Osmond increases Pearl stake

Pearl Group director Hugh Osmond has invested nearly £119,000 on buying 13,550 shares. Specialist closed fund operator Pearl gained a secondary listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 17 November. No new shares were issued but Pearl hopes to attract additional institutional investors.

The primary listing is on NYSE Euronext. The shares were acquired on the Amsterdam exchange for €9.70 each.

Osmond, who was responsible for floating Pizza Express, pubs operator Punch Group and a number of other companies, owns 0.57% of Pearl. He has been a director of Pearl for five years.

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Pearl has assets under management of £70.7bn at the end of September 2009. The life companies operated by Pearl include Phoenix Life, National Provident and Scottish Mutual.

Pearl generated cash from operations of £508m in the nine months to September 2009. Management is continuing to improve the operating performance of the businesses.

The Insurance Groups Directive surplus is £1.2bn, which represents 135% coverage of regulatory requirements.

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