News

Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Kerrie Kelly has today been named as the new director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Aviva today lifts withdrawal restrictions on its unit-linked UK Property fund.

Neptune founder and managing director Robin Geffen says the group will be avoiding Lloyds and RBS, labeling yesterday's rights issue announcements a "rescue operation".

RBS may need more taxpayer funds to nurse the state-controlled lender back to health, Alistair Darling said yesterday hours after announcing a £33.5bn bailout package for the bank — the biggest of its kind in the world.

Aviva's UK life and pension sales fell 25% in the first nine months of 2009, but the insurer says it has made significant improvements to its capital position.

A huge 265 of the UK's top IFA firms will end the year in financial difficulty with a further "spike of failures" in the new year, says a report by Plimsoll.

L&G has come out against recent Aviva proposals for a standardised 30% rate of tax relief, saying such a scheme is "an attack on pensions savings".

House prices in the UK increased by 1.2% in October - marking the fourth consecutive monthly rise, according to the Halifax.

Capital requirements for insurers should be made substantially stronger says the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS).

Up to 40% of advisers could quit the industry because of the RDR, says an industry veteran.