Tip of the month

My tip this month is Aviva, the insurance giant formed from the merger of Norwich Union and Commercial Union, for four good reasons that should see its share price hit 350p over the next six months.

Sales are achieving record highs. Aviva's UK performance is impressive, despite the dire economy. Last year, life and pension sales hit a record £11.9bn, mainly as the result of bulk annuity sales.

Aviva's target of doubling US sales has been met 12 months early. Sales rose 57 per cent to £5.71bn. The insurer has massive growth potential in China, where sales rocketed by 66 per cent during the year as a result of a joint venture with COFCO, the Chinese conglomerate. Aviva is the second-biggest foreign insurer in China, potentially the biggest world market. And, finally, for the income-seeker, Aviva offers a useful dividend yield of nearly 12 per cent.

Buy Aviva at 189p, with a 20 per cent trailing stop/loss trigger to protect against market fallbacks.

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