Aviva's finance chief in surprise departure

Published on Thursday 18 June 2009 22:00

INSURANCE giant Aviva has announced the surprise departure of its finance chief.

Britain's second-biggest insurer by market value last night said Philip Scott would quit at the end of the year.

He has been Aviva's chief financial officer for less than two years, having previously headed the group's European division.

The firm, which recently rebranded its Norwich Union insurance arm as Aviva, has around 3,000 staff north of the Border – making up 16 per cent of its UK workforce. Aviva shares closed 3.3 per cent lower at 318.5p, making them the third biggest faller in the FTSE 100.

A spokeswoman said Scott, 55, does not plan to seek another executive role, but may take on additional non-executive responsibilities. He is a non-executive director of drinks maker Diageo.

Aviva chief executive Andrew Moss said: "I would like to thank Philip for his considerable efforts on behalf of the group over many years." He added: "I have a strong executive team in place to which I look forward to adding a new chief financial officer and together we will take the business to the next phase."

Raghu Hariharan, analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton, said: "It's a surprise, so in that sense it's potentially a negative. No successor has been announced, and it seems a bit sudden."

Aviva shares have fallen 18 percent since the beginning of the year, weighed in part by concerns that rising corporate bond defaults as the economy contracts could erode Aviva's capital reserves.

Scott took over as finance chief in July 2007 in a management reshuffle following Moss's appointment as chief executive. He has worked for Aviva or its legacy companies for 36 years.