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 [...]
Robson: Quins can win without Six Nations stars March 20, 2014 HARLEQUINS will be without their England stars tomorrow, but lock George Robson insists his side will not be lacking in stardust for their derby trip to Wembley. Quins director of rugby Conor O’Shea has opted to rest Red Rose quartet Mike Brown, Danny Care, Joe Marler and captain Chris Robshaw for the Saracens clash in [...]
The pensions revolution March 19, 2014 City stunned as chancellor unveils greatest overhaul of savings for a generation A SWEEPING reform of the UK’s pension system that will revolutionise the way Britons save for retirement was cheered by campaigners yesterday, despite investors wiping billions of pounds off the value of the pension industry over fears that profits could be hit. The changes, [...]
Insurance sector hammered by annuity shock March 19, 2014 LIFE insurers were the biggest losers yesterday after radical plans to give ageing savers instant access to their pension pots sparked a mass insurance sell-off. FTSE 250-listed Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance were the hardest hit, with both losing close to half their market value. Just Retirement closed down 42.4 per cent while Partnership fell [...]