Description
Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 33 million customers across 16 countries. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general insurer and a leading life and pensions provider.
Aviva also has a focus on the markets in Europe and in Asia and, in particular, on the growth markets of China and South East Asia. Aviva is also the second largest general insurer in Canada. Aviva has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Name
The name of the company upon its formation in May 2000 was CGNU plc and was created when Norwich Union merged with insurer CGU. In April 2002, the company's shareholders voted to change the company name to Aviva plc, an invented palindrome word derived from "viva", the Latin for 'alive' and designed to be short, memorable and work worldwide. The Norwich Union brand, however, was retained for the UK long-term savings and general insurance business.
In April 2008, Aviva announced that it would adopt the Aviva name as its worldwide consumer facing brand, and that the Norwich Union brand would be phased out in the United Kingdom.
