CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 1, 2010 Association of British Insurers Alain Dromer will join the ABI’s investment committee as chairman on 15 September. Dromer, who is currently chief executive of Aviva Investors, takes over the position from Keith Skeoch, who has spent three years in office. Dromer has also spent time as head of global investment at HSBC, head of insurance [...]
Investor pay rebellion rises May 16, 2010 THREE more of the UK’s biggest companies are preparing to face shareholder wrath over generous executive pay schemes, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The ABI has issued “amber top” alerts over remuneration at HSBC, engineer Tomkins and electronic chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics, indicating a “considerable” level of concern. HSBC investors have signalled anger [...]
ABI criticises EU fund plan November 26, 2009 THE Association of British Insurers yesterday hit out at proposals from a top European lawmaker that would limit the ability of European pension funds to invest in third country funds. Jean-Paul Gauzes MEP, the rapporteur in the European Parliament for the EU’s proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) directive, is suggesting that there should be [...]
Cookson and SIG hit by pay protests May 13, 2010 COMPANIES SIG and Cookson Group faced investor opposition to their executive pay schemes yesterday as pressure grows for shareholders to challenge excessive boardroom rewards. In a poll at SIG’s annual general meeting, two-thirds of shareholders voted against a proposal to give chief executive Chris Davies a 15 per cent pay rise despite the company having [...]
M&S readies for investor anger on pay July 4, 2010 A STRONG set of first-quarter figures from retail bellwether Marks and Spencer this week looks set to be overshadowed by animosity at the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, with investors set to clash with executives over the eternally thorny issue of pay. Sir Stuart Rose will officially hand over the chief executive’s reins to ex-Morrisons man [...]
Shareholders take a tougher line with firms April 7, 2010 ARE institutional shareholders finally getting tougher with the companies in which they invest? Investors have taken their share of the flak for being too weak to intervene when things were turning sour in the run up to the financial crisis. While non-executive board directors failed in their duty to stand up to the likes of [...]
Trade insurers see 2009 claim numbers jump April 11, 2010 TRADE credit insurers dealt with record numbers of claims last year as the UK faced one of the worst recessions in recent history. The total amount of paid out claims jumped by 95 per cent in 2009 to £320m as compared to the previous year when companies paid out £164m in claims. Figures from the [...]
ABI’s Montagnon steps up EUhedgie rules fight October 4, 2009 THE ASSOCIATION of British Insurers (ABI) has stepped up the fight againstEuropean plans to regulate the hedge fund industry with an iron fist. Peter Montagnon, the ABI’s head of investment affairs, called for an urgent debate on the European Union’s (EU) draft directive on alternative investment funds. In an interview with City A.M. he said [...]
BP facing row with investors over pay plans April 7, 2010 PIRC and the ABI, two of Britain’s most influential shareholder groups, yesterday sounded the alarm over executive pay at oil major BP, raising the prospect of another embarrassing showdown with shareholders. Investors and industry groups have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to big pay deals for executives since the global financial crisis began. BP, [...]
Insurers urge Darling not to increase taxes in the Budget March 21, 2010 THE Association of British Insurers (ABI) has urged the chancellor to protect savers in the upcoming budget by refraining from increasing taxes. Research by the ABI shows that companies and individuals have been hit hard in recent Budgets by the change to capital gains tax, which impacted on insurance bonds, and also the higher rate [...]