Skip to content

About us

AVIVA UK: Our UK Stewardship Code compliance statement   

Aviva UK is the largest insurer in the UK and a part of Aviva plc, the sixth largest insurer in the world. Aviva UK has two main businesses in the UK, Aviva UK Life and Aviva UK General Insurance. Aviva Investors manages the vast majority of Aviva UK’s equities and the importance we place on good corporate governance is reflected in Aviva Investors’ comprehensive and robust approach to stewardship. Aviva Investors has been a leader in corporate governance for many years and we are confident they will continue to lead by example. As a major asset owner in the UK, we are enthusiastic supporters of the Stewardship Code and therefore we are making a public commitment to good stewardship. Our statement is available on Aviva Investors’ website and also on the Financial Reporting Council’s website.

Aviva UK is fully committed to responsible investment. We want the companies we invest in to have good governance, environmental and social practices in order to produce better long term returns to us and to the economy as a whole and we believe that, through engagement and good stewardship, we can help promote good practice towards this end. Therefore, we support the UK Stewardship Code published in 2010, and, in line with such support, consideration will be given to stewardship capabilities when appointing new investment managers. Aviva Investors manages the vast majority of Aviva UK’s equities and our approach is reflected in Aviva Investors’ comprehensive and robust approach to stewardship. The vast majority of our other UK investment managers have also signed up to the UK Stewardship Code. A summary of our compliance with the Code is set out below.

Principle 1

Institutional investors should publicly disclose their policy on how they will discharge their stewardship responsibilities.

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle.

Principle 2

Institutional investors should have a robust policy on managing conflicts of interest in relation to stewardship and this policy should be publicly disclosed.

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle.

  • Our principal objective is to act in the interests of our funds and underlying beneficiaries when voting and engaging with companies.
  • We have an independent governance process to manage conflicts if and when they arise.

Principle 3

Institutional investors should monitor their investee companies

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle.

  • Aviva Investors, which manages the vast majority of our equities, monitor investee companies on our behalf and we monitor Aviva Investors’ stewardship practices through quarterly reports and regular meetings.
  • We expect our investment managers to be aware of Environmental Social and Governance risks inherent in our funds.

Principle 4

Institutional investors should establish clear guidelines on when and how they will escalate their activities as a method of protecting and enhancing shareholder value

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle.

  • We expect our investment managers to escalate engagement activities in order to protect our interests.
Aviva Investors’ Stewardship Policy reflects our guidelines. See above for link.

Principle 5

Institutional investors should be willing to act collectively with other investors where appropriate

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle

  • We actively work with other investors through Aviva Investors.
  • Aviva Investors also represents our interests through active involvement in a wide range of industry organisations.

Principle 6

Institutional investors should have a clear policy on voting and disclosure of voting activity

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle

  • Our voting is carried out by Aviva Investors in accordance with their Corporate Governance and Corporate Responsibility Voting Policy. From time to time we discuss voting intentions from Aviva Investors
  • Aviva Investors’ voting decisions are disclosed on their website.

Principle 7

Institutional investors should report periodically on their stewardship and voting activities

Aviva UK fully supports and endorses this principle

  • Our full voting records and a summary of our engagement activities are publicly available on Aviva Investors’ website. See above for link.

  •