Aviva Share Discussion Threads

[cfro] 15/12/2023 09:43

We all know that recruitment should be made fair and based on merit, and perhaps she even thinks that herself but unfortunately the left-wing woke brigade simply don't agree..

They think that more ethnic minorities, more women, more people from bad backgrounds, more school leavers from the under-performing schools, more gay, more trans etc etc should make up the mix instead..

The pressure for her to go along with that is immense..

[yump] 15/12/2023 09:36

She could just have made sure that all recruitment was fair and based on merit. Quietly, with no PR.

I wonder if anyone will come out in the media and say that toxic bias isn’t improved by inverting it.

I double dare Lineker to do it.

[cfro] 15/12/2023 09:31

We don't know what Amanda is really thinking though do we..

The pressure on ftse100 CEO's to have and embolden left-wing woke views is really immense..

If Amanda came out in support of Trump for the upcoming US election would the pressure on her to quit be over-whelming..

We don't know what her real political views and opinions are. But she has to toe the line and be seen to doing the right thing is what we do know and what a sorry mess this country is in because of it..

[mrnumpty] 15/12/2023 09:21

I fully agree with “ sky racer “ here . This works both ways : if Aviva has a problem with certain cohorts of society , then maybe those people should consider not investing here or being customers of Aviva .

[muscletrade] 15/12/2023 09:00

No sympathy from me. There is no requirement to accept every invitation. Stay focussed and grounded. I don't recall Nigel Wilson ever being on dessert Island discs for chrissakes!!!

[skyracer] 15/12/2023 08:56

Well Ms Blanc has ensured I will not be giving any business to Aviva nor investing here. She needs to stick to her job. The stockmarket is simply a measuring system and ruthlessly punishes any weakness.

[roundtheworld] 15/12/2023 08:48

You have to sympathise a bit with AB. The fawning and adulation she’s received from the industry, media and politicians over the last few years has been immense. Hardly a week goes by when she doesn’t receive another award, invite to talk or have her face plastered on the front of a magazine. I even caught her on Desert Island Discs recently whilst driving down to Cornwall.

The power has obviously gone to her head and in her own mind she has become this figure on a horse (non white or male of course), iPad in hand, leading the corporate oppressed into battle. It’s no wonder she occasionally gets the balance wrong by making a verbal or hiring process gaff.

BUT..having said that you still can’t have a situation these days where your hiring team feels pressured or scared in who they appoint due to a CEO lurking, arms folded in the background with a crystal clear selective hiring agenda in everything but name. That’s classic bullying and ultimately discrimination for job candidates.

[muscletrade] 15/12/2023 07:53

I'm really ticked off. Rather than yesterdays story dying down our CEO is in the press again this morning for all the wrong reasons. Like it or not this is a distraction the company and its shareholders can do without.
I have supported Ms Blanc from the very start and consider that she has done an excellent job. However I warned some time ago about the emergence of woke-ness that concerned me. (shades of Alison Rose). Ms Blanc is handsomely rewarded for her work receiving £5.52m in 2022(compared to £0.53m for the CFO Charlotte Jones) and really needs to consider the wisdom of ill prepared statements.
Two strikes so far Amanda....one more and I'm off.

[pj84] 15/12/2023 01:28

cjac39 I hope you don’t take my post as trying to diminish your clearly superior knowledge of the detail of insurance companies and I am happy to admit I have never worked in the insurance industry and whilst I have some knowledge of how difficult it is to become an actuary as my brother went down that route and as you suggest andyble also has a lot of knowledge in that area as well. So, I do appreciate both yours and andyble’s posts but andyble’s resonated with my own thinking at the current time.

I agree it isn’t all as simple as my post suggests and normally I would describe myself as a value investor, which as I am sure you know, means I focus primarily on a bottom up approach on a company’s fundamentals and whilst that normally includes a lot of good quality dividend paying companies it can also mean growth companies that don’t pay dividends and for both types of value, there are dividend paying companies that are value traps and growth companies that appear to have great growth prospects that don’t materialise and I have been caught out by both.

Usually, shares are affected by two main forces, the macro environment with interest rates rising or falling or boom or bust in the economy generally causing all boats to rise or fall to a greater or lesser extent and then the individual company effects which ultimately affect the individual share in the long term (the oft quoted voting and weighing analogy). So usually, the individual companies results finally determine a share’s price movements but unusually that relationship appeared to have broken down over the past couple of years with not only insurance companies but quite a number of high quality dividend paying companies.

Usually, dividend yields of more than say 4% indicated the market expected a dividend cut or an impending fall in profits, so the yield was illusory. And it appears that despite the fundamentals of insurance companies and other high quality dividend paying companies, the fundamentals where no longer asserting themselves and the macro forces of higher interest rates have dominated share prices and for that reason, I am hopeful of things now improving with the prospect of interest rates about to fall despite what the Bank of England are currently saying and I believe they will again be behind the curve on the way down as they were on the way up.

The other major factor has been UK pension funds etc. moving form being major holders of UK shares to a now almost non-existent holding. But history tells us that things look darkest before the dawn and when the last seller has sold that is when the market turns, and UK pension funds no longer have any more shares to sell. So I am hopeful that the turnaround for most good quality high dividend paying companies has now started.

[j4ckthehat] 15/12/2023 00:05

Warranty Same thing, Roundtheworld exactly, Brought it to light on the yank boards let's make it count before they do

[roundtheworld] 14/12/2023 23:24

It’s a dog whistle to affirmative action and quota’s. Can you imagine the pressure a hiring team is under knowing that if they almost dare appoint a white man to a senior position their decision will be raked over by a stoney faced CEO. The hiring team will take the path of least resistance and hire anyone else over a white male.

[warranty] 14/12/2023 23:18

As far as I can see, she didn’t actually say white males couldn’t be hired, just that she needed to sign them off. Also it’s only for senior positions which I wouldn’t think are that many. I can understand her rationale for this policy but quoting it so openly just seems a very unwise thing to do. She probably thinks she’s being progressive but statements like this could cost her her job. It could also surely lead to legal action if someone proposed was then rejected on the basis of being white and a male!!

[j4ckthehat] 14/12/2023 22:19

Clear rising closing triangle on the daily chart, on the break every man and his dog will be all over this. Go Woke Go Broke, short it into the pavement

[yump] 14/12/2023 19:25

To be fair, its not as bad as the Institute of Physics having a special award opportunity for PhD applicants, donated by an award winning Physics professor (a woman).

Specifically mentioned are those with disabilities, those from underprivileged backgrounds (fair enough) and lo and behold: Women, Under-represented ethnic groups and LGBTQ.

That is hardly likely to result in those people being integrated and feeling any more included.

Imagine a group of PhD folk and one of them is getting £5000 more than the rest. That could well mean most have to have secondary jobs and one doesn't. Perhaps the one will end up in the pub on their own most of the time.

Mind you, being a high level academic doesn't necessarily confer common sense.

[richie1218] 14/12/2023 19:03

‘Non-diverse’ candidates are not hired without my sign off, says Aviva boss Amanda Blanc. are the words used. and that was after 30 seconds of research ...

[fenners66] 14/12/2023 18:58

eeza
14 Dec '23 - 18:41 - 18249 of 18249

"Imagine if a man had demanded sign-off on 'white women' hires."

Surely to be properly in context that would be sign off of all "black women" hires...

I guess that would go down very badly - which is why it should be viewed the same..

[eeza] 14/12/2023 18:41

Imagine if a man had demanded sign-off on 'white women' hires.

[whatsup32] 14/12/2023 18:39

Tomorrow it will be yesterday’s news

[eurofox] 14/12/2023 18:38

Options expiry tomorrow, have fun

[mountpleasant] 14/12/2023 18:36

I am hearing...

In light of this comment, the view in the City is that, she will have to go.

[eeza] 14/12/2023 18:36

AB guilty of misandry, surely.

[p0pper] 14/12/2023 18:33

FFs the world has gone mad, so woke now it's bloody painful, this just goes to show how "sensitive" society has become, I don't believe she said or done anything wrong, get a grip people.