As traders were hit by a bloodbath on the market, even the prospect of takeover activity among the small-cap energy groups failed to prompt risers... more
In 2009 as solvency fears mounted and investors worried that insurers were going the way of the now nationalised banks, Legal & General shares plummeted below 25p at one point... more
War has broken out between Jeremy Heywood, Permanent Secretary at No 10, and his boss, Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, the ultimate Sir Humphrey in Whitehall (he likes to use his initials - "GOD")... more
Just two years ago Legal & General was fending off market perceptions that it was heading for the dustbin, now the insurer is back with £1 billion in annual profits and a leap in the dividend... more
Legal & General kicks off the reporting season for Britain’s big life insurers with a big leap in cash generation in the first six months of the year... more
City Comment: If we are ever to roll back the dependency culture it seems a good idea to transfer provision of benefit back from the state to the individual... more
Comment: "Interrupt me if this gets boring,” says Tim Breedon, discussing Legal & General’s annual results. This being life insurance, the temptation to holler is hard to resist... more
Given that this column has complained in the past about the failure of leading City figures to promote debate on important matters of public policy for fear of courting controversy, then it is only reasonable that it should support Legal & General's Tim Breedon who decisively stuck his head above the parapet in a newspaper article at the weekend.... more
The life assurance sector has had a rough year. It weathered the financial crisis relatively well with no spectacular casualties and none of the bailouts seen in countries like Holland noted for their sound approach to finance... more
The Friends Provident/Resolution merger is a great deal. For a very small number of people. Resolution founder Clive Cowdery in particular has done well ... ... more
Around 700,000 small investors in Friends Provident were today offered much less than half what the shares were worth at flotation eight years ago to sell their holding to insurance tycoon Clive Cowdery ... more
Legal & General boss Tim Breedon today cast doubt on the wisdom of takeovers in the insurance sector, calling into question the strategy of Clive Cowdery’s Resolution ... more
Given the importance to the UK of certain industries — advanced engineering, pharmaceuticals, oil, education, health, banking and insurance being among them — we should be alarmed at how infrequently we as a nation take a step back from the day-to-day hurly-burly to examine in detail what are the prospects for that particular industry, what the trends are, the opportunities these bring, and what the Government and the regulators and the private sector need to pursue in order for the industry to maximise those opportunities ... more
In a week when the Government has proposed tougher capital requirements for banks, it is instructive to see the effect of a similar directive applied elsewhere ... more
From the very first days of this crisis, Legal & General’s Tim Breedon has understood that it is about capital. Hence the tough decision to slash the dividend — tough for the shareholders to accept, tough to recommend but, in a capital-constrained world, a prudent move ... more
RUMOURS circulated the City for months that Legal & General could be in trouble. How much trouble wasn't clear, but the insurer was slow to state its capital position, the dividend looked under threat and the stock-market bears moved in - the shares have been crushed.... more
Insurance: Legal & General’s plans to convince the stock market that its finances are sound were immediately undermined after it emerged that short-selling king Crispin Odey is targeting the company... more
Markets: The downward spiral of shares that began late on Tuesday continues as the last vestiges of stock-market optimism from the UK's bank bailout plan dissolved... more
Tonight:
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