Consolidation: Building for the future

The financial services industry has been abuzz with talk of consolidation in recent weeks, following news of Resolutionт€™s acquisition of AXAт€™s UK life business. While Clive Cowderyт€™s listed consolidation vehicle is slowly assembling some of the largest UK insurers, some private equity firms are rapidly building fragmented businesses into efficient combined entities. John Bakie investigates