Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Thursday 29 January 2026. UK dividends rose in Q4 to £14.3bnUK dividends rose 1.3% in Q4 2025 to £14.3bn, according to the Dividend Monitor report from global financial services company Computershare. Regular dividends, which exclude one-off special payments, rose to £13.9bn in Q4: up 2.1% on a constant-currency basis. The report noted how Q4 ended positively thanks to better than anticipated payouts in the energy, consumer basics and property sectors. He joins from UBS Asset Management, where he held the role of head of financial institutions over the past seven years.