Yahoo Finance ‘Unacceptable behaviour’ and sexism has increased, says Aviva boss
Aviva's chief executive has revealed that sexism and "unacceptable behaviour" has got worse and more "overt" the more senior she has become.
Amanda Blanc, who joined the FTSE 100 group in 2020 as its first female chief executive, made the comments after she suffered a torrent of sexist abuse at the company's annual general meeting earlier this week.
She wrote in a LinkedIn post: "I would like to tell you that things have got better in recent years but it’s fair to say that it has actually increased - the more senior the role I have taken, the more overt the unacceptable behaviour.”
One individual investor said at the meeting on Monday that Ms Blanc is "not the man for the job" while another asked whether she should be "wearing trousers" as he mentioned some of her predecessors.
A third small investor expressed appreciation for the gender diversity at the insurance giant's board before saying: "They are so good at basic housekeeping activities, I’m sure this will be reflected in the direction of the board in future".
Responding to the comments, Ms Blanc said that after 30 years working in finance she is "pretty used to sexist and derogatory comments" and has picked up her fair share of "misogynistic scars".
However, she said sexist comments are now becoming more public and she fears gender equality remains a "long way off".
She said: "The surprising thing is that this type of stuff used to be said in private, perhaps from the safety of four walls inside an office.
"The fact that people are now making these comments in a public AGM is a new development for me personally."
Her concern that gender equality remains a long way off echoes a similar forecast made by Dame Inga Beale, the former boss of Lloyd's of London, who said in 2019 that she fears the insurance market's toxic culture will not change in her lifetime after her former employer was rocked by a sexism scandal.
Aviva’s stock has since risen over 40pc since Ms Blanc joined as chief executive to value the company at £15.4bn, although it is still below the £20bn levels of the previous decade.
Aviva's chairman said earlier this week that he was "flabbergasted" by the "simply inappropriate" shareholder comments.
The insurance veteran's appointment at Aviva in 2020 brought the total number of women running a FTSE 100 company to seven.
A former chair of the Association of British Insurers, she previously ran insurer Zurich’s European, Middle East and African operations and did the same for Axa in the UK and Ireland.
When she took on the top role at Aviva she promised to deliver a rapid strategic shake-up of the firm following years of poor share price performance. "I’m not a business as usual person and I haven’t come here to do a business as usual job," she said at the time.
