Aegon will bring together its activities in Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia under Aegon International. The company also intends to appoint Maarten Edixhoven to its Management Board.
At the beginning of 2019, Aegon introduced three distinct strategic categories to group its businesses: Manage for Value, Drive for Growth and Scale up for the Future. The vast majority of Aegon's investments are being directed to Drive for Growth businesses, which are at the core of the strategy as they drive future capital generation. Scale up for the Future businesses are aiming at capturing meaningful new opportunities.
All units within the Asian and Southern and Eastern European regions are positioned in the Drive for Growth and Scale up for the Future categories. A natural next step is a change in the way the group is organized.
Aegon International will be established on January 1, 2020. The objective of the new division is to accelerate growth and further leverage cross-border synergies by developing new business models and realizing operational efficiencies. Aegon International will consolidate the management of the activities in Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia and will be led by Marco Keim, who is currently heading Aegon's activities in Continental Europe.
As part of these changes, Maarten Edixhoven, CEO of Aegon the Netherlands will report directly to Aegon CEO Alex Wynaendts and will be appointed to the Management Board, subject to regulatory approval.
The role of CEO of Aegon Asia will cease to exist. Andrew Byrne, the current CEO of Aegon Asia, will leave the company as per January 1, 2020.
Alex Wynaendts: "Under Andrew's leadership over the last three years, we have successfully restructured our Asian business and improved its financial performance. Our Asian business is now ready for a new stage of growth. I would like to thank Andrew for his significant contribution."