Increased longevity and changing life patterns mean more people need support in building the financial foundations required to enjoy a long and varied life. We see increased longevity as an opportunity for everyone, and want to be able to support as many people as possible in building those foundations.
This drives our ambition to build leading businesses in investment, protection and retirement solutions. We are currently transforming our company to fulfill this ambition and deliver on our purpose of Helping people live their best lives. And, the progress we have made so far is reflected by the fact that our businesses already stand out from the pack in many ways.
Growth in the US
For example, in the US, we are currently working hard to transform Transamerica into America’s leading middle market life insurance and retirement company. By doing so, we aim to provide financial solutions to a huge group of middle class people that are currently underserved by financial institutions. And, in many ways, we already stand out from the crowd.
Transamerica’s Savings & Investments business, for example, is one of the leading providers of pooled retirement plans that enable US employers to help their employees build solid financial foundations for the future. Growth in this market is expected to be further supported by legislative changes in the US, under the SECURE Act 2.0, which became law in 2022 and includes dozens of new provisions designed to make it easier for Americans to save for retirement in individual retirement accounts and workplace plans.
Transamerica’s Protection Solutions business is also growing rapidly, and provides outstanding products that support people in preparing for retirement. For example, according to the Wink First Quarter 2024 Life Insurance Sales Report, Transamerica’s Financial Foundation indexed universal life (IUL) insurance product was the top-selling IUL product in the US for the last eleven consecutive quarters.
Transamerica has also won various accolades: for example, Forbes magazine recognized it as being one of America’s best life insurance companies for 2024. This followed another accolade from leading US newspaper, USA Today, which named Transamerica the top choice for life insurance in four categories, including best for buyers in their 50s.
Moving on up
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Aegon UK team recently outlined their plans to accelerate their transformation into the UK’s leading digital savings and retirement platform. However, parts of the company already occupy leading positions: for example, Aegon UK’s Workplace Platform, which offers retirement solutions for large and medium-sized employers, already occupies a top three market position in terms of winning new business.
Building financial wellbeing
And, just like Transamerica, our British colleagues provide award winning solutions. For example, Aegon UK helps its customers build a sense of financial wellbeing, and was named Money Marketing Magazine’s Financial Wellbeing Champion of the Year for 2023. This was in recognition of the company’s unique approach to helping people build the financial foundations they need to live their best lives.
“When discussing financial wellbeing, many financial institutions tend to only focus on what is going on in people’s bank accounts, whereas we also care about what is going on inside their heads,” said Tracey Clifton, Head of Channel Marketing Communications at Aegon UK.
“And, it is not just about how you feel about your money today, but rather your long-term ability to be financially well. You need to recognize what makes life enjoyable and meaningful for you now and in the future, and have the financial goals to achieve your ambitions.”
To support people in doing this, Aegon UK developed a suite of tools to help people envisage their future selves. This includes Aegon UK’s financial wellbeing tool which asks ten questions that can help people find ways to increase their financial wellbeing.
“Based on your answers, we suggest areas you might want to work on, and present a package of resources all tailored to you,” adds Clifton.
Size matters
Some of our businesses lead in terms of volume. For example, Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM) is a major player in asset-backed securities (ABS), which are financial instruments backed by things like mortgages.
“As of 1Q 2024, we had around EUR 20 billion of assets under management in ABS globally. Of that, around EUR 6 billion is in a European investment grade ABS fund which is the largest of its kind. We have also seen healthy inflows to our ABS Opportunities fund during 1Q 2024,” explained Frank Meijer, Global Head of Alternative Fixed Income and Structured Finance at Aegon AM.
“We were one of the first European players to take an interest in ABS and, since we began in 2001, we have built up a strong and solid investment team, which is one of the largest in Europe. We have further differentiated ourselves in many other ways: for example, in our ESG analysis and by developing a unique set of in-house tools for credit risk analysis and collateral monitoring. And, we are now looking into developing tools using AI.”
Aegon AM is also the biggest asset manager in the world for Dutch residential mortgages. The firm – which, as of 1Q 2024, manages over EUR 40 billion of Dutch residential mortgage assets for hundreds of institutional investors across Europe – works in partnership with a.s.r. which, following its combination with Aegon the Netherlands, is now the largest non-bank originator of Dutch mortgages in the market. While Aegon previously originated its own mortgages, the transaction with a.s.r. means those functions were transferred to a.s.r., while a.s.r.’s external portfolio management structuring and distribution capabilities moved to Aegon AM.
“As a result of the transaction, both companies have grown significantly in terms of mass, and have concentrated the level of expertise in their respective teams. This is good for our clients that invest in the mortgage funds because you have two solid parties that both specialize in their own activity,” said Rutger Brascamp, Head of Mortgages at Aegon AM.
Aegon was one of the first asset managers to launch a collective fund in which external institutional investors could participate and generate income on duration long residential mortgage loans.
“Dutch residential mortgages can be an interesting asset for external institutional investors because they have extremely low credit risk; have a low capital charge under Solvency II, and provide an attractive illiquidity premium. They can also be useful in terms of diversification as part of a wider portfolio,” added Brascamp.
Communication is key
Good communication with our stakeholders is always important, and our businesses are constantly looking for innovative ways to tell their story. Our joint venture in Brazil, Mongeral Aegon Group (MAG), for example, launched a videocast called Zona Segura, which discusses various topics with an overall focus on life insurance. The first season gained 55,000 views and became the Brazilian insurance sector's most widely viewed videocast.
“We collaborated with various influencers to leverage their reach and engagement to gain new viewers,” said Renata Rosa, Manager of Brand Content and Trade Marketing at MAG.
MAG also has an industry leading blog that gained over a million views in 2023. This further increased its lead over of the competition that year.
“We invested to increase the blog’s visual appeal; ensure easy navigation; further promote the large amount of materials and resources that are available; and to remain relevant in major search engines,” added Rosa.
So, while our hard work continues to drive forward Aegon’s transformation in 2024, it is good to see there are many areas where our businesses are already one step ahead.