City Moves: Who is switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? January 13, 2021 Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. After a rocky year for business, City firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges of three national lockdowns and post-Brexit bureaucracy to keep things moving across the Square Mile. This week, Lloyd’s [...]
Asian consumers, boomerang businesses and M&A likely to shape 2021 January 6, 2021 It was some year. Anyone who took on the challenge of forecasting what would happen in 2020 more than likely saw it all swiftly swept aside – but, as they say, prediction is very difficult, especially when it’s about the future. Still, investing is a forward-looking profession and so we inevitably find ourselves thinking about [...]
Aviva hands out dividends as inflows rocket to £1.2bn during pandemic November 26, 2020 Aviva has maintained its interim dividend during the pandemic, after the company saw strong new business wins in the UK and North America that boosted third-party net fund inflows to £1.2bn. The figure marks a huge jump from the £500m of inflows in the same period during 2019, despite tough market conditions during the coronavirus [...]
Aviva to sell stake in Italian life insurance venture for €400m November 23, 2020 Aviva has agreed to sell its entire 80% shareholding in Aviva Vita, an Italian life insurance joint venture, to partner UBI Blanca for €400m. The life insurance provider noted the transaction will increase Aviva’s net asset value by £0.1bn. It said the move would also strengthen Aviva’s Solvency II capital surplus by £0.2bn and increase [...]
Aviva vows to reduce focus on Asia and Europe as profit slumps August 6, 2020 Aviva today vowed to reduce its focus on Asia and Europe, after profit in the first six months of 2020 fell 30 per cent. The figures Profit before tax dropped 30 per cent year on year to £1.08bn in the six months to 30 June down from £1.52bn in the same period last year. Basic [...]
Aviva CEO Maurice Tulloch steps down with immediate effect for ‘family health reasons’ July 6, 2020 Aviva chief executive Maurice Tulloch has stepped down from the role with immediate effect for “family health reasons”, the insurance giant said today. Non-executive director Amanda Blanc will take on the CEO role from today, Aviva said, after joining the board at the start of the year. She was previously CEO, EMEA & Global Banking [...]
Insurance: Hiscox, Aviva, RSA and Direct Line suspend dividends following Bank of England pressure April 8, 2020 Insurance companies Hiscox, RSA, Aviva and Direct Line have this morning announced the suspension of their dividends after regulatory pressure from the Bank of England. Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank’s Prudential Regulatory Authority wrote to chief executives of major insurers on 31 March asking them to “pay close attention to the need to [...]
Aviva confirms it will still pay dividend despite fall in cash March 17, 2020 Insurance giant Aviva confirmed today that it is still planning on paying its dividend in May despite its financial position contracting. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Financial Services Conference, which was held remotely, the firm said that its solvency cover ratio had fallen to 175 per cent, down from 206 per cent on 31 December. [...]
Aviva shares rise on record profit but insurer takes £500,000 coronavirus hit March 5, 2020 Insurance giant Aviva this morning reported a jump in profit but said it had taken a £500,000 hit from coronavirus claims. Shares rose 3.42 per cent as the company announced record profit, but it also warned that the outbreak of coronavirus had exacerbated the “significant uncertainty” at the beginning of the year. So far Aviva has [...]
Aviva Investors buys Docklands hotel site for £106m January 15, 2020 Aviva Investors’ Lime Property Fund has bought a £106m hotel development site near Canary Wharf. The asset management arm of Aviva has acquired the freehold interest in the site next to Westferry DLR station, where developer Rockwell will build a 30-storey Premier Inn Hotel. Read more: London luxury hotel market booms Whitbread, the owner of [...]