Group chief executive Mark Wilson said it hoped newly appointed Euan Munro would improve the investment business’ profitability but said it would take some time.
He said: “Aviva Investors has underperformed from a shareholder perspective and we expect it to play a more prominent role in the group going forward.
“We have recently appointed Euan Munro who will play a pivotal role helping Avva Investors, a core part of the group, improve its profitability and contribution to Aviva."
The group as a whole reported profit after tax of £776m, a significant improvement on the £624m loss in H1 2012.
It’s value of new business, which it says is a key measure of sales, increased 17% driven by operations in the UK, France, Poland, Turkey and Asia.
The group also reduced its balance sheet by £700m to £5.1bn, and lowered its operating expenses by 9% to £1.5bn.
Wilson said: “Although these results continue the positive trends of the first quarter, tackling our legacy issues will take t41ime.
“I am committed to achieving for investors what we set out to do: turning around the company to unlock the considerable value in Aviva.
