Top grades at A-Level decline August 16, 2012 THE NUMBER of students achieving the top grade at A-Level has fallen for the first time in 21 years, new figures showed yesterday, as more than 300,000 candidates picked up their results. Business groups heralded the drop in A*s and As from 27 to 26.6 per cent, saying it helps employers separate high-flyers from the [...]
EU rules could push up cost of retirement June 18, 2012 PENSIONERS could face a reduction in income of up to 20 per cent if new European Union rules on capital requirements are implemented, according to accountancy firm Deloitte. The Solvency II reforms are set to shake-up the continent’s insurance business by setting common standards and increasing capital requirements. But this could have the side effect [...]
City Moves Who’s switching jobs September 9, 2012 RSA Caroline Ramsay has been appointed group chief auditor at the insurance company. She replaces Anne Jaeger, who has become chief risk and compliance officer for RSA Scandinavia. Ramsay joined the firm in 2007 as group financial planning and analysis director, and was most recently UK and Western Europe finance director. Signia Wealth The wealth [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 12, 2012 Axa UK Yves Masson has been appointed to the position of chief executive of personal direct and partnerships at the UK division of the insurance and asset management group. He has worked at Axa since 1985, and was most recently chief executive of Axa Direct Assurance. Masson has also previously served as chief executive of [...]
Who’s switching jobs September 12, 2012 Axa UK Yves Masson has been appointed to the position of chief executive of personal direct and partnerships at the UK division of the insurance and asset management group. He has worked at Axa since 1985, and was most recently chief executive of Axa Direct Assurance. Masson has also previously served as chief executive of [...]
PwC overtakes KPMG as Britain’s biggest auditor September 3, 2012 BIG FOUR auditor PwC has leapfrogged its rival KPMG to become the top British auditor by client numbers, according to figures out yesterday. PwC only added three net new listed clients in the third quarter, but with a total of 370 it was enough to overtake KPMG, which lost a net 12 clients to put [...]
Women fall back in KPMG partner race August 16, 2012 KPMG is struggling to find top-class female employees, having included just three women in its latest round of partner promotions, City A.M. has learned. Just one in ten of the 30 staff picked for promotion in October are women, down from one in four a year ago despite efforts at KPMG and across the professional [...]
Turmoil hits growth and exit options for private equity firms June 24, 2012 BUSINESS confidence among finance chiefs at firms backed by private equity has slumped to its lowest recorded level on the back of increased market uncertainty, a survey released today shows. The study from business advisory firm Deloitte, which polled 70 finance heads at to private equity-backed businesses, found optimism about future revenue growth had fallen [...]
Microsoft buys $1.2bn Yammer June 25, 2012 MICROSOFT yesterday finally admitted it was buying online networking firm Yammer for $1.2bn (£770.5m), allowing the tech giant to offer a social network to corporate customers. Four-year-old Yammer has 5m users of its private, in-company social networks and counts Deloitte and Ford among its clients. The service should fill a gap that Microsoft was struggling [...]
Technology only boosts growth if countries can exploit it effectively September 25, 2012 OVER the last five years, the British economy has experienced its worst growth since the 1920s. Yet, in important respects, the economy is faring far better than it did back then. Part of the reason lies in low interest rates and forbearance on the part of lenders, which have both helped to soften the damage [...]