Business
How to manage your money in turbulent times, from savings to mortgages | Money
It is understandable to be worried about your finances. The world seems to be lurching from one political crisis to the next, and each one has an impact on stock markets and prices.
A recent survey found UK consumers are worried about a slowing economy, possible tax increases in the next budget and rising food costs. We asked experts how you should manage your money in an uncertain world.
Investments
Stock markets around the world, especially in the US, were in flux earlier this year over Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Things have settled down now but it is impossible to predict what shocks may be around the corner.
If you hold stocks and shares – in an Isa or pension, perhaps – you may have been nervously checking their value. UK fund managers have been increasing their holdings in US companies over recent years, largely fuelled by the boom in tech stocks, so big moves over there have an impact here.
However, experts say the most important thing to do is to not sell up out of panic. The analyst Dan Coatsworth of the financial advisers AJ Bell says: “The worst thing people can do is to see troubling things in the news and then suddenly try to shift around their portfolio.” Markets have recovered in the past, he says, so patience is key.
Where this advice may differ is if you need your money for something in less than five years – such as a wedding, university fees or a house purchase. Then you should look at how much risk you are taking, he says.
Andrew Oxlade, an investment director at the fund management company Fidelity International, says this could mean switching some of your money away from the markets and into bonds. Bonds are issued by a corporation or country – the investor loans it money in exchange for a fixed rate of interest.
They are typically bought through a fund. Many investment management companies offer funds that have a split between equities and bonds, such as Vanguard’s Lifestrategy 80%.
Gold, an investment that is often seen as a safe bet during times of crisis, has tripled in price over the past decade, and many investors now hold a small amount in their portfolios, Oxlade says, after years of poor performance. Investing does not have to mean buying bars or coins – Fidelity says the most direct way for most is through an exchange traded fund that tracks the price of gold.
Mortgages
Interest rates in the UK can be affected by what goes on globally. The Bank of England is tasked with keeping inflation down. Before the war in Ukraine started, it had begun to put up rates, and as prices increased, it continued, raising them from 0.25% at the start of 2022 to 5.25% by August 2023, before holding them there for another year.
The Bank has been reducing rates and is expected to make more cuts later this year, but the question is when. If you are planning to take out a new mortgage – either to buy a home or as a remortgage – you face a decision about whether to fix for the short or long term, choose a tracker or even to go on a bank’s standard variable rate (SVR).
Currently, the best-priced two- and five-year fixed deals have a rate of just below 4%.
Nick Mendes of the brokers John Charcol says lenders are reducing rates at present largely because of falling swap rates, a key factor in how mortgages are priced. Swap rates reflect what the money markets expect to happen to interest rates in future.
“Fixed mortgage rates are more influenced by swap rates than the base rate itself, which means they are shaped by what markets think might happen in the future rather than what is happening today,” he says.
Going on to a lender’s SVR in the hope that fixed rates will improve later in the year is a risky strategy as the rates are high, at about 6.5%, and can change at any time and increase your monthly repayments.
Tracker mortgages are also worth considering, Mendes says. These are linked to the Bank base rate. “They tend to start lower than SVRs and often come without early repayment charges, which means borrowers can move on to a fixed deal later,” he says.
Mendes says people who are remortgaging should not “sit back and wait. Most lenders allow you to secure a new deal up to six months in advance, which is a smart way to hedge your bets,” he says. “You can lock in a deal now as a safety net and still switch to something better if rates improve before the new deal begins.”
For new buyers, Mendes says they should base decisions on what is affordable now rather than making assumptions about what may or may not happen in the future. “The last position anyone wants to be in is having overstretched themselves on the assumption that they will be able to refinance on to something cheaper at the end of their fixed-rate period,” he adds.
You are not tied to a rate until completion, so you should be able to switch if a better deal comes along.
Savings
Savings rates could fall even before the Bank reduces the base rate, says Rachel Springall of the financial information site Moneyfacts, as account providers may decide that they have enough deposits for a certain product. “If the whole market starts moving in one direction, you’ll find that other peers will do the same because they don’t want to put themselves too high up [in best buy tables],” she says.
Until then, easy access and fixed-term rates are competitive, Springall says.
The best rates this week for fixed one-year and two-year bonds are from Cynergy Bank (4.55% for the one-year and 4.45% for the two-year), while an easy access account from Chase offers 5%, although this includes a 12-month bonus and is a variable rate, so it could go down.
There have been increases in the interest paid on fixed-rate bonds in recent weeks, she says.
Anna Bowes of the financial advisers The Private Office says “now is a really good time for a saver who has not been paying attention to their savings” as there is good competition in the market.
If you have money in a variable-rate account it may be a good time to move it to a fixed rate.
Pensions
The tumultuous times that stock markets have been having since the start of the year will have had a direct effect on many people in the UK through their pensions. Often funds are heavily invested in US stocks, so the ups and downs there could be affecting your retirement saving.
It is understandable if you are considering shifting money in your pension into other safer options such as bonds, says Helen Morrissey, the head of retirement analysis at the financial advice company Hargreaves Lansdown. However, unless you are cashing in your pension within the next five years, you should avoid reactions based on the international turmoil, she says.
“Over the course of your saving journey, you will hit several periods of market volatility and it’s important to keep in mind that markets do recover over time,” she says. “Making kneejerk reactions such as changing investment strategy has the potential to lock in losses as you miss out when markets do recover.”
Workplace pensions are often invested in “lifestyling” funds, which reduce the amount of risk as the holder gets older by shifting from equities to bonds. So if you are approaching retirement this may be happening automatically.
If your fund has been hit by turbulence in the markets and you intend on retiring soon, Morrissey says that you may want to start to take a lower amount out from your fund than you had planned in order to allow the rest to recover from any losses caused by market turbulence.
“We suggest that people in [income] drawdown keep between one and three years’ worth of essential expenditure [from their savings] in an easy access account that they can use to supplement their income during times of turbulence,” she adds.
Another option, on retirement, is to invest some or all of your fund in an annuity, where returns are close to all-time highs. Annuities convert a lump sum from your pension into a regular guaranteed income for the rest of your life or a fixed term. A healthy 65-year-old can now get an annuity rate of 7.72% on average, according to the pension provider Standard Life – that means that for every £100,000 invested, they would get an annual income of £7,720.
Energy bills
About 21 million households will see their bills decrease after the price cap was reduced this week. For a household with typical usage, the cap has dropped by £129, to £1,720 a year. The good news may not last too long, however, as there are predictions of increases in October.
After the recent conflict between Iran and Israel, oil prices went up because of concerns that supplies could be affected by threats of a blockade of the strait of Hormuz. Prices later reduced after a ceasefire deal was agreed.
Will Owen of the price comparison website Uswitch says the volatility of the international economy has led to uncertainty. “We are now seeing predictions from various organisations and energy suppliers that the price cap from October onwards will probably go up,” he says.
To protect yourself against a rise you could considered a fixed-rate tariff – with these each unit of energy and the standing charges are set for a certain length of time.
The MoneySavingExpert site advises that you are “very likely” to save if you can find a fixed-rate deal priced at least 5% below the current price cap, which is predicted to fluctuate.
The current best deals are a 12-month fix from E.ON Next that is 8.8% below the cap, another from Outfox Energy that is 8.1% less and then a fix from EDF Energy that is 7.2% less, according to the site.
CrowdStrike and Salesforce announced a new strategic partnership to enhance the security of AI agents and applications built on Agentforce and the Salesforce Platform. Through integrations between CrowdStrike Falcon®? Shield and Salesforce Security Center, Salesforce admins and security professionals will gain enhanced visibility, compliance support, and protection for mission-critical workflows – simplifying operations and uniting business and security teams on a shared foundation of trust in the agentic era.
The partnership also enables customers to access CrowdStrike’s agentic security analyst, Charlotte AI, through Agentforce for Security and use it to work directly alongside teammates in Slack, flagging potential threats and recommending actions in a conversational manner as any other employee would. As agents join the workforce, security teams must understand what they are doing, trace them back to their human creators, and prevent them from becoming over privileged or compromised. CrowdStrike and Salesforce are meeting this challenge by delivering the visibility and control needed to secure the future of AI-powered business.
Automatic Threat Containment: Automate response actions with Falcon®? Fusion – such as blocking risky access or disabling compromised agents – directly from Salesforce Security Center. Unified AI Agent Protection: Combine Falcon Shield, Falcon®?
Next-Gen Identity Security, and Falcon®? Cloud Security to deliver end-to-end control over Agentforce agents and applications. By bringing Charlotte AI into Slack through Agentforce for Security, CrowdStrike and Salesforce empower teams to quickly and efficiently handle security incidents without having to switch applications: Accelerated Incident Response: Instantly create dedicated incident channels in Slack to coordinate response; Conversational Threat Investigation: Use natural language to query Charlotte AI for immediate answers on threats, hosts, and data; Real-Time Remediation: Isolate compromised devices or take other response actions directly from Slack, ensuring swift containment.
Together, CrowdStrike and Salesforce deliver stronger protection and visibility for mission-critical workflows- enabling enterprises to embrace AI securely while building the foundation for future innovation. Availability: The Falcon Shield integration will be available from within the Salesforce Security Center and on the Salesforce AppExchange this year; Charlotte AI will be integrating into Slack via Agentforce for Security and available via the AgentExchange and Slack Marketplace this year.
Acquisition to Turn Workday into the New Front Door for Work
Acquisition Will Combine Sana’s AI-Powered Search, Agents, and Learning with Workday Context and Data to Power Proactive, Personalized, and Intelligent Employee Experiences
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Workday Rising 2025 — Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sana, a leading AI company building the next generation of enterprise knowledge tools. Sana will power a new Workday experience—where knowledge, data, action, and learning come together as one and create the new front door for work.
Since its founding in 2016, Sana has been at the forefront of AI for work, developing intuitive tools that elevate humans with AI. Sana’s core products, Sana Learn and Sana Agents, have already served over one million users across hundreds of enterprises.
In addition to powering a new Workday experience, Sana will continue to develop Sana Learn and Sana Agents. As part of Workday, Sana will be able to accelerate its growth and deliver even more innovation to its customers at scale.
“Sana’s team, AI-native approach, and beautiful design perfectly align with our vision to reimagine the future of work,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, president, product and technology, Workday. “This will make Workday the new front door for work, delivering a proactive, personalized, and intelligent experience that unlocks unmatched AI capabilities for the workplace.”
“Our focus has always been on creating intuitive AI tools that improve how people learn and work,” said Joel Hellermark, founder and CEO of Sana. “I’m excited to bring these tools to 75 million Workday users and partner with Workday’s iconic team to launch a new era of superintelligence for work.”
The New Front Door for Work: A Reimagined Workday Experience
With Sana, Workday will create the work experience of the future, where enterprise knowledge, data and actions converge into one. This will help people get their work done and empower employees with AI agents that can:
- Find answers, information and files by instantly searching across a company’s most critical data sources, including Workday, Google Drive, SharePoint, and Office365.
- Act proactively by anticipating needs, summarizing insights, and assisting with projects.
- Create presentations, documents, and dashboards, even full learning courses, based on company knowledge.
- Automate repetitive tasks and routine work by executing workflows end-to-end.
Leveraging Workday’s unique data and context around people and money—as well as a rich ecosystem of builders and partners—the employee experience will become personalized and proactive, better anticipating employee needs based on their role, team, and projects. For example, hiring managers will be able to generate tailored dashboards to monitor their live recruitment pipeline, automate the end-to-end performance review process, and receive proactive suggestions on onboarding new hires based on real-time performance data.
Unlocking a New Era of Enterprise AI
Sana Agents extends enterprise AI beyond basic search and chat. With the platform’s no-code agent builder, users can create AI agents to automate repetitive tasks and act proactively on their behalf. These agents streamline workflows while helping ensure that every action remains secure and compliant with company policies through the Workday Agent System of Record.
Existing customers are realizing significant tangible value from Sana Agents across various use cases. For instance, a leading American manufacturer achieved up to 95% time savings; a multinational industrial tech company achieved 90% productivity gains; and a global law firm saw over 60% time savings and 200% increased efficiency.
Elevating Talent Development with AI-Powered Learning
Sana is also a pioneer in applying AI to learning. Its AI-native learning platform, Sana Learn, combines learning management, content creation, course generation, and personalized tutoring through specialized learning agents. Sana Learn has already enabled hundreds of customers across industries to accelerate learning. For example, a global electric vehicle manufacturer boosted learning engagement by 275%; a leading European installation distributor with 7,500 employees cut course creation time from four months to four days; and a global fintech company went from three weeks to three hours for content creation.
Sana Learn will complement Workday Learning with hyper-personalized skill building capabilities and AI-native content creation at scale. Enhanced by AI-driven internal mobility with Workday Talent Optimization and HiredScore, this comprehensive learning suite will help employees build skills faster and help enable organizations to scale personalized learning experiences, supporting employee reskilling and upskilling initiatives.
“Sana pioneered the world of intelligent agents and AI-native learning at scale,” said Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company and a Sana customer. “I think Sana’s AI agent and learning system gives Workday customers the opportunity to completely transform the way their employees learn, grow, and operate as super workers in this new age of AI.”
Details Regarding Proposed Acquisition of Sana
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Workday will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sana for approximately $1.1 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday’s fiscal year 2026, ending January 31, 2026, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Allen & Company LLC is serving as financial advisor to Workday and Orrick is serving as its legal advisor. DLA Piper is serving as Sana’s legal advisor.
About Workday
Workday is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.
About Sana
Sana is an AI company building the next generation of knowledge tools. Its products have served over a million users globally and are trusted by the likes of Merck and Polestar. To learn more about Sana, visit sanalabs.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements related to Workday, Sana, and the acquisition of Sana by Workday. These forward-looking statements are based only on currently available information and Workday’s current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. If the risks materialize, assumptions prove incorrect, or we experience unexpected changes in circumstances, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not rely on any forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this communication include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits and effects of the proposed transaction; Workday’s plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions with respect to Sana’s business; and the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction. Risks include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) failure to achieve the expected benefits of the transaction; (iii) Workday’s ability to deliver a new Workday experience, accelerate Sana’s growth, and implement its other plans, objectives, and expectations with respect to Sana’s business and technology; (iv) negative effects of the announcement or the consummation of the transaction on Workday’s business operations, operating results, or share price; (v) unanticipated expenses related to the acquisition; and (vi) other risks and factors described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our most recent report on Form 10-Q or Form 10-K and other reports that we have filed and will file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.
© 2025 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
SOURCE Workday Inc.
For further information: Investor Relations, ir@workday.com; Media, media@workday.com
Business
AI Company ServiceNow Takes Up to 200K SF With Stephen Ross in West Palm Beach – Commercial Observer
AI company ServiceNow is taking up to 200,000 square feet at Stephen Ross’s 10 CityPlace development in Downtown West Palm Beach, Fla.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company will become the anchor tenant of the 480,000-square-foot development, which remains under construction. ServiceNow, which recorded nearly $11 billion in revenue last year, runs a cloud-based platform that helps firms automate and manage digital workflows using artificial intelligence.
The City of West Palm Beach and the State of Florida have approved $17 million in incentives for ServiceNow if it creates 856 jobs, WPTV reported.
ServiceNow plans to open an innovation hub within the office, which is expected to open in 2028. Ross’s firm, Related Ross, is negotiating to receive about $700 million in construction financing to build the tower as well as another office building next door, 15 CityPlace.
“West Palm Beach is the latest move in ServiceNow’s tradition of embracing bold economic developments across the country,” Bill McDermott, chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, said in a statement. “This will be a compelling magnet for talent, a strong engine for growth, and a dynamic hub for America’s AI leadership.”
ServiceNow’s lease marks a win for Ross’s broader quest to turn West Palm Beach into a leading business hub. 360 Rosemary, the office building that Ross completed in 2021, has landed high-profile finance tenants such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Elliott Investment Management.
Ross has also successfully lobbied Vanderbilt University to open a $520 million graduate campus, though construction has yet to commence.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
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