The reason for the focus on Europe is that Solvency Two has made it easier to value life companies than before, a Resolution spokesperson said. Cowdery will focus initially on Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, the spokesperson added.
The US, where Resolution has begun making inroads, will also be a focus of Cowdery's. In 2013, Resolution launched a closed life consolidation company there called Resolution Life, which, the spokesperson said today, is expected to close on its first acquisition shortly.
Both Cowdery and John Tiner – a former chief executive of Resolution – are stepping down from their non-executive directorships, the company said today, as it posted a 59% leap in pre-tax profit for 2013.
“Both now believe as the group has completed its restructuring phase, that it is the right time to step down from the board,” a company statement said. Cowdery and Tiner had previously stepped back from Resolution's day-to-day operations.
The two men will continue to maintain a relationship with the company, as they will sit on an advisory committee that will share views on the direction of the business. This will meet four times a year and will include Andy Briggs, the chief executive, the statement said.
Cowdery was quoted in the statement as saying that Resolution had "delivered on its targets".
Resolution rebranding as Friends Life
Other news at Resolution today included an announcement that it is to rebrand as Friends Life, as an ongoing restructuring came to an end, and that it had signed a fund management deal with Schroders.
As part of the deal, Resolution said it will transfer management of £12.2bn ($20.3bn) of its clients’ equity and multi-asset funds previously run by F&C Asset Management to Schroders. It is also taking £2.3bn of fixed income assets from F&C, to be managed in-house by Friends Life Investments, its asset management arm, Resolution said.
Resolution’s results for 2013 showed operating profits rose to £489m ($812m), from £382m, while the value of new business rose by 5%. This was on the back of cost savings of £160m during a three-year restructuring. The full-year dividend was unchanged at 21.14p.
Resolution said it was replacing the Resolution name with its Friends Life branding as part of its plan to become a "leading player" in Britain’s life and pensions market. The name change is subject to approval at this year’s annual general meeting.
Briggs said the decision to end the relationship with F&C was based on "driving economic value for shareholders".
He said the proposed changing of Resolution's name to Friends Life reflected the fact that the company had "reached a significant turning point for the group in 2013", and was now entering "a new and exciting chapter”.
Solvency II
Solvency II, which Cowdery cited for his interest in insurance-company shopping in Europe, is a review of the existing capital adequacy regime that the European insurance industry is obliged to meet. It is due to replace Solvency I in January 2016.
The company now known as Resolution Ltd and possibly soon to be rebranded Friends Life, was founded in 2008, after an earlier entity founded by Cowdery and also called Resolution, founded in 2003 to accumulate closed UK life insurance funds, was sold to Hugh Osmond's Pearl Group in 2007. It acquired Friends Provident in 2009.
