The Prudential, the second largest life insurance provider in the UK, has seen the Peoples Bank of China take a one percent stake in the company, worth GBP130 million.
The move puts the Chinese bank into the top 25 of institutional investors in the Prudential, though there is no feeling that the holding is leading up to a takeover bid. The Chinese bank invests in many different businesses and a one percent holding is not uncommon. Speculation came because of the Prudential developing the Asian market though the management at the insurer welcomes the investment.
Such is the activity of the Prudential in Asia that their growth for the first half of the year was 14 percent, a remarkable step forwards.
Top level managers at Hastings Direct insurance company have denied rumours that job losses will be greater than that already advised.
The local newspaper in Bexhill, where Hastings Direct are the towns biggest employer, has been receiving anonymous calls saying that rather than the ten job losses that had been stated there were in fact over fifty less jobs at the company now. There was also speculation that more reductions were on the way.
To clarify the position the company released a statement in which it was made clear that redundancies would add up to ten at the most, coming from a review of operations that had been underway for some time. Any other reductions in the number of jobs had come naturally, either via retirement or by people not being replaced if they left.
Hastings Direct also wanted to confirm they are a very active and successful participant in the insurance market, with plans to develop further in the future. They also intend to retain their Bexhill offices as the centre of operations, aiming to grow further as the business expands.
The improvements made to their critical illness insurance cover by Legal and General have been supported by Only Finance, who are pleased to see positive changes in this market.
Although BUPA still leads the way with its critical illness insurance offering Legal and General have clearly taken positive steps an Only Finance spokesperson said. It is also great news that they have not used the cover improvements as a device to increase the price, thus bringing a real benefit to the consumer.
The Only Finance spokesperson also discussed the fact that it is certainly more cost effective to buy both life and critical illness cover together, saving money and also having a more comprehensive level of protection than when only taking one of them. He went on to advise purchasers of critical illness protection to ensure any medical questions were answered fully and completely, as almost twenty-five percent of claims made were rejected due to illnesses not being declared at the time of policy purchase.
