So as voting stations open in the United States, markets are preparing for increasing volatility. In fact, we've seen slightly reduced levels of trading for European stocks. Your stock six hundred currently twenty percent below the average in early trading. It also comes ahead of the FED decision, of course, during power press conference on Thursday. Bank of England verdict on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves's budget would also come later in the week, but everything's being overshadowed by whether we get clarity and how quickly out of the US. Joining US now to discuss Richard Wilson, who is CEO of Interactive Investor, which is a subsidiary of Aberdeen with over four hundred thousand customers here in the UK. Richard, I'm really pleased to have you in this studio. A very good morning to you, Mollie. Can we start by your thinking on the US election, the results and how it might affect your investors. How do you think about today tomorrow the volatility?

So as voting stations open in the United States, markets are preparing for increasing volatility. In fact, we've seen slightly reduced levels of trading for European stocks. Your stock six hundred currently twenty percent below the average in early trading. It also comes ahead of the FED decision, of course, during power press conference on Thursday. Bank of England verdict on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves's budget would also come later in the week, but everything's being overshadowed by whether we get clarity and how quickly out of the US. Joining US now to discuss Richard Wilson, who is CEO of Interactive Investor, which is a subsidiary of Aberdeen with over four hundred thousand customers here in the UK. Richard, I'm really pleased to have you in this studio. A very good morning to you, Mollie. Can we start by your thinking on the US election, the results and how it might affect your investors. How do you think about today tomorrow the volatility?

Well, first, all the elections historically, I think six of the elections since nineteen eighty have been down to one fifty voters, so we're in another very close call. I'm no better than anyone else that's speculating on the outcome. What the markets will want is clarity, and there's a risk that, as we've seen in a couple of elections in the last couple of decades, it becomes litigus if if it's not clear, then we'll have risk off. But beyond that, historically, when there is being has been a clear outcome that's been very strong for US equities for at least for a period. Irrespective of which side of the house you're on. I'm not going to call what the latest betting is because that moves around. But job one is clarity. And then secondly, depending who comes in, everyone believes that if Trump comes in, you'll have a stronger dollar, you'll have strong gre equities, higher deficit through higher borrowing and lower taxes. And the with Camala gets in, there's a specially you'll have a slight softer dollar, less borrowing, and the US equity markets will be all be up a lot of strongly.

Well, first, all the elections historically, I think six of the elections since nineteen eighty have been down to one fifty voters, so we're in another very close call. I'm no better than anyone else that's speculating on the outcome. What the markets will want is clarity, and there's a risk that, as we've seen in a couple of elections in the last couple of decades, it becomes litigus if if it's not clear, then we'll have risk off. But beyond that, historically, when there is being has been a clear outcome that's been very strong for US equities for at least for a period. Irrespective of which side of the house you're on. I'm not going to call what the latest betting is because that moves around. But job one is clarity. And then secondly, depending who comes in, everyone believes that if Trump comes in, you'll have a stronger dollar, you'll have strong gre equities, higher deficit through higher borrowing and lower taxes. And the with Camala gets in, there's a specially you'll have a slight softer dollar, less borrowing, and the US equity markets will be all be up a lot of strongly.

Are you seeing are you seeing much adjustment from your four hundred thousand or so customers in terms of how they're positioning around this.

Are you seeing are you seeing much adjustment from your four hundred thousand or so customers in terms of how they're positioning around this.

There has been a little bit of certainly much more activity I think we've got fifty percent increased activity on US markets compared to the normans only much more than on the UK markets, but your taxed on UK markets, so you get a bit less, a bit less, a bit less volume. Not obvious is the answer. There's the clear is a Trump trade to your back the mag seven and of course the large US stocks drive the two prime indices, I mean the Nvidia and Apple kind of call the call the index. So you've got some activity around that, but we're small frime in the UK compared to the US markets, so not much to say.

There has been a little bit of certainly much more activity I think we've got fifty percent increased activity on US markets compared to the normans only much more than on the UK markets, but your taxed on UK markets, so you get a bit less, a bit less, a bit less volume. Not obvious is the answer. There's the clear is a Trump trade to your back the mag seven and of course the large US stocks drive the two prime indices, I mean the Nvidia and Apple kind of call the call the index. So you've got some activity around that, but we're small frime in the UK compared to the US markets, so not much to say.

Okay, let's think about the UK budget, the biggest increase in taxes in thirty years. What did you make of it?

Okay, let's think about the UK budget, the biggest increase in taxes in thirty years. What did you make of it?

Well, the majority of the changes were very well telegraphed. You've got a spend, tax and borrow agenda with numbers that are very high, and the ifs came out and the OBI can confirmed that that leads to lower growth going forward, a higher debt servicing burden, and of course the guilt markets have been a little bit ambiguous about their view of that because the yields have gone up in two and ten years, basically makes the UK a less attractive market to invest. In others because you've got a higher tax burden. And the irritation I think for many of us is that, whilst there's clearly as a fiscal tightrope to walk going after some what would be symbolic or illogical taxes like it t reliefs on agriculture and business property do undermine entrepreneurship in the country. We've got millions of people where the bedrock of our future is on entrepreneurship, which comes from family businesses. That's not not a sensible way to build growth that it flies in the face of your growth agenda.

Well, the majority of the changes were very well telegraphed. You've got a spend, tax and borrow agenda with numbers that are very high, and the ifs came out and the OBI can confirmed that that leads to lower growth going forward, a higher debt servicing burden, and of course the guilt markets have been a little bit ambiguous about their view of that because the yields have gone up in two and ten years, basically makes the UK a less attractive market to invest. In others because you've got a higher tax burden. And the irritation I think for many of us is that, whilst there's clearly as a fiscal tightrope to walk going after some what would be symbolic or illogical taxes like it t reliefs on agriculture and business property do undermine entrepreneurship in the country. We've got millions of people where the bedrock of our future is on entrepreneurship, which comes from family businesses. That's not not a sensible way to build growth that it flies in the face of your growth agenda.

So to be clear, you think this budget was gus anti growth, yes, no question as a business just as a CEO, what are you doing with that increase in national insurance you're going to be Does that mean lower wages for your team? Are you going to pass it up through in terms of high cost for your customers? How are you going to manage that?

So to be clear, you think this budget was gus anti growth, yes, no question as a business just as a CEO, what are you doing with that increase in national insurance you're going to be Does that mean lower wages for your team? Are you going to pass it up through in terms of high cost for your customers? How are you going to manage that?

I mean, we're in a very competitive environment and the option we're we're competing with all the near brokers, the US houses, the UK clearing bags, the European houses, everybody, the in pension companies. Our option to move price is zero. So then you dealing with efficiency or wages or reduced profitability. I think Rachel Reeves and one of our inte you said, you know, custom companies will be become more efficient as if we're not trying to do that every day already. So the reality is will either be lower profits and therefore kind of lower return and lower ability to reinvesting technology, or you look at your wage bill thinking how the hell do I solve that?

I mean, we're in a very competitive environment and the option we're we're competing with all the near brokers, the US houses, the UK clearing bags, the European houses, everybody, the in pension companies. Our option to move price is zero. So then you dealing with efficiency or wages or reduced profitability. I think Rachel Reeves and one of our inte you said, you know, custom companies will be become more efficient as if we're not trying to do that every day already. So the reality is will either be lower profits and therefore kind of lower return and lower ability to reinvesting technology, or you look at your wage bill thinking how the hell do I solve that?

Okay, So in terms of what comes next from labor for Mansion House, there has been a push to try to and in fact a whole group of insurers and pension companies agreed to try to put more money into UK listed stocks that wasn't mandatory. Does it become mandatory under labor? Do they target something? Do they make it more compulsory for people to invest in UK listed or unlisted assets?

Okay, So in terms of what comes next from labor for Mansion House, there has been a push to try to and in fact a whole group of insurers and pension companies agreed to try to put more money into UK listed stocks that wasn't mandatory. Does it become mandatory under labor? Do they target something? Do they make it more compulsory for people to invest in UK listed or unlisted assets?

Yeah? I think well that there are two. There's a problem that the UK has, which is compared to some other countries in Canada and Australia and a reference quite a lot. We have a fragmented pension stock so the actual size of the pool that you're allocating is not as large as it should be. So there's a task there, which is to consolidate pension assets with a big opportunity across local councils and the public sectors. Has been well documented. The fear that we should have is forcing an allocation of risk which is disproportionate. That would conflict with your kind of risk management and the members of your long term pension holders. So that's not a sensible thing to do.

Yeah? I think well that there are two. There's a problem that the UK has, which is compared to some other countries in Canada and Australia and a reference quite a lot. We have a fragmented pension stock so the actual size of the pool that you're allocating is not as large as it should be. So there's a task there, which is to consolidate pension assets with a big opportunity across local councils and the public sectors. Has been well documented. The fear that we should have is forcing an allocation of risk which is disproportionate. That would conflict with your kind of risk management and the members of your long term pension holders. So that's not a sensible thing to do.

But how label will say, how do you get growth and how people have been complaining about the fact that the UK market is under valued and that we've seen a massive decline in investment in UK consul.

But how label will say, how do you get growth and how people have been complaining about the fact that the UK market is under valued and that we've seen a massive decline in investment in UK consul.

So there are two things there for me. One is you've got to create the scale of pension assets so that you can make an allocation which is proportionate of much bigger base. And secondly, we have been bleeding out the UK stock market with stamp due to for the last twenty years the British government has sorted in either I'm not sure it's too late. It may be too late to save it. We are taxing the thing out of existence. The UK stock market is untradeable and you are taxed to invest in UK companies and it's tax free to invest in US.

So there are two things there for me. One is you've got to create the scale of pension assets so that you can make an allocation which is proportionate of much bigger base. And secondly, we have been bleeding out the UK stock market with stamp due to for the last twenty years the British government has sorted in either I'm not sure it's too late. It may be too late to save it. We are taxing the thing out of existence. The UK stock market is untradeable and you are taxed to invest in UK companies and it's tax free to invest in US.

It's not complicated, Okay, Richard, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Richard Wilson is CEO of Interactive Investor. Very good to have you on the program and get your views on the UK budget is well downing view really on what the UK's done in terms of investing in listed stocks, taxing it out of existence.

It's not complicated, Okay, Richard, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Richard Wilson is CEO of Interactive Investor. Very good to have you on the program and get your views on the UK budget is well downing view really on what the UK's done in terms of investing in listed stocks, taxing it out of existence.