AEGON reports strong Q2 performance
14 August 2008

AEGON has reported solid business performance and a strong capital position as part of it Q2 2008 results, in spite of recent market turmoil.

Specific to the European pensions market, the firm experienced strong growth in group pension sales in the Netherlands – where AEGON already has a 25 per cent market share - which included the sale of one large contract, while renewal rates of pension contracts also improved as did growth in immediate annuities.

In the UK, growth of group pensions also continued, driven by both new and existing schemes, while momentum on the individual pensions side has continued following exceptional activity after the implementation of Pensions A-day in 2006.

Increased penetration into the Central and Eastern European pensions markets has also helped maintain the group’s success and while impact on earnings to date may be moderate, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) continues to be a focus for the group going forward.

For example, while AEGON is already active in the life and pensions markets of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, it has recently boosted its business in Poland, Hungary and Turkey. A spokesperson for AEGON told European Pensions: “We have had a life company and a pension company in Hungary since the early 1990s and when the pensions market opened in Central and Eastern Europe we began to apply our plan in Hungary to other countries. In Slovakia we now have a pension fund with 200,000 members, which is number three in the market, and in the Czech Republic we started a voluntary pension fund which after six months already has 35,000 members.”

In recent months, the group has strengthened its position in Poland, first by buying pension fund management company PTE Ergo Hestia, then agreeing to merge it with fellow pension fund management company, PTE Skarbiec Emerytura, securing the group a 6 per cent market share reaching to the #5 position on the Polish pensions market.

AEGON also recently agreed to buy a new pension fund management company in Hungary, and a life insurance and pension company in Turkey.

The spokesperson continued: “Adding to this, we started a pension fund in Romania recently when the market opened there and while it is not quite as successful as we would like it to be, we are sure there will emerge further opportunities to grow in the region.”

Looking further afield, another area of importance for AEGON is Spain where the group has been able to grow by joining forces with a number of Spanish savings banks. They added: “We will continue to pursue that strategy by finding new partners to grow in the Spanish market and I think that is quite an exciting opportunity for AEGON.”