Amanda Blanc warns political ‘lurching one way or the other is never good’ for insurers

Aviva group chief executive Amanda Blanc has urged policymakers to provide greater stability and consistency for businesses, warning that frequent political change can make long-term planning difficult for insurers and pension providers.

Speaking at the Financial Times Global Insurance Summit this morning (24 June), Blanc highlighted the number of political leadership changes she has seen since becoming Aviva chief executive.

“This will be my fifth Prime Minister. It will be my sixth chancellor and it will be the ninth economic secretary to the Treasury,” she said.

“So, you know, if you think about it from a business perspective, that’s actually quite hard.”

The comments came after current prime minister Kier Starmer announced that he would stand down from his position on Monday (22 June), following pressure from the Labour party and newly sworn in MP Andy Burnham, who is now favourite to become the next prime minister.

Blanc explained that insurers rely on long-term policy certainty, particularly in pensions, where investment decisions can stretch decades into the future.

“What we’re desperate for is stability and consistency,” she said. “You don’t want chopping and changing. That’s not good for business.”

The Aviva boss added that while businesses were capable of adapting to changing circumstances, certainty around policy was crucial to maintaining confidence and investment.

“We really believe in Britain, strong regulation, strong rule of law, great universities, great businesses. But we sort of need to be given a bit of a chance, really, to move ourselves.”

’Disciplined economy’

Blanc also stressed the role insurers could play in supporting economic growth, noting that Aviva currently invests around £100bn in the UK and plans to invest a further £25bn over the next decade.

She argued that opportunities exist to unlock private capital without breaching existing fiscal rules, pointing to development corporations and long-term infrastructure projects as areas where insurers could provide funding.

Asked whether concerns around government borrowing were overblown, Blanc said fiscal discipline remained essential.

“You have to have a disciplined economy, and you have to have rules, and you have to stick to those rules,” she said.

However, she reiterated that stability was the key requirement for long-term investors, adding: “Any lurch in any direction are not good.”

“So for us, that stability is really important. You can deal with most things. But lurching one way or the other is never good.”