Aegon Plans US Re-Domiciliation to Boost Growth in Life Insurance Market

Aegon announced its strategic ambition at the 2025 Capital Markets Day in London to become a leading US life insurance and retirement group by relocating its head office and legal domicile to the United States. This re-domiciliation, targeted for completion by January 1, 2028, will see Aegon Ltd. renamed Transamerica Inc., with existing business units operating under their current brands. The move positions Aegon to fully capitalize on the US life insurance market, representing about 70% of its operations through its Transamerica segment, focusing on serving Main Street American families and medium-sized companies. The US relocation supports Aegon's strategy to prioritize resources toward growth within the largest life insurance market globally and will start reporting under US GAAP from 2027. To facilitate this transition, Aegon will limit financial disclosures to half-year reports in 2026 and 2027, maintaining stock listings on both Euronext and NYSE to ensure capital market continuity. The re-domiciliation process presents organizational changes and impacts, particularly for colleagues based in the Netherlands, with commitments to support affected employees during the transition. Shareholder approval will be sought in late 2026, and one-time implementation costs are expected to total approximately EUR 350 million over the transition period. As part of capital management, Aegon is reinsuring a 30% portion of its Secondary Guarantee Universal Life (SGUL) policies, equating to USD 10 billion face value, to reduce capital employed by legacy financial assets. This transaction will decrease capital by USD 0.3 billion, mitigating risks from mortality and policyholder behavior, and is coupled with an USD 800 million investment into Transamerica to neutralize impacts on the risk-based capital ratio, enabling annual remittances of USD 75 million. Market trends favor Transamerica due to demographic shifts and widening protection gaps, with a strategic growth plan targeting a 5% annual increase in operating results and remittances over the next two years. Aegon also aims to expand its asset management business, projecting operating results above EUR 200 million by 2027, with remittances growing at over 5% annually. The UK business transformation into a digital savings and retirement platform continues but will undergo strategic reviews to maximize value, including evaluating potential divestment options. International operations in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, China, and Bermuda will maintain profitable growth through partnerships and innovation, contributing further to group results. Aegon maintains its stake in a.s.r., awaiting market valuations or value-creation prospects while transitioning board representation to focus on executing the new strategy. Capital management remains disciplined, with operating companies well-capitalized and holding cash capital at the holding company between EUR 0.5 to 1.5 billion. AEGON announced a EUR 400 million share buyback program scheduled for 2026 to return excess capital to shareholders, prioritizing financial flexibility for US operations. The group plans to reduce capital employed by US financial assets to USD 2.2 billion by the end of 2027, focusing investment on strategic businesses with attractive returns, consistent with its plan for profitable growth and strengthening of core businesses.