Mysterious Pears dynasty backs new venture to build £1bn of London homes March 27, 2014 One of the biggest and most private landlords in London and the South East has thrown its weight behind a £200m joint venture that aims to build £1bn of new homes in central London over the next five years. The Pears family, which owns the Coutts bank building on London’s Strand and the Coronet theatre [...]
London’s 13 favourite skyscrapers ranked March 27, 2014 A report out two weeks ago documented over 236 skyscrapers coming to the city – over double what it’s got now. London's long been thought of as a low-rise city – compare it with New York and Hong Kong – but it looks like its skyline's in for a shift – upwards. How do Londoners [...]
Shareholders vote in favour of F&C takeover March 25, 2014 F&C ASSET Management is on the verge of becoming a subsidiary of Canadian lender Bank of Montreal after shareholders yesterday voted through the £708m takeover deal. Almost all of F&C’s shareholders that voted – approximately 99.6 per cent – supported the deal. The owners of 58 per cent of the company’s shares voted. The F&C [...]
Aviva sells Turkish general unit March 25, 2014 Insurer Aviva said yesterday it has agreed to sell its Turkish general insurance business Aviva Sigorta to a private equity consortium led by venture fund EMF Capital Partners. The firm said its life and pensions business in Turkey, AvivaSA, was unaffected by this transaction. The statement was made on the London and Istanbul stock exchanges [...]
Academies are transforming education: Here’s how March 24, 2014 AS SOON as you walk into a great school, you can feel the buzz. Children are confident, staff are passionate, and high academic achievement and exciting extra-curricular activities sit side by side. As an academy sponsor, and chair of the Department for Education’s Academies Board, I’ve visited many schools like this. Schools like Great Yarmouth [...]
Standard Life swoops for City fund firm Ignis March 24, 2014 STANDARD Life is on the verge of clinching a £400m deal to buy City funds group Ignis Asset Management, the latest tie-up in a wave of consolidations. The Scottish insurer, which runs £184bn through its Standard Life Investments brand, confirmed last night it was in exclusive talks with Ignis’ FTSE-listed owner Phoenix Group. The deal, [...]
The pensions boss with the world’s hottest nextdoor neighbour March 24, 2014 Scottish Widows’ chief executive Toby Strauss talks adverts and Osborne’s annuities shake-up THE INSURANCE industry has been allowed to fly under the radar for a number of years, but things are about to change. George Osborne’s Budget, in which he announced a sweeping overhaul of the pensions industry, has annuities providers reaching for their calculators [...]
Lions tour has helped Farrell grow, says Sarries chief McCall March 23, 2014 SARACENS director of rugby Mark McCall believes fly-half Owen Farrell is vastly improved since touring with the British & Irish Lions in Australia last year. Farrell scored 17 points in a man of the match performance as Sarries defeated Harlequins 39-17 on Saturday to reclaim top spot in the Aviva Premiership in front of a [...]
Annuity market to collapse by £8bn because of rule switch March 20, 2014 SAVERS fleeing the pension annuity market will cause it to collapse by two-thirds over the next 18 months, analysts predict, as the fallout from the Budget continued to hit markets. Barclays analysts said the annuity market could shrink from £12bn a year to just £4bn by September 2015, due to changes announced in the Budget, [...]
Bottom Line: This will be the end for some – but for others it’s a chance to innovate March 20, 2014 GEORGE Osborne’s bombshell Budget announcement means the law that introduced annuities is not even going to make it to its 60th birthday. Since the Finance Act of 1956, Britons have been forced to buy an annuity at some point between the age of 60 and 75. But from April next year, that requirement will be [...]