Aviva puts saga of inherited estates to bed in 470m deal October 1, 2009 AVIVA said it will hand out a £470m windfall to around 805,000 policyholders that invested in two of its with-profits funds by Christmas. The special payout comes from inherited estates built up by the funds – pots of money that were hoarded in boom markets to protect against market downturns. The reattribution of the inherited [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 30, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESTHOUSANDS TRAPPED IN EARTHQUAKEThousands of people lay trapped beneath rubble and at least 75 were killed after an earthquake devastated large swathes of Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, according to government officials. Officials warned that the death toll from the 7.6-magnitude tremor – along the same faultline that yielded the earthquake that set off the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2009 AvivaThe insurer has appointed Andrea Moneta, chief executive of its European business, to its PLC board with immediate effect. Moneta joined the firm in July 2008 to lead its European operations outside the UK. Prior to that, he was managing director of Dubai Financial Group and has also held senior executive positions with the European [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 29, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed marginally lower yesterday as buoyant financials struggled against disappointing US data, falls from miners and Vodafone. The index closed 5.98 points, or 0.1 per cent, lower at 5,159.72, after a choppy day of trading, having ended Monday’s session 1.6 per cent firmer. Miners were among the biggest laggards, with investors plagued [...]
Aviva’s Delta Lloyd unit eyes IPO this year or next, says its chief September 28, 2009 INSURER Aviva’s Dutch unit Delta Lloyd plans to list in the fourth quarter of this year or early next year, the chief executive of Delta Lloyd said yesterday. “We are working on it. If there is additional information to give, we will let the market know,” Niek Hoek said on the sidelines of a Holland [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 24, 2009 F&C Commercial Property TrustThe trust has appointed John Stephen, currently an independent non-executive director, as its new chairman, effective from 31 October. Stephen will replace Peter Niven, pictured, who steps down as chairman after four years and will remain on the board as a non-executive director. Niven is also a director of Resolution, which recently [...]
CITY VIEWS: HAS GORDON BROWN’S GOVERNMENT BEEN GOOD FOR THE CITY? September 24, 2009 DAVID BLANC VESTRA WEALTH“I don’t think so, because of three key issues: the 50 per cent income tax band, the rules on non-doms, and the government’s position on attacking the bonus culture. Boris Johnson has been far more understanding towards the City.” LAURA GRAY AVIVA INVESTORS“It hasn’t been good for the City, but no party [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 23, 2009 THE leading share index closed lower yesterday as falling commodity prices stung oil firms and miners while investors stayed cautious ahead of the conclusion of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting. The FTSE 100 ended 0.1 per cent, or 3.23 points, lower at 5,139.37, erasing gains from earlier in the session as shares on Wall [...]
CITY VIEWS: DOES TONY BALL DESERVE TO EARN 30M AS ITV BOSS? September 21, 2009 ROY PARCHMENT AVIVA“That is a huge amount of money for that kind of role. The question is how much value is added by that person to the company? You have to ask how much chief executives contribute to shareholders and profits. If Tony Ball can turn around ITV, then he might be worth it.”DECLAN WOOLOUGHAN [...]
ITVboard is split over Ball pay demands September 17, 2009 TONY Ball is said to be seeking a package worth up to £20m as chief executive of ITV, should he manage to bring the company’s share price back to health. But the boardroom is understood to be split over the terms of the deal, which is expected to include the ex-BSkyB boss putting some of [...]