Aviva Share Discussion Threads

[edmundshaw] 23/3/2018 08:21

Well my preference share "punt" has worked out handsomely.

Sadly, my Aviva ords are not doing quite so well right now... recent falls cancelling out more than half the gains on the prefs.

I hope and expect, though, that the market will have its usual short memory regarding the pref fiasco. However, anyone who panic sold(?) prefs at 120p or below might not want to just shut up and go away...

[stemis] 23/3/2018 07:49

Heads must roll for this, surely...

[joe say] 23/3/2018 07:47

Right decision - YES

Will I vote for director re-elections - NO, categorically No

[lord gnome] 23/3/2018 07:29

I just feel for all those who have been mugged into selling their holdings at a knock down price.

[skinny] 23/3/2018 07:28

Yes - and no egg involved whatsoever!



Statement on Aviva plc and General Accident plc preference shares

Since the full year results announcement on 8 March 2018, Aviva plc ("Aviva") has heard a wide range of views on its preference shares*, has spoken to a large number of investors and has received strong feedback and criticism.



As a result Aviva has listened. Aviva announces that it has decided to take no action to cancel its preference shares.

Under current regulation the preference shares will no longer count as regulatory capital in 2026. Aviva will work towards obtaining regulatory approval for the preference shares, or a suitable substitute, to qualify as capital from 2026 onwards. If as we approach 2026 Aviva needs to reconsider this position, it will do so after taking into account the fair market value of the preference shares at that time.

On 8 March 2018 Aviva stated it has the ability to cancel the preference shares at par value, having received clear legal advice. The review of the preference shares was initiated as a result of Aviva's duty to examine what is right for the business, balancing the interests of ordinary shareholders and preference shareholders. Aviva needed to address the issue of the preference shares given regulatory capital considerations and their cost.

Aviva is in a strong financial position and still plans to deploy £3 billion of excess cash in 2018 and 2019 to reduce hybrid debt, fund bolt-on acquisitions and buy back ordinary shares.

Mark Wilson, Group Chief Executive Officer of Aviva plc, said:

"I am very aware that Aviva is in a position of trust with our customers and investors. To maintain that trust it is critical that we listen to and act on feedback. The reputation of Aviva, and the trust people have in us, is paramount. Our announcement today means that preference shareholders can rest secure in their holdings.

The Board and I have a duty to consider not just the financial implications of our actions. We must consider the impact to Aviva's wider reputation. I hope our decision today goes some way to restoring that trust."

*Preference shares issued by Aviva plc and General Accident plc

-ends-

[lord gnome] 23/3/2018 07:12

Good to see Aviva doing the right thing - and an apology to boot.

[edmundshaw] 22/3/2018 09:25

speedy, good post.

Another article in The Times today:

I rather liked another comment there, in reply to someone laying into "old fart" pref holders:

"I presume you don't hold any irredeemable preference shares.
But maybe you are insured with Aviva. What happens when you want to make a claim and they just say 'just have last years premium back' and sort the claim out yourself?"

[speedsgh] 22/3/2018 09:19

Below is a comment posted under the following Times article which was published yesterday...

City attacks Aviva bid to cancel preference shares -

Galois (1 day ago)

Not quite a Ratner moment, but not far off it. For a company whose business model is based on trust, this could end up being a very expensive Pyrrhic victory.

The cost could be both reputational as well as financial.

Anyone still willing to deal with Aviva is under notice that Aviva is willing to seek out unconventional interpretations of their legal liabilities in order to reduce them.

And before they achieve their Pyrrhic victory, Aviva not only has to be absolutely sure that their novel interpretation of the intersection of company law, their articles and the specific terms of these instruments is water tight but also that there is no other legislation of any type which might have a bearing to the contrary.

Whatever the outcome, investors should logically charge Aviva a premium in the future for legal risk and customers should avoid them totally unless they are confident that their legal understanding of all relevant legal aspects is superior to Aviva’s.

As I said, almost a Ratner moment. Congratulations Sir Adrian and Mark Wilson, you have trashed your own and your company’s reputations.

[holts] 21/3/2018 20:18

The exceedingly funny bit is that one of the Instis signed up against them is Black Rock , now where have I come across them in relation to Aviva recently ?

Geordy2

Try selftrade for divi credit , arrive same day some before business opens others virtually always by lunchtime , I am not a huge fan of their new website but put up with it , ok on laptop/pc irritates me on tablet , they charge 11 a quarter on a combined isa and dealing set of accounts or nothing if you have traded once in the quarter .

[topvest] 21/3/2018 19:45

Shareholders at Aviva need to demand change at the top. The fact that they are progressing such an untrustworthy motion means that they are not fit to run a FTSE 100 company.

[1q] 21/3/2018 12:32

Now they have failed in a calamitous manner with the AV prefs, one wonders if the snakes who run this company will continue to go after the GA pref holders ? Nothing would surprise me, given the ethics of those who run this company. Thoughts ?

[davebowler] 21/3/2018 11:36

As a matter of interest here is Mark Taber's email;

Hi all

Thankyou for registering your details for the campaign action group I have started in response to requests from a large number of holders. As many of you will know I have organised several successful high profile campaigns in recent years which gives me good access to the financial media, regulators, institutional investors, legal advisers, politicians etc. I have spent the first ten days engaging with key parties to get the campaign organised and to generate publicity.

I hope you will understand that I do this on my own with few resources so communicating with the huge number of individuals affected is challenging. Even maintaining an email list and sending mass emails is very time consuming so I plan to communicate mainly through my free website (where I have set up a campaign information page and discussion forum) and Twitter. I will limit emails to information I prefer not to broadcast so please treat the contents as confidential. Also please appreciate that much of what I do and who I meet and talk must happen in private so I cannot share everything. Although you will hopefully see the output through media coverage, regulatory and political interventions.

The bedrock of all my successful campaigns has been the huge efforts made by the individual investors. In particular lobbying of regulators (the FCA), politicians (the Treasury Committee and your MP) and the company (Aviva). I have included contact details and suggestions on the campaign information page at:



The lobbying you have been doing is already having results. For example the Treasury Committee Chair (Nicky Morgan MP) has today sent an excellent letter to Andrew Bailey at the FCA as a result of the mass of communications her committee has already received. You can see the letter online at:



Also yesterday, following my emails to Andrew Bailey at the FCA, I was asked to meet the FCA urgently today. As a result I had a constructive meeting this morning where I was given the opportunity to set out all the key issues both with Aviva and the wider preference share market. The FCA recognises that this is an enormous issue and the letter they have now received from the Treasury Committee will reinforce that. I have agreed a process with the FCA whereby I will prepare a paper setting out the issues for them by the end of the week followed by further engagement. The FCA has particularly asked for any information from Aviva, analysts, media articles over the years since the preference shares were issued which reinforced the market view that the preference shares cannot be extinguished without consent of the holders by a separate vote. So please let me have anything you have or find. I would also be interested in any marketing documentation at the time of issue, original certificates etc.

Another development is that I have been asked to meet with Aviva tomorrow and have agreed as it will be a good opportunity to explain the issues face to face.

You will have seen the large amount of media coverage and I have added a list of coverage to the campaign information page to help you keep up to date. I also share coverage on Twitter. Please could you do the same and also post comments beneath the articles to show covering journalists the level of interest in the issue.

I need someone to volunteer to post links to the campaign page in the comments of newspaper coverage and on discussion forum to raise awareness with as many investors as possible. Please let me know if you can do this.

As a precaution I suggest you all the issue with your stockbrokers and particularly ask them to confirm that you will be able to vote on any resolution tabled by Aviva if necessary.

A number of you have asked about costs. I do this as a volunteer and do not expect payment. Also I do not believe in asking small retail investors to pay legal costs. I do have expenses (travel to and from London, subsistence, communications etc.) to cover towards which any SMALL contributions would be welcome via PayPal at: www.fixedincomeinvestments.co.uk/advertising-donations/
Also, I am sacrificing work I was doing on fundraising for a community charitable sports facility project to take on this campaign so, if we achieve an acceptable outcome, donations direct to the charity will be much appreciated.

Best regards

[edmundshaw] 21/3/2018 11:06

Preference shares doing well this morning. Perhaps Nicky Morgan's intervention is reassuring pref holders that government and the FCA are not going to sit back on this one...



To be honest I am more worried about the effects of Aviva's cancellation suggestions on my ordinary shares.

[topvest] 20/3/2018 18:20

Aviva is a faceless organisation and appears to lack ethics at a Board level. Avoid.

[skinny] 20/3/2018 14:48

Post 22802 - I would have thought a more apt 70s song from the same stable is !

[geordy2] 20/3/2018 13:46

If anyone has an investment account with Aviva, I would suggest checking that any dividends due from funds, shares etc are posted to your account. I have been in contact with them recently to complain that dividends that were paid three weeks ago have yet to appear in my account. I was told by them that it is a known problem but not given any indication when it would be fixed, neither were they clear about paying interest for the period from payment to posting in my account.

In general I have found the MyAviva website to be a complete shambles which seems to be in sync with their corporate policies.

[topvest] 19/3/2018 20:31

Reputation is already damaged.

[edmundshaw] 19/3/2018 16:26

Completely in agreement that Aviva should drop the idea as quickly as possible, hold up their hands and say "we made a mistake in making this idea public before we had reached a decision" and of course they will be obliged to offer some recompense to affected preference holders who sold their holding at a big discount to a fair price (however that can be determined). Expensive, but the manly and also reputationally positive thing to do.

To declare interests (both ways), I have bought a few prefs as I cannot imagine Aviva management being stupid enough to go through with cancelling at par. But I have a much larger holding in ordinary shares which I do not want to see damaged from reputation-bashing and large future credit spreads.

[yupawiese2010] 19/3/2018 14:37

Anybody ancient like myself who can remember 70s music, will probably remember a record from Hot Chocolate called " Everyone's a winner " their are no winners at Aviva apart from lawyer fees.

Ordinary shareholders worse off due to the increase in credit spreads impacting profits.

Pref holders having the potential to have their holdings redeemed at par for a huge capital loss

Clients Aviva's last annual report shows they invested £305 million of customers money in 'non-redeemable preference shares'. So Aviva's reckless 'we can cancel rights of pref shareholders' bombshell will have hit its customers by about £100 million !

Company's Reputational damage.

Is it not time for some Board Casualties ?.

[my retirement fund] 19/3/2018 13:37

Tweet from Mark Taber (@MarkTaber_FII)Mark Taber (@MarkTaber_FII) tweeted at 1:08 pm on Mon, Mar 19, 2018:Aviva's credit spreads have widened 15-20bps since they dropped the 'we can go about cancelling the rights of our preference shareholders bombshell.' So that wipes out any net reduction in funding costs from cancelling the preference shares and ordinary shares are worse off !(https://twitter.com/MarkTaber_FII/status/975720673028067329?s=03)

[topvest] 18/3/2018 18:37

The Board must be worried. This could really blow up on them. Let’s face it their reputations for doing the right thing are blown forever!

[cordwainer] 17/3/2018 13:25

I doubt they'll even go ahead with the vote unless they come up with better terms for the pref holders.