UK-based insurance group Aviva has recorded a 10% sales growth in its worldwide long term savings operations for full year 2005. The firm also saw new life and pensions business grow by 7% against the previous year.
Total new life and pensions business rose to GBP22.2 billion, slightly ahead of expectations. Overseas sales underpinned much of the expansion. Meanwhile, UK life and pensions business showing some contraction (sales down 1% to GBP9.17 billion), although strong UK sales of investment products helped compensate for this, leaving overall UK new business up by 2% on year-end 2004.
Our long-term savings business is flourishing, thanks to our strong international portfolio, which delivered 16% growth in sales in 2005, demonstrating our ability to develop our existing businesses and to add distribution.
We are particularly pleased both by the results from France, Italy and the Netherlands, which achieved consistently good performances throughout the year, and by the highly promising performances from our Asian and US businesses, commented Richard Harvey, Aviva’s chief executive.