The boss of City broker Peel Hunt has criticised the Chancellor’s ‘kite flying’ as pressure builds over her conduct in the run-up to the Budget.
Steven Fine said the strategy of allowing various policy ideas to be floated ahead of the event was ‘never a good strategy over a prolonged period of time’.
And he described the Budget overall as a ‘buy now, pay later’ package – echoing criticism that Rachel Reeves has opted to borrow more heavily now and balance the books further down the track.
It came as Reeves was under mounting political pressure over false claims ahead of the Budget that there was a black hole in the public finances of more than £20 billion.
That led to speculation that income taxes would have to go up – yet behind the scenes the Chancellor was being told that she had had billions to spare.
Asked about Ms Reeves’s conduct and whether the markets had lost faith in her, Fine declined to comment on her future.
Steven Fine said it was a ‘buy now, pay later’ Budget
But he added: ‘I think it’s probably fair to say kite-flying is never a good strategy over a prolonged period of time. Because the markets like certainty – either you are, or you aren’t.’
And on the Budget ‘smorgasbord’ of measures including dividend taxes and salary sacrifice raid, Fine said it ‘normally means there’s something for everyone to like… what this one’s done is there’s something for everyone to probably dislike’.
He added: ‘It’s definitely a buy now, pay later Budget as well.’
However, he said markets were now ‘far more settled’ after the Chancellor increased the government’s ‘headroom’ to balance the books.
Fine was speaking as Peel Hunt published results for the six months to the end of September showing a 38 per cent rise in revenues to £74m and a sharp recovery in profits to £11.5m, up from £1.2m in the same period a year earlier.
The City firm, which advises 57 FTSE 350 companies, benefited from its work on takeover deals during the period and said equity fundraising had picked up after an initial shock from Donald Trump’s tariff announcements earlier this year.
However, it said that overall activity ‘continues to remain significantly below historical averages’ and initial public offering (IPO) activity ‘remained low’ though a number of companies made their market debuts in September and October.
The firm said that regulatory changes designed to boost the market were having a ‘positive impact’ and that some Budget measures including a stamp duty holiday for newly-listed companies and changes to Isa rules were well received.
Fine said that while ‘people aren’t skipping around in UK ECM [equity capital markets] and investment banking’ there were now signs of ‘a bit of corporate mojo coming back’.
Asked about Peel Hunt’s discussions with companies preparing for an IPO, he said: ‘We’re having more conversations now than we have done for a while.
‘Tangible pipeline is probably pushing more into second quarter, second half of ’26 – which is not that long away.’
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-made portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free fund dealing and investment ideas
interactive investor
interactive investor
Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month
Freetrade
Freetrade
Investing Isa now free on basic plan
Trading 212
Trading 212
Free share dealing and no account fee
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
Compare the best investing account for you
#Budget #kiteflying #good #idea #City #boss #pressure #mounts #Rachel #Reeves
