UK insurance: shares in Aviva and Admiral shrug off Bank of England’s warnings of a ‘prolonged’ recession in the sector January 10, 2023 The UK’s insurance companies were told to brace themselves for a “prolonged” recession by boosting their risk management processes, the Bank of England (BoE) has said in a letter to sector CEOs. In a letter to insurance chief executives, the BoE’s insurance watchdog warned that various risks might stem from the downturn as it called [...]
Square Foot Mile: Corporate office space deals surged by 25 per cent in 2022 December 23, 2022 Big corporate deals for London HQs has caused office leasing volumes to surge by almost 25 per cent. The post-pandemic return to the office is in full swing, with central London take-up rising by 24 per cent this year. Of the increase, demand for high-quality space in the capital has skyrocketed with 60 per cent [...]
Allies, Advocates and Active Bystanders: Privilege and power for change December 20, 2022 DiverCity® Podcast · Allies, Advocates and Active Bystanders: Privilege and power for change In this episode, host Julia Streets is joined by Danny Harmer, Chief People Officer for Aviva Plc. As an ally, Danny shares her views about the privilege of allies, how allyship can drive meaningful change and the ways in which advocates and [...]
‘I won’t soak the City’: Starmer promises not to hike bank taxes if elected December 8, 2022 Sir Keir Starmer has promised not to carry out a tax raid on the banks if he is made Prime Minister as he continues his electoral pitch to the City. The Labour leader said he would not slap a windfall tax on City financial services firms or hike the banking surcharge during Labour’s business conference [...]
Rachel Reeves: Macron is ‘eating UK’s lunch’ when it comes to global investment December 7, 2022 French President Emmanuel Macron is “eating the UK’s lunch” when it comes to attracting global investment, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. Reeves today told City A.M. that France was stealing investment away from British start-ups post-Brexit, with the shadow chancellor promising to help pension funds unleash billions of pounds of long-term capital into the [...]
Millions of Brits to pull back on pension to ease unprecedented ‘financial squeeze’ December 7, 2022 Close to one in four Brits with a pension are considering withdrawing money from it, or stopping paying in, or reducing the size of their contributions, to ease the pressure on their finances, according to a survey. More than two-fifths of 16 to 24-year-olds and just under two-fifths of 25 to 34-year-olds are likely to [...]
Investment in public health could boost GDP by £180bn each year, says CBI November 23, 2022 Investments in healthcare and wellness are investments in the economy, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The UK loses 131m working days a year to ill-health, costing the nation around £180bn in GDP, data from the CBI’s new Work Health Index revealed yesterday. “Labour market resilience is a precondition to growth,” CBI president [...]
Accelerate pension rules overhaul to spur investment, says Phoenix chief November 20, 2022 Ministers must accelerate reform to pension and insurance rules in order to unlock a wave of private investment from the City, the chief of Phoenix Group has said.
Solvency II reform ‘welcome boost for UK investment’, say insurance giants November 17, 2022 The UK's insurance giants have hailed reforms to Solvency II as a "significant opportunity" to channel cash into the economy today, after the government announced it would legislate reforms to the rules.
Aviva vows to launch another share buyback scheme in bid to appease activist investors November 9, 2022 Aviva has vowed to continue returning “surplus capital” to shareholders, through the launch of another share buyback scheme. The British insurer set out plans to start buying back more of its shares from investors, without saying the value of shares it plans to repurchase, as it faces continued pressure from activist shareholders to boost investors’ [...]