With 18 million international customers, Aviva is the largest provider of insurance and leading life and pension funds in the UK. With a history that dates back to the founding of Hand in Hand Fire & Life Insurance Society in 1696, Aviva’s current form is thanks to a merger between Norwich Union and CGU plc in the year 2000.
Over the noughties, Aviva grew its market out to Europe and established a high-profile foothold in America thanks to the most expensive advertising campaign of the time that included celebrities Alice Cooper and Bruce Willis. Into the 2010s, the insurance broker was forced to restructure and close a large number of its non-core businesses in a bid to increase its shareholder returns and streamline its focus. In 2012 it sold its US wing to Athene Holding to further this goal.
Now stripped back after sell-offs of subsidiaries in Indonesia, Italy, and many more countries, Aviva is refocusing on pensions. In the wake of a Pensions Dashboard Programme delay in the UK, Aviva is in the running to take over the programme thanks to its pre-existing private systems. This exemplifies Aviva’s renewed focus on the fintech sector, all whilst playing national analyst during the cost of living crisis thanks to its annual Age of Ambiguity study.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
