Aviva departures fuel distribution overhaul

Aviva has revamped its distribution division following the departure of its general manager distribution Shaun Williams and national sales manager Paul Greenwood, who both left to join adviser groups.

The changes see former general manager group marketing and distribution development, Paul Northey, take on Williams' role while former Aviva staffer Stephen Trist returns to the company to become national key account manager.

The company has also flattened its distribution structure, with the team now looking after both Navigator and Aviva products and services.

Aviva has also appointed Jeremy Houghton into the newly created role of new national manager account development to generate more strategic alliances.

According to Aviva chief operating officer Grant Salmon the group is also in the process of recruiting for a national sales manager.

Salmon says the group is also considering creating several institutional roles to supplement its focus on advisers and dealer groups.

“We have exceeded the number of dealer groups [Aviva now has a working relationship with] for the first 12 months and we are still looking for advisers to work with,” Salmon says.

According to Salmon, the new alliances are designed to boost the use of Aviva products and Navigator, which now has $10 billion of funds under advice.

The company has ruled out offering a ‘lite’ version of Navigator, saying its pre-select option already offers that service.

“Navigator is a full service offering, but we created the pre-select offering which have MERs between 10 to 15 per cent lower thereby effectively creating a ‘lite’ version,” Salmon says.