Who will be Aviva's boss?

The race for the Aviva hot seat stepped up a gear this week after news emerged that the UK’s biggest general insurer had drawn up a three-man shortlist.

The internal candidate to replace former chief executive Andrew Moss is believed to be chief financial officer Patrick Regan.

Regan being linked with the top job comes as no surprise given his impressive credentials, having worked at Willis, RSA and AXA.

He is understood to be well thought of by executive chairman John McFarlane, but questions remain over his leadership qualities.

Further, Moss was Aviva’s chief financial officer before taking the chief executive’s role, so the company might be so keen to appoint another accountant or mightlook for a real leader given Moss’s much-maligned stewardship.

Leading the list of external candidates is Mark Wilson, the former chief executive of AIG-owned life insurer AIA.

Wilson’s experience is predominantly in life insurance, and his CV includs 18 years with AXA Asia Pacific Holdings prior to joining AIA in 2006.

The second external candidate is Prudential chief financial officer Nic Nicandrou, who was Aviva’s deputy finance director before joining the Pru in 2009, and whose specialty lies in life insurance.

If either of the external candidates gets the job, it could have a significant implications for the direction of the business and whether Aviva focuses on life and scales back or sells its general insurance operation.

The biggest issue is how much power McFarlane is willing to relinquish and whether the new appointment will be his own man or tow the company line.

The former ANZ and Citigroup UK and Ireland chief executive has taken a hands-on approach since stepping into the breach in the wake of Moss’ departure.

Those who appear to have dropped out of the running include former UK general insurance chief executive David McMillan and Towergate chief executive Mark Hodges.