How to buy, sell and short Aviva shares
Aviva plc is a leading retirement, savings and insurance business – one of the largest of its type in the UK. Find out how to buy, sell and short Aviva shares in this step-by-step guide.
How to buy or invest in Aviva shares
Investing means taking direct ownership of Aviva (AV) shares; buying means that you’re trading on the Aviva share price with spread bets and CFDs.
When you invest in Aviva shares, you could receive dividends from the company and you’ll be eligible to vote on company decisions at the annual general meeting. You’ll profit if the share price increases after you buy them.
When you buy Aviva shares, you’ll be trading on the Aviva share price with derivative products like spread bets and CFDs. This means that you’ll be trading with leverage – giving you full exposure for an initial deposit – and you’ll be eligible to receive tax benefits, which differ depending on the product you choose.
Investing in Aviva shares
- Create or log in to your share dealing account and go to our trading platform
- Search for ‘Aviva’
- Select ‘buy’ in the deal ticket to open your investment position
- Choose the number of shares you want to buy
- Confirm your purchase and monitor your investment
Trading Aviva shares
- Create or log in to your trading account and go to our trading platform
- Decide whether you want to trade spread bets or CFDs
- Search for ‘Aviva’
- Choose your position size
- Select buy and monitor your trade
How much would it cost to invest in Aviva?
Because Aviva is a UK-listed company, you’ll receive our best commission on UK shares when you invest in Aviva with us. Our best commission is available to clients who opened three or more positions on their share dealing account in the previous month.
| UK best commission | UK standard commission | |
| IG | £3 | £8 |
| Hargreaves Lansdown | £5.95 | £11.95 |
| AJ Bell | £4.95 | £9.95 |
If you’d rather trade on the Aviva share price with spread bets and CFDs, you’ll be able to:
- Get full exposure with a 20%-25% deposit on almost all of our tier-one shares1
- Trade spread bets without paying any tax2
- Hedge your positions with CFDs and offset losses against profits for tax purposes2
Open an account now to get started
How to sell and short Aviva shares
Selling Aviva shares is different to shorting Aviva shares. An investor would sell their shares if they were looking to exit their investment position, or to reduce their stake in the company. This won’t generate any profits, but it will prevent an investor from incurring a loss. Investors can also sell their shares to realise their gains, and they can reinvest this money into other opportunities.
A trader would short Aviva shares if they had a pessimistic outlook for the Aviva share price. Shorting means that you are taking a speculative position on a stock falling in value. Just like buying with derivatives, shorting with derivatives lets you open a position with leverage – granting you full market exposure for an initial deposit.
Selling Aviva shares
- Create or log in to your share dealing account and go to our trading platform
- Search for ‘Aviva’
- Select ‘sell’ in the deal ticket to close your investment position
- Enter the number of shares you want to sell
- Confirm the sale
Shorting Aviva shares
- Create or log in to your trading account and go to our trading platform
- Search for ‘Aviva’
- Choose your position size
- Choose ‘sell’ in the deal ticket to go short and speculate on the price falling
- Confirm and monitor your short position
Aviva shares: the basics
Aviva plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker 'AV'. It is a component of the FTSE 100, one of five life insurance companies on the index at the time of writing (19 May 2020).
In the insurance world, Aviva is a multinational provider, with operations in the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Poland, China and South East Asia – among others.
Aviva business model
The Aviva business model is to ensure that Aviva remains a leading international savings, retirement and insurance business that delivers for their customers, shareholders and communities.3 Aviva is putting a greater focus on achieving sustainable growth and increasing returns for shareholders in the coming years.
Aviva key personnel: who runs the company?
There are nine people on the board of Aviva:
| Sir Adrian Montague, CBE | Chairman |
| Maurice Tulloch | Chief executive officer |
| Jason Windsor | Chief financial officer |
| Amanda Blanc | Independent non-executive director |
| Patricia Cross | Independent non-executive director |
| George Culmer | Senior independent non-executive director |
| Patrick Flynn | Independent non-executive director |
| Belén Romana García | Independent non-executive director |
| Michael Mire | Independent non-executive director |
Aviva share price analysis: how to analyse the Aviva share price
Aviva share price analysis can be technical and fundamental, and you should carry out both before investing in or trading Aviva.
With technical analysis, you’ll be looking at price action in the Aviva share price, using technical indicators to assess whether the shares are currently overbought or oversold.
Popular technical indicators include the parabolic SAR, Williams %R, stochastic oscillators, channel trading indicators and moving averages.
With fundamental analysis, you’ll be looking at company announcements, financial statements, leadership changes and wider macroeconomic factors in the economy to assess whether the shares are currently overvalued or undervalued.
Popular fundamental metrics include looking at a company’s profit and loss statement, cash flow statements, the demand for a company’s stock compared to the supply, and the educational background, notable achievements and experience of senior leadership.
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Footnotes
1Deposits on leveraged trades are 20%-25% for 99.14% of tier-one shares (correct as of 1 June 2020). For more information, view our share trading margin rates.
2Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
3Aviva, 2020
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
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