Cheap, Unloved, Profitable: The Case for Value Investing Today?

Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Temple Bar’s Ian Lance about the trust’s standout performance since 2020, driven by disciplined value investing—buying unloved, low-priced companies with recovery potential and holding them as sentiment improves. Lance argues that success comes from focusing on long…

Live From The Master Investor Show: Jim Mellon and Stephen Yiu

Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with John Stepek, Jim Mellon, billionaire investor and Chairman of The Burnbrae Group, and Blue Whale manager Stephen Yiu. The panel was part of the Master Investor Show, the UK’s largest gathering for private investors. This conversation was recorded on Saturday, Apr…

What Red Squirrels Reveal About Britain’s Broken Investing Culture

Why has the UK become a nation of savers—but not investors—and what on earth do red squirrels have to do with it? Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek take aim at a baffling government campaign, unpack the real reasons people avoid investing, and argue that regulation, mistrust, and mixed messaging…

Andy Haldane on Britain’s Fiscal Squeeze and Growth Problem

Former Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane joins Merryn Somerset Webb to unpack why the UK may feel poorer, more fragile and seemingly out of options—despite sitting on untapped wealth and world-class innovation. From tough fiscal trade-offs and rising taxes to the surprising strength of p…

Markets in a Permanent Mini-Crisis: Why Investors Are Waiting, Not Predicting

On this week's markets wrap, hosts Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek explore how markets are navigating a world of constant geopolitical “mini-crises,” where uncertainty keeps investors reactive rather than predictive. They discuss warning signs from corporate earnings, the fragile but not colla…

Your Pension, Your Problem? Inside Nest’s Big Investment Shift

Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek discuss the ongoing push into private markets by Britain's largest workplace pension scheme (by membership), the National Employment Savings Trust. NEST plans to invest roughly £30 billion of its members' cash in private markets by the end of the decade. But wha…

How to Invest Amid an Upended Global Financial Order

Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Ruffer fund manager Alexander Chartres about investing in a world marked by receding US dominance and a more inflation-prone, shock-driven global economy. Chartres argues Donald Trump is just an accelerant to changes that have been developing since the end of the Co…

Are Markets Just Plain Wrong to Keep 'Looking Through' The Iran War?

Markets have continued to hit new highs despite escalating geopolitical tensions and a major energy shock, raising questions about whether investors are underestimating long-term risks such as inflation and rising interest rates. The hosts argue that while markets often look through geopolitical ev…

The Contrarian Case for London Real Estate After a Decade of Stagnation

It might surprise some listeners, but UK-wide house prices have delivered only negligible returns after inflation over the past decade, note Merryn Somerset Webb and John Stepek, and London prices have actually fallen sharply in real terms. Rising interest rates, taxes, and political uncertainty co…

Why You Should Wait Out AI’s Super-Spending False Start

Merryn Somerset Webb sits down with Janusz Marecki, CEO & Founder of Fractal Brain and AI Partner at Ahren Innovation Capital, for an insider perspective on AI hype vs. reality—and what may come next. The focus is on large language models (LLMs)—and whether they are hitting fundamental limits. Mare…