UK insurer and pension annuity provider Aviva has announced an increase is company profits, assisted by an increase in pension transactions. Pre-tax profits soared to £2.1bn before tax – a rise of 21% from 12 months ago. The company has moved away from investments and focused more on pensions and life business which has seen growth in recent times. Long-term savings products (including annuities) are now worth over £20bn, which is an increase of 4% over the last six months.
Commenting on the positive results, Toby Strauss (who heads up Aviva’s Life & Pensions business) said that…”…pensions and annuities are more resilient in times of economic difficulty, so we have benefited from shifting our focus in that direction.” The company has also been helped from UK businesses who have moved away from final salary schemes (defined benefit) and instead turned to defined contribution ones.
The marketing campaign…’Get the Aviva deal” also appears to have contributed to the increase in company revenue. Strauss says that…’…one of our strengths is our brand and we’ve felt the benefits of being able to put a significant amount of money into promoting it.’
