Aviva plc
TypePublic limited company
LSE: AV.
FTSE 100 Component
IndustryInsurance
PredecessorCGU plc
Norwich Union
Founded1696 as Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society. 2000 as Aviva plc (by merger).
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Key people
Services
RevenueDecrease £(21.244) billion (2022)[1]
Decrease £(2.379) billion (2022)[1]
Decrease £(1.139) billion (2022)[1]
Total assetsDecrease £315.316 billion (2022)[1]
Total equityDecrease £12.895 billion (2022)[1]
Number of employees
22,000 (2022)[2]
Websitewww.aviva.com

Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.[3][4] In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general insurer and a leading life and pensions provider. Aviva is also the second largest general insurer in Canada.

Aviva also has a focus on the growth markets of China and South East Asia through investments and joint ventures with other firms. Aviva has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Name

The name of the company upon its formation in May 2000 was CGNU plc and was created when Norwich Union merged with insurer CGU.[5] In April 2002, the company's shareholders voted to change the company name to Aviva plc, an invented palindrome word derived from "viva", the Latin for 'alive' and designed to be short, memorable and work worldwide. The Norwich Union brand was retained for the UK long-term savings and general insurance business.[6]

In April 2008, Aviva announced that it would adopt the Aviva name as its worldwide consumer-facing brand, and that the Norwich Union brand would be phased out in the United Kingdom.[7]

History

Aviva can trace its history back to the establishment of the Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society in London in 1696.[8][9]

Predecessor company London and Lancashire Fire and Life, pictured in Dublin, c. 1871

It was created by a merger of two British insurance firms, Norwich Union and CGU plc[10] (itself created by the merger of 1998 of Commercial Union and General Accident[11]) as CGNU in February 2000. The Aviva name was adopted in July 2002.[12] Thereafter, most of the group operations, except for some strong local brands, were carried out under the uniform brand "Aviva".[13]

In 2002, Aviva purchased Abeille Vie, a French life insurance company.[14]

In March 2005, Aviva acquired the RAC plc breakdown recovery operation for around £1.1 billion.[15]

In July 2006, Aviva greatly increased its presence in the United States by acquiring AmerUs Group, a Des Moines based financial services company founded in 1896 in a $2.9 billion (£1.6 billion) deal.[16]

The launch was supported by a £9 million advertising campaign to promote the rebranding (one of the most expensive ever in the insurance field), with the participation of celebrities including Bruce Willis and Alice Cooper.[17] In June 2009, the company decided to dispose of Navigator, its Australian wealth management business, to National Australia Bank for A$825 million (£401 million).[18]

In October 2009, the company decided to focus on its commercial insurance sector and demonstrate its commitment to brokers by launching their 'find a broker' facility, using the British Insurance Brokers Association search engine. To help them with this endeavour, Paul Whitehouse was recruited to play the part of a successful hairdresser running three salons. The message of the campaign focused on business insurance through insurance brokers.[19]

In September 2011, Aviva completed the sale of RAC plc breakdown recovery operation for £1.0 billion to The Carlyle Group.[20] In February 2012, Aviva sold its occupational health business to the British support services company Capita.[21][22]

In July 2012, Aviva announced plans to sell or close 16 non core businesses in order to simplify its activities and boost shareholder returns.[23] As part of the plans Aviva announced the sale of its operations in South Korea and the closure to new business of its bulk buying annuity unit in the United Kingdom.[23] In August 2012, Aviva announced that up to 800 jobs would be lost, following a reorganization caused by further turmoil in the Eurozone.[24]

In December 2012, Aviva agreed to sell Aviva USA Corporation to Athene Holding for US$1.8 billion (£1.1 billion) as part of a plan to improve shareholder returns and reduce the group's capital requirements, having paid $2.9 billion in 2006 and incurring a large loss on sale.[25][26] Athene subsequently sold the life insurance business of Aviva to Global Atlantic.[27]

On 13 April 2015, Aviva completed the £5.6 billion all share takeover of Friends Life Group. Andy Briggs, then group chief executive of Friends Life, became CEO of Aviva UK Life, with Mark Wilson continuing as CEO of the enlarged Aviva Group.[28] In July 2016, Aviva froze withdrawals from the Aviva Investors Property Trust because of a lack of liquidity after Britain's vote to leave the European Union on 23 June.[29][30][31] In September 2017, Aviva agreed to sell its Italian joint venture Avipop Assicurazioni to Banco BPM for US$312.01 million (€265 million).[32]

In March 2018, Aviva, controversially, announced that it "had the ability" to cancel its irredeemable preference shares at par. This caused a wider sell off in the preference share market in the United Kingdom.[33] Also in March 2018 the company announced to spend around £600 million on so called "bolt on" acquisitions, that are in "Poland, Turkey, anywhere we have existing markets".[34]

In October 2018, Mark Wilson agreed to step down as CEO with immediate effect, with Adrian Montague taking interim control of the company, pending Wilson's formal departure in 2019.[35] Maurice Tulloch was appointed CEO in March 2019;[36] however, he stood down in July 2020 for family health reasons and was replaced by Amanda Blanc, who previously served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the company.[37]

In November 2020, Aviva sold its stake in their Indonesian company Astra Aviva Life[38] and their Hong Kong division.[39]

In 2021, Aviva sold its French operations to Aéma Groupe.[40] As part of the deal, Aviva agreed to indemnify Aéma against potential legal liabilities to Max-Hervé George.[41][42] In May, Aviva completed the sale of its Turkish business,[43] followed by businesses in Italy (Aviva Italia Holding) and Poland in December 2021.[44]

In April 2023, Aviva terminated its membership of the Confederation of British Industry in response to allegations made by former employees of sexual harassment and rape at the business group.[45][46]

In September 2023, it was announced Aviva had acquired the London-headquartered life insurance company, AIG Life Limited from Corebridge Financial for £460 million.[47]

In November 2023, Aviva acquired a Canadian vehicle replacement insurance business, Optiom, for £100 million (US$126 million).[48]

Operations

Aviva Canada

Aviva's main activities are the provision of general and life insurance, long term savings products and fund management services. The group has around 31,000 employees and 18 million customers.[3] Aviva Investors has £263 billion assets under management.[49]

Principal subsidiaries

Following the completion of Friends Life Group Limited in April 2015, Friends Provident International Limited is now part of the Aviva Group.[28]

Senior management

CEO Richard Harvey retired on 11 July 2007. His successor was Andrew Moss, the former group finance director.[50] Moss was paid an annual base salary of £925,000 for his role as Chief Executive.[51] Moss resigned on 8 May 2012, after shareholders voted down a proposed senior management pay deal which would have seen Moss increase his basic pay by 5% despite several years of Aviva underperformance.[52]

Following the departure of Aviva's CEO, Andrew Moss, McFarlane assumed the role of executive deputy chairman and became executive chairman on 1 July 2012.[52] On 20 November 2012, Aviva announced that Mark Wilson had been appointed CEO, starting 1 January 2013.[53]

On 12 September 2014, Aviva announced that Sir Adrian Montague would become non executive chairman, on the retirement of John McFarlane at the Aviva AGM in April 2015.[54] On 9 October 2018, the Aviva Board announced Mark Wilson was to step down, remaining as part of the company until April 2019 though on garden leave; with Sir Adrian Montague assuming executive responsibilities in the interim whilst a replacement candidate is sought.[55] Maurice Tulloch was appointed CEO in March 2019;[36] however, he stood down in July 2020 for family health reasons and was replaced by Amanda Blanc, who previously served as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the company.[37] Jason Windsor was announced as chief financial officer in September 2019.[56]

George Culmer took over as chairman from Sir Adrian Montague on 27 May 2020.[57]

Sponsorships

In May 2008, Aviva became Norwich City Football Club's main sponsor. In an advert from 2009 starring Paul Whitehouse, they feature a Plymouth Argyle F.C. fan who uses Aviva car insurance, followed by a Green Army chant.[58] It also acquired the naming rights for the redeveloped Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin, Ireland, which was renamed the Aviva Stadium.[59] In January 2018, the naming rights were extended to 2025.[60]

Aviva sponsored rugby union's English Premiership from 2010 to 2018.[61]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Preliminary Results 2022" (PDF). Aviva. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Aviva plc Annual Report and Accounts" (PDF). Aviva. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 "About Aviva" (PDF). Aviva plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Infographic" (PDF). Aviva. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Gary Armstrong; Michael Harker; Philip Kotler; Ross Brennan (2009). Marketing: An Introduction. Pearson Education. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-273-71395-1.
  6. ↑ "Changing the name of the game". The Scotsman. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Ferreira-Marques, Clara (29 April 2008). "Aviva scraps Norwich Union name". Reuters. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Aviva Heritage Events Timeline". Aviva plc. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  9. ↑ Note: taken over by Commercial Union in 1905
  10. ↑ "CGU and Norwich Union merge". BBC News. 21 February 2000.
  11. ↑ "About Us > Heritage". Aviva.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Why only Aviva's directors will be 'living well'". The Telegraph. London. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Aviva PLC". Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "Arbitrage Discovered". Bloomberg L.P. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "RAC History". Racnews.co.uk. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  16. ↑ "Aviva to acquire AmerUs for $2.9 billion". NBCNews.com. 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Cockcroft, Lucy (22 December 2008). "Bruce Willis and Elle Macpherson star in £9 million Norwich Union advert". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008.
  18. ↑ NAB buys Aviva to become biggest life insurer Sydney Morning Herald, 22 June 2009
  19. ↑ Baker, Rosie (2 October 2009). "Aviva launches first ad aimed at business". Marketing Week. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  20. ↑ "Aviva completes the sale of RAC". aviva.com. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "Capita announces purchase of Aviva UK Health". Reed Business Information. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  22. ↑ "Capita to acquire Aviva's occupational health business". Capita PLC. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  23. 1 2 "Insurer Aviva to cut 16 underperforming businesses". BBC News. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  24. ↑ "August 24, 2012 – Aviva to Cut Up to 800 Jobs as McFarlane Reshapes Insurer". Bloomberg.
  25. ↑ Neligan, Myles (21 December 2012). "Insurer Aviva sells U.S. unit for $1.8 billion". Reuters. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  26. ↑ "Aviva sells US business for £1.1bn". The Telegraph. London. 21 December 2012. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  27. ↑ "Aviva USA life insurance unit to be dealt to Global Atlantic". The Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  28. 1 2 "Aviva and Friends Life rise in first day as a merged company". The Telegraph. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  29. ↑ Jones, Sarah (4 July 2016). "Second Property Fund Suspends Trades Over Brexit Fears". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  30. ↑ Treanor, Jill (5 July 2016). "Commercial property fund freeze – all you need to know". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "Challenger bank shares slump as Aviva freezes fund". Financial Times. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  32. ↑ "Aviva sells Italian JV to Banco BPM for 265 million euros". Reuters. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  33. ↑ Robert, Norman (13 March 2018). "Aviva makes waves". Reuters. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  34. ↑ Lucas, Paul (8 March 2018). "Aviva reveals acquisition plans". Insurance Business UK. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  35. ↑ "Aviva CEO Mark Wilson to depart in 2019". Investment week. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  36. 1 2 "Maurice Tulloch wins race to be Aviva CEO". Insurance Age. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  37. 1 2 Ralph, Oliver (6 July 2020). "Aviva appoints Amanda Blanc as Chief Executive Officer". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  38. ↑ "Aviva completes sale of entire stake in Indonesian JV Astra Aviva Life". NS Insurance. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  39. ↑ "Aviva to sell Hong Kong operation as it simplifies business into 5 divisions". InternationalInvestment. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  40. ↑ "Aviva sells French business to Macif's Aéma Groupe for $3.9 billion". Reuters. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  41. ↑ Armitage, Jim (23 February 2021). "Aviva sells French arm for e3.2 billion". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  42. ↑ Griffiths, Miles Costello, Patrick Hosking, Katherine. "'Golden ticket' threat to Aviva's French sell-off". Retrieved 27 July 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ↑ "Aviva completes exit from Turkey". Aviva plc. 6 May 2021.
  44. ↑ "Aviva completes exit from Italy". Aviva plc. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  45. ↑ Howard, Tom. "Companies quit CBI after second rape claim". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  46. ↑ "Companies quit CBI after second rape allegation". Financial Times. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  47. ↑ Jain, Saumya (25 September 2023). "Aviva acquires AIG's UK protection business for £460m - Reinsurance News". ReinsuranceNe.ws. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  48. ↑ "Aviva to Acquire Canadian Vehicle Replacement MGA Optiom for Circa £100m". Insurance Journal. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  49. ↑ "How we're organised". Aviva plc. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  50. ↑ "Mon Compte Aviva Assurance en ligne". Ouvrir compte. 10 August 2015.
  51. ↑ "Directors' remuneration report". Annual report and accounts 2008. Aviva. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  52. 1 2 Treanor, Jill; Kollewe, Julia (8 May 2012). "Aviva chief executive steps down after shareholder revolt – with £1.75m payoff". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  53. ↑ Kollewe, Julia (20 November 2012). "Aviva appoints Mark Wilson chief executive – but no 'golden hello". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  54. ↑ "3i changes chairman after Montague joins Aviva". Financial Times. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  55. ↑ "Mark Wilson steps down as Chief Executive Officer of Aviva plc". Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  56. ↑ "Jason Windsor is appointed as chief financial officer of Aviva". Scottish Financial News. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  57. ↑ "George Culmer becomes Aviva chairman". Insurance Age. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  58. ↑ EU Football Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  59. ↑ New Lansdowne Road to be called the Aviva Stadium Belfast Telegraph, 12 February 2009
  60. ↑ "What's in a name? Aviva announce stadium sponsorship extension". The42. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  61. ↑ "Aviva and Premiership Rugby extend partnership until 2017". Rugby247. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
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