Archive

10 Mar

Posted at 10:34h in
Download this press release here. In a year overshadowed by political uncertainty, it is no surprise that investors sat on the side-lines waiting for the storm clouds to clear. But after three quarters of sluggish activity, sentiment improved and net sales rose to £10.5bn in the fourth quarter, the highest since Q415. However, it was not enough to correct the balance — annual net sales of £38bn were down 16% on the £45bn in 2015 and few platforms were able to improve on their 2015 figures.

26 Mar

Posted at 14:05h in
After months, if not years of rumour, L&G has finally acquired the Cofunds platform.  The insurance company was one of six shareholders that first came together to challenge Fidelity in the supermarket world more than 12 years ago.  Since then, Cofunds has grown to assets of more than £50bn and is the leading platform in the market by AUA. It grew and became part of the established platform industry, losing its newcomer, cutting-edge status in the process.  Which may well be why the other five stakeholders were willing to sell to L&G — that and the fact that running a platform business is very expensive.