Welcome

Vicky Keating:

Hi, Amanda, and welcome to Solus. It's great to have you here today to talk to me about Aviva's full year financial results. 2022 felt like a big year. Are you pleased with our performance?

Amanda Blanc:

Well, before I start on that, Vicky, thank you so much for having us here today. It's absolutely fantastic to be on site at one of our Solus sites. Thank you and the team for everything that you do for our customers. You get them back on the road quickly and efficiently and safely, and that's really terrific. So we really appreciate that. So thank you so much.

Now turning to 2022, Aviva had an excellent 2022. I think the performance was really strong. I want to thank all of the colleagues at Aviva for that because they worked really, really hard. I think what it shows is the resilience of Aviva, and the consistency and the reliability of the performance of Aviva. I think that is really coming through in these results.

I think the performance of the business is only going to get stronger from here. So I'm very excited about that. I think what's really pleasing is how we've achieved that set against what has been a very difficult economic and political backdrop and obviously, cost of living crisis. So I think the performance of the business is even stronger for that.

Vicky Keating:

So, what are the standout financial highlights for you?

Amanda Blanc:

Well, there's quite a few, actually, and I think the results are testament to the hard work that everybody's done over the past two years and the real performance management lens that we now have on the business. So just going through,I think a few of the real highlights.

Aviva is growing. The value of new business is growing in the Life company. The wealth fund flows are really strong and we've seen growth in the UK, Ireland and Canadian general insurance businesses.

On top of that, profitability is strong, with the Combined Operating Ratio in the general insurance business resilient in what is a very tough market. Our costs are coming down, again, set against a tough inflationary environment. We're really pleased with the progress that we've made on costs. 

And turning to capital, clearly 2022, we returned a significant amount of capital to our shareholders. And you've seen from this morning's announcement that we've been able to announce another return of capital in these results, which I'm very, very pleased about. And the dividend is, as we said, it would be for 2022, and we've also announced an upgrade to the dividend policy this morning.

Vicky Keating:

You said our strategy is the right one. What's next for Aviva and its strategic priorities?

Amanda Blanc:

I think the strategy is the right one. And you can see from the results today that we're actually making progress against it. We've got a laser focus on our four strategic priorities of customer, growth, efficiency, and sustainability. And that is really what's allowing us to unlock the competitive advantage in Aviva's model.

So putting customers first is absolutely central to Aviva's strategy. We've made some great progress in 2022. One of the things that I'm really excited about is we've built an engaging mobile-led customer journey, and what that has seen is £600 million of fund flows through to our MyAviva pension platform, which is really great news.

So our second priority is growing the business. Each business plays a critical role in our portfolio. Wealth is a really big focus for us and having an advice capability is really the key to unlocking that growth and hopefully helps us to recapture some of the six billion of flows that leave us each year.

Our third priority is efficiency, and here we've made some great progress. We've simplified our customer journeys, we’ve streamlined our IT estate and we've reduced our property footprint, and this has all contributed to the cost reduction. 

Looking to the future, once we've achieved our 750 million cost reduction, our aim is to be upper quartile across all of the key business lines.

And our final priority is sustainability. And I'm pleased to say that we continue to lead the pack on climate change. I'm also pleased that we've been able to donate £38 million to restore Britain's temperate rainforests, which is part of a £100 million donation that we'll make to contribute to biodiversity in the UK.

This year, one of our biggest pushes is into social action. Now we've already committed to investing £10 billion into UK infrastructure investments, but with the cost of living crisis, we wanted to do more for customers and the communities. And so we've committed to working with the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Money Advice Trust to do this.

Vicky Keating:

So how would you sum up Aviva's year?

Amanda Blanc:

Well I think Aviva's had an excellent 2022. We have delivered quarter by quarter and I think you've seen that in the strong financial performance that has come through today.

The plan that we put in place is actually working and the resilience of the diversified business model is also working.

And you've really seen the clear benefits of the scale, the diversification and the brand of Aviva coming through here today. We have leading positions in all of our core markets and we've also got high performing businesses. And you combine that with a formidable brand and I think you see the results coming through as they have done today. So we have the strategy, the leadership and the engaged people and of course these results to show that we can and we will deliver on Aviva's promise in 2023.

Vicky Keating:

So thanks, Amanda, for being here today. It's been great to have you.

Amanda Blanc:

 Look, it's been absolutely brilliant to be here and actually see first-hand what you're doing for customers. Thank you so much for having me.