British insurer boss: “The higher my position, the more obvious the sexism” –

The CEO of British insurance company Aviva has received much praise after sexist comments at the annual general meeting of shareholders.

Business newspaper City AM reported Monday that a shareholder suggested that CEO Amanda Blanc was not “the ideal man” for the job. For a moment she wondered if White should wear “trousers.” Another praised the board for having a lot of gender diversity, then said, “They are very good at basic cleaning.”

Blanc writes on LinkedIn that, after more than three decades in the financial services industry, she is “well used to sexist and derogatory comments.” And while he wants it to get better, it only gets worse. “The higher the position I hold, the more obvious the unacceptable behavior becomes.”

Remarkably, such statements were previously only made in office, but are now public. “The fact that people are now making these comments at a public shareholders’ meeting is new to me personally.”

Aviva chairman of the board, George Culmer, called Monday’s comments to shareholders “totally inappropriate” and said he didn’t want to hear them again in the future. “Frankly, I’m stunned.”

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The comments on LinkedIn were also described as “confusing” and “shocking”. Someone writes to him that they have “boiled his blood”. Another writes that sexism was the main reason for “leaving the financial/banking sector early in my career”. Blanc says he appreciates the support he received after the shareholders’ meeting.

When Blanc acquired Aviva in July 2020, its stock market value had fallen significantly. According to the FD, he promised to rationalize the insurer and has already sold eight shares. In March, the company announced that it would return 4.75 billion pounds (5.6 billion euros) to investors. The price has almost halved on the stock exchange.