One thousand and sixty-four days was a number thrown around The Weekly HQ this week. No, it was not the length of time since Tottenham last won a trophy (that’s an eye-watering 4,361 days). It was, of course, number of days since England had last beaten Scotland in the Calcutta Cup! Thanks to a solid English performance yesterday, that number is now void and bragging rights have been returned to three quarters of The Weekly’s editorial team, for a year at least. It seemed as though the stars were aligning for the Scots after the year’s first ‘Nessi’ sighting was reported on Thursday. The Loch Ness Monster was allegedly spotted on a live webcam and ‘confirmed’ by the Official Loch Ness Monsters Sightings Register shortly after. The clips, (which are very blurry) show the mythical creature swimming and occasionally splashing around in Urquhart Bay. With numerous hoaxes since it was first spotted in the year 565 AD, the only thing that can be confirmed is it’s definitely not the Scottish rugby side's good luck charm!
As it is every year, it was standing room only at the Montcalm Hotel by Marble Arch on Thursday morning, as property professionals gathered to hear from MSCI how the sector had performed in 2019. All Property delivered a total return of 1.2%, the lowest 12-month return since September 2009, with direct real estate also underperforming against equities and bonds. Despite this, property has still delivered superior returns over 5 years (6.7%) and 10 years (8.7%). So what contributed to the lack of performance in 2019? It was, of course, largely the negative performance of the retail sector which delivered a return of -6.8%. Other sectors were relatively even with offices and industrial returning 4.4% and 6.9% respectively. By fund type, the worst performers were those with a higher exposure to retail and generally larger average asset sizes. Life Funds returned -2.5% over the year. On a brighter note, Long Lease Funds outperformed strongly with a 12 month return of 5.6%, mainly through their higher than average exposure to the alternatives sector. Looking forward to the year ahead, the mood in the room was of bullish positivity. Signs of a post-election bounce and greater political certainty contributed to 73% of those attending believing that the UK would outperform the EU in 2020, with 76% of the audience also thinking that London offices would outperform. Eyes now turn to Wednesday 11th March when The Weekly’s new acquaintance, Sajid Javid will deliver the Government’s budget for the year ahead.
Tomorrow evening sees the return of the biggest event in Hollywood’s calendar, the 92nd Academy Awards. The Oscars have celebrated the very best in the film industry since the first ceremony in 1929 – when tickets cost $5 each and two hundred and seventy people attended. Unsurprisingly, the event has exploded since then. And it's not only the films that are producing jaw-dropping figures. Hollywood’s top celebrities spend an astounding average of $10 million on their head-to-toe outfits for the evening. Whilst the nominated celebrities are getting ready, there are eighteen people working for a reported 900 total hours to install the $25,000 red carpet! In terms of the awards themselves, the Joker leads the way, with the comic-book origin story nominated for an impressive 11 awards including best picture, best director and best actor. There is a first in the nominations for director as couple Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach become the first director-couple to go head to head for best picture. The Weekly reckons that could be an awkward car journey home!