Mansion House: UK giants to agree to pick high-return pension schemes July 14, 2025 UK giants Tesco and NatWest Group are set to answer the City of London Lord Mayor’s calls to focus on driving returns rather than getting bogged down by fee costs when picking pension schemes for employees. Ahead of the Mansion House speech on Tuesday, the Lord Mayor criticsed UK companies for choosing providers that charged [...]
Aviva’s £3.7bn takeover of Direct Line approved by UK watchdog July 1, 2025 Aviva’s acquisition of smaller insurance peer Direct Line has been approved by the competitions watchdog, paving the way for the formation of Britain’s biggest home and motor insurer. The £3.7bn takeover will not be subject to a phase-two investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday, after a preliminary probe to assess whether [...]
Direct Line bosses out ahead of £3.7bn Aviva deal after bumper bonus revolt June 23, 2025 The chief executive and chief financial officer of Direct Line are to step down when its £3.7bn sale to Aviva is complete, it has been announced. CEO Adam Winslow and CFO Jane Poole will leave their roles when the deal is finalised next month. In a statement, the company said a leadership team for Direct [...]
Legal & General: FTSE 100 giant touts asset management plans June 18, 2025 Legal & General is set to delve further into the asset management markets after outlining its fresh growth plan on Tuesday. The firm’s asset management arm, which oversees £1.1 trillion in assets, is setting out targets for the coming year to notch over £500m in operating profit. If successful, this would mark a sharp jump [...]
Rachel Reeves to shake up pensions to boost UK investment June 5, 2025 The government is set to shake up UK pensions today, with Rachel Reeves planning several government-backed megafunds to boost pension wealth and investment. In the most significant reform to the pensions system since 2021, the bill will focus on six areas – from giving the government a “reserve” power to force pension schemes to invest [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown predicts FTSE small cap surge amid low valuations May 27, 2025 Hargreaves Lansdown have backed the investment case for the smallest companies in the UK, predicting that the FTSE small cap sector will rally thanks to its low valuations. Describing the smaller companies investment space as “compelling,” the investment platform noted that over the last five years, the FTSE small cap index (excluding investment trusts) has [...]
Don’t force pension funds to buy British, Aviva chief warns ministers May 15, 2025 British pension funds should not be forced to invest in UK assets, the boss of one of London’s biggest insurance firms has said, in a rebuke of the government’s pension reforms plans. The Treasury this week helped seal a voluntary, non-binding agreement by pension funds, dubbed the Mansion House Accord, will see increased investment into [...]
Aviva: Direct Line buyout ‘firmly on track’ despite CMA investigation May 15, 2025 Aviva expects its £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line to be completed by the middle of this year despite a new investigation by the competition watchdog into the deal. In a trading update, the insurance giant’s CEO, Amanda Blanc, said the acquisition was “firmly on track,” and cash to pay for the takeover had been ring-fenced. Yesterday, the Competition [...]
Direct Line suffers shareholder revolt over CEO’s huge pay day May 14, 2025 The group behind Direct Line has suffered a huge revolt by its shareholders over its chief executive being handed a huge pay day ahead of its planned £3.7bn takeover by Aviva. In March, City AM reported that Adam Winslow took home a pay packet of more than £7.8m for the insurance giant’s latest financial year. [...]
CMA to investigate Aviva’s £3.7bn Direct Line deal May 14, 2025 The UK’s competition watchdog has begun an investigation into insurance giant Aviva’s proposed £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line. The Competition and Markets Authority said it had commenced its phase one inquiry to establish whether the deal would result in a “realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.” The CMA has invited comment on the [...]