It’s a vulnerable business that starts to go downhill if the chief executive’s seat is vacant for more than a couple of months. Investors in Aviva, without a figurehead at the top since October, needn’t worry that the insurer is in danger of destabilising, but they might want to ask why finding a new boss is taking longer than expected. Could it be that the task they would be taking on is a tough one?
Aviva has come a long way since 1696, when the Hand in Hand mutual insurance company began to offer fire cover to Londoners. Over the subsequent 300 years or so, it metamorphosed from Norwich Union and the CGNU to Friends Life, changing its name to Aviva in 2002. A former