This week in MoneyWeek magazine, we look at the rise and fall of capitalism’s latest pantomime villain, Philip Green; Matthew Partridge explains how to profit from the fight against online crime; and we pick the best way to invest in South America.
Plus, Edward Chancellor looks at how central banks are “destroying capitalism”, Natalie Stanton explains why now is the time to move your savings, and Sarah Moore writes on why Britain needs to get building.
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Philip Green’s fall from grace
The former owner of BHS, billionaire businessman Sir Philip Green, is in just about everybody’s bad books at the moment. He was branded the “unacceptable face of capitalism” by a committee of MPs investigating the demise of BHS, and “worse than Robert Maxwell” by the committee’s chairman, Frank Field MP. Green was so upset by that comment that he threatened to sue for defamation. Now the pensions regulator wants Green to stump up £500m to sort out the mess the BHS pension scheme has been left in.
This week, Simon Wilson takes a look behind the whole sordid affair, and attempts to shed some light on what happened and what Green might actually be liable for.
Make money from thwarting the online bad guys
“Smart” devices are taking over. Everything bar the kitchen sink is now wirelessly linked to the internet: cars, fridges, even medical devices use wireless links to relay information. And it probably won’t be long before the sink does, too.
The trouble with all this advanced technology, says Matthew Partridge in this week’s main feature, is that it can be hacked. He cites some terrifying examples where hackers were able to take control of a moving car and a plane in flight. “Earlier this year”, says Matthew “hackers broke into the computer systems of a Los Angeles hospital”, threatening to shut the place down unless they were paid a “cyber-ransom” in bitcoins.
Then there’s the more run-of-the-mill financial crime. “Online banking fraud has more than doubled in value over the last two years to £133.5m”, Matthew says. Couple that with the £567m of fraudulently used credit cards, and there’s clearly plenty of incentive to get the upper hand on the bad guys.
So this week, Matthew picks the six best investments you can make in the field of cybersecurity. Find out what they are withsign up now.
The best way in to Latin America
All eyes will be on Latin America from next Friday, as Brazil hosts the Olympics. Hopefully, the games will bring some cheer to a continent that’s had a fairly tough time of it lately. Brazil itself has been through a corruption scandal, with its president about to be impeached. Venezuela is collapsing into chaos. And collapsing commodity prices have damaged economies cross the continent.
But, says David C Stevenson, “in recent months we’ve seen a big rebound in Latin American asset prices, despite all the bad news”. The continent is definitely worth a look, he says – and he picks a fund that “might just fit the bill”.
Elsewhere, Sarah Moore looks at emerging market funds in general, explains why “passive pays”, and picks a “cheap tracker” as a starting point for investors.
Twitter, “Brexit denial” and seven top tech stocks
On his shares page this week, Alex Williams casts his eye over Twitter. Its shares are “down by 78% since listing in New York in 2013”, he says. So does that make it one to pick up on the cheap, or one to avoid?
Tim Price writes on the “psychology of despair” of those who voted to remain in the EU (myself included, by the way). But we shouldn’t be talking down the country’s prospects, says Tim. Brexit is “the most significant political event of our lifetimes”, and the result leaves the United Kingdom “free to carve out the role it deserves to have”.
And each week in the magazine, a professional investor explains where he’d put his money now. This week, it’s the turn of Walter Price of the Allianz Technology Trust. He picks seven of the best tech stocks to buy now.
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