News financières

As the global financial markets adjusted to a more volatile and uncertain environment, worldwide M&A
activity continued to show signs of life as consolidation swept across the financial sector and falling
share prices made strategic acquisitions more attractive. The volume of worldwide M&A totaled
US$2.5 trillion during the first nine months of 2008, a decrease of 25% from the first nine months of
2007, but nearly matching the levels for deal activity in opening nine months of 2006. Worldwide
announced M&A during the third quarter totaled US$906.6 billion, a 1% decrease from the second
quarter and down slightly from announced merger volume in the third quarter last year.

Activity in Europe declined 29% over the year-ago period to reach US$895.3 billion during the first nine
months of 2008, while Africa/Middle East saw declines of 35%. Deals in Japan saw a decrease of
38%, and deal volume in the United States fell 27%, accounting for 38% of worldwide volume, the
same levels seen during the first nine months of 2007. Bolstered by robust deal activity in Australia
and China, Asia Pacific volume increased by 1% and was the only region to see advancing deal
volume over the first nine months of 2007. Keeping pace with declines in new deal announcements,
according to Thomson Reuters/Freeman & Co, imputed fees for completed M&A financial advisory
assignments fell 28% to US$25.6 billion during the first nine months of 2008.

Cross border deal activity totaled US$1 trillion during the first nine months of 2008 comprising 41% of
worldwide volume. Compared to the first nine months of 2007, cross border merger activity was down
28% during 2008, with targets in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada accounting for nearly
50% of overall activity. Demonstrating the appetite of acquirors to pursue strategic mergers,
unsolicited and hostile transactions in the US more than doubled during the first nine months of 2008,
totaling US$202.5 billion compared to US$88 billion during the same period last year.

Deal making activity in the Consumer Staples, Energy and Power, and Financials sectors
combined for nearly half of worldwide activity during the first nine months of 2008. During the
third quarter, major consolidation in the global banking sector, led by Bank of America’s
US$48.8 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch, Lloyds TSB's US$22.9 billion acquisition of HBOS,
and Commerzbank’s US$14.3 billion acquisition of Dresdner Bank, drove Financial M&A
volume to US$213.9 billion, a 90% increase over the second quarter of 2008. Activity in the
Industrials and High Technology sectors topped all industry groups, by number, with about
4,000 deals announced during the first nine months of 2008.

Private Equity firms, with limited access to the global credit markets, continued to see major
declines in M&A activity during the first nine months of 2008. With just US$226.7 billion in
announced deals, the volume of financial sponsor-backed transactions reached its lowest
levels since the first nine months of 2004, posting a 70% decline over last year at this time.
After making a number of large investments in the financial sector in the fourth quarter of 2007,
Sovereign Wealth Funds have continued to make investments across the globe as total volume
during the first nine months of 2008 reached US$42 billion compared to US$42.9 billion during
the first nine months of 2007

It doesn’t pay the most money, or have the most exciting jobs, but recruiters say the City of London’s insurance industry is still hiring and that the jobs are hard to fill. This may, however, be because the requirements are fairly specific – senior underwriters with a background in flood risk and the like.

“The City side of the insurance industry is relatively stable,” says Robert Charles, head of the insurance business at recruitment firm Joslin Rowe. “Commercial organisations need to be insured no matter what’s happening to the economy – investment banking is a bit more boom and bust.”

Joslin Rowe’s own research shows there were a mere 0.67 candidates for every insurance role in May, although this was up from 0.38 last year.

Charles says there’s no real volume of hiring, however, and that difficulty filling roles is because insurers are often unwilling to compromise: “If they want someone with marine exposure they’re not going to accept someone with an aviation or property background.”

The insurance industry isn’t immune to redundancies: Norwich Union, for example, is cutting 1,500 staff, Zurich is cutting 900, and Guy Carpenter, the reinsurance division of Marsh and McLennan, cut 350 in May.

However, with the exception of Guy Carpenter, most layoffs have hit the provincially located personal lines side of the industry – instead of the commercial insurers who operate in the City.

David Cooper, director and co-founder of Mansion House Executive, an insurance-focused search firm, says the real appetite is for senior underwriters who can lend credibility to newly established managing general agencies (MGAs), organisations authorised by insurers to manage some of their business in specific geographic locations.

Top roles look lucrative. A director of underwriting is likely to receive £150k-£200k in basic salary, plus a 100% bonus. “In the Lloyds market there are quite a few people earning seven-figure bonuses,” Cooper adds.

http://news.efinancialcareers.co.uk/News_ITEM/newsItemId-14004

Natixis cherche à se séparer de son activité Assurances, selon les informations du quotidien Les Échos. Héritée des Banques Populaires, Natixis Assurances, qui comptait 297 employés fin 2007 (contre 255 fin 2006), est certes de taille modeste mais est loin d’être un canard boiteux. Avec un chiffre d’affaires de 200 millions d’euros au premier semestre, et des encours dans l’assurance vie en hausse de 7 % sur la période, à 31,7 milliards d'euros, Natixis Assurances était même en phase de développement, notamment à l’international.

« C’est une structure très dynamique, qui a réussi à rajeunir ses équipes, là où certains de ses concurrents ont toujours du travail à faire. Les équipes se sont encore renforcées cette année avec l’embauche de jeunes managers à fort potentiel », témoigne Lawrence Trefi, associé en charge du pôle assurance au sein du cabinet de chasse Singer & Hamilton. Et de résumer : « Il y avait une émulation digne d’une start-up avec le soutien d’un grand groupe. » Une vision déjà remise en cause depuis l’annonce, fin mai, d’un plan de restructuration et la suppression de 850 emplois chez Natixis. Aujourd’hui, une menace supplémentaire vient peser sur les salariés de l’activité Assurances : celle des doublons et donc des pertes d’emplois en cas de rachat.

Les assureurs préservés dans leur cœur de métier

Natixis Assurances serait-elle la première victime d’une longue série ? Si l’on en croit l’agence de notation Fitch, le vent aurait tourné pour le secteur, jusque-là préservé des turbulences (Newsmanagers.com). Les déboires de la mutuelle belge Ethias et d’AIG, qui cherche actuellement un acquéreur en France pour ses activités assurance vie (zonebource.com), plaident clairement pour la prudence. La restructuration du secteur est un scénario qui commence à prendre forme.

Pourtant, c’est la sérénité qui semble l’emporter aujourd’hui. Chez Singer & Hamilton, on ne constate aucun ralentissement des recrutements. « La crise n’atteint pas les assureurs dans leur cœur de métier. On continue de s’arracher les actuaires, la gestion des risques se renforce, les fonctions financières se développent… », observe Lawrence Trefi.

Même son de cloche chez Robert Half, pour qui les problèmes de Natixis Assurances sont isolés. « Nos clients assureurs sont confiants et tablent sur des volumes de recrutement pour 2009 similaires à ceux de 2008. Les plus pessimistes entrevoient une baisse de 10 à 15 % des volumes », relève Thierry Mageux, directeur régional de Robert Half Banque & Assurance. Pour lui, le seul frein éventuel résiderait dans un faible turnover, dû à une frilosité des candidats. Alors même que le renouvellement des effectifs, les évolutions technologiques et réglementaires posent de sérieux défis au secteur en matière de recrutement dans les prochaines années.