THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AEGON has appointed Sarah Russell as the new Chief Executive Officer of AEGON Asset Management, effective August 1. Ms. Russell succeeds Erik van Houwelingen, who is leaving AEGON to pursue career opportunities elsewhere. Ms. Russell’s appointment marks a new stage in the development of AEGON’s global asset management organization, which was established in October last year.
Ms. Russell has spent nearly 20 years in international finance and investment management both in Europe and her native Australia. Ms. Russell has a master’s in applied finance from Macquarie University in Sydney and was, until recently, the Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO Asset Management.
“Sarah Russell brings significant experience and expertise to this key leadership position within our global asset management organization,” said AEGON CEO Alex Wynaendts. “Her appointment comes at an important time following the successful start-up phase of this new business over the past two years. Sarah will be charged with leading AEGON Asset Management into a new period of development and growth, in line with our ambitions.
“We are very grateful to Erik van Houwelingen for his considerable contributions in bringing together our asset management capabilities of the Americas, Europe and Asia into one global company. Today, we are well positioned to achieve the objectives we established when launching the organization: to improve service and extend our broader expertise for the benefit of our customers, to make better use of our worldwide resources and to build a leading global asset management business.”
AEGON Asset Management was officially launched last year as part of a wider objective to manage AEGON more as one international company. The organization groups together AEGON’s asset management businesses in North America, Europe and Asia, employing 1,300 people and managing more than EUR 200 billion in assets.
Ms. Russell’s appointment is subject to regulatory approval.
About AEGON
As an international life insurance, pension and investment company based in The Hague, AEGON has businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON companies employ approximately 28,000 people and have some 40 million customers across the globe.
First quarter Full year
Key figures – EUR 2010 2009
Underlying earnings
before tax 488 million 1.2 billion
New life sales 538 million 2.1 billion
Gross deposits (excl.
run-off) 7.8 billion 28 billion
Revenue generating
investments
(end of period) 388 billion 363 billion
Forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this press release 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, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to our company. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. We undertake no obligation 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 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:
– Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United
States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom;
– Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging
markets, such as with regard to:
– The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income
investment portfolios; and
– 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 we hold;
– The frequency and severity of insured loss events;
– Changes affecting mortality, morbidity and other factors that may
impact the profitability of our insurance products;
– Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly
changing interest rate levels;
– Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD
and EUR/GBP exchange rates;
– Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands,
the United Kingdom and emerging markets;
– Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting our
operations, the products we sell, and the attractiveness of certain
products to our consumers;
– Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the
jurisdictions in which we operate;
– Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics;
– Effects of deliberations of the European Commission regarding the aid
we received from the Dutch State in December 2008;
– Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;
– Lowering of one or more of our debt ratings issued by recognized rating
organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on our
ability to raise capital and on our liquidity and financial condition;
– Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of our
insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on
the premium writings, policy retention, profitability of its insurance
subsidiaries and liquidity;
– The effect of the European Union’s Solvency II requirements and other
regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital we are
required to maintain;
– Litigation or regulatory action that could require us to pay
significant damages or change the way we do business;
– Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
– Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect the
distribution cost of or demand for our products;
– The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product
withdrawals and other unusual items, including our ability to
integrate acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and
synergies from acquisitions;
– Our failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational
efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives; and
– The impact our adoption of the International Financial Reporting
Standards may have on our reported financial results and financial
condition.
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the company are described in the company’s filings with Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the company 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 the company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Contact information
Media relations: Greg Tucker
+31(0)70-344-8956
gcc-ir@aegon.com
Investor relations: Gerbrand Nijman
+31(0)70-344-8305
877-548-9668 – toll free USA only
ir@aegon.com
http://www.aegon.com