CEO Amanda Blanc claimed today general insurance and wealth group Aviva (LON:AV.) is ‘in great shape’. The comment came as Aviva reported its results for the nine months to September 2026.

Is Aviva in great shape?

‘Our performance has been excellent in the first nine months of 2026, demonstrating once again the benefits of scale across our diversified business’ said Blanc. ‘We continue to deliver strong, profitable growth, particularly in the capital-light areas of general insurance and wealth.’

General insurance premiums rose 19% to £11.8 billion over the first nine months, with UK premiums up 28% over the period. However, these numbers were heavily distorted by the acquisition of Direct Line which completed on 1 July 2025.

For H1, following the consolidation of Direct Line, group premiums rose 29% and UK premiums rose 45%. In Q3, we are seeing the underlying picture for the first time, and group premiums are up just 0.7% with UK premiums up just 0.6%.

Blanc says Aviva is ‘making great progress’ with Direct Line, and premiums have been boosted by its home insurance partnership with Nationwide. In general insurance, though, growth excluding acquisitions is negligible which must be considered disappointing.

Aviva 9m and Q3 results (all £ millions)

Source: Company accounts

Strong net wealth flows

There’s better news when it comes to the rapidly-growing wealth business. Net flows have been consistently strong this year, particularly in workplace pensions.

For the nine months to September, net flows were up 31% to £10.87 billion. For H1, flows were up 32% which means Q3 flows increased by around 29%. Within these figures, workplace pensions were the main driver, with flows rising 34% over nine months and 31% in Q3.

Blanc said the firm remains confident in its short- and medium-term targets, with FY26 EPS set to rise around 11%. That is in line with its 2025 to 2028 targets, which also include a return on equity of over 20% and cash returns of over £7 billion.

Claiming the group is ‘in great shape’ by pointing to the nine-month numbers strikes us as slightly disingenous. The H1 numbers were excellent, sure, but all the growth in general insurance was due to the consolidation of Direct Line.

Strip that out and there’s virtually no growth in UK premiums in Q3. Thankfully, the wealth business continues to deliver strong growth driven by success in adding workplace pension schemes.

Disappointingly, the group hasn’t revealed its nine-month operating profit so we can’t do the same H1/Q3 comparison. At the H1 stage, group profit was up 24% thanks to a 50% increase in UK & Irish insurance premiums. We can safely say that won’t have been the same story in Q3.

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