Jim Armitage: Pain is on the way
Doubtless Goldman Sachs’ disclosure that it may halve its London presence due to Brexit will be dismissed as unpatriotic scaremongering.
Brexiteers will prefer Barclays’ and Aviva’s less pessimistic views.
The truth will end up somewhere between. Despite Theresa May’s hollow claims that Europe needs us more than we need them, we won’t be able to extricate ourselves from the union without ceding significant amounts of euro business from London. The idea we won’t is cloud-cuckoo land.
Sure, the City will remain dominant in global banking and insurance, but it will have to suffer some painful sacrifices.
Hard to swallow
Exceedingly good to see billionaire John Paulson sock it to Kipling maker Premier Foods following its “shock” profit warning.
The man who made a billion dollars betting against the US housing market declares it has been “grossly mismanaged” and demanded it be put up for sale.
But, as one veteran London fund manager sniggers, Paulson should look to his own folly.
He may have got it right on US subprime a decade ago, but he forgot the age-old rule of British investing. Never buy shares in Premier Foods.
