Egg-regious consequences
Go to work on an egg? Yes, but perhaps not every day. The healthiness or otherwise of eggs has long been a source of debate. Now new US research, carried out among almost 30,000 consumers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has found that adults who ate an average of one and a half eggs a day had a slightly enhanced risk of cardiovascular disease over those who ate no eggs. The more eggs eaten, the greater the risk – and mortality risk also increased. Cholesterol, which is found in egg yolks, is to blame, according to the researchers. Eating eggs less frequently is unlikely to do you any harm, however.
Fund bragging rights
Morgan Stanley has come top of a ranking of fund management houses, based on their consistent outperformance of sector averages over a five-year period. The ranking, by FundCalibre, put Man GLG in second position and Baillie Gifford at number three. Morgan Stanley’s funds outperformed their sector average by 42.06% over the five-year period – far ahead of Man GLG’s 24.84%. Morgan Stanley’s Global Opportunity Fund was one of the star performing funds; it returned 90% more than the average global equity fund over five years to the end of 2018, thanks to significant exposure to tech growth stocks including Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet.
Fakes news
Global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods is rising fast, according to a new OECD report. The value of imported fake goods rose from $461bn in 2013 to $509bn in 2016, says the report, which was carried out in partnership with the EU’s Intellectual Property Office. It describes the problem as “a major challenge in an innovation-driven global economy”. Footwear is the biggest category of seized illicit booty, at more than 20% of the total, followed by clothing, leather goods and electrical equipment. China is identified as the main source of the goods.
Toddler tax
Parents of under-two-year-olds are paying up to £9,100 a year for part-time childcare, according to a new report by Coram Family and Childcare, a UK charity focusing on childcare and family issues. The top price is paid by parents of children in Inner London – including many City workers – and compares with an average of £6,600 across the UK and £5,600 in Yorkshire or Humberside. The figures are for 25 hours a week of childcare. Megan Jarvie, Head of Coram Family and Childcare, said: “Too many parents remain locked out of work by high childcare costs and low availability, and too many children miss out on high-quality childcare and the benefits to their life chances that come with it.”