Barclays offloads private equity assets for £460m June 30, 2011 BRITISH lender Barclays has sold a €520m (£460m) portfolio of private equity fund investments to French firm Axa Private Equity. Led by Bob Diamond, the bank is seeking to sure up its capital position in the face of tough new regulation. The lender said the portfolio included investments in private equity funds as well as [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 30, 2011 Penningtons Penningtons Solicitors has boosted its corporate practice by appointing James Klein as a partner. Klein, who was previously a partner with Berwin Leighton Paisner, will lead the corporate team at Penningtons’ City office, bringing the number of partners at the firm to 63. Klein has a strong track record of corporate finance transactions, including [...]
AXA bans use of referral fees June 28, 2011 AXA UK yesterday banned the practice of accepting referral fees from personal injury lawyers when its customers contacted them after an accident. AXA UK, the subsidiary of the French insurance giant, said it never sold customer details to claims firms but would stop accepting any fees from accident management firms and called for all UK [...]
INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist day eight June 28, 2011 Insurance companies have endured an exceptionally costly year so far thanks to a bitter winter in Europe and devastating earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan. Insured losses in the first quarter alone are at a record level, testing the discipline of firms’ risk management. As the largest insurance hub in Europe, the City’s insurers play [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 27, 2011 CB Richard Ellis The commercial real estate adviser has appointed Sir Michael Lyons and Sir Andrew Foster as strategic advisers to strengthen the government & infrastructure team’s expertise in public sector assets and infrastructure. Foster, a former chief executive of the Audit Commission, is currently deputy chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada. Lyons, who [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 26, 2011 AXA Investment Managers The asset management company has appointed Lisa O’Connor as European head of consultant relations, reporting to Tim Gardener, global head of consultant relations, in the London office. In her new role, O’Connor will focus on developing AXA IM’s consultant relationships throughout the UK and Europe. O’Connor, who has more than 12 years’ [...]
DEALMAKER OF THE YEAR June 23, 2011 Recessions are when reputations are made, they say, and that has been true in the world of fund managers. While some have battened down the hatches, the ones on our list have seen opportunity in crisis, and pushed ahead with flotations and expansions, or have just taken the chance to expand. All are stars in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 22, 2011 Barclays Wealth Paul Burd has been appointed as head of business services for Barclays Wealth Operations and head of operations, Glasgow. Most recently, Burd was general manager of worldwide securities at JP Morgan, based in Cape Town, following previous roles at JP Morgan including managing director of the investment bank’s London Investment Management Operations team. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 21, 2011 COMMERZBANK Deutsche Bank reinitiates coverage of Germany’s second largest bank with a “buy” rating and a target price of €4.60, reflecting the group’s strong position in core German banking products. The broker sees the main profit driver in the next 18 months as the normalisation of loan losses and execution on cost saving potential, after [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 19, 2011 Co-operative Bank The Co-operative Bank has appointed Richard France (left) and Chris Wilson to lead the Corporate and Business Relationship Banking team and the Corporate Banking Specialist Sectors operations respectively. France was previously head of the Bank’s nationwide corporate banking centres and Wilson led the firm’s Commercial Real Estate, Public Sector and Treasury Sales activities. [...]