Insurer Aviva, hit last week by one of the biggest pay revolts ever suffered by a British company, today said its chief executive Andrew Moss had stepped down with immediate effect.
"Andrew Moss will leave the board shortly and a further announcement will be made to confirm the financial terms of his departure and date of leaving," Aviva's chairman Lord Sharman said.
Mr Moss had told the company that he believed it was in the best interest of the firm for him to step aside. Aviva said a further announcement would be made to confirm the financial terms of his departure.
Last week Mr Moss waived his 2012 salary increase following shareholder concerns over executive pay, which culminated in half of the group's investors revolting on remuneration at its annual general meeting three days later.
The group said he would be replaced by chairman designate John McFarlane in the interim. He will maintain an executive role while internal and external candidates are assessed for the chief executive position, it added.
Aviva said it expected the process of appointing a new chief executive to take a number of months.
Mr McFarlane will become interim executive deputy chairman with immediate effect and become executive chairman from July 1st. He will revert to the role of non-executive chairman when the new chief executive is appointed.
Aviva shares were up 3 per cent in early trade.They have lost 35 per cent of their value since March last year as discontent has simmered.
Investors across Europe are becoming increasingly hostile to excessive rewards for directors. More than a third of Swiss bank UBS's, shareholders rejected its remuneration plans last week, mirroring investor rebellions at Credit Suisse and Barclays.
One name linked with the post is likely to be Andy Haste, who was credited with transforming the fortunes of rival RSA during an eight-year tenure which ended in 2011. RSA made an unsuccessful attempt to buy Aviva's general insurance operations for £5 billion in 2010.
Reuters
