Insurance giant Aviva has made £500 million of funding available to invest in UK infrastructure projects.
The move is the first since a pledge by the wider UK insurance industry earlier this month to invest a total £25 billion in major British construction schemes such as transport, infrastructure, utilities, hospitals and schools.
The pledge came as a direct result of recent agreement on Solvency II – the European-wide regulatory framewor for the insurance industry – which essentially incentivised the sector to invest in infrastructure by providing greater levels of certainty on regulatory and political issues.
Aviva, which has already invested £5 billion in UK infrastructure including PFI loans for schools, universities and hospitals, was joined in the industry pledge on by other major names including Scottish Widows, Standard Life, the Prudential and Legal & General.
Mark Wilson, group chief executive officer, said: “Aviva is contributing the building blocks of the UK’s future, making an additional £500 million available immediately to invest in the country’s schools, hospitals and transport.
“We’ll focus on investments which are good for our policyholders, good for society and good for the UK economy.
“As a direct consequence of the recent agreement on Solvency II, we now have the political and regulatory foundations to invest in the country’s infrastructure. The government recognises we cannot build on shifting sands and it is essential that the government, the regulators and the EU act together.”
Financial secretary to the Treasury Sajid Javid said: “Just two weeks ago six major insurers announced their intention to invest at least £25 billion in infrastructure projects, and I am very happy to see Aviva has already allocated £500m for growth boosting projects across the UK and look forward to working with them to support this investment.”