Steps to bolster its reserves welcomed by stockbrokers
Aviva bucked the stock market decline and traded higher after HSBC moved the insurer to "neutral", highlighting the improvement in the insurer's solvency position, the Independent reports.
Aviva’s insurance groups directive (IGD) surplus rose to £3.2bn at the end of June from £2.5bn at the end of March.
The Independent said: “The figure is likely to improve further, once the sale of the group's Australian business is completed, while the volatility of the surplus ‘should fall following the partial listing of Delta Lloyd’, HSBC said. It also said Aviva’s surplus was less sensitive to further market falls than to gains. A 40% fall in equities would reduce the surplus by £300m but a 40% rise would increase the figure by £700m.
Aviva ended 1.6 per cent, or 6p, higher at 377.8p.
