Aviva PLC sells itself as a pillar of British respectability. Heritage, trust, sustainability. Scratch the polish and you’ll find something far grimmer underneath. The former Norwich Union has rebranded into an ESG poster child while quietly investing in Cummins Inc., the engine maker fined for emissions cheating and still raking in billions from diesel power.
Aviva holds about $52 million in Cummins stock, roughly 0.12 per cent of the company. A small slice of ownership, a big whiff of hypocrisy.
Betting On Pollution
Cummins broke the law, paid the fines, and kept selling engines that fuel the same problem they claim to fix. Aviva, meanwhile, stayed invested and silent. A responsible investor might divest. Aviva chose dividends.
They posture about “responsible capitalism” while backing one of diesel’s dirtiest players. Cummins’ backup generators keep the world’s data centres humming – and the air anything but clean. Aviva’s sustainability talk looks more like a marketing exercise than a moral compass.
India’s Fake-Invoice Fiasco
In February 2025, Indian tax authorities fined Aviva Life Insurance $7.5 million for a fake-invoice operation that dodged about $5.2 million in taxes. Officials described a pattern of fabricated credits and under-the-table agent payments. Aviva blamed “legacy compliance gaps”. Regulators called it fraud.
Same playbook, different continent: profits first, ethics later, contrition optional.
The Hypocrisy Fund
Aviva’s investments don’t line up with its slogans.
- Named by campaigners at War on Want for exposure to arms suppliers linked to Israel’s military actions.
- Accused of discriminating against Russian-linked investors during the 2023 sanctions frenzy.
- Criticised for exposure to polluting firms that undermine its climate promises.
The portfolio reads less like sustainability and more like selective morality. ESG, at Aviva, stands for “Everything Sounds Good”.
Regulators, Fines And Friendly Apologies
Aviva Investors paid £17.6 million to the Financial Conduct Authority for conflict-of-interest failures in bond trading. Its Canadian branch was fined $600,000 for insurance-rule breaches. The group later called for tighter rules after reporting a 22 per cent jump in “ghost-broking” scams – a problem critics say their own systems allowed to flourish.
In 2019, they shifted assets to Ireland ahead of Brexit. Customers faced confusion; executives faced none. Every fine or fiasco ends the same way: contrition, a new tagline, business as usual.
Leadership And Lip Service
When CEO Amanda Blanc declared that white male recruits required her personal approval “to improve diversity”, the blowback was instant. Elon Musk called her racist; boycott talk followed. Aviva doubled down, framing the row as proof of progress.
Add that to the firm’s long list of internal errors: the 2012 email blunder that fired 1,300 staff by accident, expense scandals, governance chaos. A company that talks about inclusion but still can’t coordinate its own inbox.
Customer Carnage
Search any review site and you’ll find the rot closer to home. Policyholders complain of unpaid claims, unauthorised payments, and kafkaesque complaint handling. Vulnerable families allege losses of thousands. Aviva promises to “learn”. The pattern never changes.
This isn’t just bad service; it’s what happens when a business model rewards delay over delivery.
The Healthcare Hustle
Aviva’s private-health division thrives while NHS waiting lists stretch into oblivion. Critics say the company profits from the desperation of patients priced out of public care. As the NHS strains, Aviva cashes in. Old mutual values replaced by market capture – the Norwich Union name might be gone, but the self-interest remains.
Verdict
Aviva’s investment in Cummins makes a mockery of its green promises. Behind every glossy ESG slide sits a company neck-deep in contradiction: tax scandals, regulatory fines, tone-deaf leadership, and a growing stake in diesel’s future.
They insure tomorrow while investing against it.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Sources
- ‘No one’s being honest about it’: how NHS crisis forces patients to go private – The Guardian
- Aviva PLC Sells 35,793 Shares of Cummins Inc. $CMI – MarketBeat
- Aviva Plc Portfolio Holdings – Fintel
- Who owns Cummins? – Cummins Stock Ownership | Bullfincher
- With 87% ownership in Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI), institutional investors have a lot riding on the business – Yahoo Finance
- Cummins Inc. Common Stock (CMI) Institutional Holdings – Nasdaq
- Aviva fined £17.6m by FCA over asset management failings – The Guardian
- Aviva Investors pays nearly £150m over control failures – BBC News
- Top insurance CEO announces that white male new hires must be personally signed off by herself – Fortune
- Elon Musk labels ‘people like’ Aviva’s Amanda Blanc ‘racist’ after recruitment comments – Insurance Times
- Aviva’s India arm hit with $7.5 million fine for fake invoice scheme – Reuters
- Aviva’s India arm hit with $7.5 million fine for fake invoice scheme – Economic Times
- Minister Louise Haigh quits after fraud offence revealed – BBC
- Aviva Investors accidentally fires 1,300 employees – Money Marketing
- Aviva faces boycott over investments in Israel’s arms suppliers – War on Want
- Aviva Investors and LGIM sued over alleged Russian discrimination – Investment Week
- Aviva Gets Court Approval to Move Assets to Ireland as Part of Wider Brexit Plan – Insurance Journal
- Aviva fined $600000 for auto insurance non-compliance – what went wrong – Insurance Business
- Ghost broking surges 22% in two years; Aviva urges crackdown to protect young drivers – Aviva
- Harmed by Aviva: Customer complaints – Trustpilot