Aegon to Divest Majority of US Run-Off Businesses

The HAGUE, Netherlands, May 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Aegon has agreed to sell its two largest US run-off businesses, the payout annuity business and the Bank Owned / Corporate Owned Life Insurance business (BOLI/COLI), to Wilton Re. The transaction is consistent with the company's stated strategic objective to reduce the amount of capital allocated to its run-off businesses.

Under the terms of the agreement, Aegon's Transamerica life subsidiaries will reinsure USD 14 billion of liabilities to affiliates of Wilton Re US Holding Inc. The transaction and related management actions are expected to result in a capital release of approximately USD 700 million (EUR 630 million) in 2017.

"I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement to divest the majority of our US run-off businesses," said Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon. "This transaction is in line with our strategic objective of accelerating the release of capital allocated to these businesses and will further enhance the financial flexibility of the group. We are confident that this agreement is also in the best interests of our customers, as Wilton Re is a highly respected reinsurer in the market."

Group Solvency II ratio improves by 6%-points

As a result of the actions announced today, Aegon's Group Solvency II ratio is estimated to improve by approximately 6%-points in the second half of 2017. After completion of the transaction and the related management actions, the capital released from this transaction is expected to be upstreamed to the holding, which will improve Transamerica's return on capital by approximately 60 basis points.

Aegon expects annual capital generation from its US operations to be reduced by approximately USD 30 million (EUR 27 million) following the transaction. As the businesses are classified as run-off businesses, their associated earnings are not included in underlying earnings before tax. Aegon anticipates the reinsurance transaction will result in a book loss of approximately USD 300 million (EUR 270 million), to be reported in Other Charges at the time of closing. The transaction is subject to normal regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the summer of 2017.

About Aegon 

Aegon's roots go back more than 170 years - to the first half of the nineteenth century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an international company, with businesses in more than 20 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Today, Aegon is one of the world's leading financial services organizations, providing life insurance, pensions and asset management. Aegon's purpose is to help people achieve a lifetime of financial security. More information on aegon.com/about.    

About Wilton Re 

Wilton Re is a leading provider of In Force Solutions. Focusing on the North American life insurance market, the Company provides risk capital and related services including M&A. Their administrative capabilities provide the industry with efficient and effective runoff management of legacy blocks of life insurance and annuity contracts.  

The Company also partners with companies to implement new business strategies for middle-market sales, with an emphasis on worksite, senior market and simplified term products. Wilton Re offers fully customized solutions that include private labeling with supporting delivery and administrative systems.

Wilton Re is committed to creating solutions that enhance value for its clients, their policyholders and shareholders. Their approach is centered on building lasting relationships with our business partners and sharing resources, industry knowledge and experience in an open, transparent manner.  

To find out more about the Wilton Re group of companies, please go to http://www.wiltonre.com, http://www.texaslife.com and http://www.ivari.ca.

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Disclaimer 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, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to Aegon. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes 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 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; and
• The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of government exposure that Aegon holds;
• Changes in the performance of Aegon's investment portfolio and decline in ratings of Aegon's counterparties;
• Consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro;
• Consequences of the anticipated exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union;
• 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;
• Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risks may fail to meet their obligations;
• 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;
• 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 in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets;
• 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 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;
• Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics;
• Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;
• 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 premium writings, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;
• The effect of the European Union's Solvency II requirements and other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is required to maintain;
• Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay significant damages or change the way Aegon does business;
• As Aegon's operations support complex transactions and are highly dependent on the proper functioning of information technology, a computer system failure or security breach may disrupt Aegon's business, damage its reputation and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;
• Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;
• Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect profitability, the distribution cost of or demand for Aegon's products;
• 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 and shareholders' equity;
• 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;
• The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon's ability to integrate acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and synergies from acquisitions;
• Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, could result in material losses and significantly interrupt Aegon's business;
• Aegon's failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving and excess capital and leverage ratio management initiatives; and
• This press release contains information that qualifies, or may qualify, as inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

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 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.

Contacts
Media relations
Debora de Laaf
+31(0)70-344-8730
gcc@aegon.com

Investor relations
Willem van den Berg
+31(0)70-344-8405
ir@aegon.com

SOURCE Aegon N.V.