10th Aug 2005 11:11
Aviva PLC10 August 2005 News release 10 August 2005 AVIVA PLC APPOINTS NEW CHAIRMAN The Board of Aviva plc ("Aviva") is pleased to announce that Lord Sharman ofRedlynch, OBE, will succeed Pehr Gyllenhammar as chairman of Aviva with effectfrom 1 January 2006. Lord Sharman, 62, joined the Aviva board in January 2005. He has wideinternational experience gained largely through his career at KPMG where hebecame chairman of KPMG International before his retirement in 1999. Lord Sharman is chairman of Aegis Group plc, an independent non-executivedirector of BG Group plc and Reed Elsevier plc and a member of the supervisoryboard of ABN AMRO NV. He is currently deputy chairman of Group 4 Securicor plcand will retire from this role later this year, as previously announced. Pehr Gyllenhammar was appointed to the board of Commercial Union in 1997,becoming chairman in 1998. He chaired Commercial Union during its merger withGeneral Accident in 1998 to form CGU and subsequently CGU's merger with NorwichUnion in 2000, which created Aviva plc. Pehr Gyllenhammar will retire from theAviva board on 31 December 2005. Commenting on Lord Sharman's appointment, Pehr Gyllenhammar said: "Colin has an outstanding track record in international finance. The board and Iare confident that a combination of his wide-ranging experience and RichardHarvey's proven leadership skills will ensure that a first rate team is inplace." Lord Sharman added: "I am delighted to have been asked by the Aviva board to become the Group'schairman. It's a company with drive, ambition and the highest standards ofprofessionalism. I am looking forward with much enthusiasm to contributing toAviva's continued growth." Richard Harvey, group chief executive of Aviva, said: "Aviva's industry position owes much to the vision of Pehr Gyllenhammar inbringing together businesses to form what we know today as Aviva. I have valuedthe support Pehr has given me personally during this time and I, together withmy colleagues at Aviva, wish him well for the future. We are fortunate in havingColin as our next chairman and are delighted to be able to work with him on thenext phase of Aviva's development." - ends - Enquiries: MediaHayley Stimpson, director of external affairs +44 (0)20 7662 7544Sue Winston, head of group media relations +44 (0)20 7662 8221Rob Bailhache, Financial Dynamics +44 (0)20 7269 7200 AnalystsNicole Marques, investor relations manager +44 (0)20 7662 8302 Notes to editors: • Photographs taken today of Lord Sharman are available from the media centre at www.aviva.com/media • Aviva is the world's fifth-largest insurance group based on gross world-wide premiums and one of the leading providers of life and pensions to Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world. • Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with world-wide premium income and retail investment sales from continuing operations of £33 billion and assets under management of £273 billion. • The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and product information and a news release archive. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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