The consideration for the sale will result in cash proceeds of £1.16bn (after adjustment for net debt), of which c£500m will be paid at closing with the remaining consideration being paid over the next five years on a deferred non-contingent basis.

As at HY24, Cala had a Net Asset Value of £1.15bn and generated operating profits of £42m.

The disposal follows the group’s decision to create a Corporate Investments Unit as outlined at the Capital Markets Event (CME) in June 2024.

Disposal proceeds from the sale will primarily be used, as they become available, to reinvest in the Group in line with its strategy and the capital allocation framework set out at the CME.

The board will also consider the proceeds as part of the group’s announced intention to increase returns to shareholders through ongoing buybacks.

As signalled, the sale of Cala reduces the Group’s Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) by c£100m after diversification.

The transaction is expected to complete in Q4 2024.

António Simões, group chief executive Officer of Legal & General said: “This transaction demonstrates continued momentum in executing our strategy, simplifying our portfolio to enable a sharper focus on our core, synergistic businesses. Cala has been an important part of L&G for over a decade, with profits increasing ten-fold since our initial investment in 20131.

“The sale announced today will provide capital to deliver our strategic goals of sustainable growth alongside enhanced returns for shareholders. I would like to thank the whole Cala team for their contribution to the Group and wish them every success in the future.”

Kevin Whitaker, CEO of Cala said: “Today’s announcement is excellent news for Cala. The acquisition by Sixth Street Partners and Patron Capital demonstrates confidence in Cala’s business plan and growth potential, as our talented team continues to build high quality, sustainable new homes throughout the UK. L&G has been a great support to Cala throughout its investment and ownership. Since 2013, we have grown revenues and profits five- and ten-fold respectively, and tripled the number of homes we build each year.”

Julian Salisbury, co-chief investment officer of Sixth Street, said: “Cala has a bright future and we are proud to be entering this new chapter as stewards of a company with such a deep history and long track record of sustainable growth. We, together with Patron Capital, look forward to continuing to support Cala and its management team, not only with capital but also with the significant resources of our London-based real estate investment team led by Giulio Passanisi.”

Keith Breslauer, managing director of Patron Capital, said: “We are pleased to be able to back the Cala business once again. Cala is one of the UK’s leading housebuilders with a best-in-class landbank and a focus on building high-quality homes, being consistently ranked five-star for customer service. Furthermore, Cala is also a people business with a strong corporate culture and a business we know well, and
we look forward to working closely with Cala’s impressive management team and our partner, Sixth Street, to further
build the business and help tackle the undersupply of homes in the UK.”

ESG-focused funds recorded their first ever year of net withdrawals.

On a more positive note, gross annual flows were up on 2022, though they remained below the levels recorded in 2020 and 2021.

Passives dominate inflows

BlackRock attracted the most net new business for the 10^th consecutive year, pulling in £30.1bn gross retail sales and £6.4bn annual net flows.

Legal & General Investment Management also posted a strong year with a 26% rise in gross sales compared with 2022. It attracted £3.1bn net new business.

Fidelity and HSBC, meanwhile, also recorded strong net and gross flows. Between the four firms, 71% of new flows went into passive offerings.

Royal London Asset Management was the top ranked active fund manager for both gross and net sales. While in previous years it has seen the highest inflows into its sustainable funds, in 2023 its best sellers were short dated fixed income and money market funds.

See also: The Lang Cat: Advised platforms suffer record outflows in 2023

M&G and BNY Mellon were new entrants to the top 10 for gross new business after annual sales growth of 90% and 22% respectively.

M&G’s Japan and Emerging Markets Bond funds ranked among the best-selling retail funds over the year, while BNY Mellon’s Multi-Asset Balanced fund also received significant attention from retail investors.

Report editor Anna Pridham said: “Gross sales show that established groups like Schroders, Jupiter, BNY Mellon, and JPM are attracting significant new flows. However, as mature businesses, they also contend with high levels of natural outflows and switches.”

In terms of Q4 flows, most leading managers recorded a rise in gross sales compared to the previous three months.

Pridham noted that, against a backdrop of an impending general election in the UK and ongoing economic uncertainty, the outlook for asset managers in 2024 remains uncertain.

“However, with the prospect of easing inflation and anticipated interest rate cuts, investors may be finally ready to deploy the record amounts of cash waiting in the wings. The fund groups with the right products stand to benefit,” she said.

This article was written for our sister title Portfolio Adviser

The wealth manager has hired Stuart Ritchie as managing partner and Mauro De Santis Bo as partner.

Ritchie is part of the GSB leadership team, providing strategic direction to help the business reach its objectives.

De Santis Bo started his career as a lawyer in 2010 with one of the top 3 firms in Argentina, before moving to the UAE in 2013 and embarking on a new journey in the financial services sector.

He now benefits from a decade of experience as a financial planner and specialises in providing comprehensive financial planning solutions for expats around the World.

The firm has also appointed Christopher Wright as senior executive officer, chief executive and head of UAE.

As well as David Smylie as group head of GSB private.

IFGL

The investment solutions provider has appointed Kelvin Revere as IFGL group actuary, appointed actuary for RL360 insurance company and RL360 life insurance company.

Revere brings 25 years’ experience within on-shore and off-shore life companies.

Since joining the group in 2010, he has held the toles of head of actuarial and chief actuary.

Legal & General

The investment service has hired James Shattock as managing director for UK protection and Pippa Keefe succeeds his role as commercial director.

Shattock brings over 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry. He joined Legal & General three years ago from UNUM UK where he was chief underwriting officer.

Keefe, who was previously Legal & General retail protection businesses development director, brings over 13 years’ experience in the protection market.

Brooks Macdonald Group

The investment manager has hired Maarten Slendebroek as chairman and as non-executive director.

Slendebroek was the chief executive of Jupiter for five years from February 2014 and has been the chair of supervisory board of Robeco since August 2020.

Platform One

The investment platform has appointed Matt Freeguard as its director of product.

Freeguard joins from the investment wrap platform and wealth software, Shares, where he was investment products manager.

The Exit Partnership

The business manager has hired financial planner and wealth management professional, Zane Hunter.

Hunter as sat on the board of leadership teams, most recently as head of wealth for One Four Nine group.

Blevins Franks

Martin Gilbert has joined the board of the specialist financial advice firm.

These prospective buyers – also named the ‘Bank of Family’ – hold £3.5trn in national housing wealth.

Despite this, almost three in four (72%) of guardians who gave financial support were not advised before helping their family purchase a house.

An additional 69% saw a negative impact on their own finances.

Prospective buyers turn to either equity release, downsizing or remortaging to help young homebuyers get on the ladder.

Rudy Khaitan, managing partner of Senior Capital, explains that equity release is important to stimulate the housing market amid the cost-of-living-crisis.

Equity release is a form of financing that allows homeowners to access capital tied up in their home and turn it into cash without having to move out of their property.

Also, Khaitan predicts that because property is a valuable financial asset for families, the market will see greater activity from first-time buyers (FTBs).

This comes despite a 22% fall in FTBs between January and August this year, according to Halifax.

Khaitan said: “In today’s society, many over 55s find themselves in a paradoxical situation – they are ‘asset-rich’ due to the value of their homes, yet ‘cash-poor’ with limited disposable income. As the cost of living continues to rise, many find themselves struggling to make ends meet, despite owning valuable properties.

“Equity release offers a solution to this dilemma by enabling homeowners to tap into the wealth tied up in their homes. It can provide a much-needed cash injection to enhance their quality of life, cover unexpected expenses, or even help their families.”

The bank has appointed Jane Niles as chief executive.

She is taking over the role from Brendan Stewart, who is stepping down after five years.

Niles joined Investec in 2016, initially leading the corporate and family office segment, and more recently, acting as head of offshore real estate and head of lending.

Irwin Mitchell

The law firm and advice group has named Craig Marshall as group chief executive.

This is following the death of the firm’s former chief executive Andrew Tucker.

Marshall joined Irwin Mitchell in 2007 when the firm merged with Scottish law firm Golds before being appointed chief executive of Irwin Mitchell’s personal legal services division from 2014 to April 2021.

He then became group chief operating officer in 2021.

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM)

The asset manager has named Pauline Plunkett as chief executive of its European operation and managing director of Ireland, subject to regulatory and board approvals.

She was previously head of insurance clients, having joined LGIM in March 2014.

Brown Shipley

The Quintet Private Bank subsidiary has hired Andrew Kyle as chief financial officer, subject to regulatory approval.

Kyle, who served as chief financial officer of Coutts for the previous five years, will join Brown Shipley in October 2023 as chief financial officer designate, working alongside the firm’s outgoing chief financial officer Andrew Curran, who will retire in March 2024 after serving at the UK private bank for over 20 years.

Standard Chartered

Mike Tan has joined the bank as global head of wealth planning and family advisory.

He was most recently part of the wealth advisory team at JP Morgan NA, Singapore.

Lombard Odier

The wealth manager has appointed Alexandre Meyer as managing partner.

Meyer joined Lombard Odier 25 years ago.

Annika Falkengren, who joined the group in 2017, has decided to step down as managing partner at the end of 2023.

MKC Wealth

The independent wealth management firm has appointed Rick Eling as managing director of its authorised investment management business MKC Investment Management.

He joins from Quilter, where he was latterly head of adviser propositions and spent four years as investment director of its advice network Quilter Financial Planning.

Alexander Peter Wealth Management

Claire Taylor has joined the advice firm as a transatlantic financial planner.

She was previously at Forth Capital, where she was an international planner.

Indosuez Wealth Management

The global wealth management arm of Crédit Agricole Group has named Emile Salawi as head of the Middle East.

He joined Indosuez Wealth Management in 2020 as head of key clients and family offices of CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA.

EFG

The company has named Francesca Speroni as team leader and deputy head of private banking of EFG Private Bank, the UK private banking arm of EFG International.

Speroni has joined EFG from Credit Suisse, where she was a managing director and served as team leader UK for more than five years.

Earlier this year, EFG also hired Inbal Shiloach as client relationship officer focusing on Israeli ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI).

She joined the bank from Julius Baer, where she spent 12 years and most recently served as head of Israel out of London.

Vivian Yuen also joined EFG in London earlier this year as client relationship officer with responsibility for UHNWIs based in Hong Kong and Greater China.

She previously worked for Julius Baer Hong Kong, where she was most recently an associate manager serving private clients booked in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.

HSBC

The UK private banking arm has recruited a team of relationship managers in its London office.

Phil Aleppo will lead the team and joins from Credit Suisse where he led a team of ultra-high net worth and high net worth bankers in the UK domestic team.

Joining the team are Henri Etchegoyen, Brad Werner, Usmaan Aziz and Oliver Beasant.

Elsewhere, Lok Yim has been named as regional head of global private banking, Asia Pacific.

Yim joins HSBC on a designate basis on 1 November and commences formally on 1 January 2024, subject to regulatory approval.

Yim succeeds Siew Meng Tan, who is retiring after an almost forty-year career in banking.

He joins HSBC from Deutsche Bank where he spent 16 years, most recently as chief executive for Hong Kong SAR.

Belasko

The financial services provider has appointed Alex Le Prevost as associate director.

Le Prevost was previously at Suntera Global, where he was a senior trust manager.

UBS

Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi will join the firm’s chief investment office as head chief investment officer for equities, effective 23 October 2023.

Hoffmann-Burchardi joins from Tudor Investment Corporation, where she has been a partner and senior portfolio manager since 2009.

Holborn Assets

The Dubai-based firm is launching a major expansion of its residency and citizenship investment (RCBI) division.

It has appointed Pablo Ostrick to be the managing director of its RCBI unit, known as Holborn Pass.

In his new role, Ostrick will hire 25 advisers this year to work alongside the firm’s 250 wealth managers.

He was previously general manager of Holborn Pass.

Macquarie Asset Management

Henry Middleton has joined the firm as managing director and head of wealth distribution for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

He was previously at Barings, where he most recently led its US institutional and global wealth distribution activities.