Aegon’s trading update for third quarter 2023
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The Hague, November 16, 2023 - Continued commercial momentum in US business and increased capital generation
Operating capital generation before holding funding and operating expenses increases by 16% compared with the third quarter of 2022 to EUR 354 million reflecting business growth and improved underwriting variances
Capital ratios of the main units remain above their respective operating levels
Transaction combining Aegon’s Dutch businesses with a.s.r. closed in July; related EUR 1.5 billion share buyback on track with 32% completed in third quarter and 45% per November 10
Cash Capital at Holding increases to EUR 2.9 billion, driven by the proceeds from the a.s.r. transaction
Strong sales growth in US Strategic Assets, and life insurance business in Brazil. Sales momentum in asset management and UK Retail businesses continues to be affected by challenging market conditions
Reducing mortality risk in US Financial Assets via purchasing institutionally owned universal life policies
Lard Friese, Aegon CEO, commented:
“For the third quarter in a row, we saw continued commercial momentum in the US and strong overall operating capital generation which benefited from exceptional items. We expect the full-year 2023 operating capital generation from the units to be around EUR 1.2 billion; up from the previous guidance of more than EUR 1.0 billion. I am proud of what the teams have achieved so far and would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues for all of their hard work.
As outlined at our Capital Markets Day 2023 in June, a key strategic focus is to ensure that our US business, Transamerica, reaches its full potential. In the third quarter, Transamerica’s Strategic Assets have continued to deliver growth. Individual Solutions generated new life sales of USD 118 million, an increase of 10% compared with the prior year period. World Financial Group’s (WFG) sales force grew by 17% compared with a year earlier to almost 70,000 licensed agents. Workplace Solutions more than doubled its written sales of mid-sized retirement plans to USD 1.8 billion compared with the same period last year. We expect that this progress in the middle market will translate into higher gross deposits in the coming quarters. These are important achievements in our ambition to build America’s leading middle market life insurance and retirement company.
Our joint venture in Brazil, Mongeral Aegon Group, also delivered strong growth, with new life sales almost doubling to EUR 49 million compared with the year ago period. This follows our recent investment that increased Aegon’s economic ownership of Mongeral Aegon Group to almost 60%.
Results at Aegon’s UK Retail business continued to be affected by reduced customer activity because of the current macro-economic environment, as well as an industry-wide reduction of transfers from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions. Our UK Workplace segment saw continued high levels of inflows due to the onboarding of new schemes and higher net deposits on existing schemes. However, these were more than offset by the departure of a large, low margin pension scheme.
While results at Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM) continued to be affected by adverse investor sentiment across the industry, we did see positive net flows at our Chinese asset management partnership. We are adapting to the reality of current market conditions and have taken cost reduction measures in our Global Platform business that we expect will improve Aegon AM’s performance. In addition, as a result of its asset management partnership with a.s.r., Aegon AM has further strengthened its leading positions in Alternative Fixed Income and Retirement Investment Solutions in the Netherlands.
Transamerica continued to reduce its exposure to Financial Assets and to improve the level and predictability of its capital generation. A clear example is the ongoing program of purchasing institutionally owned universal life policies to reduce the mortality risk of the portfolio. At the end of the third quarter, 20% of the face value of this book had been purchased, which is half of the amount targeted by 2027.
Finally, at the end of September, Aegon moved its legal seat to Bermuda and in doing so became a Bermuda entity: Aegon Ltd. Following this, responsibility for Aegon’s group supervision moved to the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
As we move to the fourth quarter, our continued commercial performance and operating capital generation provides Aegon with a solid basis as it continues with the next chapter of its transformation. And, while many things have recently changed in our company, our focus remains the same: delivering value to all of our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders.”
Additional information
Presentation
The conference call presentation is available on aegon.com as of 7.00 am CET.
Supplements
Aegon’s third quarter 2023 Trading Update Supplement and other supplementary documents are available on aegon.com.
Conference call including Q&A
The conference call starts at 9:00 am CET, with an audio webcast on aegon.com. To join the conference call and/or participate in the Q&A, you will need to register via the following registration link. Directly after registration you will see your personal pin on the confirmation screen and additionally you will receive an email with the call details and again your personal pin to enter the conference call. To avoid any unforeseen connection issues, it’s recommended to make use of the ‘call me’ option. Two hours after the conference call, a replay will be available on aegon.com.
Click to join
With ‘Call me’, there’s no need to dial-in. Simply click the following registration link and select the option ‘Call me’.
Enter your information and you will be called back to directly join the conference. The link becomes active 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Should you wish not to use the ‘click to join’ function, dial-in numbers are also available.
Dial-in numbers for conference call
United States: +1 864 991 4103 (local)
United Kingdom: +44 808 175 1536 (toll-free)
The Netherlands: +31 800 745 8377 (toll-free)
The Netherlands: +31 970 102 86838 (toll)
Passcode: you will receive a personal pin upon registration.
Financial calendar 2023/2024
Second half 2023 results – March 1, 2024
First quarter 2024 trading update – May 16, 2024
Annual General Meeting – June 12, 2024
First half 2024 results – August 22, 2024
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The conference call and Q&A can be followed via a live audio webcast on our website.
About Aegon
Aegon is an international financial services holding company. Aegon’s ambition is to build leading businesses that offer their customers investment, protection and retirement solutions. Its portfolio of businesses includes fully owned subsidiaries in the US, UK and a global asset manager. In addition, Aegon has partnerships in Spain & Portugal, Brazil, and China, which create value by combining strong local partners with Aegon’s international expertise. In the Netherlands, Aegon generates value via a strategic shareholding in a market leading insurance and pensions company.
Aegon's purpose of helping people live their best lives runs through all its activities. As a leading global investor and employer, Aegon seeks to have a positive impact by addressing critical environmental and societal issues, with a focus on climate change and inclusion & diversity. Aegon is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. More information can be found at aegon.com.
Contacts
Media relations | Investor relations |
Carolien van der Giessen | Hielke Hielkema |
+31(0) 6 11953367 | +31(0) 70 344 7697 |
carolien.vandergiessen@aegon.com | hielke.hielkema@aegon.com |
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Currency exchange rates
This document contains certain information about Aegon’s results, financial condition and revenue generating investments presented in USD for the Americas and in GBP for the United Kingdom, because those businesses operate and are managed primarily in those currencies. None of this information is a substitute for or superior to financial information about Aegon presented in EUR, which is the currency of Aegon’s primary financial statements.
Forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-looking statements: aim, believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast, goal, should, would, could, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to Aegon. These statements may contain information about financial prospects, economic conditions and trends and involve risks and uncertainties. In addition, any statements that refer to sustainability, environmental and social targets, commitments, goals, efforts and expectations and other events or circumstances that are partially dependent on future events are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation, and expressly disclaims any duty, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual results may differ materially and adversely from expectations conveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following:
Unexpected delays, difficulties, and expenses in executing against Aegon’s environmental, climate, diversity and inclusion or other “ESG” targets, goals and commitments, and changes in laws or regulations affecting us, such as changes in data privacy, environmental, safety and health laws;
Changes in general economic and/or governmental conditions, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
Civil unrest, (geo-) political tensions, military action or other instability in a country or geographic region;
Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to:
The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon’s fixed income investment portfolios;
The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities Aegon holds;
The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain public sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of government exposure that Aegon holds;
The impact from volatility in credit, equity, and interest rates;
Changes in the performance of Aegon’s investment portfolio and decline in ratings of Aegon’s counterparties;
Lowering of one or more of Aegon’s debt ratings issued by recognized rating organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on Aegon’s ability to raise capital and on its liquidity and financial condition;
Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of Aegon’s insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the written premium, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
The effect of the European Union’s Solvency II requirements, applicable equivalent solvency requirements and other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is required to maintain;
Changes affecting interest rate levels and low or rapidly changing interest rate levels;
Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
Changes affecting inflation levels, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
Changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, liquidity sources such as bank and capital markets funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets in general such as changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness;
Increasing levels of competition, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets;
Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, including by way of example acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics, could result in material losses and significantly interrupt Aegon’s business;
The frequency and severity of insured loss events;
Changes affecting longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence and other factors that may impact the profitability of Aegon’s insurance products;
Aegon’s projected results are highly sensitive to complex mathematical models of financial markets, mortality, longevity, and other dynamic systems subject to shocks and unpredictable volatility. Should assumptions to these models later prove incorrect, or should errors in those models escape the controls in place to detect them, future performance will vary from projected results;
Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risks may fail to meet their obligations;
Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general related to, among other things, the type of products Aegon sells, including legal, regulatory or commercial necessity to meet changing customer expectations;
Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
Third-party information used by us may prove to be inaccurate and change over time as methodologies and data availability and quality continue to evolve impacting our results and disclosures;
As Aegon’s operations support complex transactions and are highly dependent on the proper functioning of information technology, operational risks such as system disruptions or failures, security or data privacy breaches, cyberattacks, human error, failure to safeguard personally identifiable information, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including with respect to third parties with which Aegon does business may disrupt Aegon’s business, damage its reputation and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;
The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon’s ability to complete, or obtain regulatory approval for, acquisitions and divestitures, integrate acquisitions, and realize anticipated results, and its ability to separate businesses as part of divestitures;
Aegon’s failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies, as well as other management initiatives related to cost savings, Cash Capital at Holding, gross financial leverage and free cash flow;
Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;
Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay significant damages or change the way Aegon does business;
Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect profitability, the distribution cost of or demand for Aegon’s products;
Consequences of an actual or potential break-up of the European monetary union in whole or in part, or the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union and potential consequences if other European Union countries leave the European Union;
Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting Aegon’s operations’ ability to hire and retain key personnel, taxation of Aegon companies, the products Aegon sells, and the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers;
Regulatory changes relating to the pensions, investment, and insurance industries in the jurisdictions in which Aegon operates;
Standard setting initiatives of supranational standard setting bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors or changes to such standards that may have an impact on regional (such as EU), national or US federal or state level financial regulation or the application thereof to Aegon, including the designation of Aegon by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Insurer (G-SII);
Changes in accounting regulations and policies or a change by Aegon in applying such regulations and policies, voluntarily or otherwise, which may affect Aegon’s reported results, shareholders’ equity or regulatory capital adequacy levels;
Changes in ESG standards and requirements, including assumptions, methodology and materiality, or a change by Aegon in applying such standards and requirements, voluntarily or otherwise, may affect Aegon’s ability to meet evolving standards and requirements, or Aegon’s ability to meet its sustainability and ESG-related goals, or related public expectations; and
Reliance on third-party information in certain of Aegon’s disclosures, which may change over time as methodologies and data availability and quality continue to evolve. These factors, as well as any inaccuracies in third-party information used by Aegon, including in estimates or assumptions, may cause results to differ materially and adversely from statements, estimates, and beliefs made by Aegon or third-parties. Moreover, Aegon’s disclosures based on any standards may change due to revisions in framework requirements, availability of information, changes in its business or applicable governmental policies, or other factors, some of which may be beyond Aegon’s control. Additionally, Aegon may provide information that is not necessarily material for SEC reporting purposes but that is informed by various ESG standards and frameworks (including standards for the measurement of underlying data), internal controls, and assumptions or third-party information that are still evolving and subject to change.
This document contains information that qualifies, or may qualify, as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014). Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Aegon are described in its filings with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the 2022 Integrated Annual Report. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Aegon expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Aegon’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
World Financial Group (WFG)
WFG consists of:
In the United States, World Financial Group Insurance Agency, LLC (in California, doing business as World Financial Insurance Agency, LLC), World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Hawaii, Inc., World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Massachusetts, Inc., and / or WFG Insurance Agency of Puerto Rico, Inc. (collectively WFGIA), which offer insurance and annuity products.
In the United States, Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. is a full-service, fully licensed, independent broker-dealer and registered investment advisor. Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. (TFA), Member FINRA, MSRB, SIPC, and registered investment advisor, offers securities and investment advisory services.
In Canada, World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Canada Inc. (WFGIAC), which offers life insurance and segregated funds. WFG Securities Inc. (WFGS), which offers mutual funds. WFGIAC and WFGS are affiliated companies.
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