All can be read in the trade update that Aegon released today. CEO Lard Friese points to a number of reasons for this. ‘We are showing strong commercial growth, particularly in the United States, which is a very important market for us. Life insurance sales are up over 20% and retirement plan sales are also nearly doubled, so it’s doing very well.’
According to Friese, the markets in China and Brazil show the same trend. Furthermore, Friese says, the business in the UK pension plan sector has also done “very well”.
However, Friese also knows how to point out a point for improvement. ‘The retail platform, an investment platform for individuals, has done less well in England because the market is very volatile. Then even the customers are a little more attentive. But overall I would say: it’s going well.’
Acquisition
According to Friese, the takeover by ASR, which should be completed in July this year, is also on schedule. ‘We will combine our Dutch business with ASR, and therefore take an almost 30% stake in the combination. We are working very hard and are on track to close the transaction in the second half of the year.”