Aviva amasses £1bn acquisition pot as UK sales fall 25%

The insurer also signalled it has around £1bn in spare capital, which could be used to fund acquisitons. Total life and pension sales across the group fell 11% from £27bn between January and September 2008, to just £24bn in the same period this year.  UK sales fell 25% to £6.6bn. Total investment dropped 10% to £3.04bn, while long-term savings new business fell 11% to £27.1bn. Aviva says the fall in sales is largely in line with market expectations, but says it has maintained margins in a difficult trading environment. Andrew Moss, group chief executive of Aviva, says: "In recen...