Stockwatch

Aviva’s share price soared to its highest level this year with a 3.74% increase last week. Was it all this talk of new chief executive Mark Hodges taking the insurer’s financial performance to a new level? Not quite.

In fact, what really influenced the share price was the prospect of Aviva listing on Wall Street.

The listing means Aviva could eventually partially float its US operations. (Visit insurancetimes.co.uk and search for ‘Aviva to list on New York SE’).

“Listing now is a natural step, as more than 20% of our shareholders are in the US and we expect that to increase,” Aviva chief executive Andrew Moss said.

Elsewhere, Amlin enjoyed an upsurge with its share price, starting the week at 376 and then marching up to 397.

There were no nasty surprises for insurers this week, as investors were swept up in the bull-market mentality. Non-life insurance share values have increased around 20% since suffering a dip in mid-July.