Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 6-K
Report of Foreign Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d/16 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
June 2012
AEGON N.V.
AEGONplein 50
2591 TV THE HAGUE
The Netherlands
AEGON’s press release, dated June 19, 2012, is included as appendix and incorporated herein by reference.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| AEGON N.V. | ||||||
|
(Registrant) | ||||||
| Date: June 19, 2012 | By | /s/ E. Lagendijk | ||||
| E. Lagendijk | ||||||
| Executive Vice President and General Counsel | ||||||
AEGON defines path for capturing growth in core markets
AEGON CEO Alex Wynaendts will detail later today the company’s approach for capturing growth in its core businesses and markets in the coming years. Speaking at the opening of AEGON’s two-day Analyst & Investor Conference in London, Mr. Wynaendts will present plans to strengthen AEGON’s position in the At-Retirement market in North America, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, while seeking to leverage its strong capabilities in providing protection and asset accumulation products and services in its developing markets throughout Central & Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
In recent years, AEGON has implemented a broad restructuring program to sharpen its focus on its core lines of business, reduce significantly its overall cost base, and create greater efficiencies across the organization. This has resulted in a shift from spread-based to fee-generating business and a substantially improved risk-return profile, the divestment of non-core businesses and an improved capital base ratio.
Continued demographic and economic uncertainties have increased the opportunities for AEGON in pursuing its core mission of assisting customers achieve their long-term financial security. To capture these opportunities, AEGON will accelerate the development of new business models by investing in innovative technology driven distribution channels, with the aim of connecting better and more frequently with customers, improving service levels and increasing retention rates. AEGON will also extend its investments in technology to support intermediaries as they adapt to the changing environment for distribution, as is underway in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
“Getting much closer to the people who depend on us requires developing new direct relationships by accelerating our investment in technology and better leveraging local initiatives across our businesses,” said Mr. Wynaendts. “The opportunities for our business are substantial and the actions we have taken in recent years have strengthened AEGON’s position, consistent with our targets and aim to be a leader in all our chosen markets in the coming years.”
The conference presentations will be available on AEGON’s corporate website at 4.30 pm GMT / 5.30 pm CET at www.aegon.com. The presentation will be webcast live also on the website beginning at 5 pm GMT / 6 pm CET.
| About AEGON
As an international life insurance, pensions and asset management company based in The Hague, AEGON has businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON companies employ over 25,000 people and have nearly 47 million customers across the globe.
|
Contact information
Media Relations: Greg Tucker + 31 (0) 70 344 8956 gcc-ir@aegon.com
Investor Relations: Willem van den Berg + 31 (0) 70 344 8305 ir@aegon.com
www.aegon.com | |||||
| Key figures – EUR |
Q1 2012 |
Full year 2011 |
||||
| Underlying earnings before tax |
425 million | 1.5 billion | ||||
|
New life sales |
445 million | 1.8 billion | ||||
|
Gross deposits |
11.0 billion | 32 billion | ||||
|
Revenue-generating investments (end of period) |
437 billion | 424 billion | ||||
Page 1 of 2
Cautionary note regarding non-GAAP measures
This document includes a non-GAAP financial measure: underlying earnings before tax. The reconciliation of underlying earnings before tax to the most comparable IFRS measure is provided in Note 3 “Segment information” of AEGON’s Condensed consolidated interim 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, 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; 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 AEGON holds; |
| • | The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of sovereign exposure that AEGON holds; |
| • | Changes in the performance of AEGON’s investment portfolio and decline in ratings of the company’s counterparties; |
| • | Consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro; |
| • | The frequency and severity of insured loss events; |
| • | Changes affecting 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, the products the company sells, and the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers; |
| • | Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments,; |
| • | Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions in which AEGON operates; |
| • | Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general related to, among other things, the type of products also AEGON sells, including legal, regulatory or commercial necessity to meet changing customer expectations; |
| • | Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; |
| • | Lowering of one or more of AEGON’s debt ratings issued by recognized rating organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on the company’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 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 AEGON is required to maintain; |
| • | Litigation or regulatory action that could require AEGON to pay significant damages or change the way the company 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 the company’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 may affect AEGON’s reported results and shareholder’s equity; |
| • | 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; and |
| • | AEGON’s failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives. |
Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the company are described in the company’s filings with NYSE Euronext Amsterdam 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, 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.
Page 2 of 2