Britain's L&G refreshes advisers as new CEO plots strategy, sources say

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Iain Withers and Andres Gonzalez

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Legal & General has hired new advisers to help recently appointed CEO Antonio Simoes with a strategic overhaul of the British insurer, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Analysts say the FTSE 100 group's new chapter under the former Santander and HSBC executive could feature more investment into pensions and overseas growth.

The changes to L&G's advisers come as Simoes plots a new strategy for one of the UK's largest insurers, which one source said he will unveil around summer.

L&G has chosen investment banking boutique Robey Warshaw, whose partners include former British chancellor George Osborne, as strategic adviser for matters including future takeover and activism threats, two sources said on condition of anonymity.

Robey Warshaw is taking over from investment bank Lazard, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

L&G, Robey Warshaw and Lazard declined to comment.

JPMorgan has also been brought in to advise on strategic issues and to replace Bank of America as L&G's joint corporate broker, one of the sources said. Barclays remains as joint broker, the source added.

Bank of America, Barclays and JPMorgan declined to comment.

Simoes is due to present his first full set of results for L&G on March 6, after taking on the role of CEO two months ago.

Some analysts think Simoes' strategy might not diverge radically from the one set by his predecessor Nigel Wilson.

"It's this big oil tanker of a business ... It's very difficult to steer," Thomas Bateman, a financials analyst at Berenberg, said of the challenge of making changes at L&G.

Bateman said he expected bulk purchase annuities will remain a source of growth, building on L&G's strong position in a market which saw about 50 billion pounds of deals last year.

Defined benefit pension schemes in Britain are increasingly looking to offload some of their 1.3 trillion pounds ($1.65 trillion) in liabilities to insurance companies, driving competition among traditional insurers and attracting new players like Brookfield.

Simoes may also look to expand L&G's business overseas, in areas like Asia, Europe and North America.

"North America is a tough nut to crack, but they've got an existing brand already and footprint there ready ... and then China that's going to be a huge market for them," said Abid Hussain, an analyst at Panmure Gordon.

While analysts say smaller bolt-on buys are more likely, a bolder move such as an acquisition of a private capital manager should not be ruled out, the first source said, after a spate of similar deals by firms such as BlackRock and Amundi.

The question facing Simoes is whether to reinvest earnings into expanding L&G or returning cash to shareholders.

"There are some investors asking for him to start doing share buybacks ... If he's got an opportunity to reinvest at attractive (returns), which he does, then he should be left to do that," said Hussain. ($1 = 0.7896 pound) (Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Iain Withers and Andres Gonzalez in London; Additional reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Matthew Lewis and Alexander Smith)