"I look forward to getting out and meeting people over the coming weeks, whilst continuing to work with many of you."
- Nick Austin, Protection Commercial Director at Aviva
Prior to this appointment, Nick Austin served as Managing Director of Individual Protection at AIG Life UK, following multiple promotions from Head of Pricing. In the past, he’s also worked as Protection Director at LV= following several promotions from Head of Commercial & Pricing, and Senior Pricing Manager for Group Insurance at HSBC where Nick began his career in Financial Services.
Nick’s appointment follows the recent acquisition of AIG Life UK, for consideration of £453mn. Aviva announced in early April that, following receipt of all necessary approvals, it had completed the acquisition. At the time, AIG Life UK provided a full suite of individual and group protection products with 1.3mn individual protection customers and 1.4mn group protection members.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few years with AIG Life and would like to say thank you to everyone who has supported both the business and me personally as Managing Director over the last couple of years – the fantastic team within AIG and all of our external colleagues and partners. It has been a pleasure,” he said.
Moving forward, Nick is looking forward to “helping Aviva deliver on its ambitions within the protection industry, including delivering the benefits of the acquisition of AIG Life. I look forward to getting out and meeting people over the coming weeks, whilst continuing to work with many of you.”
Aviva outlined its protection business plans in June, announcing that after reviewing AIG Life’s core individual & group protection products, it would continue with the Aviva-branded core propositions only. The insurance giant recognised this as a “significant phase of the integration” which aims to give stakeholders a clear position on new business products and certainty to customers and intermediaries of a single product offering.
READ MORE: Aviva plans to retain AIG Life’s High-Net-Worth channel and “strong partnership distribution”
Some in the industry have questioned whether this ‘clear position’ was the right decision. Leee Anderson, Head of Protection at APEX Mortgages, thought it was a “shame that another insurer has left the market. The underwriting outcomes AIG offered filled a gap for me, especially with their common-sense approach to mental health for Income Protection (IP).” He said he’d pick AIG core Critical Illness Cover (CIC) over Aviva “every day of the week if I was setting it up for myself.”
“I’m absolutely gutted and shocked Aviva has not taken on part of AIG’s propositions, especially the bump, birth defects, and children’s cover. Very frustrating for advisers who want to give their customers the best cover and premium options […] I filled in a very detailed survey on what we as advisers would like and it looks like nothing has been taken onboard…what was the point?” agreed Emma Astley, Founder of CoverMyBubble Ltd.
