Life insurance firm Aegon reported that its UK platform suffered net outflows of €2.8bn (£2.6bn, $3.1bn) in the first half of 2019.
This is from net inflows of €2.2bn in H1 2018.
It said this was “partly offset” by €3.2bn external third-party net inflows in asset management, driven by newly created mandates at its Chinese asset management joint venture Aegon Industrial Fund Management Company (AIFMC).
The Dutch-headquartered business also logged group net outflows of €2.7bn for H1 2019.
Assets and earnings
Underlying earnings before tax fell by 5% to €1.01bn in H1 2019, from €1.064bn in 2018.
This was “largely the result of lower fee income” from retirement plans and variable annuities in the US.
Underlying earnings before tax from Aegon’s operations in Europe increased by 1% to €439m.
This was driven by higher investment results in the Netherlands, supported by a shift to higher-yielding assets.
In the UK, underlying earnings before tax increased by 2% to €70m in the first half of 2019, compared with €69m in H1 2018.
But earnings from existing business dropped by 10% to €53m, compared with the same period last year.
Its Americas arm’s underlying earnings decreased by 4% to €576m, while in Asia they increased by 2% to €32m.
Life sales
New life sales declined by 4% to €405m, as a result of lower term life, universal life and whole life sales in the US and lower sales in the Asian HNW business.
The latter was impacted by “macro uncertainties and a shift of the market towards whole life type products”.
Also, it reported net income increased by 26% to €618m in the first half of 2019, driven by “realised gains and lower other charges”.
Progress
Alex Wynaendts, outgoing chief executive of Aegon, said: “We are focused on expanding our customer base and strengthening customer retention.
“It is encouraging that new plan written sales in the US retirement business increased significantly and that gross deposits were up in most of our businesses.
“We have made good progress in the execution of our strategy by driving efficiencies in those businesses we manage for value and allocating capital to those activities with the best growth prospects.”
International Adviser reported recently that Lard Friese is to return to Aegon as chief executive designate on 1 March 2020 to replace Wynaendts.
