AEGON N.V.

AEGON N.V.
Quick Facts
Type	Public
sector	Financial Services
Headquarters (Benelux Organization)	Den Haag, Netherlands
Year of Origin	1983
Emissions (All Scopes)	19.97 Megatons of CO2 (2020)
Total Revenue	EUR 25.209 million
Stock Exchange	New York and Amsterdam
Key People	Lard Friese (CEO and Chairman of the Executive and Management Board) Matt Rider (CFO)
Number of Employees	22,272
Subsidiaries	Aegon Asset Management Knab Aegon Cappital TKP Pensioen Nedasco Verzekeringen Robidus

Aegon N.V., stylized as Aegon, is a Dutch company that offers insurance to over 30 million customers worldwide. Aegon is a constituent of the AEX index and is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam. The company was formed from the merger between AGO and Ennia in 1983. The company has 22,272 employees. Aegon is active in several countries in Europe, Asia and America. In America, Aegon is known as Transamerica. Aegon's main brands are Aegon and Transamerica, but besides these two the company also has several stand-alone brands including; Knab, TKP, Futureready, and MAG. Furthermore, Aegon has one global asset manager Aegon Asset Management. Aegon Asset Management is active in the global investment business that manages and advises on assets of 410 billion euros. This money is from the global client base consisting of pension plans, public funds, insurance companies, banks, wealth managers, family offices, and foundations. In 2021, Aegon had a revenue of 25.2 million euros.

Company Structure

Board of Directors

Executive Board

Name	Function	Remuneration x1000 EUR
Lard Friese	Chief Executive Officer	2,622
Matt Rider	Chief Finanacial Officer	1,999

Management Board

Management Board

Name	Function
Lard Friese	CEO and Chairman of the Executive and Management Board
Matt Rider	CFO and member of the Executive and Management Board
Elisabetta Caldera	Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the Management
Will Fuller	CEO of Aegon Americas and member of the Management Board
Mike Holliday-Williams	CEO of Aegon UK and member of the Management Board
Allegra van Hövel-Patrizi	CEO of Aegon the Netherlands and member of the Management Board
Astrid Jäkel	Chief Risk Officer and member of the Management Board
Marco Keim	CEO Aegon International and member of the Management Board
Onno van Klinken	General Counsel and member of the Management Board
Bas NieuweWeme	Global CEO of Aegon Asset Management and member of the Management Board
Duncan Russel	Chief Transformation Officer and member of the Management Board
Debbie Waters	Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and member of the Management Board

Supervisory Board

Supervisory Board

Name	Function	Remuneration x1000 EUR
William Connelly	Chairman	162
Mark Ellman	Member of the Risk Committee	102
Ben Noteboom	Chairman of the Remuneration Committee	10-7
Caroline Ramsay	Charimand of the Audit Committee	121
Thomas Wellauer	Member of the Audit Committee	111
Corien Wortmann-Kool	Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board	112
Dona Young	Chairman of the Risk Committee	119

Accountant

The external accountant of Aegon N.V. is PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V.

Main Activities

Aegon is a company that offers investment, protection, and retirement solutions. The company has 31.7 customers worldwide.

Government

Aegon is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam and is a constituent of the AEX-index. The company does not have royal status and did not receive NOW support during Corona times.

Shareholdings

Aegons shareholdings are:

• N.V. Levensverzekeringsmaatschappij "De Hoop" (33.3%) (Netherlands)
• Tenet Group Limited (22%) (United Kingdom)
• Seguros Argos (89%) (Mexico)
• Aegon Life Insurance Company Ltd[7] (49%) (India)
• Mongeral Aegon (50%) (Brazil)

Paris Agreement to Today

Aegon was actively involved in the creation of the SpitsbergenAmbitie in 2018. This agreement is made to strengthen the connection between Dutch financial companies and their acts to reduce climate change through cleaner investments. In July 2018 Aegon signed its commitment to the Dutch Climate Agreement for Dutch financial companies. After signing this agreement Aegon promised that they will start to report their climate impact, use different climate scenarios to look at investments and financing to see if they comply with the Paris agreement, help the Dutch government to achieve the national climate goals through reducing CO₂ emissions from loans and investments, and to integrate climate goals into the company's organization as concretely as possible.

In Aegon's 2021 financial report an update on the company's sustainability actions is given.

• Aegon has joined the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which is an UN-convened group of institutional investors committed to transitioning their portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
• Aegon Asset Management has signed onto the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
• Aegon Asset Management and Aegon Uk partnered up with Global Ethical Finance Initiative to introduce the new Aegon Global Sustainable Sovereign Bond Fund at 'COP26'.
• Aegon signed the United Nations Global Compact.

Financial Results since 2015

The information that is collected here is focused on the data provided by Aegon.

Financial situation

Year	Revenue	Profit	Dividend
2015	33,902 Million EUR	523 Million EUR	306 Million EUR
2016	33,655 Million EUR	586 Million EUR	294 Million EUR
2017	32,973 Million EUR	2,358 Million EUR	328 Million EUR
2018	28,941 Million EUR	741 Million EUR	309 Million EUR
2019	28,197 Million EUR	1,525 Million EUR	63 Million EUR
2020	25,657 Million EUR	55 Million EUR	118 Million EUR
2021	25,209 Million EUR	1,701 Million EUR	248 Million EUR

Scandals and controversies

Aegon has been criticized for investing around 600 Million EUR in polluting tar sands companies. The extraction of tar sands is disastrous and very destructive to local nature. Hot water has to be used for the extraction and also chemicals are used to make the oil suitable for transport.

Research from De eerlijke Geldwijzer (Fair Finance) showed that Aegon scored very low on both Climate Change (3/10) and Nature (1/10). When it comes to climate change it is shown that from Aegon's investment in the energy sector 93% went to fossil fuel whereas only 7% went to renewable energy. The score of 1 for nature is mainly based on the fact that Aegon invested 37 million euros into companies in which the risk is high that they are directly or indirectly involved in the deforestation in the Amazon.

Current Emissions

GHG emissions (Mega tons CO2e)

Investment Footprint	2021	2020
Corporate Fixed Income + listed Equity
Absolute Footprint	4.886	4.878
Weighted Average Carbon Intensity	490	470
Sovereign Fixed Income
Absolute Footprint	15.088	13.863
Weighted Average Carbon Intensity	620	500
Total Absolute Footprint	19.97	18.74
Total Weighted Average Carbon Intensity	1110	970

Climate Policy and Plans

Aegon the Netherlands commits to reduce emissions from their own operations by half in 2030 compared to 2018. It is worth noting that a majority of the emissions of Aegon comes from their investment rather than their own operations, thus requiring a different plan.

In November 2021, Aegon joined the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, a UN-convened group of institutional investors committed to transitioning their portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This means that Aegon is committed to transitioning its 156 billion euro general account investment portfolio. In order to reach this goal Aegon aims, by 2025, to reduce the weighted average carbon intensity of their corporate fixed income and listed equity general account assets by 25%.

With a few exceptions listed in the 2021 annual report, Aegon does not have sufficient short-term targets. On page 370 of the 2021 annual report, some targets are stated. Most of these targets are in relation to the net-zero alliance and therefore do not include short term targets. One target that is important to be noted is the updated Aegon Responsible Investment policy. This policy shows which companies Aegon will not invest in based on their climate actions. Overall, even with this target and their short term target for 2025, Aegon lacks a concrete phase-out plan that will help to reach its net-zero goal by 2050

Due Diligence

Aegon has said that they are reducing their investments in companies generating revenue from coal-fired power plants, or coal mining, to support the transition toward a low-carbon economy. They already exclude companies that derive 30% or more of sales from the exploration, mining, and refining of thermal coal.

Conclusion

Aegon is a Dutch insurance company with a revenue of 25.2 million euros and a great influence by serving 31.7 customers worldwide. It is therefore important that Aegon takes enough action to meet the targets set by the Paris agreement. Looking at the current emissions and the future goals of Aegon it can be said that too little is being done to create a large reduction in their CO₂ emissions from their portfolio. Aegon has joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance and created one short-term goal for 2025 but besides this, not much action is being taken. In order for Aegon to meet the target set by the Paris agreement, a more clear phase-out plan with short term targets is needed.