The Hague February 11, 2021
Furthermore, Transamerica launched two responsible investment bond mutual funds in September 2020, for which Aegon Asset Management is the sub-adviser.
This underscores Aegon Asset Managements strong capabilities in both implementing ESG strategies and applying expert credit analysis. These sub-advisory mandates contributed to an improvement in net
deposits from affiliates in the second half of 2020.
Smaller, niche or sub-scale businesses
In small markets or markets where Aegon has sub-scale or niche positions, capital will be managed tightly with a bias
to exit.
On November 29, 2020, Aegon reached an agreement to sell its insurance, pension and asset management businesses in Hungary, Poland, Romania
and Turkey for EUR 830 million to Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe (VIG). The proceeds represent a multiple of 2.6 times the book value on June 30, 2020, and 15 times net underlying earnings in 2019. Aegon expects the
transaction to close in the second half of 2021.
On October 9, 2020, Aegon announced the sale of Stonebridge, a
UK-based provider of accident insurance products, to Global Premium Holdings group, part of Embignell group. Total proceeds amount to approximately GBP 60 million and are equal to one times
Stonebridges Solvency II Own Funds at year-end 2019. The transaction is subject to normal regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Aegon decided to restructure its TLB business as well as its business in India. TLB the
High-Net-Worth business operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bermuda has had a change in its management and has been rightsized in response to challenging
market conditions through expense reduction initiatives. Moving forward, TLB will increase the usage of digitization and automation in its business operations to both increase efficiency and, at the same time, improve customer service. TLB will also
pivot to products that are not only capital-light, but will offer an attractive value proposition for its customers as well. This process began with the recent launch of TLBs first index-linked product
Genesis Indexed Universal Life in both Bermuda and Singapore. In India, the unprofitable and sub-scale traditional sales channels were closed, as the company will focus fully on the digital
distribution channel going forward. The closing of the traditional channel will lead to a headcount reduction of circa 800 FTE.
In January 2021, Aegon
decided together with its joint venture partner to cease funding of GoBear, a digital financial supermarket in Southeast Asia. The business is being closed in a controlled manner, while maintaining optionality to divest all or parts of the business.
The ongoing global pandemic has made the operating environment very challenging due to weakened demand for financial products, in particular travel insurance.
Strengthening the balance sheet
Aegon aims to continue
to strengthen its balance sheet and is taking proactive management actions to improve its risk profile and reduce the volatility of its capital ratios.
At the Capital Markets Day on December 10, 2020, Aegon announced its plans to significantly reduce its interest rate risk in the US in order to lessen
its dependency on financial markets and improve its risk profile. 25% of this plan had been executed by the end of 2020, primarily by lengthening the duration of its asset portfolio.
On October 29, Aegon announced the completion of the sale of the Pyramid building complex in San Francisco, California, for USD 650 million, while
retaining the naming rights. The transaction will allow for a further diversification of the investment portfolio at favorable yields, thereby improving the risk profile of the Group. In addition, the sale further strengthened the companys
balance sheet and led to a statutory capital benefit of USD 0.4 billion.
2H 2020 Results - 5