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The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have together spent $3.5bn in their race for the White House, making the 2024 presidential campaign the most expensive US general election in history.

With the two candidates running neck and neck as voters headed to the polls on election day, final filings in mid October show that the campaigns, outside groups and party committees have collectively raised almost $4.2bn.

Harris outraised her Republican opponent, with groups including the Democratic National Committee and affiliated fundraising vehicles — among them Super Pacs, which can raise unlimited amounts from individuals — attracting more than $2.3bn and spending $1.9bn.

Trump groups and the Republican National Committee took in just over $1.8bn and spent $1.6bn.

Roughly half of all spending during the presidential race has gone towards advertising and the media, according to a Financial Times analysis of campaign finance filings.

The bulk of this has been lavished on the seven swing states that are likely to decide the election. Harris groups alone have shelled out more than $1bn on traditional and social media advertisements there.

Overall, the two campaigns and outside groups have spent nearly $1.5bn on ads in the seven critical states, according to ad tracking group AdImpact. More than $400mn has been spent in the state of Pennsylvania alone, where 19 electoral college votes are up for grabs — more than the $358mn spent in all 43 non-swing states combined.

Trump campaign groups have spent a disproportionately large amount on the former president’s recent and ongoing court cases, with more than $100mn — or 14 per cent of all spending — going towards his legal expenses. This has left a large chunk of other expenditures to be covered by the party, Pacs and Super Pacs, such as the Elon Musk-funded America Pac.

Musk has contributed $118mn to America Pac after helping to found the group this summer, around the time that he publicly voiced support for Trump.

The Super Pac has taken over the bulk of canvassing and field operations related to increasing voter turnout, which are typically handled by the campaign and party.

America Pac has recruited paid canvassers for door-knocking, a job usually done by volunteers in presidential campaigns, in an arrangement that has come under scrutiny.

Investigations have revealed some dysfunction and chaos in the group’s outreach efforts. A large number of door-knocks logged in the operation’s canvassing app were revealed to have been faked and some canvassers reported poor working conditions or confusion over who they had been hired to canvass on behalf of.

Harris’s field operations and voter outreach have been handled in a more traditional way by her campaign and the DNC. The main Harris-aligned Super Pac, Future Forward, has focused its money on advertising and has spent nearly $300mn on ads in swing states.

WHSmith is closing a number of branches in the UK as it moves into the travel sector.

The retail brand, which runs over 1,100 stores, has closed down eight shops since March 2023, including in Manchester and Bicester.

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The stationery retailer has also bid farewell to branches in Oban, Scotland, and Ramsgate, Kent.

It comes as the chain is set to expand in travel hotspots, with 15 new branches opening at airports and train stations in 2024.

Here’s everything you need to know…

Which UK stores are closing down?

Locals in Crewe, Cheshire were disappointed when WHSmith shut down its branch in early 2023.

The location in the Victoria Shopping Centre welcomed visitors for the last time in March.

In the same month, the WHSmith store in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire was shut down.

Then in August, a store closed in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and a further site in Manchester shuttered for good on December 2, 2023.

In 2024, so far WHSmith has closed seven shops, including in Bournemouth, this month.

Back in January, sites in Alfreton, Derbyshire, and Ramsgate, Kent were closed down.

In February, two further branches shut in Oban, Scotland, and Nantwich in South Cheshire.

This is the full list of stores and their closure dates:

• Crewe, Cheshire – March, 2023
• Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire – March, 2023
• Bicester, Oxfordshire – August, 2023
• Manchester – December 2, 2023
• Alfreton, Derbyshire – January, 2024
• Ramsgate, Kent – January, 2024
• Oban, Argyll and Bute, Scotland – February, 2024
• Nantwich, South Cheshire – February, 2024
• Margate, Kent – April 20, 2024
• Sale, Manchester – September 2024
• Bournemouth – October, 2024

In June 2023, WHSmith confirmed it would NOT be opening any more high street branches in a blow for shoppers.

It’s been announced that it’s Basingstoke branch will close down in early 2025.

The retailer said opening more high street stores would “just be a duplication”.

It added it intended to focus on expanding its portfolio outside the sector.

What about openings?

In January, WHSmith said that the new stores opening up would be found in airports and train stations.

It followed the high street favourite revealing that revenue across the business had risen by 8% over the 20 weeks to January 20, in comparison to the same period the previous year.

Yet its UK travel sales grew by 15% over the same time frame. That’s compared to a 3% fall in revenue for its high street portfolio.

When updating investors in late January, the retailer said it was due to open 15 stores in 2024, with an addition 15 after that “each year over the medium term.”

The retailer hasn’t revealed the locations where it is opening branches or when customers will be able to shop in the news stores.

It’s part of the company’s broader plans to open 110 new shops across the world.

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The hedge fund manager that made the largest single donation to the UK Labour party in the run-up to its election victory this year has reported a sharp fall in profits following a restructuring.

Quadrature Capital Limited, a UK-based investment firm with a fund based in the Cayman Islands, posted a 76 per cent fall in pre-tax profit for the year to January, from £231mn in 2023 to £56mn in 2024, company filings show.

The fall was the result of a corporate restructuring which meant QCL’s investment holding in its offshore fund was shifted to an offshore entity, according to a person close to the process. This transfer of assets means QCL’s published results reflect a smaller portion of group profits than previous years.

The restructuring was aimed at allowing the business to set up offices in Singapore and New York, the person said, noting that all trading profits were still subject to UK corporate tax. Quadrature declined to comment.

Quadrature, which focuses on electronic trading rather than using stockpickers, came under the spotlight earlier this year when it made the £4mn donation in May, after the UK general election was called.

Daniel Luhde-Thompson, a strategic adviser to Quadrature, also donated £250,000 to the party.

The investment firm said at the time of the donation that it was backing Labour for its policies on climate change. “In May 2024, we came to the view that a UK government with a commitment to the green transition of the economy would have the ability to drive change that is so urgently needed,” the firm said.

Quadrature, which also bets against companies through short positions, was founded in 2010 by billionaires Greg Skinner and Suneil Setiya, who previously managed money at De Putron Fund Management.

Its flagship fund trades using algorithms to decide which stocks to buy with a “market-neutral trading strategy” that does not involve holding stocks for long periods of time.

The company paid £351mn in salaries for its 143 employees, up from £343mn paid in 2023 for 113 staff at the time, its filings show. The average salary fell to £2.45mn from £3mn.

Other millionaires gave more to Labour in total in the run-up to its historic election victory in July: Gary Lubner, Lord David Sainsbury and Dale Vince each donated more than £5mn apiece, but in a series of payments.

But Quadrature’s large single donation has placed the business firmly in the political spotlight.

Quadrature said it had paid more than £2bn in UK tax since the company launched. “Since the funds have historically been managed exclusively from the UK by Quadrature Capital Limited, all of the trading profits of the funds have been subject to UK corporation tax,” the firm said.

Its founders have also set up a charitable organisation called the Quadrature Climate Foundation which — according to an announcement in September — has so far given more than $1bn in philanthropic grants since it was founded in 2019.

Charitable grants from the foundation jumped from £120mn in 2022 to £247mn in 2023, according to filings on the Charity Commission website. 

Fintech provider Dynamic Planner has partnered with CRM firm Salesforce to deliver financial planning at scale

The partnership makes Dynamic Planner the first and only UK-based wealth-planning partner for Salesforce.

The firm is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco.

It provides customer relationship management software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, e-commerce, analytics, artificial intelligence and application development.

Dynamic Planner has now launched on the Salesforce AppExchange. It said the collaboration will allow firms using Salesforce to underpin their financial-planning process with Dynamic Planner.

They will also be able to scale their businesses, drive conversion and evidence suitability within a single system, reducing the risk of miscalibration and unsuitable investment recommendations.

Dynamic Planner, founded in 2003, enables wealth and financial planning firms to match people with suitable solutions through engaging financial planning.

It is a risk-based system – combining intuitive financial-planning technology with a trusted asset risk model.

It said this latest integration is the continuation of its commitment to solving industry wide inefficiencies, a strategy at the heart of the firm’s vision.

Yasmina Siadatan, chief revenue officer at Dynamic Planner, said: “’This collaboration provides financial planning and wealth management firms who use Salesforce with the ability to underpin their entire financial-planning process with Dynamic Planner.

“It will boost productivity gains and efficiencies, while delivering seamless and engaging wealth and financial planning for Salesforce customers. We look forward to working with Salesforce to provide an enhanced experience for firms.”

BBC

‘Like a battle’