RBS non-executive tipped to take chair at insurer Aviva

JOHN McFarlane, the Scots-born former chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, is tipped to replace Lord Sharman as chairman of insurance giant Aviva.

McFarlane, who is currently a non-executive director of Royal Bank of Scotland, was named in two Sunday newspapers as the next figurehead for the former Norwich Union firm.

Talk of the appointment comes at a key time for the insurer following the surprise exit of UK chief executive Mark Hodges, who was named last week as the new boss of privately-owned rival Towergate.

Hodges was tipped as a potential successor to Aviva group chief executive Andrew Moss, who has held the role for the past four years.

Former Standard Life head of UK life and pensions Trevor Matthews was named as Hodges's successor at Aviva, leaving behind his role as deputy chairman at Clive Cowdery's Friends Life business, previously known as Friends Provident.

Aviva yesterday declined to comment on the reports of McFarlane's appointment.

The Dumfries-born banker made his name turning around the fortunes of Australia and New Zealand Bank, which he led for ten years until 2007.

The Financial Services Authority has to approve the appointment, but it is thought that McFarlane will be unveiled as chairman in the next few weeks.

Barclays deputy chairman Sir Richard Broadbent had been seen as an early front-runner for the Aviva role but instead opted to take the chairman's post at supermarket chain Tesco.

Succession planning is expected to be a key part of McFarlane's job at Aviva, given that it is thought Moss will stand down in the next two years.

McFarlane, who has dual British and Australian citizenship, started his career in the motor industry with Ford before he moved to Citigroup, where he led its UK and Ireland operation.