Share Sounds. presented by Juliette Foster

This is The Apprentice Investor. Regular listeners to the show will know that our Apprentices are five members of the Share Radio team who've each been given fifteen thousand pounds of virtual money to build their own individual share portfolios. They have a minimum of eight stocks, which they've been buying and selling through The Share Centre. So how are those portfolios? Are they in rude health or in need of the mother of all financial workouts? Apprentices Alexi Phillips and Ruby Johnson have joined Juliette Foster in the studio and standing by with some observations and extremely useful advice is Share Radio's Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher.

A very good afternoon and welcome to today's edition of the Apprentice Investor. Regular listeners to the show will know that our Apprentices are five members of the Share Radio team who've each been given fifteen thousand pounds of virtual money to build their own individual share portfolios. They have a minimum of eight stocks, which they've been buying and selling through The Share Centre. So, how well are they doing? Are they feeling in a celebratory mood or is it a day for drowning sorrows? Juliette Foster welcomes apprentices Olivia Demetriades and Matt Cox, and Share Radio's Senior Analyst Ed Bowsher.

A survey by the professional services group Deloitte, reveals that support for Britain to stay in the European Union, has risen among the Chief Financial Officers of the UK's biggest companies. It also found that the possibility of a British exit, is now the top issue on the corporate worry list. Ian Stewart, is the Chief Economist at Deloitte, and he joined Investment Perspectives host Juliette Foster in the studio for more analysis of the new survey.

This is Conversations From Africa, with Chris Bishop, Managing Editor of Forbes Africa Magazine & Share Radio's Patrick Jones. In this weeks edition - major news from South Africa as the President Jacob Zuma has succesfully managed to avoid impeachment despite heavy opposition. With notable public figures now saying he should do the honorable thing and step down, will he bow to the pressure? Other topics include South Africa's manufacturing sector seeing growth despite the countries economic woes, an address by Robert Mugabe to thousands of war veterans in Zimbabwe, plus South Africa avoiding a major strike.

This is Conversations from Africa with Chris Bishop, Managing Editor of Forbes Africa Magazine, & Share Radio's Patrick Jones. On this weeks show: President Zuma still manages to cling on to his Presidency despite a great deal of opposition. Zimbabwe is still dealing with the fallout from it's drought, affecting food supplies, the Springbok's have a new captain, a new super-mall for South Africa, new strength to the rand & more.

This Emerging Opportunities - the only show on your radio dedicated to the world of emerging markets. Gavin Serkin, the author of Frontier: Exploring the Top Ten Emerging Markets of Tomorrow, and the Managing Editor of Frontier Funds and Frontera News, joins Juliette Foster in the studio alongside Olivier Desbarres, a foreign exchange expert from Barclays and Credit Suisse and on the phone from Bangkok by political analyst Phillip Hynes of ISS. Topics on the agenda this week include ISIS, North Korea, Brazil, China & much more.

Investment Perspectives: As you've been hearing in the news, the International Monetary Fund has warned that Europe faces severe economic and political damage if Britain votes to leave the EU in June's upcoming referendum. In its latest global update the IMF claimed a BREXIT would disrupt established trading relationships and cause "major challenges" for both the UK and the rest of Europe. Campaigners who want Britain to leave Europe say that IMF forecasts about Britain and other countries had been "consistently wrong" and that the biggest risks were "remaining in an unreformed EU". Arguments over whether Britain should stay in our out of Europe are of limited help to investors looking to position their financial portfolios in the run up to the vote. So where are the safe havens to put the money? Is it worth making any plans or should investors just sit tight and see how the drama plays out? Nizam Hamid, ETF Strategist at WisdomTree Europe and he joins Investment Perspectives presenter Juliette Foster, in the studio.

Can money be made from businesses that follow a social and environmental agenda? You might think the answer to that is "No" yet you couldn't be more wrong? Go through the pages of crowd funding sites and you'll find hundreds of businesses whose financial objectives are underpinned by a strong commitment to social and environment issues. One example is a company called "The Wave". Founder Nick Hounsfield has turned a passion for surfing into a major project that brings together people of all ages and social groups, with the help of a lake and some cutting edge technology. Chris Hines is the project's "Head of Sustainability" while Christopher and Jenna Gordon are investors and members of "The Wave" board. All four of them join Juliette Foster in the studio.

Its been almost four months since Spain's general election resulted in the radical left wing "Podemos" party holding the balance of power in the country's traditional two party system. Europe's governing elites could only look on as Spaniards - tired of corruption scandals, relentless austerity and high unemployment - defied convention to embrace a party that had only been around for less than two years. However election euphoria soon gave way to political stalemate and this week Podemos members are expected to vote on whether the party should support or oppose a deal to form a coalition government. Failure to cut an agreement could see Spain heading back to the polls in June. Joining Juliette Foster of Investment Perspectives in the studio is Doctor Carlos Oya of the University of London, and Professor John Weeks Share Radio's regular economics commentator.

For those who've yet to decide which way they're going to vote in the EU referendum, the claims and counter claims from the rival camps are probably about as helpful as driving through fog without lights or a Sat Nav. So have George Osborne's Treasury backed findings made the road ahead any clearer....or worse? Juliette Foster is joined in the studio by Professor John Weeks, Share Radio's regular economics commentator.