Aviva

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Aviva plc
Formerly
  • Commercial Union plc (1990–1998)
  • CGU plc (1998–2000)
  • CGNU plc (2000–2002)[1]
Company typePublic limited company
LSEAV.
FTSE 100 Component
IndustryInsurance
Predecessor
Founded1696 as Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society. 2000 as Aviva plc (by merger).
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Key people
Services
RevenueIncrease £18,497 billion (2023)[2]
Increase £1.690 billion (2023)[2]
Increase £1.106 billion (2023)[2]
Total assetsIncrease £328.843 billion (2023)[2]
Total equityDecrease £9.600 billion (2023)[2]
Number of employees
22,000 (2022)[3]
Websiteaviva.com Edit this at Wikidata

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.[4][5] 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[edit]

The name of the company upon its formation in May 2000 was CGNU plc and was created when Norwich Union merged with insurer CGU.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

History[edit]

Aviva can trace its history back to the establishment of the Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society in London in 1696.[9][10]

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[11] (itself created by the merger of 1998 of Commercial Union and General Accident[12]) as CGNU in February 2000. The Aviva name was adopted in July 2002.[13] Thereafter, most of the group operations, except for some strong local brands, were carried out under the uniform brand "Aviva".[14]

In 2002, Aviva purchased Abeille Vie, a French life insurance company.[15]

In March 2005, Aviva acquired the RAC plc breakdown recovery operation for around £1.1 billion.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] 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).[19]

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.[20]

In September 2011, Aviva completed the sale of RAC plc breakdown recovery operation for £1.0 billion to The Carlyle Group.[21] In February 2012, Aviva sold its occupational health business to the British support services company Capita.[22][23]

In July 2012, Aviva announced plans to sell or close 16 non core businesses in order to simplify its activities and boost shareholder returns.[24] 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.[24] In August 2012, Aviva announced that up to 800 jobs would be lost, following a reorganization caused by further turmoil in the Eurozone.[25]

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.[26][27] Athene subsequently sold the life insurance business of Aviva to Global Atlantic.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30][31][32] In September 2017, Aviva agreed to sell its Italian joint venture Avipop Assicurazioni to Banco BPM for US$312.01 million (€265 million).[33]

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.[34] 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".[35]

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.[36] Maurice Tulloch was appointed CEO in March 2019;[37] 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.[38]

In November 2020, Aviva sold its stake in their Indonesian company Astra Aviva Life[39] and their Hong Kong division.[40]

In 2021, Aviva sold its French operations to Aéma Groupe.[41] As part of the deal, Aviva agreed to indemnify Aéma against potential legal liabilities to Max-Hervé George.[42][43] In May, Aviva completed the sale of its Turkish business,[44] followed by businesses in Italy (Aviva Italia Holding) and Poland in December 2021.[45]

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.[46][47]

In September 2023, it was announced Aviva had acquired the London-headquartered life insurance company, AIG Life Limited from Corebridge Financial for £460 million.[48]

In November 2023, Aviva acquired a Canadian vehicle replacement insurance business, Optiom, for £100 million (US$126 million).[49]

Operations[edit]

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.[4] Aviva Investors has £263 billion assets under management.[50]

Principal subsidiaries[edit]

Following the completion of Friends Life Group Limited in April 2015, Friends Provident International Limited is now part of the Aviva Group.[29]

Senior management[edit]

CEO Richard Harvey retired on 11 July 2007. His successor was Andrew Moss, the former group finance director.[51] Moss was paid an annual base salary of £925,000 for his role as Chief Executive.[52] 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.[53]

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.[53] On 20 November 2012, Aviva announced that Mark Wilson had been appointed CEO, starting 1 January 2013.[54]

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.[55] 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.[56] Maurice Tulloch was appointed CEO in March 2019;[37] 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.[38] Jason Windsor was announced as chief financial officer in September 2019.[57]

George Culmer took over as chairman from Sir Adrian Montague on 27 May 2020.[58]

Sponsorships[edit]

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.[59] It also acquired the naming rights for the redeveloped Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin, Ireland, which was renamed the Aviva Stadium.[60] In January 2018, the naming rights were extended to 2025.[61]

Aviva sponsored rugby union's English Premiership from 2010 to 2018.[62]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Aviva plc overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 9 February 1990. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Preliminary Results 2023" (PDF). Aviva. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Aviva plc Annual Report and Accounts" (PDF). Aviva. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b "About Aviva" (PDF). Aviva plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Infographic" (PDF). Aviva. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. ^ Gary Armstrong; Michael Harker; Philip Kotler; Ross Brennan (2009). Marketing: An Introduction. Pearson Education. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-273-71395-1.
  7. ^ "Changing the name of the game". The Scotsman. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. ^ Ferreira-Marques, Clara (29 April 2008). "Aviva scraps Norwich Union name". Reuters. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Aviva Heritage Events Timeline". Aviva plc. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  10. ^ Note: taken over by Commercial Union in 1905
  11. ^ "CGU and Norwich Union merge". BBC News. 21 February 2000.
  12. ^ "About Us > Heritage". Aviva.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Why only Aviva's directors will be 'living well'". The Telegraph. London. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  14. ^ "Aviva PLC". Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Arbitrage Discovered". Bloomberg L.P. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  16. ^ "RAC History". Racnews.co.uk. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  17. ^ "Aviva to acquire AmerUs for $2.9 billion". NBCNews.com. 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  18. ^ 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.
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  22. ^ "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.
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  29. ^ a b "Aviva and Friends Life rise in first day as a merged company". The Telegraph. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  30. ^ Jones, Sarah (4 July 2016). "Second Property Fund Suspends Trades Over Brexit Fears". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
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  37. ^ a b "Maurice Tulloch wins race to be Aviva CEO". Insurance Age. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  38. ^ a b Ralph, Oliver (6 July 2020). "Aviva appoints Amanda Blanc as Chief Executive Officer". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  39. ^ "Aviva completes sale of entire stake in Indonesian JV Astra Aviva Life". NS Insurance. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
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  42. ^ Armitage, Jim (23 February 2021). "Aviva sells French arm for e3.2 billion". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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  54. ^ Kollewe, Julia (20 November 2012). "Aviva appoints Mark Wilson chief executive – but no 'golden hello". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
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  59. ^ EU Football Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  60. ^ New Lansdowne Road to be called the Aviva Stadium Belfast Telegraph, 12 February 2009
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External links[edit]