LONDON: Lloyds Banking Group has awarded BlackRock a £30 billion ($40 billion) slice of one of Europe’s biggest investment contracts to be invested using the US company’s various index strategies.
The award to the world’s biggest asset manager follows a high-profile bidding competition kick-started early this year after Lloyds said it was yanking £109 billion in assets from current manager Standard Life Aberdeen.
That surprise move followed the £11 billion merger of original manager Aberdeen Asset Management and insurer Standard Life, which Lloyds said made the combined company a material competitor — a charge SLA is currently fighting.
Lloyds said that it would also look to agree a strategic partnership with BlackRock to collaborate in alternative asset classes, risk management and investment technology.
“BlackRock has been selected following a competitive tender process in which it clearly demonstrated its global market-leading capabilities and deep expertise in the UK market,” Antonio Lorenzo, chief executive of Scottish Widows and group director of insurance & wealth, said in a statement.
Lloyds-owned Scottish Widows and Lloyds’ wealth management division contributed assets to the £109 billion mandate with SLA.
“The partnership will ensure that Scottish Widows and the group can deliver good investment outcomes for its customers over the coming years,” Lorenzo added.
Lloyds said the BlackRock deal would begin after an arbitration process over the SLA contract termination concludes or when the existing contract expires, adding that it is confident in its right to end the SLA deal.
SLA, which is seeking £250 million in compensation, declined to comment.
Lloyds said that, after a review by Scottish Widows and Lloyds’ wealth unit of their asset management arrangements, it is also near to announcing plans for the remaining £80 billion in assets and would update the market in due course.
Lloyds has been using the mandate transfer to leverage partnerships with asset managers toward the aim of growing its presence in the insurance and wealth sector — an ambition that formed a key pillar of its most recent three-year strategy, laid out in February.
Already holding a top share of its core banking markets, a push into other sectors offers Lloyds an opportunity for growth it has exhausted in products such as mortgages.
On Monday it confirmed it was in talks with Schroders, one of Britain’s biggest listed asset managers, over a potential deal that would be one of the biggest in wealth management tie-ups in recent years.
Britain’s Lloyds awards $40bn investment contract to BlackRock
Britain’s Lloyds awards $40bn investment contract to BlackRock
- Award comes after Lloyds said it was yanking £109 billion in assets from current manager Standard Life Aberdeen
- Lloyds said the BlackRock deal would begin after an arbitration process over the SLA contract termination concludes
Closing Bell: Saudi main market sheds 85 points to finish at 11,098
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed lower in the latest session, falling 85.79 points, or 0.77 percent, to finish at 11,098.06.
The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index declined 0.63 percent to close at 1,495.23, while the parallel market index Nomu dropped 0.91 percent to 23,548.56.
Market breadth was firmly negative, with 42 gainers against 218 decliners on the main market. Trading activity saw 226 million shares exchanged, with total turnover reaching SR4.5 billion ($1.19 billion).
Among the session’s gainers, Tourism Enterprise Co. rose 9.40 percent to SR15.02. SHL Finance Co. advanced 4.51 percent to SR16.00, while Almasar Alshamil for Education Co. gained 3.56 percent to SR23.88.
Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Co. added 3.03 percent to SR19.70, and Banque Saudi Fransi climbed 2.61 percent to SR19.30.
On the losing side, Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. recorded the steepest decline, falling 6.61 percent to SR96.
Al Moammar Information Systems Co. dropped 5.14 percent to SR164.20, while National Company for Learning and Education declined 4.60 percent to SR124.30. Saudi Ceramic Co. slipped 4.14 percent to SR27.30, and Arabian Contracting Services Co. fell 4.12 percent to SR116.50.
On the announcement front, Saudi Telecom Co. announced the distribution of interim cash dividends for the fourth quarter of 2025 in line with its approved dividend policy.
The company will distribute SR2.74 billion, equivalent to SR0.55 per share, to shareholders for the quarter.
The number of shares eligible for dividends stands at approximately 4.99 billion shares. The eligibility date has been set for Feb. 23, with distribution scheduled for March 12.
The company noted that treasury shares are not entitled to dividends and that payments will be made through Riyad Bank via direct transfer to shareholders’ bank accounts. stc shares last traded at SR44.80, unchanged on the session.
Separately, National Environmental Recycling Co., known as Tadweer, reported its annual financial results for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, posting significant growth in revenue and profit.
Revenue rose 53.5 percent year on year to SR1.24 billion, compared with SR806 million in the previous year. Net profit attributable to shareholders increased 68.4 percent to SR60.9 million, up from SR36.2 million a year earlier, driven by higher sales volumes and operational expansion.
Tadweer shares last traded at SR3.80, up 2.70 percent.
