Aviva Canada is making further investments in its technology and infrastructure over the next three years, CEO Tracy Garrad (pictured) has revealed to Insurance Business.
“We know that to really succeed, we will need to continue to invest in simplifying and modernizing our technology and our infrastructure so that customers, partners and brokers can find it easier to do business with us,” said Garrad.
“We are still in the scoping phases, but it will be a sizable investment that we’re making over these next three years.”
At the same time, the CEO offered a nod to Aviva’s acquisition of RBC General Insurance in 2016 as the insurer’s most significant deal so far and hinted at other partnerships in the pipeline.
“We believe that we have a right to win in that space. We’ve learned a great deal from the RBC relationship, and we can take all of that learning and the capabilities that we’ve built to expand that into other partners,” she said.
The moves are part of Aviva Canada’s strategy to grow its market share in the country.
“There’s a lot of headroom between us and the number one [insurer] and not such a big gap between us and number three,” said Garrad. “My goal is to narrow the gap to number one and widen the gap between number three and the rest.”
Garrad stepped in as chief executive of Aviva Canada in October 2023, bringing a wealth of experience from her prior roles in the United Kingdom.
Speaking to Insurance Business, the CEO said the Canadian market stood out to her and that its differences with the UK made her excited to seize the opportunity to grow Aviva’s business in the country.
“What was really attractive to me was that Canada has a very vibrant and diverse economy,” Garrad said.
“Canada currently holds the number one position for GDP outlook across the G7 countries. It has strong population growth. So, we believe that there’s a real opportunity in the Canadian market to take the Aviva proposition to an even wider group of customers than we serve today.
“We’re the number-two insurer in Canada already by market share. We have good geographic reach and coverage across Canada. We’ve got all the foundations in place.”
Aviva Canada’s strong track record of performance in Canada gives Garrad “brilliant foundations” to build on.
“I would say that my vision really is we want to be the market leader and the go-to carrier for insurance, distribution, partnerships,” she said.
One of the major sources of opportunity Garrad sees is in the consumer space, working with large-scale partners who want distribution relationships with Aviva.
In the commercial space, she is looking to expand product offerings and distribution to grow Aviva Global Corporate and Specialty and Aviva’s small-to-medium enterprise and mid-market businesses.
“We’ve got opportunities to broaden our proposition in those areas and to think about geographic diversification across more regions in which we have a presence that we have not penetrated as much,” Garrad said.
Finally, Garrad is eager to double down on Aviva’s most important resource: its talent.
“We know that there’s a battle for talent in our industry. We definitely want to be the employer of choice in the insurance sector,” she told Insurance Business.
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