Aviva NU reattribution on ice

payless

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"Continuing market volatility and uncertainty means that the original reattribution offer for the inherited estate no longer meets our critical test of being fair to both policyholders and shareholders."
Aviva will be working with the policyholder advocate to restructure the offer and expects to update policyholders in the coming months.

stevem999

Spectacular dithering by the Policyholder Advocate who is meant to protect our interests but has resulted in a process that has been called off because Aviva have twigged it will cost them some money. Meanwhile they sit on an inherited estate milking it for all it's worth and paying dividends to shareholders - it certainly is 'fair for shareholders', just not policyholders, who had seen a ray of hope of some cash to put towards their pitiful Aviva endowments which are paying far less annually in bonuses than a Building Society would.

If Clare Spottiswoodwe hadn't spent 2.5 years 'negotiating' a deal then the payments would have been made by now. If it is inherited estate and isn't needed by Aviva, then why does the state of the economy matter, just pay it out. Oh silly me, that would be a greedy insurer holding onto cash they can use for lots of other purposes (slush fund) at the expense of their customers.

P*** poor all round.

dunstonh

If it is inherited estate and isn't needed by Aviva, then why does the state of the economy matter, just pay it out.

Because the value is based on the underlying assets which have mostly gone down across the board. There was provision to allow a renogotiation should the FTSE100 fall below 5000.

stevem999

Thanks for that, I knew it was within the terms of the deal, but I suppose I'm more annoyed at the stupid length of time our 'advocate' took to thrash out a deal which means the FTSE had the time to fall to that level. If they had forced a quicker decision then we'd all have been home and dry before the FTSE crashed!

pwllbwdr

Home and dry to selling your right to a share in 3bn for 1bn? If the surplus in the fund is not need for the day to day running of the fund it should have been distributed 90:10 as per the rules. Not "bought" by Aviva for a fraction of its value.

EdInvestor

Never mind, no doubt this news will prompt another rush to the exit by disappointed punters fearing further payout cuts, enabling NU to rebuild the WP fund assets by slapping on a hefty MVR on their way out the door.

If you begin to get an inkling that it doesn't seem to make much difference which way you turn with WP, you are always going to be the loser, then you may not be far wrong.

dunstonh

You say that Ed, but some of my happiest investors as those in the CGNU WP fund. i know some of the legacy ones aren't great but the CGNU one is holding its own. Pru is coming in a bit better but then they are not distributing anything and one suspects they are perhaps subsidising the bonus rate (no proof, just a feeling).