Zurich: joining the list of insurance gloom

Zurich's fall into the red was driven by the September 11 tragedy combined with a general economic slowdown. Simultaneously, the insurer's payouts rocketed while its investment income plummeted. On the positive side, 2001 was a difficult year for many insurers throughout the world. Things should get better this year.

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Zurich Financial: taking desperate measures

Once seen as one of the world's strongest companies, Zurich Financial has been forced into a desperate share issue and job cuts by mistaken acquisitions and poor risk assessment. Although its short-term future looks volatile, there's strong growth set for insurance market that will help Zurich and its competitors in the long term.

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Zurich Financial Services: aiming to net the wealthy

Zurich has launched its high net worth division, Zurich Private Client. The HNW market has stimulated a lot of interest recently, and Zurich hopes the insurance venture will help it move into further HNW services in the future. Its already large over-60 and high-income customer base suggests Zurich has a high potential for success in this market.

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Zopa: lending the eBay way

An online exchange called Zopa has been launched that enables members to borrow or lend up to GBP25,000 from peers rather than using a traditional bank or building society. Building on the eBay concept, the website is a market for lending which provides investors with higher returns and borrowers with preferential rates to those offered on the high street. However, the concept may be a tough sell.

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Yorkshire Building Society: a fresh approach to mortgages

In launching its innovative mortgage product offering divorced customers 0% interest for six months, the Yorkshire Building Society has joined a growing trend in innovation in the UK mortgage market. Indeed, more novel products are likely to appear as lenders look to practices from other markets to remain competitive.

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Yodlee: stepping beyond basic aggregation

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Yodlee: account aggregation for the pros

The service, run in partnership with OneCore, allows small businesses to display their different financial accounts on a single page. Extending account aggregation's capabilities to business users could be a major part of the service's future. In some ways, the concept is better suited to SME users than to individual consumers.

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Yes Car Credit: you can't any more

Following a three month review and expected losses of GBP24 million in 2005, Provident Financial announced that it has closed its specialist sub-prime motor finance division. The failure of the business may stem from the innovative model of combining a motor finance business and a car dealership under one roof.

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Wrap accounts: UK market to reach GBP150 billion by 2008

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Woolwich: giving high flyers access to the property market

Barclays' Woolwich unit has created a new mortgage for professionals who wish to borrow over GBP500,000, based on the expectation of a bumper bonus in the spring. While the product may prove popular with these consumers, allowing them to get a foot on the property ladder before prices rise even higher, they should be wary of pinning their financial hopes on a bonus that may not materialize.

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