear reactors as power units for superyachts in the next five to 10 years.

Technology developed for sailing is also proving its use in other industries.

NL Composites is creating prototypes for wind turbine blades using recyclable resin and trying to license use of the material in everything from surfboards and helmets to water treatment plants and cooling towers. “The challenge for us is moving from marine leisure into more industrial sectors,” says Stagni.

The UK's BAR Technologies, spun out

BAR Technologies developed rigid, wind-assisted propulsion sails for use on cargo ships

of the British America's Cup challenge in 2017, is applying skills and systems honed in the sailing race to the broader marine industry and renewables sector.

This includes the foils used in the America's Cup since 2013 to lift boats out of the water, reducing water resistance so they can go faster, and the sensors and "flight control systems" that permit the skipper to drive the boats.

Based in Portsmouth, the marine engineering company has collaborated with makers of leisure boats, including Princess Yachts in Plymouth and Spirit Yachts in Ipswich, to make high-speed foiling motorboats, and with operators

Head of operations and vessels at BAR Technologies Oliver Pendleton says the foils fitted to those catamarans save 15-20 per cent of the fuel on a typical journey and make the trips more comfortable in rough conditions.

Sails are also making a comeback in commercial shipping, but the new sails look nothing like the sailcloth expanses of old. Shipping line Maersk has signed a deal to retrofit the first wind sail on a container ship, a vertical rotor sail designed by British company Anemoi, to cut fuel consumption and comply with environmental regulations.

BAR Technologies is rolling out "WindWings" – vertical, 12-storey-high structures like aircraft wings and made of composites and steel. Lauren Eatwell, head of WindWings, says the fuel-saving solid sails are already fitted to six vessels, and a further four will be launched this year.

Hull and superstructure design is also ripe for change. A traditional cargo ship has a large vertical slab of accommodation for the bridge and the crew quarters at the stern, which produces wind resistance, so BAR Technologies created the "AeroBridge", a more efficient design, though Eatwell says it may take time to convince conservative shipowners.

Sometimes the new can come to the rescue of the old. Superyacht builder and refitter Pendennis Shipyard has a digital manufacturing centre at its facility in Falmouth that allows it to scan and recreate hard-to-find parts for classic sailing yachts and motorboats using computer-controlled lathes.

"We can machine things out of any metal – brass, aluminium, titanium," says managing director Toby Allies. "You can replicate, say, the shape of some stanchions, in the style in which they would have been built in the 1920s or 1930s."

Contributors

Samuel Agini
Sports business reporter

Marianna Giusti Weekend growth and engagement journalist

Kana Inagaki Industry editor

Victor Mallet Senior editor, world news desk

George Timms Freelance journalist

Amy Bell
Commissioning editor

Steven Bird Designer

Esan Swan Picture editor

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The Business of Sailing

Ferrari aims for round-the-world records with Hypersail

Strong but light: the 100ft yacht's hull has been built with carbon fibre

Innovation

Company is building a ‘self-sufficient’ foiling yacht using technology developed for its cars, writes Kana Inagaki

A year after Ferrari began developing its first electric car in 2021, the carmaker's executive chair John Elkann floated the question of whether the Italian group could apply its motoring roots and technology to the world of ocean racing.

After months of evaluation, its engineers agreed to venture into new territory with the making of Ferrari Hypersail – a 100ft foiling yacht that is scheduled to launch next year and aims to break records as the fastest to race around the world.

“We realised that Hypersail for us could be a big innovation platform,” says Matteo Lanzavecchia, Hypersail’s chief technology officer who also leads vehicle engineering for Ferrari’s sports cars. “It’s more like a laboratory.”

Hypersail is not a luxury yacht for its ultra-wealthy clients, nor does the company have any current plans to turn yacht-making into a separate business. Instead, Ferrari is building a vessel without a combustion engine that can reach the fastest speed while consuming as little energy as possible.

Designed as a monohull using carbon fibre, the Hypersail is the first yacht of its size to be “completely self-sufficient” using solar panels, wind turbines and crew-generated energy, Ferrari claims.

With its history in Formula 1 racing, the company also has big ambitions in offshore racing. The main goal for the Hypersail is to beat the Jules Verne record for the fastest circumnavigation that the Sodebo Ultim 3 boat achieved in January, having travelled around the Earth in 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes. It aims to do this while entirely generating its own electricity during the race.

"Inside the Ferrari DNA is racing . . . and testing new technology in an extreme environment," says Enrico Voltolini, a professional sailor, naval engineer and Hypersail's project leader.

Until now, Ferrari – known for the roaring engine noise of its supercars – had never built or designed a yacht in-house but executives say the Hypersail is another chapter of its evolution in energy management technology.

In 2024, Ferrari unveiled its \$3.9mn F80, a limited-production hybrid hypercar, after concluding that a fully electric version of the vehicle was not possible with battery technology.

The group then launched the Luce, its first five-seater sports car, in late May, powered by four electric motors, one attached to each wheel. The car was initially criticised on social media for its polarising design. Ferrari's executive chair Elkann acknowledged at the time that the company's foray into EVs was "an unnecessary risk" but added: "We have to be able to do something that has never been done."

While Ferrari has filed for more than 20 patents linked to Hypersail, the yacht is also equipped with many of the technologies that are found in Luce and other Ferrari vehicles. The yacht's foil and keel are powered by the same rear e-axle – the electric powertrain – used in the Luce. The idea was to use the same technology to make sure it was reliable, chief technology officer Lanzavecchia says, noting the challenge of innovating while ensuring the yacht's consistent performance in rough seas.

For the winch system — where a rotating drum is used to manually trim sails — Ferrari used technology developed for its 12Cilindri Manuale. The limited edition car with a V12 engine revived the feel of a mechanical gearbox using electronic signals. For the Hypersail's "winch-by-wire" system, the crew still pulls the lines on the winch, but their muscle power is also converted into electricity to help with sail trimming.

The technology transfer is also not solely from cars to boat. Voltolini says Ferrari is testing materials used for aerospace and military applications that could be used for cars, while power created from solar panels on the yacht could be applied to charging vehicles.

The company developed a simulation tool to evaluate various materials used in the yacht, such as the titanium and carbon fibre in the foils. That same tool is also used to test materials that would, for example, make a car roof strong but light, says Lanzavecchia.

"Innovation is contamination between different worlds," he says.

The ability to test and apply new technologies is another reason why Ferrari was drawn to offshore racing: rules in boat racing – such as the kind of technology that can be used – are far less stringent than in F1 races.

With construction of the Hypersail expected to finish by the end of this year, a key test is how the yacht performs when it hits the seas in 2027.

Before that, it needs to undergo feasibility tests and training of the crew to ensure they can safely handle the boat.

Despite the cutting-edge technology Ferrari has introduced, there are limitations to how fast the boat can go since the crew needs rest and time to recover while handling the yacht, says Voltolini.

Development of the Hypersail is set to last until 2031 to allow time for testing and refining the design before attempting the Jules Verne record.

“We have four to five years,” says Lanzavecchia, “so we would like to go and try to beat some records and at the same time evolve the boat.”

Racing Longstanding competition has come to an agreement about a new set of rules, writes Amy Bell

America's Cup makes bid to ensure long term future

n the Bay of Angels off the coast of southern Sardinia the sea catches the late spring sunlight under a clear blue sky. Red, white and green

flags on the marina ripple in the wind, smart motorboats dart around the bay and hundreds of mainly Italian fans line the waterfront.

According to local legend there was once a fight here between the archangel Michael and Lucifer, who was thrown off his horse into the sea below, leaving behind a rocky headland known as the Devil's Saddle.

On this May afternoon a different kind of battle is unfolding, as five sailing teams compete in the first preliminary regatta in Sardinia ahead of next year's 38th America's Cup in Naples. Racing yachts representing Italy, Great Britain, New Zealand, France and Switzerland glide across the water, lifted up on hydrofoils so that their sails appear to be flying past the mountains behind.

For Marzio Perrelli, appointed chief executive of the America's Cup Partnership only a month before, the spectacle of the fleet racing in Cagliari and the turnout from fans are good signs of what the main tournament will offer in Naples, where teams will compete head-to-head to determine who will face defending champions New Zealand.

“It has set the bar pretty high. Today sport is not just about the sport itself, it’s what surrounds the event,” says Perrelli, a former investment banker and media executive, who wants to take the Cup’s unique 175-year-old heritage – in which the structure and location of each event have previously been determined by the winner of the last one — and transform it into something that allows it to “shine even more today and tomorrow”.

The America's Cup, the world's oldest international competition still operating, is entering a new era. After 12 months of heated negotiations, and years of previous failed attempts, a new set of rules and shared governance structure were finally agreed last year.

"To keep the Cup as it was, it was going to die," says Grant Dalton, chief executive of Auckland-based sailing team Emirates Team New Zealand. "It just simply was not sustainable."

'To keep the [America's] Cup as it was, it was going to die . . . it just simply was not sustainable'

A cost cap of €55mn per team – intended to encourage more entrants to a tournament in which teams have historically been privately funded by billionaires – has already made an impact. With Australia and the US joining, there are now seven teams signed up to compete in Naples next July, whereas it had looked like there would only be three.

"It was becoming too expensive to participate," says Dalton. "And New Zealand has been so dominant [having won three Cups in a row] . . . it wasn't very appealing [for teams] to just drop another €200mn to get beaten again."

Under the new partnership, decisions about rules and schedule for the next event cycle must be agreed by all participating teams. The Cup will now take place every two years rather than every three or four, with smaller regattas occurring in between.

Sir Ben Ainslie is head of the British team GB1, designated as the official challenger team to New Zealand in next year's Cup. That position gave him a key role in the talks over rule changes.

“Previously the winner just sort of made it up so you never really got continuity,” he says. “Every time after the America’s Cup you had this gap.”

"In Cagliari, everyone was so happy to be back racing after a couple of years' hiatus. It makes you realise how important it is to stay relevant and keep that momentum," he says.

The new revisions bring certainty and structure to the event for the first time, making it possible to secure venue-hosting deals and long-term sponsorships, and to help teams become profitable.

“You can start planning and that’s a massive change,” says Emirates Team New Zealand’s Dalton, who for a long time was reluctant to give up the defending champion’s rights to make decisions about the next competition. “You know where the final of the World Cup will be next time already, whereas in the [previous] America’s Cup, you had no idea,” he says.

Boats on the water for the Cagliari America's Cup regatta; fans watching SailGP Valencia in September Getty Images

British team widens the net

Just as the America's Cup has made efforts to update its structure and rule book, the Cup's British team has been modernising its recruitment programme.

Participants have traditionally been very experienced sailors, often with Olympic medals. But Athena Sports Group, which includes the British America's Cup and SailGP teams, set up the Athena Pathway programme in 2022 after the introduction of

2022 after the introduction of women's and youth Cup tournaments, to help give a wider range of people the skills required for careers in sailing.

Trainees are selected through an open application and a trial process, giving aspiring athletes a chance to gain experience across the America's Cup and SailGP competitions.

which handles logistics, administration, and tech

"To have this available at that age is unbelievable," says Dylan Fletcher (pictured), helm of Britain's America's Cup team GB1 and Olympic gold medallist. "It took me until I was 36 to get involved in the Cup and I had to win a gold medal. Now you're running trials, just taking whoever's best."

Building up the shore-side team

— is also a priority, especially for the America's Cup, says Hannah Mills, team principal of the women's team Cobham-Ultra GB2 and co-founder of Athena Pathway. "It is full on, there's such a big team involved, with design, engineering, data," she says.

More places have recently opened up for women sailors: one woman has

been required on every SailGP boat since 2020, the

women's America's Cup was launched in 2024 with four women per boat, and one in five sailors racing in the main America's Cup will be a woman.

As a result, there is now a

clearer pathway for female athletes, says Mills: "When I was growing up there were no women involved, so you just never saw it as something you could do . . . it's a huge step forward."

Young people are benefiting too: Youth dinghy sailor Sam Webb applied to the Athena programme, impressed the team in the simulator trials and was soon flying out to Cagliari to compete in the America's Cup preliminary regatta.

Seeing the growth of sailing league SailGP was also a key factor in the decision. “SailGP has positioned itself as high impact, quick and close to the beach,” says Dalton. “We were getting our lunch eaten a little bit.”

SailGP, in which 13 teams race each other in foiling catamarans, has helped modernise the image of sailing, drawing in new audiences. The league's success may quieten criticism from traditionalists over the America's Cup's move towards foiling boats – it used to rely on monohulls that stayed in contact with the water – and faster speeds.

The changes towards speed and more advanced boats are boosting the tournament's appeal to investors, says Perrelli. "The Cup is an asset . . . now there is a platform, and it's early stage."

Oakley Capital's backing of the British team is a promising sign of private equity interest, he says. "I think they will be the first of many."

Oakley's investment gives the team stability and demonstrates the importance of the new Cup partnership, says GB1's Ainslie. "They're not going to make that kind of investment unless they can see that it's a structure that really stacks up," he says.

Organisers hope crowds return for the next preliminary regatta in Naples this month as momentum builds.

“We’re going to have the boats racing with Capri in the background, hundreds of thousands of people,” says Perrelli. “That will be one of the strongest images that the sport has ever produced.”

Partner to The Ocean Race pushes contest to rewrite its rules

Sustainability

Gender equality and ocean protection initiatives aim to reshape the sailing event, writes George Timms

While some organisations, from finance to technology, have quietly cut back on their climate action commitments, doing so in sailing would be particularly short-sighted – the sport depends on oceans that are increasingly threatened by pollution and climate change.

“We believe a sport that relies on the ocean has a responsibility to help protect it,” says Michelle Carnevale, president of 11th Hour Racing, a philanthropic entity using sailing to reshape how the sport and marine industry operate. It does this by funding and supporting environmental solutions, nonprofit organisations, teams and events.

Founded in 2010 by investor and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt with fellow sailors Rob MacMillan and Jeremy Pochman, 11th Hour Racing began after the trio became frustrated that while the sport seemed environmentally clean from the outside, it generates a significant amount of waste, such as in the use of single-use plastic.

Providing reusable bottles and portable water filters for the 52 Super Series yacht circuit reinforced their belief that more environmentally responsible practices could coexist with competitive performance.

Now 11th Hour Racing is doubling down on its ambition by pushing for environmental and social standards to be integrated into the rules of competitive sailing through The Ocean Race, a leading round-the-world sailing contest for crewed foiling yachts.

The Ocean Race, formerly the Whitbread Round the World Race, takes place every four years with the next competition starting from Alicante in

January. New events have recently been added in between, including The Ocean Race Europe in 2021 and The Ocean Race Atlantic this year, a 3,000-nautical-mile race from New York City to Lorient, France.

As a partner to the Atlantic race, 11th Hour Racing advised on the introduction of a 50:50 gender-balanced crew rule to increase female representation at the elite level.

"I'd hope that in a few years we won't need this rule anymore," says Francesca Clapcich, winner of the round-the-world version of the race in 2023 as part of the 11th Hour Racing Team.

As partner of The Ocean Race for over a decade, 11th Hour Racing has developed an ocean literacy programme and run events to influence ocean policy.

11th Hour Racing has “brought a lot of belief that we can perform well, but also do it with purpose and do it the right way”, says Clapcich. “It’s not just about telling people not to throw plastic in the water or bringing more women on to the water. It's a global approach: we want to [attract more] communities and make it more accessible."

Ahead of the Atlantic race, her team staged a tour to connect with grassroots sailing organisations on the US east coast, organising sailing days and boat tours to promote discussions around ocean health and sailing inclusivity.

Every team in The Ocean Race Atlantic raced on IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association) 60ft yachts. As IMOCA's sustainability partner, Carnevale says the event gave 11th Hour Racing “an opportunity to work across the class, the teams and the event itself”.

11th Hour Racing supported IMOCA in implementing a rule that reduces carbon emissions by 15 per cent (60 tonnes) in new boat builds between 2025 and 2028. While some participating boats in the Atlantic race predate this, all IMOCA teams are required to carry at least one Rise (Reduced Impact Sail Evaluation) certified sail, made with 30 per cent less carbon emissions per kg than conventional sails.

The organisation also helped fit the IMOCA fleet with equipment to collect ocean measurements from the Gulf Stream during the Atlantic race, including water samples for microplastics analysis.

“It is very natural for our teams and sailors to feel a responsibility to protect the ocean,” says Andrew Lamb, director of partnership development at The Ocean Race. “By spending so much time on the water, we are not just witnesses to the changes taking place, but first responders.”

Brand visibility and audience reach matter to 11th Hour Racing, but they are a means to achieving practical change rather than final objectives. “We look beyond traditional sponsorship metrics like brand visibility and ask questions,” says Carnevale. “What changed because we were involved? Did an idea or innovation move closer to becoming standard practice?”

“People increasingly expect sports brands and organisations to stand for something bigger than products and competition,” says Carnevale. For 11th Hour Racing, that means using sailing to educate its stakeholders about responsible environmental and social practices.

Sailing organisations with a more traditional business model have a role to play, she adds, from using more eco-friendly boatbuilding materials to supporting ocean science and increasing access to the sport.

In 2024, 11th Hour Racing created The Toolbox, a free collection of guides, templates and tracking tools to help organisations in any sector develop a sustainability strategy.

The strongest programmes are those that feel integral to the organisation “rather than add-ons”, says Carnevale. For The Ocean Race, making changes that become part of the rules of the event has meant that sustainability “becomes part of how the sport operates”.

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