Harry, Meghan and the case for shared parental leave May 8, 2019 While the parents of the new royal baby might be exempt from a traditional nine to five job, it’s no surprise that their first-born child will still have a massive impact on their ability to fulfil royal duties. A member of the royal family is in a better position than others to spend time with [...]
RPC Group clears another hurdle to selling company to Berry Global as EU regulators approve £3.3bn deal April 25, 2019 Packaging giant RPC Group has taken a step closer to tying up its sale to US counterpart Berry Global, after the European Commission cleared the acquisition yesterday. Read more: Berry Global snatches RPC buyout from private equity firm Apollo Regulators ruled that the £3.3bn takeover “would raise no competition concerns given the limited horizontal overlaps [...]
New Aviva CEO shakes up leadership team to boost ‘commercial thinking’ April 24, 2019 Aviva’s new chief executive rang the changes among senior management today as he looks to offer more value to shareholders. Read more: Former Aviva boss pay halved in 2018 as insurers gets tough on bonuses Maurice Tulloch announced three fresh appointments at the insurer as he dumped the chief executive of its UK insurance arm, [...]
The fault in default funds: Why you might not be getting the most out of your workplace pension scheme April 17, 2019 There is no denying that auto-enrolment is paving the way for the British population to have a half-decent savings pot in retirement. According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, 76 per cent of UK employees were members of a workplace pension scheme in 2018, up slightly from the 73 per cent enrolled [...]
You’ve been served: A look at the growing trend for divorce loans April 10, 2019 Divorce law in England and Wales is set for an overhaul. New rules announced yesterday will prevent one partner refusing a divorce when the other partner wants one. It’s hoped that the reform will speed up “no-fault” divorces, allowing couples to split with less acrimony, and ending what justice secretary David Gauke described as the [...]
Did a monkey break your smartphone? Aviva reveals its most unusual insurance claims April 10, 2019 A horse mounting a car after mistaking it for a female companion, a monkey smashing a holidaymaker’s phone and a gorilla biting a trekkers arm, were just some of claims paid out by insurance giant Aviva last year. The insurer paid out more than £3.8bn last year as the Beast from the East and airport [...]
Mortgage and investment platform Lendinvest secures £200m funding from HSBC April 8, 2019 Mortgage marketplace and property investment platform Lendinvest has secured up to £200m in funding from HSBC in order to launch its home loan product this year. The new funding will allow the London-based firm, which launched in 2008, to enter the regulated home loan market for the first time as it targets becoming a whole-of-market [...]
Amber Rudd gives nod for pensions dashboard project to ‘transform’ retirement planning April 4, 2019 Amber Rudd has given the green light for the long-awaited pensions dashboard project to go ahead, with the first industry models to come out later this year. Under the scheme, workers will be able to see information about their various nest eggs combined on a so-called dashboard, accessible on smartphones, tablets and computers. The plan [...]
Dormant assets scheme could be expanded following government report April 4, 2019 A scheme to reallocate dormant assets to charitable causes could be extended to the investment and wealth management sector following the publication of a government report. An independent report commissioned by the government found that extending the scheme to other financial services, also including the insurance and pensions sector, could "significantly expand the money available to good [...]
Aviva and Sesame Bankhall invest £5m in new blockchain mortgage platform April 2, 2019 A new fintech mortgage platform has secured £5m seed funding from Aviva and Sesame Bankhall in a bid to transform the market. Acre – a next-generation mortgage and insurance platform – has announced £5m seed funding from insurance giant Aviva and financial advisor Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG). Read more: Monzo backer Accel stumps up $30m for Chainalysis' [...]