ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT STOOD OUT IN AVIVA’S RESULTS? May 17, 2011 KEVIN RYAN | INVESTEC The big attraction in a UK context is its composite business model. Cash from the non-life business essentially covers shareholders’ dividend and this places it in a very good position. The only note of caution is that it is winning significant new business in UK motor where premiums rose 60 per [...]
Aviva hit by drop in life insurance sales May 17, 2011 Insurer Aviva reported a 14 per cent drop in life insurance sales during the first quarter as it withdrew from less profitable segments of the market. Aviva had long term savings sales of £8.8bn in the first three months of the year, down from £10.2 billion a year earlier, it said. The decrease came as [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 16, 2011 Legal & General Property Charlie Walker has been promoted to director of the property fund manager and appointed to the LGP Board. Most recently, Walker was senior fund manager to the UK Property Income Fund. In his new role, he will continue to oversee the fund, which this month secured a further £100m of equity. [...]
Tesco names City grandee as new chair May 11, 2011 TESCO yesterday announced that Sir Richard Broadbent will become its next chairman. Sir Richard (pictured), who is deputy chairman at Barclays, will join Tesco as a non-executive director in July. He will take over the reins from Tesco chairman David Reid, who retires in November. The City grandee was tipped to take over at insurer [...]
S&P’s US downgrade sparks stock sell-off April 18, 2011 Alarm over deteriorating public finances in the US, Greece and other peripheral eurozone nations hit markets today, pushing the FTSE down to its lowest close in four weeks. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the US’ rating outlook to negative, from stable, citing a lack of decisive action to rein in [...]
The man who’s locking horns with indecisive EU regulators April 17, 2011 MENTION Brussels to any senior London-based insurer and you will always get the same reaction: anger and exasperation. With just over 18 months to go before the introduction of Solvency II, the insurance industry’s equivalent of the new Basel III banking rules, European regulators have still not produced a framework that properly reflects the business [...]
Leicester Tigers consider IPO April 12, 2011 Leicester Tigers are plotting an initial public offering (IPO) to raise more than £4.4m to develop their stadium. Rugby league’s Aviva Premiership champions had planned an IPO two years ago, but are now reviving the plans to pay for work at their Welford Road ground. The fundraising would help to build a multi-storey car park [...]
Spotlight on famous five of the Commission April 10, 2011 The spotlight will today be on the “famous five” members of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) as it presents its 200-page interim report. Two of the commission’s five members come from a banking background, which banks might hope will make them sympathetic to the difficult of running a major lender in current regulatory conditions. [...]
Powell and Gay London bound March 31, 2011 ATHLETICS: Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell and the world’s fastest man of 2010, Tyson Gay, will go head-to-head at the Aviva London Grand Prix on 5-6 August after they do battle at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix on 10 July. “I have only run in Birmingham once before, but if it is like [...]
Aviva puts RAC arm up for sale March 24, 2011 ROADSIDE rescue business RAC has been put up for sale by its insurance owner Aviva as it divests non-core parts of the company. The RAC’s value has been placed at about £600-700m, just over half the £1.1bn Aviva paid for it in 2005, after a series of sell-offs of its parts, including the BSM driving [...]