If you’re depending on a UK insurer for insurance or pensions , you may find your insurer has been caught up in the Mergers and Acquisition Market. The FT reports..
I’ve reported on Aegon’s flirtations but the FT points out that it is not in the M&A market by its own
Disruptive as this may be in Edinburgh for Aegon, it is only a continuation of what has been happening with Phoenix and Royal London.
We will as a pensions industry decamp to Edinburgh in six weeks. I wonder if there is something in the water that makes for a turbulent time for Scotland’s insurance companies. I’ll take a train and avoid disturbance!
Not expecting much discussion from this at “Pension UK”! Too controversial and doesn’t align with their insurer worldview.
This consolidation and resulting concentration risk is a massive risk, and given the conventional ‘flight path’ (at least in the eyes of Pensions UK) is for Schemes to end up in insurance, it should be the main area of discussion at the annual “Investment Conference “!!!
The insurer paradigm is based on the ‘understanding’ underpinning the FSCS support ie the club of insurers will step up to the rescue in the event of a default – I guess those exiting the market maybe are considering the price of that ticket is too expensive for the cosy club given the now enormous scale of promises made, and are leaving the field open for the overseas private equity houses. Thank goodness for that (?) – but are PRA 100% certain that the overseas equity (if you can find up) will be there when needed….?
Jnamdoc, I hope that there will be a lively debate at the investment conference and – whoever you may be, you are part of it.
We should be thinking forward too. We need to find a sweet spot for employers to help their staff be in pension schemes. We need pension schemes to have infinite horizons. There is no reason to have an end game for CDC.
That’s worth discussing at the Pensions UK investment conference