Aviva goes consultant scouting

Aviva Asigurari de Viata intends to boost its market share over the next three years by bringing on board a large number of financial consultants. The company plans to increase its number of consultants by 2008 to 6,000, a fivefold increase. Aviva officials added they would sign bancassurance partnerships to sell their policies through banks. The insurer previously signed such deals with BRD in 2001 and with ABN Amro in 2003. Aviva will not be making any profit this year, either, says Carl Boehr (photo), the company”s chairman. “The investment has not been recouped yet. We need more time for that. We will have very good financial results in about three years,” he said. Aviva Group has invested 23 million euros in its Romanian subsidiary in the five years since its entry on the market and has not managed to post profits yet. The cumulated losses from 2001 through 2004 amount to approximately 13 million euros (43.6 million RON). Aviva posted gross premiums underwritten of 6.1 million euros (22.4 million RON) in the first half of this year, an increase 65% on the same time last year. The value of the insurer”s assets increased by 64.3%, from 11.5 million euros (some 47 million RON) in the first half of 2004, to 18.9 million euros (69.4 million RON). Aviva has sold some 250,000 policies since entering the Romanian market. ZF