Pension fund assets rising September 5, 2011 The total assets of the world’s largest 300 pension funds grew by 11 per cent last year to a record high of $12.5 trillion (£7.77 trillion) according to new research. The study from Pensions & Investments and Towers Watson showed that despite last year’s growth in total assets, annualised growth of all funds during the [...]
RECLUSIVE TYCOONS VIEW €35M SHOW BOAT September 5, 2011 WHAT TO do when there are simply no luxury yachts on the market you want to buy? Easy – start your own yacht business and build your own, as Richard Beattie did when he discovered an alarming lack of “contemporary 21st-century superyachts” for sale. “I fully expected to just go and buy one I liked, [...]
Insurers hit out at no win no fee claims September 5, 2011 AMBULANCE-CHASING lawyers came under fire from major UK retailers and insurers demanding reform of the booming market for personal injury claims yesterday. Businesses led by the Association of British Insurers are fighting back against a surge in “no win no fee” legal actions behind a 72 per cent jump in the number of bodily injury [...]
CITY VIEWS: DOES THE NO WIN NO FEE SYSTEM NEED REFORM? September 5, 2011 PETER GODFREY | JRP “I totally agree with the reforms. The compensation culture is getting out of hand, especially in the western world. It has pushed up the price of consumers’ insurance and the only winners in these scenarios are the lawyers.” BARNEY TAYLOR | TELIRIS “Personally, I think it’s a good idea; no win [...]
City insurance market bigger than expected September 5, 2011 LONDON insurers are writing far more business than previously believed, cementing London’s status as a top global insurance hub, new research yesterday showed. City insurers wrote a total of £39bn of gross premium in 2010, a third more than the £30bn estimate for the industry previously used, the International Underwriting Association said after surveying the [...]
Barclays Capital notches up a new broking client September 5, 2011 BARCLAYS Capital yesterday won another brokership, continuing its strategy of expanding its UK equities business. BarCap will now be joint broker to Yule Catto, the speciality chemicals manufacturer, alongside Collins Stewart. The investment bank has been pushing its broking business in an attempt to forge relationships with big UK clients and has already won mandates [...]
GERMANY DENIES EYEING EADS STAKE September 5, 2011 GERMANY yesterday denied a report it was preparing to take a stake in EADS after failing to find a domestic private investor for part of Daimler’s holding in the European aerospace company. “There are neither concrete plans nor an agreement for a takeover of the Daimler share of EADS through the KfW bank,” an economy [...]
Profits rise at Hydrogen September 5, 2011 Profits at international recruitment group Hydrogen rose by 64 per cent in the six months to the end of June, the company said yesterday, as revenues increased by 45 per cent to £80m. Profits before tax were £1.8m and net fee income hit £15.1m. “The profit increase was driven purely by increasing revenues, with no [...]
Troubled JJB pins hopes on incentive plan September 5, 2011 THE City last night took a hopeful view of the £14m incentive plan launched for the bosses of troubled retailer JJB Sports. Shares in the firm, which was rescued by a deal with landlords in March, closed up 2.4 per cent despite a dire day on the rest of the FTSE, after it said senior [...]
Hobbycraft tells board: don’t be dull September 5, 2011 HOBBYCRAFT, the arts and crafts retailer subject to a bidding war last year, has increased sales and profits since being taken over by private equity but admitted it has to become “more interesting”. The retailer’s parent, Hobbycraft Group, which was bought by Bridgepoint Capital last year in a deal worth around £100m, hit sales of [...]
