As Aviva agrees a £5.6bn takeover of Friends Life, does the acquisition make strategic sense? December 2, 2014 Ben Cohen, an insurance analyst at Canaccord Genuity, says Yes. Aviva’s core strategy is “cash plus growth”, and this deal adds materially to cash flow, which will be used to pay a higher dividend and invest across the group for growth. This is not just jam tomorrow – the 30 per cent increase in Aviva’s [...]
Aviva merger target Friends Life eyed up deal with closed insurance group Phoenix November 25, 2014 Friends Life, which is in merger talks with Aviva, has held informal talks with Phoenix, the closed insurance group, about a possible deal in the past few months, City A.M. understands. News of the talks between the two groups, which are not ongoing and did not reach any conclusion, come as Aviva struggles to convince [...]
Aviva Investors’ Euan Munro on why markets will see more Wobbly Wednesdays November 11, 2014 It’s lunchtime at Aviva Investors’ offices at No.1 Poultry, but the three platters of fish, meat and vegetable sandwiches supplied by catering lie untouched on the table. Euan Munro, chief executive of the fund management house, is sitting drinking full fat Coca-Cola from a glass, while the pungent aroma of the Coq d’Argent restaurant upstairs [...]
Barclays ditches Credit Suisse in broker shake-up June 24, 2015 HIGH STREET bank Barclays has ended its 25-year broking relationship with Credit Suisse after appointing JP Morgan Cazenove to the role. The UK lender, which also has Deutsche Bank retained as a co-broker, selected the bank after putting its corporate broking mandate up for tender. Deutsche Bank has been co-broker since 2011. Broking mandates earn [...]
City Moves for 17 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 16, 2015 STANHOPE CAPITAL The investment office has appointed Bernard Kalfon as partner to develop its private and institutional client base outside the UK. He has over 20 years’ experience and has held roles at Société Générale Asset Management, Salomon Brothers-Citibank, and Bear Sterns. In 2009, he co-founded Nexar Capital Group. INVESTEC PRIVATE OFFICE Rafe Garvin has [...]
Aviva share price falls as Friends Life shares rise: Surprised market reacts to deal bombshell November 24, 2014 The market was divided yesterday following the announcement of a planned merger between insurer Aviva and its competitor Friends Life. Aviva saw its shares fall by more than five per cent during the day, while shares in Friends Life climbed by six per cent. Most analysts agreed that the announcement was surprising, with [...]
Aviva sees new business rise by £690m after major restructuring October 30, 2014 Restructuring at insurer Aviva is paying off as reforms pushed through by chief executive Mark Wilson delivered a 15 per cent increase in new business in the year to date, worth £690m. Especially strong performances in Europe and Asia, which saw rises of 40 per cent and 47 per cent respectively, boosted the growth. Wilson, [...]
Return of the Mack: How Barclays chairman John McFarlane earned his reputation as “Mack the Knife” July 8, 2015 John McFarlane has barely been in situ three months as Barclays’ chairman, but this morning he claimed his first scalp: Antony “nicest guy in banking” Jenkins, the man appointed three years ago to bring out Barclays’ cuddly side, will step down at the end of next week. Read more: From the Libor scandal to the [...]
Should you invest in emerging markets? From Turkey to India, opportunities abound across the developing world September 2, 2015 From China to Brazil and a few places in between, investment in emerging markets has seemed a grim endeavour lately. But the outlook for some countries looks good, and for patient investors the rewards could be great. Read on for the two main reasons for investing in emerging markets right now, and the best [...]
City Moves for 8 September 2015 | Who’s switching jobs September 7, 2015 Arbuthnot Latham The private banking and wealth management arm of the Arbuthnot Banking Group has appointed Stephen Fletcher as head of commercial banking. He was most recently at Coutts & Co, where he was a managing director. Fletcher has over 25 years’ experience in commercial banking and wealth management. Macfarlanes Stephen Robinson has been appointed [...]