Merryn Somerset Webb
Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).
After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times
Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast - but still writes for Moneyweek monthly.
Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.
Latest articles by Merryn Somerset Webb
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What companies should be prioritising this decade
Editor's letter In a world beset by uncertainty, companies should be prioritising slack over efficiency, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Why the nagging approach can make boards more active
Opinion Retail investors are still limited in their ability to demand change, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Last updated
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Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?
Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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How to position your portfolio for higher inflation
Editor's letter UK inflation hit 6.2% this week, Merryn Somerset-Webb explains what is behind it and how investors can position themselves to combat it.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Investment trust portfolio update March 2022: things take a turn for the worse
Analysis Merryn Somerset Webb looks a how MoneyWeek’s model investment trust portfolio has fared as markets swing from growth to value.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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How to avoid a miserable retirement
Opinion The trouble with the UK’s private pension system, says Merryn Somerset Webb, is that it leaves most of us at the mercy of the markets. And the outlook for the markets is miserable.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Investors: remember Woodford, and make sure you can cash out
Editor's letter Investing is full of risks. But not being able to sell your investment when you want to is one you shouldn't have to deal with, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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This isn’t the stagflationary 1970s – but neither is it the low-rate world of the 2010s
Opinion With soaring energy prices and high inflation, it might seem like we’re on a fast track back to the 1970s. We’re not, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But we’re not going back to the 2010s either.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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The end of global economic integration
Editor's letter The story of the post-Soviet era has been one of constant economic integration. But that's now over, says Merryn Somerset Webb. And it's going to cost us dear.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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ESG investing: defence stocks as an ethical investment
Analysis The definition of what counts as “ESG” investing is getting so vague, says Merryn Somerset Webb, that at some point it will cease to mean anything at all.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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The hidden Russian equities in your portfolio
Editor's letter The odds are that, however strongly you feel against it, you hold Russian equities in your portfolio. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Why we’re keeping RIT Capital Partners in our portfolio
News The RIT Capital Partners investment trust has lost 10% so far this year. But its longer term record is exceptional, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Ukraine crisis: for investors, things may well be different this time
Opinion Markets have withstood endless shocks in recent years – and investors have usually sailed through unscathed. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could prove different, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Beware: things are not normal
Editor's letter With markets are all over the place, it is hard for investors to know what to do. But there is a strong chance that the assets that have done well over the last few years won’t do the same over the next few.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highly
Opinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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ESG investing wanes as “dirty activism” spreads
Opinion The “green” stocks that make up many ESG portfolios aren’t doing so well, so money is going back into “brown” investments. And that’s no bad thing, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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The market is gradually coming to its senses
Editor's letter Rising inflation is making markets focus on "jam today" over "jam tomorrow" with investors switching from growth stocks to value stocks.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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We need to invest in renewables – but we need to invest in oil and gas, too
Editor's letter We need heavy investment in renewable energy, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But we also need continued investment in fossil fuels, to keep prices low and limit hardship on the way to net zero.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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How the new environmentalism makes bad land good
Analysis Around two decades ago farming was in crisis but today farmland is looking more lucrative. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why this is and how investors can tap into the market.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Investors are waking up to the value in UK stocks – you should too
Opinion It looks like the value in UK stocks is finally becoming obvious to everyone else, says Merryn Somerset Webb. If you haven’t repositioned your portfolio, you might want to get on with it.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Inflation could soon start to hurt
Editor's letter Inflation is not going away. And with people's wages not keeping up, things are going to start to hurt, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Market crashes: what happens when investors believe the impossible
Analysis Market bubbles – and subsequent crashes – are rarer than many people think, but all are driven by the same thing, says Merryn Somerset Webb: investors’ belief in something that always turns out to be impossible.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Making money is about to get much harder
Editor's letter Soaring inflation, geopolitical risk, bubbly stockmarkets - getting a return on your investment is going to get much more difficult – but not impossible, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
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Whether it’s cryptocurrencies or investment trusts, make sure you know what you’re investing in
Opinion Many people scoff at cryptocurrency speculators pouring money into an asset they may barely understand. But the same could be said of investors in many other more mainstream assets too, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
By Merryn Somerset Webb Published
Opinion