City Moves for 02 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 1, 2014 Nordea Asset Management Christophe Girondel has been appointed global head of institutional clients at the asset management firm, in addition to his role as global head of wholesale fund distribution. Girondel has 18 years’ finance experience, and is a member of Nordea Asset Management’s executive committee. Brown Rudnick The law firm has appointed Alex Carter-Silk [...]
City Moves for 20 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 19, 2014 Secure Trust Bank John Simpson has been appointed managing director of the bank’s motor finance division, which operates under the Moneyway brand. Simpson’s 30-year career has seen him take senior roles at GE Capital Woodchester, Manheim Retail Services and Manheim Europe. TSB Des McDaid joins the bank as head of savings. He has over 25 [...]
Any Other Business – 07/06 June 4, 2014 The Westminster road block ahead of today’s Queen's speech didn’t stop the crowds from attending the Taylor Wimpey Parliamentary Tug of War last night, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. City teams included Axa, Norton Rose, Jamieson Corporate Finance and AllianceBernstein with the latter taking on Norton Rose in the aptly named City Slickers match [...]
Who is responsible for you in retirement? May 29, 2014 Despite chancellor George Osborne's strong hint in this year’s Budget that the burden of retirement provision will fall more heavily on savers’ shoulders in future it seems most Brits didn’t get the memo. A new Ipos Mori poll out this morning reveals one in two of us think the government should ultimately be held accountable [...]
Inside Track: How the titans of the PR world fought pharma bid battle May 22, 2014 Pfizer’s £69bn failed bid for Astrazeneca has drawn several parallels with Kraft’s successful purchase of Cadbury, one of them being that it pitted the same two financial companies, heavyweights Brunswick and RLM Finsbury, against one another. If one could judge a campaign by the victor in a takeover battle, then ostensibly Brunswick, which was advising [...]
Astrazeneca bid deadlock amid investor rancour May 21, 2014 ASTRAZENECA and Pfizer shares rallied slightly yesterday as investors digested the impending failure of Pfizer’s £69bn takeover bid for the UK drug giant, amid distant hopes of a revival in talks later this year. Pfizer’s £55 a share “final” offer for the company – which Astrazeneca batted away on Monday – is set to lapse [...]
London Report: Glimmer of light for pharma deal brightens FTSE May 21, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index edged up yesterday as shares in drug-maker Astrazeneca rebounded on the view that what appeared to have been an unsuccessful £69bn bid for the company may still have a chance of going through. Pharma giant Astrazeneca rose 2.6 per cent, adding the most points to the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which [...]
One of AstraZeneca’s biggest shareholders says the Pfizer dismissal was too hasty May 21, 2014 Another unhappy AstraZeneca shareholder. Jim Stride, director and head of UK equities at AXA Investment Managers UK, has called for AstraZeneca's board to put the Pfizer bid to shareholders. AXA is one of the biggest holders of AstraZeneca stock. Full statement: AXA Investment Managers UK (AXA IM UK), acting in accordance with its fiduciary duty [...]
City institutions split over Astra bid rejection as pressure mounts May 20, 2014 HEAVYWEIGHT City stockpickers were split last night over the impending collapse of Astrazeneca’s takeover, with FTSE 100 giant Schroders and the UK’s best known manager Neil Woodford divided over the deal. Woodford, one of Astrazeneca’s most influential shareholders, said he believed the business would prosper without a takeover by US drug firm Pfizer. He backed [...]
Reed Elsevier buys Wunelli to beef up its telematics business May 20, 2014 INFORMATION services group Reed Elsevier has bought UK-based Wunelli, a telematics provider, in a deal thought to be worth around £25m. Telematics, the practice of sending data about drivers to an insurance company to calculate an accurate personal premium, is growing in popularity in the UK. Reed acquired the company in a bid to beef [...]