Headhunters make progress in search for new Mecom boss November 22, 2010 MECOM, the pan-European newspaper group, has scotched suggestions that its chief executive David Montgomery is planning to stay on ahead of his scheduled departure in January next year. Montgomery was earlier this year persuaded to step down by dissident shareholders but an improving share price, combined with one of the rebels selling its stake, has [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 15, 2010 Barclays Barclays has appointed Paul McNamara (pictured) as MD of insurance and investments to strengthen the bank’s ability to make protection insurance more accessible. McNamara comes from Standard Life, where he was MD for group strategy and corporate finance, before which he was a director of marketing and distribution at HBOS financial services. In another [...]
Prudential sees jump in profit November 10, 2010 Britain’s largest insurer Prudential reported a 17 per cent rise in third-quarter group sales, beating expectations and helped by a pick-up in demand from emerging markets such as Asia. Prudential rivals such as Aviva, faced with slow-growing home markets, have been trying to expand business in Asia where insurance penetration remains low, with under four [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS November 9, 2010 SVM UNVEILS GLOBAL STOCKPICKING FUND Edinburgh-based SVM Asset Management will launch its first global stockpicking fund called the SVM World Equity Fund. SVM will change the name and objective of the SVM UK Alpha fund to form the new fund and the changes are due to take place, subject to approval, on 1 December. Managed [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 4, 2010 Aviva The insurer has hired Helen Hislop as chief financial officer and Patrick Dixneuf as chief operations officer for its European arm, with effect from 1 January. Both will be based in Paris, and will work under EMEA chief executive Andrea Moneta. Hislop replaces Tim Harris, who has moved to Aviva as deputy chief financial [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAVE YOU NOTICED THE RISE IN THE COST OF CLOTHES? November 3, 2010 STUART ESSEX | XL INSURANCE “I don’t think prices have gone up, or at least I haven’t noticed any massive change. There’s a lot of competition between clothes shops in the City, so there tends to be lots of special deals. But I have seen the price of food rising.” PHIL SPRATT | ACCENTURE “Not [...]
Aviva plans £400m savings in two years November 2, 2010 INSURANCE company Aviva has announced plans for £400m in savings over the next two years, half of which will come from efficiency gains, and half from cost savings. It has also said that it will close its final salary pension scheme, which has 7,600 members, something that will save £50m a year. Several hundred jobs [...]
Aviva unveils £200m cost cutting programme November 2, 2010 Insurer Aviva unveiled £200m in planned cost cuts and said it was set for “strong profitable growth” this year after sales for the first nine months rose in line with expectations. Aviva, Britain’s second-biggest insurer, will take out £200m in costs and deliver another £200m in efficiency gains by the end of 2012, it said. [...]
Insurers to post upbeat numbers October 31, 2010 TWO of the UK’s biggest insurers are set to announce an upturn in business when they update the market on trading this week. Aviva is expected to unveil a £1bn increase in life and pension sales to £25bn when it reports figures for the first nine months of the year tomorrow. And Standard Life, which [...]
Three cheers for the stars of the Square Mile October 28, 2010 LAST night was truly an exciting and exceptional occasion: City A.M.’s inaugural awards celebrating the best and brightest of London’s business, financial and investment communities. Our inaugural awards ceremony saw more than 450 guests in their finery roll up at the Grange Hotel at St Pauls. Our winners, unique in that each was initially chosen [...]