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Skandia to cut 200 jobs
by Jun Merrett on Oct 12, 2012 at 09:51
Skandia UK is to cut 200 jobs with marketing director Nick Dixon the highest profile casualty.
The 200 jobs will go across the business as a result of the overlap of roles created by the merger of the Skandia business with Old Mutual.
Marketing director Nick Dixon and director of adviser sales Andy Davies will both leave the company.
Paul Feeney, chief executive of Old Mutual Wealth, said: 'We know this is a difficult time for our staff, so we will make these changes as quickly as we can to give them clarity about the future and to ensure there will be minimal disruption for advisers and our customers. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank both Nick and Andy for their significant contribution to Skandia’s success to date.’
Old Mutual announced in September that it was set to drop the Skandia brand in a merger of all its Skandia businesses, including the platform into one single business called Old Mutual Wealth.
This followed the recent merger of Skandia Investment Group and Old Mutual Asset Managers in July in which the company said would result in 30 job cuts across both businesses.
Old Mutual Wealth has appointed Skandia International’s marketing director Michelle Andrews as its marketing director. Steve Powell, previous sales director (corporate partners) at Skandia UK has also been appointed its sales director of the UK.
Dixon will stay with the business until the end of February 2013 to handover to Andrews.
Skandia is the latest life company to announce job cuts to its business as a part of a restructure. In August Aviva warned that up to 800 UK staff members could lose their job as part of its cost-cutting restructure that chairman John McFarlane implemented to target £400 million of cost savings.
Zurich also announced in May that its UK arm, led by chief executive Gary Shaughnessy has planned to cull 90 jobs as part of its plans to reduce the size of its UK business.
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FCA probes advisers and Sipp providers' role in pensions liberation
by Alex Steger on Jun 20, 2013 at 09:00
15 comments so far. Why not have your say?
Anitaki
Oct 12, 2012 at 10:23
Who remembers 'The Hartford'??
Suddenly l'm getting a sense of re-visiting history
report thisMartin Wight
Oct 12, 2012 at 10:25
When is a mutual not a mutual?
report thisBob Donaldson
Oct 12, 2012 at 10:38
Another company going down the tubes by death with a thousand cuts.
It is interesting that these problems only seem to have set in with the takeover by Old Mutual. Time to exit me thinks!
report thisMark Angus
Oct 12, 2012 at 10:54
Bob
Why would you fear this is some sort of doomsday announcement?
report thisJames Hewitt-Smyth
Oct 12, 2012 at 11:02
They will decide to keep people that have sold pre RDR products no doubt. My Zurich lady is brilliant. However, it seems that the matrix they used to decide who stays and goes was skewed towards those "sales" people that had sold large amounts of commission based bonds etc. and much fewer points were given for aptitude and a realisation that the Zurich world will change drastically in a few months!? Sales people are not what we need from providers.
report thisJulian Stevens
Oct 12, 2012 at 11:16
Old Mutual is a fund management company, whilst Skandia is a platform provider (with a few funds of its own) and a life company. Is Skandia's fund management arm to be subsumed into Old Mutual Wealth?
report thisCommon OEIC
Oct 12, 2012 at 11:27
I remember when the talk was all about how the deal with OM would allow Skandia to realise its potential, having been ignore by the Scandinavian parents.
Little did Skandia management appreciate that it was the subject of a Big Game hunt and that now the South African hunters are stripping the carcass of the prime cuts.
report thisMartin Wight
Oct 12, 2012 at 11:32
The problem here for larger providers is if they have been active with IFAs they have previously procured business on commission deals to be competitive and would take years and years to start to make a profit on that business.
That business would move and they have created a loss.They still have the costs of administrating non profitable legacy business re stakeholder etc. and less margin going forward post RDR.
No wonder there is cost cutting but the problem was created years ago with incentives purely on new business and not profitability.That goes down to the MDs,actuaries,sales managers and sales force and whoever had a financial interest in new business.
All the banks are now talking about incentives re customer service rather than sales (Barclays the latest -Co-op recently).A sale has to be made to evaluate that customer service or am I too cynical.
report thisJulian Stevens
Oct 12, 2012 at 12:47
I don't think it was ever healthy for providers to advance large sums of indemnity commission to intermediaries and the removal of opaque charging structures such as those commonly employed on investment bonds allied to clear adviser charging just has to be a step forward.
I only wish they'd get on and do the same with offshore bonds, many of which have even more complicated charging structures than onshore ones.
report thisTerry S
Oct 12, 2012 at 14:05
There are many positives to RDR however, the amount of job losses within the financial services sector that are now being announced on a weekly basis is a very sad state of affairs. I am guessing that when the concept of RDR was being sold to the government by our beloved regulator, the issue of the mass of predictable job losses were conveniently papered over.
10 years from now I can see a much smaller financial services industry with a real lack of choice within both the platform sector and the life sector for advisers to chose from. Much smaller numbers of people (Other than high net worth) will use advisers for advice of any type, therefore the savings and protection gaps will grow as they will not be encouraged to face their needs.
Just hope UK plc has another new industry up it's sleeve to support the economy in the future. Unfortunately Financial Services will no longer be large enough!
report thispaul Wright
Oct 12, 2012 at 14:56
We're doomed, Mr Mainwaring, we're doomed!
report thisYou must be joking
Oct 12, 2012 at 15:18
Knowing both Andy (personally) and Nick very well, I'll restrict my comment to wishing them both the very best for the future.
report thisEVHE
Oct 12, 2012 at 17:03
Nick and Andy have done an excellent job at Skandia and I wish them good luck for the future.
report thisEURYN OWEN
Oct 12, 2012 at 18:24
I'd just like to wish Andy Davies well for the future. First met him around 1995 when he was our Skandia rep. Top bloke always positive and liked a laugh. All the best Andy you will be an asset to any company and you certainly have made a big contribution to Skandia's success in the time you have been with them.
report thisBill via mobile
Oct 12, 2012 at 20:56
All good things come to end welcome to reality of providing advice
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