Edinburgh-based Aegon UK — owned by Dutch investment giant Aegon NV — has seen its assets under administration top £200 billion for the first time.
In Aegon NV’s second quarter 2021 results this week, the Dutch parent firm said: “Aegon’s assets under administration in the United Kingdom reached GBP 200 billion for the first time, as it continues to increase scale in the UK pension and savings market.
“The growth in assets reflects strong markets, and benefits from a number of ongoing investments in the business.
“Aegon’s platform business in the United Kingdom – excluding the low-margin Institutional business – doubled its net deposits compared with the same quarter last year to GBP 1.0 billion, driven by the Workplace segment.
“This reflects Aegon’s ability to serve the needs of both middle-market employers and large corporates.
“This quarter’s net deposits in the United Kingdom included a significant Master Trust contract win, which underscores that Aegon is well positioned in this fast-growing market of multi-employer pension schemes.
“Aegon continues to invest in the overall Workplace proposition to give the business a distinctive position in the key area of member engagement.
“An example thereof is the acquisition of Pension Geeks, an award-winning business that specializes in connecting people with their finances through innovative engagement techniques, communication and events.
“This acquisition is expected to further improve the customer experience, make communications more personalized, and drive growth.”
The results showed the “operating result” from Aegon UK increased by 16% compared with the second quarter of 2020 to £38 million.
Aegon UK reported a net income of £41 million in the second quarter.
Aegon UK chief executive Mike Holliday-Williams said: “We always knew (reaching £200 billion) was around the corner, but we needed positive momentum on trading, and we needed positive momentum within the market itself.
“Both those things have come together. We’re now in a really positive position …
“We had a record-breaking quarter, with net deposits in workplace over £1bn …
“Looking forward, as the markets continue to grow, we’ve got a whole range of initiatives that we’re delivering from a service perspective, and from a proposition perspective, from an engagement perspective in workplace.
“There’s lots for us to do.
“We want to keep attracting a greater share of wallet from advisers, and that’s what we’ve been doing to date. We only do that if we keep the momentum of delivering on the ground.
“We want to keep growing the workplace business. We’ve got a strong proposition there and we want to keep improving it.
“If we do those two things, we will continue to grow. That’s our main focus, and the numbers will come.”