Merryn Talks Money

This week, host Merryn Somerset Webb and senior reporter John Stepek examine the policy signals coming out of the Labour Party conference—and what they could mean for your finances. They break down why a standalone wealth tax looks unlikely, the risks of lowering the VAT threshold for small businesses, and the political realities shaping pension reform. Plus, they consider whether proposals to tackle youth unemployment could ...

Roger Lee, head of equity strategy at Cavendish, joins Merryn Somerset Webb to explain why he thinks the UK’s worsening public finances could morph from “slowly, then suddenly” into a fiscal event, and what that means for the Labour government, Britain’s international standing and investors.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Kindbody, one of the largest fertility companies in the US, sought to disrupt egg freezing and IVF by combining spa vibes with Silicon Valley efficiency. The startup raised millions, opened dozens of clinics, and became a billion-dollar unicorn. But its ambition came with consequences. In IVF Disrupted: The Kindbody Story, reporter Jackie Davalos takes listeners beyond Kindbody’s millennial-friendly waiting rooms and into the...

In this week’s Markets Wrap, hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek weigh Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s bond-market remarks against fiscal reality, unpack financial services group Gavekal’s so-called “Turkish Portfolio” of equities, and consider gold’s role as a hedge in an increasingly crowded market.

As always, questions and comments welcome at merrynmoney@bloomberg.net

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In lieu of a personal finance episode this week, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek host a mailbag session answering listener questions on pensions, taxation, absolute return funds, and the risks around UK debt. They clarify common misconceptions, discuss practical investment considerations, and explore how policy decisions could shape the financial outlook.

As always, send thoughts to merrynmoney@bloomberg.net 

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In this week's market wrap, Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek unpack Next’s half-year report to reveal what falling vacancies, rising applications, and higher labor costs say about jobs, productivity, and AI. They also break down the Bank of England’s rate hold, the Fed’s cut, and what diverging policies mean for growth, inflation, and investors.

https://www.nextplc.co.uk/~/media/Files/N/next-plc-v4/docu...

Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with  Mark Wood, Chairman of Everest Funeral Concierge, Chair of PensionBee, and former CEO off Prudential UK and AXA, to discuss how sweeping pension reforms could transform the way UK earners save and draw down their pensions.

Update: We wanted to add clarification to a point made in the show. In the interview, it was suggested that taking your 25% tax-free lump sum at age 55 or later means y...

These days, UK energy policies arguably seem more ideological than anything else. But that doesn’t seem to be working, so perhaps it’s time for it to be practical instead? With that in mind we invited Dieter Helm, a professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, to join this week’s Merryn Talks Money podcast. He discusses how the UK, which consistently ranks among the most expensive countries for c...

September signals the end of summer in the UK and the start of the school year. Gearing up to start university can be a daunting time for many young people, often catapulted into a situation of continuous firsts—first time living away, first time having to cook all their own meals and the first time having to manage their own money. 

On this personal finance episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb...

We'll be back next week with more Merryn Talks Money interviews, but for now we bring you an interesting conversation from the Odd Lots team. 

These days, everyone is talking about high interest rates across the rich, developed world, while warning of eventual fiscal disaster. But we may have gotten an early glimpse of this anxiety in October 2022, when then-UK Prime Minister Liz Truss unveiled her mini-budget that spooked the...

On the final panel at this year's Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, host Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Richard Wilson, chief executive of one of the UK’s largest investment platforms, Interactive Investor, Anna MacDonald, investment manager at Aubrey Capital, and journalist and author Alex Massie. The episode is taped in front of an audience at Adam Smith’s final remaining home, Panmure House.

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In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek, author Dominic Frisby and Interactive Investor Chief Executive Officer Richard Wilson for a roundtable discussion at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The conversation takes place at Panmure House, the last home of economist and philosopher Adam Smith. 

The panel share their favorite Adam Smith ...

Could Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith make sense of the economic world that exists today?

In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Alec Cutler, portfolio manager of the Orbis Global Balanced and Cautious funds, Tom Slater, manager of Scottish Mortgage and Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek about how portions of Smith’s bestsellers The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Weal...

Daniel Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Advisers and author of The Humble Investor: How to Find a Winning Edge in a Surprising World, joins Merryn. 

They discuss his book, why all forecasts are wrong (and why we need them anyway), the case for selling US tech and buying small caps, whether we’re in an artificial intelligence bubble, and Japanese equities.

This is a replay of a conversation taped in January this y...

There’s no tradeoff between net zero and growth in the UK. That’s the conventional wisdom and the position of the current government. But what if it’s the decline in available electricity that’s causing productivity, GDP and living standards to stagnate? 

Research from Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, suggests there may indeed be a connection. He joins Merryn Somerset Webb and senior repo...