QBE’s David Hall on how insurers are the unsung heroes of major sporting events: “I like to think we are the glue that allows the World Cup to operate” August 9, 2015 For A few short weeks next month, England's rugby team will find itself at the centre of the sporting universe. The World Cup will provide nailbiting thrills and drama, established stars will shine, new stars will burst into life, and seminal moments will be etched into the sport’s history books. Amid this landscape of excitement, [...]
Aviva’s UK life business leads positive results August 7, 2015 AVIVA boss Mark Wilson said yesterday that he is confident that the restructure he has been leading at the insurer since 2013 is progressing well, with the integration of Friends Life already ahead of schedule. Reporting on the six months to 30 June, Wilson said the period marked “10 consecutive quarters of growth”, adding: “All [...]
City Moves for 04 August 2015 | Who’s switching jobs August 3, 2015 Legal & General Investment Management Andrzej Pioch has been promoted to co-fund manager in the investment management company’s multi-index team. He joined Legal & General Investment Management in July 2014 as fund manager from Aviva Investors. Argo Group International Holdings The underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products has appointed Steve McGill as global head [...]
RSA hoping for better offer as bidders Zurich, Axa and Aviva circle August 2, 2015 Insurer RSA is hoping to attract a better offer than Zurich’s potential bid, revealed last week, with several other companies believed to be interested in entering the race for the troubled British firm. City analysts expect Zurich to make an offer of around 550p per share. That price would provide investors with a premium [...]
Bank of England braced for historic Super Thursday – London Report August 2, 2015 THIS WEEK includes s-called Super Thursday when the Bank of England’s policy announcement, meeting minutes from the monetary policy committee and the latest Inflation Report will – for the first time – all be released simultaneously. HSBC gets the week off with a bang today with interim results, Standard Life tomorrow and Legal & General [...]
Sheffield shows why manufacturing and finance enjoy a glorious synergy August 2, 2015 My title might be “lord mayor of the City of London”, but really that’s quite misleading. It’s my job to represent the whole of the UK’s financial and professional services industry, wherever it’s based. London may well be the largest single financial services centre in the UK, but 1.7m of the 2.1m people employed by [...]
Barclays profits beat expectations as executive chairman John McFarlane sets out new strategy July 29, 2015 Barclays' share price climbed more than 2.3 per cent this morning having beaten expectations for second quarter profits, with net income rising to £1.85bn – ahead of the £1.8bn expected – as chairman John McFarlane set out his three point plan to strengthen the bank. The figures Total income rose to £6.55bn in the three months [...]
David Cameron looks to City for new business advisory group with bosses from BP, EasyJet and Santander July 27, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed a new slate of 19 City leaders to his business advisory group, including more than a dozen chief executives of UK blue chips. The chief executives of BP, Legal & General, EasyJet, Land Securities, the London Stock Exchange Group, Persimmon, Asda, ARM, Severn Trent and Rolls Royce all [...]
City Moves for 27 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 26, 2015 Fulcrum Asset Management The asset manager has appointed Matthew Wright as director in its sales and marketing team. He joins from Newsmith Asset Management, where he was partner. Wright has 16 years’ experience, and has also held roles at Fidelity, UBS Global Asset Management and Carmignac. International General Insurance Holdings Stuart Elliot has been appointed [...]
City Moves for 21 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 20, 2015 Legal & General Property Richard Poyser has been appointed leasing manager at Legal & General Investment Management’s real assets division, and will be responsible for its Bracknell Town Centre development. He joins from Argent and has also worked at Hammerson. The Channel Managing Agency The Lloyd’s managing agency responsible for running The Channel Syndicate has [...]