Resolution to buy GI business

Former FSA boss John Tiner says his new venture, Resolution, set up with Clive Cowdrey and targeting life insurers, could buy a general insurer, the Times reports.

Tiner, Resolution’s chief executive, said the firm was “pretty ambivalent about where the next acquisition comes from ... There are currently opportunities among publicly listed companies, European insurers with UK life businesses and domestic finance houses, such as banks, that are thinking about their commitment to the assets they own.”

Timing was not right

“Up to December last year, we were going through a filter process,” he said. “There are inherent structural problems for financial services in the UK and globally. There are too many costs in the system, too many conglomerates. We saw an opportunity to intervene. In general insurance, the premium cycle was not at the right point for us to be an investor.

“The cycle is usually driven by catastrophes and exacerbated in either direction by investment income. It is hard to call, particularly with the shortage of available capital, but the timing wasn’t right.”

Resolution will soon complete a £1.86bn acquisition of Friends Provident. Analysts expect at least one more acquisition this year. It has been linked with the British divisions of AXA and Scottish Widows, owned by Lloyds Banking Group.