Thiam placates investors but pay row may be next March 9, 2011 TIDJANE Thiam returned like Lazarus from beyond the reputational grave yesterday with the kind of convincingly superb results needed to regain investors’ faith. Thiam, promoted from finance director to chief executive of the Pru in 2009, has felt the wrath of shareholders since his ill-fated $35.5bn (£22bn) bid for AIA. Thiam launched the bid last [...]
Aviva rebuffs £5bn bid from RSA August 13, 2010 INSURER RSA has approached rival Aviva about buying its general insurance operations in the UK and elsewhere for £5bn, Sky News has reported. Aviva declined to comment, while RSA was not immediately available. The approach was immediately rejected by the Aviva board, and there are no ongoing discussions between the companies, accoring to the report. [...]
Aviva investors tell RSA to up £5bn offer August 15, 2010 INVESTORS in Aviva have said rival RSA must increase its £5bn offer if it wants to walk away with the insurer’s property and casualty business. Aviva immediately rejected the surprise offer for its general insurance arms in the UK, Ireland and Canada, made in a letter from RSA chairman John Napier last month. There are no [...]
ALL CHANGE AT LLOYD’S AS IT RINGS 25 YEARS May 26, 2011 IT MAY seem like only yesterday for many City veterans, but today marks 25 years since the first managing agents moved into the landmark Lloyd’s building on Lime Street. So happy anniversary to the insurance giant, which still shows traces of more than 300 years of Lloyd’s history, such as the famous Lutine Bell, which [...]
S&P’s US downgrade sparks stock sell-off April 18, 2011 Alarm over deteriorating public finances in the US, Greece and other peripheral eurozone nations hit markets today, pushing the FTSE down to its lowest close in four weeks. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the US’ rating outlook to negative, from stable, citing a lack of decisive action to rein in [...]
Aviva sees its profit leap as slashes costs August 5, 2010 AVIVA increased its market capitalisation by almost three quarters of a billion pounds yesterday, after its London-listed shares soared on better-than-expected half-year profits. Aviva shares, which have underperformed the sector over the course of the year so far, added 7.18 per cent over the day to close at 394.3p, valuing the group at £11.06bn. The [...]
Barclays fined £7.7m for serious failings in sales January 18, 2011 BARCLAYS has been fined £7.7m for mis-selling two Aviva funds after one in seven of the investors complained to the City regulator. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday imposed its largest-ever fine for retail sales breaches after identifying “serious failings” in Barclays’ sales practices for two Aviva income funds. The bank raised £692m from 12,331 [...]
DISCUSSING THE ROAD TO FUTURE PROSPERITY NOW January 25, 2011 GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE, AVIVA OUR business is about securing the long-term financial futures of our customers: providing prosperity and peace of mind. And our relationships with customers are enduring – potentially lasting 50 or 60 years through the savings and retirement phases of their lives. As a leading insurer, with 53m customers, we’re at Davos [...]
DISCUSSING THE ROAD TO FUTURE PROSPERITY NOW January 25, 2011 GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE, AVIVA OUR business is about securing the long-term financial futures of our customers: providing prosperity and peace of mind. And our relationships with customers are enduring – potentially lasting 50 or 60 years through the savings and retirement phases of their lives. As a leading insurer, with 53m customers, we’re at Davos [...]
England must find another gear March 10, 2011 THE Grand Slam might be there for the taking, but it would be premature in the extreme to compare this current England team to the class of 2003. True, there is a certain amount of symmetry in that a first RBS 6 Nations clean sweep in eight years is likely to boil down to winning [...]