Friends Life Group Limited was a

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

-incorporated investment vehicle which had the stated intent of forcing consolidation in the British

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

industry. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and was a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

. It was acquired by

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

on 13 April 2015.

History

The firm was founded as Resolution Limited by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery in 2008 after agreeing a deal to retain the naming rights to

Resolution plc Resolution plc was a UK insurance company headquartered in the City of London. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by the Pearl Group in May 2008. History Early history ...

, the zombie fund investor he founded which was sold to

Pearl Group Phoenix Group Holdings plc is a provider of insurance services based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded in 1857 as The Pearl Loan Company an ...

that year. The company was established with the intention of completing the

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

and merger of at least three UK life insurance operators by 2012 and

spinning out ''Spinning Out'' is an American drama television series, created by Samantha Stratton, that premiered on Netflix on January 1, 2020. In February 2020, the series was canceled after one season. The series stars Kaya Scodelario as Kat Baker, a yo ...

the enlarged company on the stock market. The first of these,

Friends Provident Friends' Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, Yorkshire, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century I ...

, was acquired in November 2009 for £1.86 billion. Upon completion of the deal Resolution, which obtained a listing on the

in December 2008, took the place of Friends Provident in the

. Resolution purchased

Axa Sun Life Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

Holdings Ltd from

Axa Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

SA in Autumn 2010. In October 2010 it bought Bupa Health Assurance. In 2011 Resolution merged the UK operations of Friends Provident with the UK life assurance businesses acquired from Axa and Bupa under the name Friends Life. Resolution changed its name to Friends Life Group in May 2014. In December 2014, British insurer

agreed terms for a £5.6 billion all-share takeover of Friends Life. Andy Briggs, current group chief executive of Friends Life, will become CEO of Aviva UK Life, with Mark Wilson continuing as CEO of the enlarged Aviva Group. The takeover was completed on 13 April 2015.

Operations

Friends Life operated from seven countries around the world including: United Kingdom, Germany, Luxembourg, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Isle of Man. Friends Life was the 5th largest life and pensions company ranked by UK market capitalisation. Friends Life were the title sponsors of the Friends Life t20

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

league organised by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

, from 2010 to 2013 (as Friends Provident t20). Senior management were employed by the London-headquartered

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is n ...

through which the company is effectively run.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Investment companies of the United Kingdom Financial services companies established in 2008 Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Financial services companies disestablished in 2015 2015 mergers and acquisitions