Amanda Blanc inherited a company with a history of inconsistency when she took over as the boss of Aviva in July 2020, a record that had lumbered the FTSE 100 insurer with a less-than-stellar reputation among investors. It’s been a difficult one to shake, too: even in a cheaply valued sector, Aviva trades at a discount to rivals at just over seven times its forward earnings.
Yet the prospect of better and more reliable returns looks brighter than it has for years, very much to Blanc’s credit. A Solvency II capital position of almost 200 per cent at the end of March should raise hopes of more cash returns, since the company considers any capital held above a benchmark ratio of 180 per cent
