Co-op may sell life arm in Britannia integration
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Co-operative Financial Services could look to sell off its life insurance arm as part of its integration with Britannia Building Society.
Its life and health insurance arm has assets worth around £18bn, with a focus on pension and protection business.
In July, Money Marketing revealed the Co-op was looking to offload its IFA arm, Co-operative Independent Financial Advisers. It remains in exclusive talks with a potential buyer.
A Co-operative spokesman says: “We have a massive integration program taking place over the next two to three years with CFS and Britannia and that is progressing. We are going to have to look at things and that would include, for instance, the provision of life and savings and how we best distribute that but no decision has been taken so far.”
Syndaxi Chartered Financial Planning managing director Rob Reid says there may be a few potential buyers in the market.
He says: “I understand the Co-op has an investment bond tie-up with Aviva, so that is one company to keep in mind. Also let us not forget Resolution, which may be looking to buy up more businesses.”
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Readers' comments (4)
Martin McNamara | 26 Aug 2010 9:30 am
As an ex CIS employee, and presesent cfs client I can but think that the founders are rolling in their graves; while I am resolutely an IFA and look forward to the future, Ican with surety see a bright future for an ethical company providing ethical advice to the masses; I have over the past 7 years racked my brains to see how i could provide advice upon a cost effective basis to my old clients when they have come knocking on my door. Initially this was possible but as time has moved on and the focus has been upon profitability the majority where loss leaders and in the end a judgement call had to be made. So many have With Profits and while it may have protected them in the lean yeras , unfortunately it suffered as doid most of the Home service companies clients going forward. The cfs's only saving grace and its brighter looking future was I thought ensured with the tie up with Brittania; a much wider footprint on the highstreet(so many times have i looked fora branch only to find i needed to drive 30 miles out of my way); the disenfranchised masses within its ranks could now be assured of seeing a bank based adviser as a replacement for the old agent. Think again CFS I think you will regret a hasty decisison.
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Anonymous | 26 Aug 2010 8:07 pm
I feel the cfs/cis have not been fair here as they have reduced there field sales force of 3000 to around 400 in approx 7 years with no redundancy so they have done this on the cheap, without paying redundancy to field sales advisers yet they have given managers of the field sales force very good redundancy packages for reducing the numbers ,how ethical and fair is that.
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Anonymous | 25 Oct 2010 2:04 pm
I am a CIS Financial Advisor with many years of LOYAL service and am completely disillusioned with the announcement in the weekend newspapers, as once again
CIS ignore their moral, ethical and dignity policies by treating their advisers as mushrooms in their communications. It took until almost 1300 today for Neville Richardson to issue a statement not deigning the reports, but basically telling us that a review is still underway and that it would be wrong to inform us of any details at this time. Can someone within the executive illuminate us to what is happening to our futures instead of pimping us to a new paymaster that none of us wish to abandon our Ethical Principals to.
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Anonymous | 7 Feb 2011 6:15 pm
hmm...a feeling of deja vu here! i can sympathise with CFS advisors who are being kept in the dark! i too was a CFS financial advisor, and had joined just at the time when the CFS changed their way of doing business, ie when a new agent joined up, he/she could buy the "account" of his/her area, and therefore have virtually guaranteed income. But when I joined, that was scrapped and an agent was given area to work in and that was that. but talking about information and communication, the CFS has and always will be notorious for not communicating properly. as an advisor, i always, always had to run the gauntlet of 1000s of my clients complaining about various letters not being recvd, or claims not dealt with, etc. and yet, advisors were constantly pestered by their usually inexperienced "managers" to meet increasingly silly targets. as i say, i was there for just over 1 yr, and during that time, many of my mates who started at the same time had already fallen by the wayside! one guy even changed his car numberplate to CFS something or other--what the hell....!! to anyone still with the CFS, i would say get out while you can--CFS is a dead duck in its final death throes, and it'll take you with it if you dont act. sorry, but thats the long n short of it!
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