Insurer Aviva’s boss waives pay rise

The review will look at whether senior executives’ pay is justified by shareholder returns, and will also examine how much Aviva compensates executives who join the firm for benefits they forego in their previous jobs, Aviva said today.

Shares in Aviva, Britain’s second-biggest insurer, lost almost a quarter of their value last year, reflecting its exposure to troubled eurozone economies such as Italy and Spain.

“We take the views of our shareholders very seriously,” said Scott Wheway, the chairman of Aviva’s remuneration committee.

The group, which has around 4,500 Yorkshire employees, has its UK life and pension business based in York. It has about 2,600 staff in York and 1,600 in Sheffield.

Chief executive Andrew Moss was to have received a salary increase of 4.8 per cent for 2012, equivalent to £46,000.