Hugh Osmond leaves Phoenix ahead of £3bn Swiss Re merger

The City entrepreneur Hugh Osmond today parted ways with closed life fund Phoenix Group ahead of its potential £3billion merger with a division of Swiss Re.

Osmond, famed for floating Pizza Express, who took control of Pearl and Resolution to form Phoenix will no longer serve as a non-executive director, but will retain a 6 per cent stake.

"I'm sad to be stepping down from the board after eight years," he said. "The group is in a strong position to consolidate the closed life sector." News of his departure came as Phoenix said it was on course to generate up to £750million in cash this year.

The group raised its interim dividend by 27 per cent to 26.7p and said talks about a tie-up with Swiss Re-owned Admin Re remained ongoing.