Aviva appoints Paul Wood MBE as group business protection director

Aviva today announced the appointment of Paul Wood MBE as group business protection director, reporting to Aviva group finance director, Andrew Moss.

Paul joins Aviva from UBS Investment Bank where he held the position of chief security officer from 1999 to April this year and was responsible for all aspects of physical and information security.

As group business protection director Paul will guide and monitor Aviva’s adherence to business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management processes, driving all aspects of organisational risk management.

Aviva group finance director, Andrew Moss said: “We are delighted that Paul has joined the Aviva team and feel that his reputation within the industry and depth of understanding across all aspects of business risk management will provide a firm direction for Aviva’s activities in this area.”

Prior to joining UBS Paul had a highly successful career in the Ministry of Defence with a variety of security roles from 1974 through to his retirement from government in 1995. During this time Paul was involved in numerous government security projects encompassing the protection of key national infrastructures and in 1995 he was awarded the MBE for services to government.

The appointment of Paul to this new role reflects an increased emphasis on having a clear, integrated business protection strategy across the Aviva group, to address security-related issues in line with the growth of Aviva’s global businesses.

Paul will lead crisis management and security investigations on behalf of Aviva and drive consistent and appropriate security standards across the group.

Paul’s industry credentials include his current role as industry chair of the Financial Services Information Exchange and involvement in the launch of the Institute of Information Security Professionals.

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Notes to editors:

• A photograph of Paul Wood is available from the image library on the Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media 
• Aviva is the world’s sixth-largest insurance group based on gross world-wide premiums and market capitalisation (at 31 December 2004); it is one of the leading providers of life and pensions in Europe and has substantial businesses in other markets around the world.
• Aviva’s main activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with world-wide total income of Ł40 billion and assets under management of Ł280 billion at 31 December 2004.