Aviva investors to get £14m payout

INVESTORS who sold special Aviva shares after the insurer said it would cancel them are to get £14m of compensation.

Aviva has pledged to pay the cash to holders of preference shares, which are meant to guarantee high yields for their holders.

The firm stunned analysts in March by threatening to cancel the shares for less than their market value so it could save money – triggering a price slump and a stampede to sell.

It was later forced to back down in the face of an investor outcry, but thousands of savers sold their stock cheaply before the U-turn and lost cash as a result.

Aviva is making £14m of goodwill payments to these investors in an effort to salvage its reputation.

Chief Executive Mark Wilson, 51, said: ‘The board and I want to do the right thing and make this goodwill payment.’