A call for patriotism in the City

Another day, another float flop, another blow to the stock market.

But hang on, this is in Germany, not London.

German car parts retailer Autodoc has called off its initial public offering on the Frankfurt stock exchange says Reuters, “the latest in a string of companies” to do so.

German pharma company Stada postponed its own float a few months ago, so did German energy firm 1Komma5 Grad.

Plainly, the narrative that London has some unique issue here with new floats is not so.

And the notion that floating in the US is a sure route to success is also open to question.

The Financial Post reports that three of the four largest US floats fell below their offer pricein the first trading session, even while stock markets hit record highs.

There is no doubt the City of London has a PR problem, but maybe that’s because there are too many of us looking to talk it down rather than up.

Bankers who didn’t get a bonus this year are inclined to see this as evidence of a complete structural failure in their industry, rather than just a bit of bad luck.

In terms of perceptions of the UK stock market, well our own pension funds are hardly doing us any favours.

Scottish Widows, owned by Lloyds Bank, is cutting its exposure to UK shares in favour of a “more globally diversified approach”.

This might be better for people with a Scottish Widows pension – I’m one of them – but it has to be bad for the wider City ecosystem, of which Lloyds Bank is a key part.

So far, there is no sign of the Treasury threatening pension funds with the loss of their tax status if they move money out of the UK, but I think they should at least raise the issue.

One of the reasons why companies everywhere are ditching float plans is because of uncertainty about Iran, Israel, the US and how far war could spread.

If that is the environment we are in, it would be a good time for City institutions to show a bit of patriotism.

To back London and London firms, rather than go off on foreign adventures.

Please send candidates for press release of the day to:

Simon.english@roxhillmedia.com