The Lemon Fool

It just has to be dividend paying shares stashed in a stocks and shares ISA, and I typically look for solid reliable dividends that I think will keep on paying over the long term.

But with my long-term horizon, I see great scope for adding companies in cyclical sectors, whose earnings and dividends can rise and fall, but which provide an attractive (if perhaps a little erratic) long-term cash stream.

The insurance sector has been a favourite of mine for a long time, and I’m looking at Aviva (LSE: AV) once again, now that its share price has been in a bit of a slump and its forecast dividend yields have climbed.

We’re in very uncertain economic times, and that helped push the Aviva share price down by more than 25% between last summer’s high point and the end of 2018.

Aviva plc ("Aviva" or the "Company") today announces Maurice Tulloch will become Chief Executive Officer with effect from 4th March 2019.

Sir Adrian Montague, Chairman of Aviva, who has been acting in an executive capacity pending the appointment of a CEO, will revert to his role as non-executive Chairman on 4th March 2019.

Maurice joined Aviva in 1992 and was appointed to the Board of Aviva plc in June 2017. Maurice is currently Aviva's Chief Executive Officer, International Insurance and has responsibility for Aviva's life insurance and general insurance operations in France, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Turkey and India. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of Aviva UK and Ireland General Insurance, one of the largest businesses in the Aviva group.

Details of Maurice's remuneration can be found at the end of this announcement.

The FTSE 100’s life insurance giant Aviva (LSE: AV) looks tempting against traditional valuation measures. The current share price of around 419p throws up a price-to-earnings rating of just over seven, a price-to-book ratio of around one, and a dividend yield of more than 7% — cheap, cheap, cheap!

But if you look at the six-year financial record, you’ll see that revenue, earnings and operating cash flow have all been patchy over the period, rising up and down from year to year. Meanwhile, the dividend has been on a steady upwards trajectory. In fairness, City analysts expect advances in revenue and earnings during 2019.

monabri wrote:https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/AV./14049268.html

"Following the recent appointment of Maurice Tulloch as Aviva's CEO, the Board of Aviva and Andy Briggs have decided that Andy will step down as CEO UK Insurance and as a Director of Aviva plc from today. "

"Andy Briggs will serve six months notice with effect from 24 April 2019 and will be placed on garden leave from 30 April 2019."

"Andy Briggs will be treated as a good leaver under the Aviva plc Annual Bonus Plan ("ABP") and Long-Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") in accordance with the plan rules"

Following the recent appointment of Maurice Tulloch as Aviva's CEO, the Board of Aviva and Andy Briggs have decided that Andy will step down as CEO UK Insurance and as a Director of Aviva plc from today. Andy will remain with the Group until 23 October 2019 to support an orderly transition.

daveh wrote:How do you support an orderly transition if you are on holiday?

monabri wrote:

daveh wrote:How do you support an orderly transition if you are on holiday?

Other than by staying out of the way?....

It's a strangely/poorly worded announcement all in all.

Dod101 wrote:Tulloch is an internal appointment and Andy Briggs came with the purchase of Friends Provident. I would guess that Briggs is p****d off with the way things have gone and there is an attempt to do some face saving but it has not worked out very well.

Dod

The last time I covered the Aviva (LSE: AV) share price, I noted the firm’s discount valuation, along with its 8.1% dividend yield (at the time of writing) looked too attractive to pass up. That was around a month ago and, since then, the stock has added around 10p, or 31p including dividends, giving a total return of approximately 7.4%.

The thing is, I think this could be just the start of a much bigger rally for the Aviva share price. Today, I’m going to explain why I believe time could be running out to buy into this undervalued income opportunity.

Chief Executive Officer, Maurice Tulloch, will provide an update on progress since his appointment in March 2019 and will highlight the following key points:
•Aviva’s life and general insurance businesses in the UK will be managed separately, with the digital direct business integrated into UK General Insurance. This will enable stronger accountability and greater management focus on the UK’s leading life and general insurance businesses.
•Angela Darlington* is appointed interim Chief Executive Officer of UK Life and Colm Holmes* is appointed Chief Executive Officer of General Insurance.
•Aviva intends to reduce expenses by £300 million per annum by 2022, net of inflation, at constant currency. Cost savings will be achieved through lower central costs, savings in contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project expenditure and other efficiencies. This will involve approximately 1,800 role reductions across the group over the next three years, out of a total workforce of around 30,000. Aviva will look to ensure that redundancies are kept to a minimum wherever possible, for example through natural turnover. Aviva has engaged with Unite and our employee representative bodies and will continue to consult on specific proposals.
•Aviva reiterates its commitment to a progressive dividend policy and debt reduction of at least £1.5 billion.
•Year-to-date trading is broadly consistent with 2018: weaker performance in savings and asset management arising from lower investment markets have been partly offset by growth in Europe and Asia together with progress on our turnaround in Canada. UK longevity assumptions will be assessed in the second half of 2019.