Kidney plots St Patrick’s Day party at HQ March 11, 2012 IRELAND head coach Declan insists his side are ready to make it a St Patrick’s Day to remember for their travelling fans at Twickenham on Saturday. Hapless Scotland were put to the sword at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as Ireland made light of skipper Paul O’Connell’s absence, running in four tries in a convincing [...]
FTSE edges up as Lloyds gains May 1, 2012 The FTSE 100 clawed back some lost ground in early trading with Lloyds among the top gainers after quarterly results that matched forecasts. London’s blue-chip index ended April in negative territory yesterday – its second consecutive monthly loss – as concerns rose over Spain’s economy and political tensions in Europe took their toll. Meanwhile UK [...]
Shareholders are on the money in scrutinising pay May 7, 2012 AS LITTLE as a decade ago, few City-watchers would have cared all that much about the April AGM deluge, but not any more. In rising markets, short-term investors and speculators could ignore the niceties of shareholder democracy and vote with their feet. Several crashes later and investor uncertainty is manifesting itself through the ballot box, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 23, 2012 Deloitte Mike Sobers has been appointed as a partner to Deloitte’s enterprise risk service practice, a 1,000-strong team of professionals in the UK dedicated to helping businesses solve complex risk and control issues. Sobers joins Deloitte from Aviva, where he was the audit director with global responsibility for technology and project audit. During this time, [...]
Direct Line Group set to name Biggs as chairman March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered the role of chairman at Direct Line Group, its insurance unit, to Mike Biggs, a former finance director at Aviva. It is understood that Biggs has not yet formally accepted the job but he will be tempted by the chance to lead a firm that is set to [...]
How to get cheaper car insurance May 27, 2012 KNOWLEDGE is power. And the first thing to know about car insurance is that getting it is a negotiation. In any negotiation, access to information is rarely symmetrical. Those with greater knowledge have more power and in this instance it’s impossible to know more than each firm. This is why you need to shop around. [...]
Chris Woodhouse to head RAC February 26, 2012 Private equity firm Carlyle Group has hired Chris Woodhouse, the former finance director of Debenhams, to run RAC, the roadside assistance business it bought last June from Aviva. The move will see Woodhouse reunited with Rob Templeman, who became chairman of RAC last year and was previously chief executive of Debenhams. The two are well [...]
Executives beware the winds of shareholder activism April 30, 2012 BARELY a day goes by without another incidence of shareholder activism. Investors in blue chip firms ranging from hedge funds to pharmaceuticals have been flexing their muscles with remarkable frequency recently, expressing their displeasure on executive pay and strategic direction. It is debatable how much of this is to do with policy changes. In the [...]
Shareholder Spring claims new casualties May 10, 2012 THE SHAREHOLDER Spring continued to blossom yesterday as investors rejected another executive pay settlement. Pendragon, Britain’s leading car dealer, was forced to back down on plans to increase its directors’ pay packets after 67 per cent of shareholders voted against its remuneration report. Meanwhile almost half of Trinity Mirror investors voted against the proposed pay [...]
Shareholder Spring claims new casualties May 10, 2012 THE SHAREHOLDER Spring continued to blossom yesterday as investors rejected another executive pay settlement. Pendragon, Britain’s leading car dealer, was forced to back down on plans to increase its directors’ pay packets after 67 per cent of shareholders voted against its remuneration report. Meanwhile almost half of Trinity Mirror investors voted against the proposed pay [...]