LEADERS at LV= have committed to keeping it as a mutual organisation less than a year after plans to sell it to an American private equity fund fell through.

The County Gates-based life, pensions and investment business spent £33million on preparations for the sale to Bain Capital.

The deal was scuppered after winning the support of 69.4 per cent of voting members last December – falling short of the three-quarters needed for it to go ahead.

In a speech for the organisation's annual general meeting yesterday at Bournemouth’s Village Hotel, chair Simon Moore said: “I wasn't around during the strategic review process – that happened a couple of years ago – but during that process, the board concluded that the Bain deal was the best option for members. Members in the general meeting said they didn't agree.

“They valued mutuality, and they valued membership. This board, your board, is committed to that mutual future. We are here to make a mutual future work for you.”

He added: “LV= today, under new leadership, will hold transparency and fairness at the heart of what we do.

 

“We are going to build a company in the co-operative spirit, standing alongside one another as our founders in the nineteenth century did. This will be a truly successful company focused on your long-term benefit.”

Mr Moore also said the business would “pay the right rate for the very top skills” after criticism about the salary and bonuses paid to former chief executive Mark Hartigan, who led the preparations for a sale to Bain Capital.

Mr Hartigan was paid £435,000 in 2021 plus a £204,000 bonus and another £307,000 bonus payable over three years.

He promised transparency over the principles behind executive pay at LV=.

“We will seek, without compromise, the very best in the market to lead this company and we will pay the market price for doing that,” he said.

“We will pay the right rate for the very top skills that we require. We will not compromise on quality but we won’t overpay either. We will pay the market price as set by external objective data.”

The meeting was hit by a technical glitch which prevented members from joining online, although a recording was put online afterwards.

Mr Moore, who has Covid, contributed a recorded speech, but the technical problems prevented him facing questions.

Chief executive David Hynam told the meeting: “This is a new chapter for LV= and we have to be able to compete in the areas where we are strong. Although we are facing a period of unrivalled economic uncertainty and a challenging market, we must remain focused on our specialised offering, where we are consistently strong and where we are delivering real growth in the business.”

An LV= spokesperson said of the technical problems: "Members who attended in person were able to meet LV=’s board but a technical fault meant we were unable to live-stream the event.

"We apologise to the members who logged in but were unable to view the live-stream. These members were still able to vote on the 10 resolutions and submit questions online, which were asked during the meeting."

The recording was posted at LV.com/AGM