Trellis tower: London’s second-tallest skyscraper gets green light after planning battle November 25, 2019 Plans to build London’s second-tallest skyscraper, the Trellis, have been given the nod after a three-year planning war. The tower, whose real name is 1 Undershaft, will be 1,000 feet tall when completed, standing just 17 feet shorter than the Shard. Read more: Was Sadiq Khan right to reject plans for the Tulip tower? After [...]
Sports technology in 2020: the key trends to watch this year January 6, 2020 Drama is the currency of sport but if current trends continue in 2020, below-the-radar work will be the stuff really making the hard yards. Last year, forward-thinking organisations have been focused on leveraging newer media platforms better and tailoring engagement better, often with a social slant. Two stand-out performers were AS Roma, which used the [...]
Financial Conduct Authority scrutinising Aviva’s aborted plans to cancel £450m worth of preference shares March 28, 2018 The City watchdog is scrutinising Aviva’s proposals to cancel £450m of preference shares, its chief executive has confirmed in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee. In a letter published this morning, Andrew Bailey said the Financial Conduct Authority was carrying out a review to establish “whether there are circumstances that might require an investigation [...]
Royal London sales hit by DB transfer drop despite rise in profits August 12, 2019 Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life insurer, has reported a drop in new business sales during the first half of the year. The pensions provider blamed an industry-wide reduction in defined benefit (DB) transfers today for a four per cent year-on-year fall in new business sales to £5.8bn for the first six months of [...]
FTSE 100 falls one per cent after Donald Trump trade comments November 20, 2019 European stock markets have fallen today following President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods if no deal can be reached between the two sides, with the FTSE 100 leading the bunch downwards. The FTSE 100 was down 1.09 per cent by 12.45pm UK time. In Germany, the Dax index was 0.70 per [...]
M&S passes on £1.4bn of its pension liabilities to Aviva and Phoenix May 17, 2018 Nearly £1.4bn of Marks & Spencer’s pension liabilities were today passed to insurers Aviva and Phoenix. It follows a trend of organisations including National Grid, Pearson and Smith Group transferring pensions calculated on worker’s final salaries over to insurers. Read more: Zurich completes deal to cover £2bn of National Grid pension liabilities Around £925m will [...]
City Moves for 24 October – Who’s switching jobs at Legal & General, SnapLogic and Angling Direct? October 23, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Legal & General, SnapLogic and Angling Direct Legal & General Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has announced the appointment of Margaret Ammon as chief risk officer. Currently chief risk officer for the asset management branch of M&G, Margaret will join LGIM in February 2020 and be responsible for the oversight and [...]
Lloyd’s of London ramps up modernisation drive as it hits electronic trading target August 12, 2019 It is one of the oldest institutions in the City, but there are signs of modernisation at Lloyd’s of London. The historic specialist insurance market has hit a milestone after completing over 50 per cent of its under-writing deals electronically, meeting a target it set itself for the second quarter of this year. For more [...]
Aviva boss Mark Wilson is picked by Blackrock as a non-executive March 16, 2018 Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, today appointed Aviva chief executive Mark Wilson as a non-executive. The New Zealander will take a seat on the board of the US fund management behemoth with immediate effect. Wilson took over at Aviva in 2013 moving from insurance giant AIA, rebuilding the Asian arm of AIG in the [...]
Aviva shareholder criticism prompts £450m preference share climbdown March 23, 2018 Insurance giant Aviva has today been forced into a U-turn over controversial plans to cancel £450m of high-interest shares. After receiving “strong feedback and criticism” from investors, Aviva has reneged on proposals to bin its irredeemable preference shares. Some of the shares date back to 1992 and pay an 8.5 per cent coupon. Boss Mark [...]