Insights

Universal Music Group (UMG) led the music industry in negotiating with streaming platforms to protect the value of its artists’ work and its own publishing catalogue. Now, in a stand-off with TikTok, it is again leading the industry in a fight against AI-generated noise. Paul Loudon considers these ongoing negotiations and the attributes that put UMG at the forefront of this exciting sector.

After a strong start to the year, markets have lost some of their sheen. In this article Executive Director Roy Leckie highlights some of the trends that might influence the equity landscape in the coming months.

AI was the recurring theme throughout a wide-ranging discussion with Investment Managers Des Armstrong and Alan Edington. We also debated the ongoing concentration of US markets, Japan’s impressive start to the year as well as trips to Denmark and LA to meet with healthcare, entertainment and medtech businesses.

In this extract from our February monthly commentary, we discuss how the consequences of the decades-long expansion of the global debt mountain may yet attract greater investor attention, as well as the importance of a focus on financial strength at the end of an era of ultra-cheap money.