Wednesday newspaper round-up: CBI, oil, Aston Martin, Heathrow

Alberto Gallo, former macro credit strategist for Royal Bank of Scotland, has left the bank to join Algebris, with the aim of expanding the $3bn asset manager’s focus beyond financial institutions by launching a fund designed for a world of negative interest rates. The move to capitalise on the problems faced by insurers and pension funds confronted by very low or negative yielding bonds highlights both the scale of the challenge and the poor performance of many existing hedge fund structures. – Financial Times

Nike founder Philip Knight has given $400m to Stanford University, equalling the largest individual donation to a US college, for an international programme to draw potential world leaders to Silicon Valley. The donation marks the largest contribution to a $750m fund for an elite graduate scholarship scheme to rival established programmes such as the 114-year-old Rhodes Scholarships at Oxford university, whose alumni include former president Bill Clinton. – Financial Times

London’s greatest strength is its access to the single market of the European Union, according to the capital’s business leaders. 95pc of bosses polled by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and real estate firm CBRE said that London’s access to European markets was its biggest strength. The surveyed business leaders represented companies with around 471,000 employees. – Telegraph

Saudi Arabia has warned that there is almost no chance of a cut in oil production by the OPEC cartel to lift prices and avert a bloodbath for the energy industry, dashing hopes for a quick reprieve as the supply glut continues to build. "It's not going to happen," said the country's veteran oil minister Ali Al-Naimi, accusing other major producers of cheating on accords and undermining past efforts to stabilize crude prices. – Telegraph

George Osborne’s pension overhaul could trigger the next major wave of mis-selling claims, according to a report by the public spending watchdog. The National Audit Office has highlighted concerns that freedoms introduced last April, which allowed pensioners to cash in their savings, could lead to widespread exploitation. – Guardian

The luxury carmaker Aston Martin has announced it will open a new factory in south Wales, creating more than 750 jobs. The luxury marque will build its new DBX crossover model at a plant in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan from 2020 following a worldwide search for a new manufacturing facility. The plant will be Aston Martin’s second factory and would create an estimated 1,000 jobs in the wider supply chain and local businesses, the company said. - Guardian

Profits at Heathrow soared by more than a fifth last year, despite fears that its growth is being constrained by political dithering over a third runway. Figures published yesterday showed that Heathrow’s pre-tax profits rose by 21.9 per cent to £223 million last year, even though the airport has been officially “full” for a decade and cannot accommodate more flights. – The Times