Aviva Investors, the asset manager owned by insurer Aviva plc, saw its operating profit tumble in the first half of the year to £35 million from £60 million in the same period of 2019.
The firm said this was due to capital market weakness, de-risking of asset strategies by internal clients and lower levels of private assets investments.
But Aviva Investors said it had diversified its third-party client list and “maintained the positive customer momentum” seen in the second half of last year. Flows from external clients were £1.3 billion compared to outflows in the first half of 2019 and were driven by the UK and North America.
At the group level, financial performance was described as “solid”, with an operating profit of £1.25 billion, which was down from £1.39 billion in the same period last year.
Amanda Blanc, who has been CEO of Aviva plc for a month, said “we must transform our business” and that this would focus on the UK, Ireland and Canada, places where Aviva has the size and “brilliant customer service”.
“I have been CEO for one month and I am confident we have many of the ingredients to make Aviva a winner. From this moment on, we must deliver. Nothing else will do. My focus is making sure it happens and at pace”.
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