How To Buy Aviva Shares UK With Zero Commission

Aviva is a major insurance, asset management, and pension company with its headquarters in the UK. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the firm has a current market capitalization of over £11 billion.

If you want to buy Aviva shares today, you will need to find a reliable stock broker that is regulated by the FCA. There are many platforms to choose from, so you’ll also need to consider metrics surrounding payment methods, fees, commissions, and customer support.

In this guide, we show you how to buy Aviva shares in the UK. We also discuss the best UK brokers to buy the shares from, as well as some background information on what the future holds for Aviva.

Step 1: Find a UK Stock Broker to Buy Aviva Shares 

If you want to buy Aviva shares today, your first port of call will be to find a suitable UK stock broker. There are hundreds of platforms to choose from, so you’ll need to do some digging to ensure the provider is right for you.

Taking into account just how time-consuming this can be, below we discuss some of the best online platforms to buy Aviva shares from in 2020.

1. Plus500 – Commission-Free Stock CFD Trading Platform

If you are more interested in placing sophisticated trades on Aviva shares, it might be worth considering Plus500. This is because the online stock trading platform specializes in CFDs (contracts-for-differences). In Layman’s terms, this means that the CFD instrument will track the real-world price of Aviva shares, meaning that you can trade them without taking direct ownership.

This can be beneficial for a number of reasons. For example, Plus500 allows you to apply leverage of 1:5 when trading Aviva share CFDs. This means that you can trade with five times more than you have in your account. Plus500 also gives you the option of going long and short. The former means you are speculating on the price increasing, while the latter means that you are looking to profit when the value of the shares goes down.

Regardless of which way you think the markets will go, Plus500 allows you to trade on a commission-free basis. This is the case across thousands of financial instruments hosted at the platform. In the shares department, this covers over 2,000 stock CFDs. If you’re looking to access other asset classes, Plus500 also hosts commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, forex, and bonds – all in the form of CFDs. You can trade all of these assets online or via the Plus500 mobile app.

In terms of the specifics, Plus500 allows you to open an account in minutes. Upon providing your personal information and uploading some ID – you will need to meet a £100 minimum deposit. You can do this with a debit card, credit card, bank account, or Paypal. There are no fees to deposit or withdraw funds, but a 0.5% currency conversion charge comes into play when accessing non-GBP markets. Finally, Plus500UK Ltd is authorized & regulated by the FCA (#509909).

Pros:

Cons:

72% of retail investors lose money trading CFDs at this site

Step 2: Research Aviva Shares UK

Whether you’re looking to invest in Aviva or other pension and insurance providers such as Legal and General, it’s always important to do your research. In doing so, you can be 100% sure that you understand both the risks and rewards of making an investment.

To point you in the right direction, below we discuss some of the most pertinent points to consider before you buy Aviva shares.

Aviva Share Price History

A good starting point when researching a company is to look at the firm’s historical share price. For this, we would need to go right back to the mid-1990s. Crucially, you would have paid 500p per Aviva share in 1995. Stockholders then enjoyed a fruitful three years, with the shares peaking at 1,280p in 1998. This represented a huge upswing of 156%.

However, Aviva shares are now worth just a fraction of their prior peaks.  In fact, at the time of writing in May 2021, you will need to pay just 412p to buy an Aviva share. This means that the stocks are worth 68% less than they were in 1998. With that being said, it is much more pertinent to look at the recent Aviva share price history to determine whether or not the stocks are worth investing in.

Much like the rest of the insurance industry, Aviva shares fell off of a cliff in response to the COV-19 pandemic. In the space of just one month, the shares went from 404p to 205p. This translates into losses of almost 50%.

On the flip side, those that were shrewd enough to catch the bottom of the downward trend are now looking at gains of over 100%. The shares are now trading at 412p, right around the level that they were at prior to the pandemic.

Aviva Shares Dividend Information

Management at Aviva has been sending out mixed messages on its dividend policy in recent months. On the one hand, the firm announced that it would be resuming its dividend policy – with a planned interim payment of 6p per share. This was very welcome news for stockholders, with the announcement resulting in a share price increase of just under 5% by the close of trading.

On the other hand, management has since hinted at the possibility of a dividend cut. Whether or not a cut comes to fruition will ultimately depend on how the firm deals with the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Should I Buy Aviva Shares Today?

Still wondering whether Aviva shares are worth buying? In this section of the research phase, we are going to discuss where the shares are likely to move in the coming months and years.

Promising Recovery From 52-Week Lows

As we covered above, Aviva shares hit 52-week lows of 205p in March 2020. This represented a 50% drop in the space of just one month. The good news, however, is that the shares have since recovered fully – they are trading at the same level as they had before the pandemic. For investors who bought at the April bottom, that represents a profit of more than 100%.

Shares Might Still be Undervalued

Aviva is now trading at the same price the shares held before the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean they’re valued appropriately.

A lot has changed since last March. Aviva shares are in an ultra-hot market and access to money is relatively easy. The UK is also experiencing a home buying boom, which could increase policies and profits for the company. It remains to be seen whether life insurance policies take off in the wake of the pandemic, but it’s entirely possible that the scare caused by COVID-19 encourages more people to think about financial planning.

Half-Year Results

When attempting to assess the viability of a stock investment, it is crucial to look at the firm’s most recent earnings report. In the case of Aviva, the company recently published its half-year results. In terms of the positives, profits in the firm’s UK Life division increase by 9%.

Although Aviva saw its solvency ration drop from 206%, at 195% this is still somewhat healthy. This takes its solvency capital to around the £12 billion-mark. In less positive news, Aviva’s General Insurance division saw its operating profits drop by just under 50%.

With that being said, much of this was due to a hike in claims as per the COV-19 pandemic. Operating profits in the International Life division also suffered. This stood at a decline of 7.9% in Asia and 6.4% in Mainland Europe.

Aviva Shares Login

Once you go through the process of buying Aviva shares, you can access information about your investment from the Aviva website. The firm has partnered with Computershare, which allows you to:

• View the current value of your Aviva share portfolio
• Update your bank details for the purpose of dividends
• Create a dividend reinvestment plan
• Amend your home address
• Decide how you wish to receive information sent to shareholders

With that being said, there is no requirement to use the Aviva shares login system when using an FCA-broker. This is because everything is executed on your behalf by the platform that you buy the shares from. For example, your dividends will be paid into your brokerage account, you can change your personal information at any given time and easily reinvest your dividend payments.

Aviva Shares Buy or Sell?

Although Aviva shares are worth just a fraction of their prior peaks, the firm still offers an element of growth potential. Aviva shares are now priced at the same level they were prior to the pandemic, at just over 400p. However, the shares could move much higher.

That’s because the market in which Aviva is operating is so much different than the market of February 2020. Aviva now has access to easy cash and bullish economic policies. In addition, the company could see more policies being sold over the coming years as people respond to the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notably, Aviva is also dramatically undervalued from an earnings perspective. The company has a P/E ratio of just 8.6, which is much lower than the average for the insurance industry. In fact, at the current price, Aviva could be considered one of the top value stocks in the UK.

Given all that, we think Aviva shares are a buy right now. Look for the company to break strongly above the 400p level. From there, momentum could carry the share price much higher.

The Verdict?

If you like the sound of Aviva and wish to add its shares to your stock portfolio, the process couldn’t be easier. When using a top-rated FCA broker, you can buy Aviva shares today without paying any commission.

All you need to do is open an account and instantly deposit funds with a UK debit/credit card or e-wallet. Best of all, you can invest from just $50 (about £40) into Aviva, so you can still get a look in if you are on a budget.

Simply click the link below to get started!

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