Insurer ASR acquires Aegon’s Dutch pension practice

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Dutch insurance firm ASR has acquired the Dutch insurance and pension activities of Aegon. The deal includes pension provider TKP, the Premium Pension Institution (PPI) Aegon Cappital and a large portfolio of insured pension arrangements.

ASR will pay €2.5bn for Aegon’s Dutch insurance and pension activities. As part of the deal, Aegon will also get a 30% stake in ASR, which is also worth approximately €2.5bn.

After completion of the acquisition, which is not expected until the second half of 2023 pending approval from regulators, ASR will have a leading position in the Dutch market for private pensions. Aegon’s Dutch asset management division remains outside the scope of the deal.

‘By bundling forces, we can utilise opportunities in growing market segments including pension’, said ASR chief executive officer Jos Baeten in the press release announcing the deal. With the acquisition of Aegon’s pension activities, ASR will have a 32% market share in both the defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension markets.

In addition, the combined PPIs of ASR and Aegon will become the largest player in the Netherlands with 550,000 members and €8bn in assets under management. The deal is the second one in the PPI market this month after the acquisition of the WTW PPI by Zwitserleven.

Asset management

The only activity Aegon will keep in the Netherlands, in addition to it’s The Hague headquarters, is its asset management division. As part of the deal between ASR and Aegon, Aegon Asset Management will also remain in charge of asset management for DC pension activities and the PPI acquired by the former for at least 10 more years.

The press release doesn’t mention the APF (Algemeen Pensioenfonds) Stap, which was founded by Aegon. Aegon AM is the asset manager of this pension fund, and TKP is its provider. ASR also founded an APF several years ago (Het Nederlands Pensioenfonds), but is no longer involved in its day-to-day management.