Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan

Private jets, Lambos and selling trading courses for £150 a month — something doesn’t add up in the world of the ‘hustle bros’

Finance has always been a sector that has thrived on innovation, and artificial intelligence offers further opportunity to shake up the industry. Armed with cutting-edge technology, companies hope to explore new ways of working, and boost productivity. “There are a number of areas of finance where we are seeing AI starting to have an influence,” says Peter Weston, associate director for financial services at recruiter Harvey Nash. “For instance, in investment banking and investment management,…

Since the turn of the century, the prevailing mantra of successful businesses has been that disruption trumps caution. Facebook — now Meta — once worked to the now discredited internal motto: “Move fast and break things”. But, at times, innovation and genius have seemed diametrically opposed to good governance. Sheryl Sandberg was originally brought in to Facebook with the intention of curbing that mentality. Elon Musk, feted by some as a visionary, has faced criticism over his handling of soci…

It was last spring when Paddric Fitzgerald received a telephone call at work. He had been playing music via his phone, so when he picked up, the voice of his daughter screaming that she had been kidnapped erupted over the speakers. “Everyone has those points in their lives like ‘Oh, that moment I almost drowned as a kid’,” he says. “It was one of the most emotionally scarring days of my life.” Declining an offer of a firearm from a colleague, Fitzgerald, a shop manager based in the western US,…

Tomorrow’s business leaders face an uncertain future. Geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and beyond, technological innovations including artificial intelligence, and financial pressures from higher inflation all point to a challenging outlook. In volatile times, arguably the most important lesson that business schools can impart is a willingness to be flexible. Future-proofing careers will mean not only gaining hard skills around technology but also developing a willingness to i…

The world of fintech has taken a few hits in the past few years. Klarna, the “buy now, pay later” credit provider, had its valuation slashed from $46bn to $6.7bn last year — although it has since posted its first quarterly profit since 2019. Meanwhile, Revolut, perhaps Europe’s most successful neobank, is still awaiting a licence in the UK, its home market. But despite the setbacks, there are still significant areas in which fintech innovation plays a key role. One of them is cross-border trans…

In 1884, according to Nationwide’s telling of its history, “a group of men” gathered together with the hope of changing the world. Known then as the Southern Co-operative Permanent Building Society, the lender that they formed would go on to become the UK’s largest building society and third largest mortgage provider. Though its history stretches back into an era long before diversity and inclusion was a consideration, Nationwide has moved with the times. It ranks fourth in the latest FT-Statis…

For many of the generation who came of age in the late noughties, earning good interest from savings accounts was until recently an unknown concept familiar only in the stories of their parents and grandparents. In the decade between August 2012 and November 2022, the average easy access rate did not surpass 1 per cent, according to data provider Moneyfacts. “People had forgotten they used to get paid for having savings,” says Richard Davies, chief executive of challenger bank Allica. “For a d…

If one thing is almost guaranteed to follow innovation, it is hype. New technologies garner great interest but much of it is overstated or inaccurate. “From crypto to non-fungible tokens to the metaverse, we’ve seen some pretty stupendous hype around dubious technologies,” says Henry Ajder, an expert and adviser on generative artificial intelligence and synthetic media — images, text or voice generated using AI. AI is the latest big trend in technology but, unlike many of its predecessors, it…

After a turbulent week during which it urgently sought to raise capital, Metro Bank — known for its airy branches, money machines and dog bowls — has been saved by its existing bond holders. The challenger lender’s success in dodging a potential acquisition or a run on the bank is good news for depositors and borrowers. But customers may still have questions, as Metro looks to sell about £3bn worth of its mortgages. This isn’t the first time Metro has sold mortgages — NatWest acquired £3bn of…

Complex IT deals demand expert advice

Shares in chip designer Arm jumped by 25 per cent as it began trading on the Nasdaq exchange yesterday, and the European Central Bank has raised interest rates to an all-time high. Plus, the FT’s Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan explains how digital cash got caught up in the culture wars. Mentioned in this podcast: Arm shares jump by 25% on first day of trading ECB raises interest rates to all-time high How digital cash got caught up in the culture wars Tell us: How will the US student loan re…

The UK’s top financial regulator has forced lenders offering lifetime mortgages to withdraw or change more than 400 misleading promotions, after a review uncovered widespread issues with how the products were being sold. Lifetime, or later-life, mortgages are the most popular way for homeowners to release equity in their properties, with sales jumping 28 per cent to £5.2bn in 2022, according to official figures released under a recent Freedom of Information request. But the Financial Conduct A…

Cash payments increased in the UK for the first time in a decade last year, driven by a post-pandemic rebound, economic uncertainty and the cost of living crisis. Data released on Thursday by trade body UK Finance showed growing demand for plastic and particularly contactless payment methods, but also pointed to the continued importance of physical money. “It’s something we do tend to see in times of falling consumer confidence and economic uncertainty,” said Adrian Buckle, UK Finance head of…

Practitioners discuss creating a cultural shift — and the role of business schools

NatWest has appointed former Mastercard boss Rick Haythornthwaite as its new chair, the latest development in a period of leadership turmoil at the bank as it hunts for its new permanent chief executive. Haythornthwaite is set to join NatWest’s board in January before taking over in April when Sir Howard Davies’s term expires. A Treasury insider said Haythornthwaite was seen in UK government circles as “widely respected and experienced”. The government still holds a 38.7 per cent stake in the b…

Plans for central bank digital currencies are gaining momentum around the world — and so are conspiracy theories

More than one in eight UK bank branches that were open at the start of 2023 will have closed by December, with almost three-fifths of the network vanishing since 2015. Financial Times analysis, based on data from ATM provider Link, shows that a total of 636 bank branches are due to close by the end of this year, with 424 shut so far. Another 42 have already been announced for 2024. The closures underline the growing sparsity of cash infrastructure across the country, despite government proposa…

Autumn brings greater demands for office attendance in financial services

Campaigners bemoan lack of detail in new government plans to boost access to deposits and withdrawals