Aviva has unveiled plans to scale up its wealth business to reach more than £250bn in assets over the next five years, a growth of more than 10 per cent a year.
The firm announced its intention to invest in its advice and direct wealth offerings creating a “breadth of offering never seen before in the UK”, according to UK CEO Doug Brown.
Speaking at a presentation today (October 17) Brown said the firm expects to grow its profits to £280mn in the next five years, a 15 per cent growth.
He said: “We're investing to capitalise on the growth opportunity and wealth by creating a customer centric proposition that only Aviva can deliver.
“We have strong foundations already in place with our leading workplace and advisory platform businesses. By adding advice and direct wealth capabilities, we can now serve the full range of customer wealth needs, from a workplace pension in their first job, right through to retirement, and all with seamless customer experience.”
The firm added that it would take full advantage of the "significant opportunities" both within its UK customer base of 15.5mn, of whom 6mn are mass-affluent, and the open market.
It comes more than a year after Aviva bought Succession Wealth for £385mn in March 2022.
Since then Succession has carried out two acquisitions, adding more than 70 new planners and £1bn of assets under advice.
Michelle Golunska, managing director for wealth and advice, said: “We're excited to continue this momentum in Succession Wealth, aiming to grow to 500 planners over the medium term through mergers and acquisitions and organic growth.”
Brown went on to say Aviva’s direct wealth offering will sit alongside the company’s workplace and advice arms.
“Direct wealth will be a critical part of our proposition and a huge opportunity for us at Aviva,” he said.
“We're already have an investment platform, but we are revamping our proposition around critical customer needs and a clear market gap and hybrid advice.”
In Aviva's most recent half-year results, the company said in its wealth business, which offers workplace pensions and retail savings products, net flows were down by 13 per cent to £4.3bn.
Elsewhere in the wealth business, Avivia’s pension business, Workplace, saw flows increase by 25 per cent to £3.4bn, reflecting the impact of wage inflation on employee contributions.
The results added that through Succession Wealth, Aviva's advice business, it is growing restricted advice, adding advisers and assets from further acquisitions, and seeing flows onto Aviva’s platform.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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