A terrible year for deaths in 2018 could boost insurers’ balance sheets February 21, 2019 A grim year for deaths in 2018 could see insurers flush with cash as they release reserves earmarked for paying incomes to pensioners. According to analysts at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Capital Markets 2018, was “the worst year for deaths this millennium” with a prediction that the soon-to-be-published mortality tables used by UK insurers [...]
Marks & Spencer pension scheme transfers £1.4bn to two insurers May 23, 2019 Troubled retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has transferred £1.4bn in pension scheme liabilities to two insurance companies, bringing the total insurance coverage to two thirds. Phoenix Group has insured £460m of liabilities, covering 5,000 pensioners, while Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has insured £900m of the £10bn pension scheme. Read more: M&S braced for fresh decline [...]
Aviva boss Mark Wilson paid £4.3m last year after bonus bump March 27, 2018 The chief executive of insurer Aviva was paid £4.3m last year, with nearly £2m of that coming as a bonus after a strong year. Chief executive Mark Wilson received £1.028m as a basic salary, a £1.945m bonus, £966,000 in long-term share incentives and £288,000 in pension payments. His total remuneration actually dipped from last year [...]
Challenger bank TSB unveils raft of leadership appointments as CYBG’s Debbie Crosbie begins her reign May 22, 2019 Challenger bank TSB has further bolstered its leadership team following the arrival of new chief executive Debbie Crosbie. The former CYBG chief operating officer took charge earlier this month, replacing Paul Pester who stepped down last year in the aftermath of a major IT meltdown. Read more: TSB launches fraud guarantee for customers after last [...]
Aviva made clear that it wanted to reduce hybrid debt by £900m and planned to cancel its preference shares. March 27, 2018 At its annual results presentation on March 8, Aviva made clear that it wanted to reduce hybrid debt by £900m and as such pointed out that it has the ability to cancel its irredeemable preference shares at par value – something which came as a surprise to retail and institutional investors. The company argued that [...]
Dormant assets scheme could be expanded following government report April 4, 2019 A scheme to reallocate dormant assets to charitable causes could be extended to the investment and wealth management sector following the publication of a government report. An independent report commissioned by the government found that extending the scheme to other financial services, also including the insurance and pensions sector, could "significantly expand the money available to good [...]
Insurer RSA’s profits up after mild weather in the first quarter May 9, 2019 RSA said milder weather in the UK and Ireland helped boost its profit in the first quarter, sending its shares higher. On a constant currency basis, operating profit rose in the first quarter, staying flat on a reported basis. Shares rose 2.2 per cent today to close at 546p. RSA said that milder weather in [...]
M&S’s FTSE exit is a symbol of its terminal decline September 6, 2019 Archie Norman, the Marks & Spencer chairman, put a brave face this week on the retailer’s demotion from the FTSE 100. Nothing to see here, he said: the business was exactly the same on the day after its relegation. Focusing on it was the reddest of herrings. In a sense, he is right – but [...]
Mortgage and investment platform Lendinvest secures £200m funding from HSBC April 8, 2019 Mortgage marketplace and property investment platform Lendinvest has secured up to £200m in funding from HSBC in order to launch its home loan product this year. The new funding will allow the London-based firm, which launched in 2008, to enter the regulated home loan market for the first time as it targets becoming a whole-of-market [...]
DEBATE: Would a no-deal Brexit really be bad for business? September 5, 2019 Would a no-deal Brexit really be detrimental for British business? YES, says Dinesh Dhamija, an entrepreneur and a Liberal Democrat MEP for London Crashing out of the EU with no deal will plunge us into 10 years of trade negotiations. That means even more uncertainty – and uncertainty is a cancer for business. Already, foreign [...]