Blanc has stressed that some of the returns she gets from her disposals has to pay down its relatively high debt levels before going back to shareholders.
Since arriving in July 2020 she has sold ventures in France, Singapore, Vietnam and Italy.
The e3 billion February plan to sell France being the most significant as it was the largest and most complicated division to sell.
It had diverse business lines and numerous joint ventures, plus liabilities from a catastrophic legacy product from the 1990s that practically guaranteed profits for investors and losses for Aviva.
While classed as an activist, Cevian does not always agitate for change. At Aviva’s rival RSA, where it built up a 15% holding, it famously supported chief executive Stephen Hester in his radical shakeup of the company.
Since it demanded new management at Pearson, the shares have increased around 40%.
It previously took an 8% stake in Old Mutual, which also underwent a major restructuring afterwards.
Founded in 2002, it is the biggest dedicated activist investor in Europe, currently holding stakes in 11 companies in six countries including ABB, Ericsson and Nordea bank.
It manages e16 billion for pension funds and other institutional investors, holding onto the shares it buys for an average of five years and taking one to three investments a year in companies it feels could be improved, or are underappreciated.
