How times change. It is almost four years since Mark Wood, the ebullient former chief executive of Paternoster, said the demand for pensions insurance was "exploding" amid a rash of early deals for his company. Today, the company is reportedly up for sale having closed to new business in 2008. How did it come to this?

The first thing to say is that the discussions that are evidently underway are not necessarily going to lead to a sale, according to people close to the situation. Paternoster still hopes to be able to re-open to new business in the coming months, irrespective of the outcome of the talks on its ownership.