Aviva share price climbs as green loan, cyber push and portfolio shake‑up headline 26 November news

Aviva plc (LON: AV.) shares tick higher around 650p as the FTSE 100 insurer unveils a £32m green loan in London, launches new cyber‑risk training, reshapes parts of its motor and high‑yield portfolios and moves towards a key High Court transfer decision.

Share price: Aviva trades around 650p in early afternoon London dealing, up about 1% on the day and roughly 35% over 12 months, valuing the group near £19.7bn. ^[1]
Green finance: Aviva Investors agrees nearly £32m in green loan financing for a 110,000 sq ft high‑spec logistics warehouse in Enfield, North London, via its Multi‑Sector Private Debt LTAF. ^[2]
Risk solutions: Aviva launches a Cyber Fundamentals course on Aviva Risk Training Solutions, aimed at helping policyholders cut human‑error‑driven cyber breaches. ^[3]
Portfolio moves: Trade press reports that Aviva will divest from DLG‑backed insurtech By Miles, is halting around two‑thirds of fraudulent applications at quote, and that Aviva Investors is dropping a €2.9bn high‑yield strategy as a co‑head exits. ^[4]
Regulatory milestone: The final High Court hearing for the proposed transfer of Aviva Protection UK Limited policies to Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited is scheduled for today in London. ^[5]

Market snapshot: Aviva share price, dividend and growth targets

Aviva plc (ticker AV. on the London Stock Exchange) traded around 649–652p on Wednesday afternoon, up roughly 1–1.3% compared with Tuesday’s close of 642.8p. ^[6] Over the past year the shares have risen about 35%, swinging between a low near 452p and a recent high around 700p, the strongest level since before the financial crisis. ^[7]

That rally leaves Aviva’s market capitalisation just under £20bn and implies a historic dividend yield in the mid‑5% range, based on data from Hargreaves Lansdown, Yahoo Finance and other market sources. ^[8]

The income story is underpinned by a 13.1p interim dividend for 2025, up 10% on the prior year, paid in October. ^[9] Management has signalled that the final 2025 dividend is expected to rise in line with that 10% increase, implying another year of robust payout growth. ^[10]

From a fundamentals perspective, the Q3 2025 trading update earlier this month set the tone for today’s trading:

Aviva expects full‑year 2025 operating profit of about £2.2bn, including roughly £150m from recently acquired Direct Line. ^[11]
The group is on track to hit its 2026 operating profit (£2bn) and operating own‑funds generation (£1.8bn) targets a year early, driven by strong trading across general insurance, wealth and protection. ^[12]
General insurance premiums for the first nine months of 2025 were up 12% to £10.0bn, with UK & Ireland GI up 17% (helped by Direct Line) and Canada up 3% in constant currency. ^[13]
The group’s undiscounted combined operating ratio improved to 94.4% from 96.8%, reflecting better pricing and lower weather losses. ^[14]

Crucially, Aviva also set new three‑year financial targets out to 2028:

Operating EPS growth: targeted 11% compound per year from 2025–2028.
IFRS return on equity: around 17% in 2025, rising to over 20% by 2028.
Capital synergies: more than £0.5bn from the Direct Line deal, potentially lifting the solvency ratio by over 10 percentage points once regulatory approvals land around end‑2026. ^[15]

With that backdrop of rising profits, upgraded synergy targets and a high yield, it isn’t surprising that commentary in the financial press continues to highlight Aviva as a potential “safe” FTSE 100 dividend play, even after this year’s sharp share‑price gains. ^[16]

£32m green loan for Enfield logistics hub underscores real‑assets push

The headline corporate news from Aviva today comes from its asset‑management arm, Aviva Investors.

The firm announced that it has agreed to provide nearly £32m in green loan financing to fund the development of a single 110,000 sq ft Grade A urban logistics warehouse in Enfield, North London. ^[17]

Key details:

The facility is structured as a green loan aligned with the Loan Market Association’s Green Loan Principles, highlighting strict environmental criteria. ^[18]
Financing is being provided via Aviva Investors’ Multi‑Sector Private Debt Long‑Term Asset Fund (LTAF), launched last year to give UK defined contribution pension schemes access to diversified private‑market assets. ^[19]
The borrower is Valor Real Estate Partners, a specialist logistics investor and developer. The scheme sits just east of Enfield town centre, around 35 minutes from Central London, targeting the e‑commerce‑driven “last‑mile” segment. ^[20]
The building is designed to achieve an EPC rating of A+ and BREEAM “Outstanding” certification, placing it at the top end of energy‑efficiency benchmarks for industrial property. ^[21]

For Aviva, the deal ticks several strategic boxes:

It grows its capital‑light, fee‑earning investment business, consistent with the group’s goal to have more than 75% of earnings from capital‑light activities by 2028. ^[22]
It adds to a pipeline of sustainable real‑asset investments, giving pension clients exposure to inflation‑linked, long‑term cashflows with strong ESG credentials.
It deepens the relationship with Valor, a repeat borrower in the logistics sector.

Property trade sources emphasised that the £32m loan secures funding to deliver the Enfield hub, one of a series of institutional‑grade, energy‑efficient warehouses being rolled out to meet tight supply near London. ^[23]

Cyber Fundamentals: new training course for Aviva clients

On the risk‑management side, Aviva today also unveiled a new Cyber Fundamentals course on its Aviva Risk Training Solutions (ARTS) online platform, available free of charge to Aviva policyholders. ^[24]

The course aims to tackle what Aviva calls a business‑wide cyber risk, rather than just an IT issue. It is built around short, mobile‑friendly modules that cover:

spotting phishing and social‑engineering attempts
building and managing strong passwords and credentials
guidance on safe browsing and secure email use
basics of data‑loss prevention and UK GDPR compliance ^[25]

The launch leans on findings from the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, which reported that around 50% of UK businesses and nearly a third of charities suffered a cyber breach or attack in the preceding year, with phishing the most commonly reported threat. ^[26]

Aviva’s message to clients is clear: human error remains a key vulnerability, and basic awareness training can materially reduce cyber incidents. The Cyber Fundamentals course joins a wider ARTS library covering topics such as accident investigation, electrical safety and working at height, strengthening Aviva’s value‑add proposition to SME and mid‑market customers. ^[27]

Fraud fighting and the By Miles exit reshape the motor story

Two separate Insurance Times stories today highlight how Aviva is reshaping its UK motor and distribution footprint while tightening its grip on fraud. ^[28]

Halting two‑thirds of fraudulent applications at quote

At the Insurance Times Awards 2025, Aviva has been spotlighted for its fraud‑prevention work, with underwriting fraud lead Kat Cunningham describing how the business is now able to stop around two‑thirds of fraudulent applications at the quotation stage. ^[29]

The initiative, entered in the Excellence in Fraud Mitigation category, draws on:

enhanced use of internal and external data sources
analytics to score applications for fraud risk
closer collaboration between underwriting, claims and fraud teams

While detailed metrics are not publicly disclosed, catching more suspect policies before they incept can help lower claims costs and improve the combined ratio – a key driver of Aviva’s improved group COR this year. ^[30]

Aviva to divest from By Miles after Direct Line acquisition

Separately, Insurance Times reports that Aviva will divest from pay‑per‑mile insurtech By Miles, which was backed by Direct Line Group prior to Aviva’s acquisition of DLG earlier this year. ^[31]

According to a post shared by Insurance Times on LinkedIn, By Miles will stop offering quotes to new or renewing customers and its customer base will be wound down over the next 18 months, following Aviva’s decision to step away from the investment. ^[32]

The move suggests Aviva is simplifying and consolidating its now‑enlarged motor portfolio after the Direct Line takeover, focusing on core brands and propositions while trimming non‑strategic insurtech stakes. For existing By Miles customers, the run‑off period should allow time to transition to alternative cover, though precise arrangements have yet to be set out publicly.

Aviva Investors reshapes high‑yield strategy and deepens AI‑driven tech partnership

Today’s news flow also underlines ongoing change inside Aviva Investors.

High‑yield leadership change and strategy closure

Citywire reports that Sunita Kara, co‑head of high yield at Aviva Investors, is leaving the firm, with co‑head Fabrice Pellous taking sole leadership of the desk. At the same time, Aviva Investors is understood to be dropping a €2.9bn high‑yield strategy, prompting some repositioning of its fixed‑income line‑up. ^[33]

Full details of which funds are affected are behind a paywall, but the move comes against a backdrop of:

heightened scrutiny of liquidity and risk in high‑yield markets
investor appetite shifting towards short‑duration and higher‑quality credit, areas in which Aviva has also been active via dedicated strategies and LTAFs. ^[34]

For end investors, the key question will be how assets are transitioned – whether into other Aviva vehicles or returned – and how the changes affect risk/return profiles within multi‑asset portfolios that use Aviva funds.

UST named exclusive digital and technology partner

Just 24 hours before today’s announcements, California‑headquartered technology firm UST revealed it had been selected as Aviva Investors’ exclusive digital and technology partner for five years, extending a 16‑year relationship. ^[35]

Under the managed‑services deal:

UST will manage and deliver technology services across Aviva Investors’ entire technology estate.
Newly created Centres of Excellence for Generative AI and Data Science will develop reusable GenAI frameworks and analytics solutions aligned with Aviva Investors’ modernisation roadmap. ^[36]

This comes on top of Aviva’s broader AI initiatives, including its partnership with CyberCube to use AI in mapping cyber‑threat actors and portfolio risk. ^[37] Collectively, these steps suggest Aviva is leaning heavily into AI‑enabled underwriting, risk analysis and operations, which could support the ambitious productivity and claims‑cost savings embedded in its new financial targets. ^[38]

Part VII transfer: key High Court hearing scheduled today

Away from the equity market and asset‑management headlines, Aviva is also at an important stage in a major Part VII insurance business transfer.

The group proposes to transfer the policies of Aviva Protection UK Limited – which includes business originally written by AIG Life Limited and partners such as Yorkshire Building Society, NatWest, NFU Mutual, Direct Line, Churchill, YuLife and others – into Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited. ^[39]

According to Aviva’s dedicated Part VII information site:

The final High Court sanction hearing is scheduled for today, 26 November 2025, at the Rolls Building in London. ^[40]
If the court approves, the transfer is expected to take effect at 23:59 on 31 December 2025. ^[41]
An independent expert, Oliver Gillespie of Milliman LLP, has concluded that the transfer would have no material adverse effect on the security of policyholder benefits or service standards. ^[42]
Policy terms, benefits and payment obligations are expected to remain unchanged; the key alteration is the legal entity providing the cover. ^[43]

Policyholders retain the right to object and attend court hearings if they believe they may be adversely affected, though Aviva notes that objections should ideally have been raised by 19 November to allow time to respond. ^[44]

As of publication, no court decision has yet been announced. Aviva has said it will update customers via the Part VII webpage once the judgment is known. ^[45]

What today’s developments mean for Aviva investors

Taken together, today’s announcements paint a picture of a group that is:

Leveraging its balance sheet to back sustainable, income‑generating real assets, which can support both investment‑management fees and long‑term liability‑matching. ^[46]
Investing in risk prevention and cyber resilience for commercial clients, potentially reducing future claims volatility. ^[47]
Rationalising its product and investment line‑up – exiting a large high‑yield strategy and non‑core insurtech exposure – while keeping a tight focus on fraud and underwriting quality. ^[48]
Continuing to tidy up its legal and regulatory structure, as shown by the Part VII transfer of protection business and associated expert reports. ^[49]

For shareholders, the key near‑term questions are:

Execution risk: Can Aviva deliver the £225m of cost synergies now targeted from the Direct Line deal (on top of the original £100m programme) and the £0.5bn+ capital synergies without operational disruption? ^[50]
Capital allocation: With stronger capital and raised growth targets, how far will management go in raising dividends and share buybacks beyond current guidance? ^[51]
Market conditions: How will UK economic policy – including the 2025 Budget changes to tax thresholds and savings incentives – affect demand for Aviva’s pensions, savings and protection products over the next few years? ^[52]

Analysts in the financial press have generally argued that, despite the share‑price recovery since 2020, Aviva still trades on modest valuation multiples compared with some peers, given its streamlined footprint (UK, Ireland, Canada), high solvency ratio and growing capital‑light earnings mix. ^[53] But with the shares near their post‑crisis highs, investors will be watching closely to see if management can keep delivering on – or beating – its upgraded 2028 ambitions.