Shareholders subjected the female CEO of insurance giant Aviva to multiple sexist comments at AGM that left board chair ‘flabbergasted’

• Amanda Blanc, the CEO of Aviva, endured recurring sexist remarks at the corporation AGM.

• Aviva’s chair of the board, George Culmer, said he was “flabbergasted” by the feedback.

• Sexism has plagued London’s coverage sector for many several years, info shows.

The CEO of Uk coverage huge Aviva, Amanda Blanc, was issue to a string of sexist remarks from shareholders at its once-a-year basic assembly, the Financial Times initially reported.

Blanc, the firm’s very first woman CEO, delivered a speech at the assembly in London on Could 9 underscoring the company’s disposals and its prepared £4.75 billion ($5.86 billion) capital return.

Aviva verified the occurrence of the shareholder remarks to Insider but declined to comment additional.

1 investor responded by declaring that Blanc’s delivery didn’t match the share cost effectiveness in the company’s last 10 several years, which “signifies she’s not the man for the job.”

Investor Michael Mason-Mahon commented on Blanc’s wardrobe, questioning no matter if she really should be “donning trousers.”

A third shareholder, Ted O’Toole, applauded the corporation for its gender range, then additional:”They [women] are so fantastic at fundamental housekeeping routines, I’m absolutely sure this will be reflected in the way of the board in foreseeable future.”

The incident highlights the difficulties gals in prime govt roles proceed to confront in the workplace. Worries persist even at corporations this kind of as Aviva, in which 50% of board associates are females, and gals also make up vital leadership roles, such as the main money officer and chief advertising officer positions, Fortune documented.

Aviva’s chair, George Culmer, responded to the remarks designed at the assembly, stating he was “flabbergasted” by them, the FT reported.

Culmer additional: “I’m not going to say thank you to everyone for your opinions, for the reason that I consider there had been some responses in that session that ended up merely inappropriate and I do not anticipate and would [not] want to listen to at any long run AGM. I am flabbergasted, to be truthful.”

Tale carries on

The chair said remarks at AGMs in the previous have been rude at occasions but this was the 1st time they ended up sexist, the FT noted.

Sexism has plagued London’s insurance policy sector in the past. There have been several experiences of sexism and harassment toward girls at Lloyd’s of London, the world’s most significant insurance policy sector, for every a 2019 Bloomberg investigation. That report discovered evidence that 18 girls had confronted this kind of harassment at the market.

The outlet added that the broad majority of people today who operate at Lloyd’s are not workforce of the trade but that “the norms of the insurance market place are in aspect shaped there.”

A study conducted by the Banking Criteria Board on behalf of Lloyd’s observed almost 500 persons in the insurance market place experienced faced or witnessed sexual harassment in 2019, the Guardian documented at the time.

Read the first short article on Business Insider