Aviva Share Discussion Threads

[speedsgh] 23/1/2020 10:25

"Norwich Union will be used specifically in relation to a new legal indemnity policy which has been launched onto a specialist broker aggregator site.

The site in question is Dual, which is also based in Norwich but has brokers across the UK."

[harry the haddock] 23/1/2020 10:03

i might be wrong, but wasn't the Norwich Union name going to be used in a specific geographical region (S.E.Asia??) where the brand name was particularly strong and resonated well?

[danielbird193] 22/1/2020 18:07

I just wonder what they mean by "a new specialist product" served by the old Norwich Union brand.

[eurofox] 22/1/2020 17:31

If lots of people keel over with a new pandemic, the annuity business will be very profitable

[cordwainer] 22/1/2020 13:13

Not easy to imagine how exhuming Norwich Union is helpful. Forward or backward thinking ?

[spud] 22/1/2020 11:16

Background on yesterdays news:

Aviva's most senior boss quits



PUBLISHED: 15:48 21 January 2020 | UPDATED: 15:48 21 January 2020 Caroline Culot

Sir Adrian Montague has announced he is leaving Aviva. Pic: Aviva

The insurance giant chairman is to walk away from the role after the firm launched a new strategy for going forward with a new management team.

Sir Adrian Montague, Aviva's chairman, has announced he will be retiring once a successor has been appointed.

It comes after the MD of general insurance, Rob Townend, announced in September he would be stepping down after more than 23 years in the position.

The restructuring followed news in June that Aviva, which employs 16,400 people across the UK and 30,000 globally, was looking to reduce expenses by £300m per year by 2022, from £4bn to £3.7bn - resulting in 1,800 job losses. The firm said these would be mostly through natural wastage, although did not rule out redundancies at the time.

Sir Adrian was appointed chairman of Aviva in April 2015, having joined as a non-executive director in January 2013. The board has initiated a process for the appointment of a successor.

Sir Adrian said: "When I became chairman in 2015 the board asked me to commit to serve for at least five years. Now that Maurice (Maurice Tulloch, CEO) has launched Aviva's strategy, a new senior management team is in place and the board has been refreshed, it is also time for a new chairman.

"In the meantime I remain committed to this great organisation which I am confident will deliver for all its customers, employees and shareholders".

George Culmer, senior independent director, said: "On behalf of the board, I would like to express our deep thanks to Adrian for his service, leadership and guidance over the past seven years. Adrian has chaired Aviva through a period of considerable change and departs with our very best wishes for the strong legacy he leaves".

Last year, Aviva, with a main office in Surrey Street, Norwich, paid circa £33bn in claims and benefits on behalf of 33m customers.

In November the firm announced it was resurrecting the 'Norwich Union' brand for a new specialist product after it was dropped more than a decade ago. The brand will be back in business for the first time since 2009, when it became fully absorbed into Aviva following its takeover in 2002.

spud

[whatsup32] 21/1/2020 14:37

Porsche...yes agreed , sooner CEO goes the better

[eurofox] 21/1/2020 14:28

.. too greedy at the time were we?

[porsche1945] 21/1/2020 14:17

Well at least the hopeless Chairman has gone lets hope the utterly utterly useless CEO follows him out of the door within weeks not months. Please Elliot or another US killa come in and smash this up and sell it off, release some value so I can get out of this POS without a loss.

[adelwire2] 21/1/2020 12:54

That departure was well received by market

[linton5] 21/1/2020 12:52

Lil why would that cause a spike markets are crazy nowadays

[whatsup32] 20/1/2020 13:40

Good find spud

[spud] 20/1/2020 11:13

I’d buy these 3 FTSE 100 stocks to beat the State Pension in 2020



Alan Oscroft
January 2020

You’re not going to live a life of luxury on a State Pension of £168.80 per week, that’s for sure. I reckon the best way to make provision for your retirement is to invest in UK shares while you’re still working.

For that, I’d look for reliable companies with strong cash generation and good dividends. And if you can get the shares at a good price, that’s even better. Here are three I think fit the bill.

Insurance dividends

I’ve long been a fan of insurance companies, and my favourite right now is Aviva (LSE: AV). The market has been bearish towards Aviva throughout the recent years of Brexit confusion, and the shares are down as a result. Over the past five years, Aviva stock has lost 25% of its value, and as a shareholder I don’t much like that.

But all that time, Aviva has been paying good progressive dividends. The anticipated 2019 dividend looks set to yield 7.7%, and 2020’s should be even better. In its latest update, AJ Bell has put Aviva’s forecast 2020 yield as high as 8.2%. Cover by earnings would come in at 1.84 times, and that looks safe enough to me.

The company is going through a transition phase right now, and that creates uncertainty. But I think it’s also given us a great buying opportunity. I already own some shares in my pension portfolio, but I might go for an Aviva top up.

Tobacco weakness

British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS) shares have made a solid start to 2020, up 6% in just less than three weeks. But the bigger picture shows a drop of nearly 40% since a peak in May 2017.

The whole tobacco business has been up in the air for the past few years. Uncertainty over the future of new smoking technology hasn’t helped. And changing regulations, particularly in the US, have hit the industry too.

But British American has kept its earnings growing, albeit at a slower pace than in the past. After a 5% hike in EPS in 2018, analysts are expecting 2019 to have generated another 8%. And there are similar gains on the cards for the next two years, dropping the 2021 P/E to under ten.

The falling share price has boosted the dividend yield too, and analysts are predicting around 6.5% in 2020.

That makes British American Tobacco look to me like one to buy and hold for retirement income.

Solid housing

I’ve been keen on housebuilders for some time, and I’ve just examined Taylor Wimpey. But I like all the builders in the FTSE 100, and here I’m looking at Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV).

Fears that Brexit was going to cause a property crash seem to have been assuaged now. As a result, Barratt shares have had a few good months, leading to a 12-month gain of 52%. But even after that, we’re still looking at P/E multiples of only around ten.

To me that’s cheap for a company with good long-term growth prospects, but Barratt offers solid dividends too. With surplus capital to return to shareholders, the total forecast yield stands at 6%. That’s below the bigger yields offered by Wimpey, but Barratt’s dividends are progressive.

They’re well covered too, with the 47p total expected for 2020 covered 1.5 times by forecast earnings. Interim results are due on 5 February, and I’m expecting to see further impressive progress.

spud

[lauders] 19/1/2020 00:07

All in all, we have a moderately positive outlook for risk assets in 2020 thanks to improving growth prospects and the fact that downside risks from the trade dispute appear to be receding.

[spud] 18/1/2020 20:28

Jamie Whitham!spud

[eeza] 18/1/2020 18:43

Always thought your eyes were too close together.

[spud] 18/1/2020 18:21

Damn joey, you've rumbled me! ;-))spud

[whatsup32] 18/1/2020 15:09

Interest rates may come down in a few weeks . Hopefully an uptick for Aviva

[joeyredeye1] 17/1/2020 22:27

I’m to the point I think Spud is Mr Tulloch in disguise!
Maurice needs to recognise the object of the exercise in a plc is shareholder return.
I sincerely don’t he has think he’s grasped that.
Hard to see one single thing he’s done thing to move the the business forward since his appointment.
I look forward to the share price being further hammered until he gets his act together.

[whatsup32] 17/1/2020 13:18

May explain recent drop


05-March . Full year results

[crossing_the_rubicon] 17/1/2020 09:56

@EEZA

He sure is :)

[eeza] 17/1/2020 09:54

'Cos he's a snowflake.

[crossing_the_rubicon] 17/1/2020 09:46

"My Retirement Fund17 Jan '20 - 01:01 - 579 of 580
Who would want to invest in a country where their politicians are constantly at war with each other over leaving the EU in a slow motion car crash?"

Constantly at war?

Oh come off it.

How is leaving the EU a slow motion car crash?

You oooze bad loser remoanerdom.

[danielbird193] 17/1/2020 07:07

Politicians at constant war with each other isn't a feature of the UK alone. You could equally apply that description to the US!!