The fall in UK life sales to £139m ($211m, €197m) was attributed to lower demand for traditional pension products, while the rise in Asia, to €68m, was mainly the result of higher sales of universal life products out of Hong Kong and Singapore, and favourable currency movements.
In addition, sales in China increased mainly due to what it said was the continued success of the whole life critical illness product.
Sales falls in Europe
In Central & Eastern Europe, new life sales declined 24% to €19m, with sales growth in Turkey and through its tied-agent network in Hungary more than offset by lower sales in Poland resulting from changes in the product offering.
While in Spain & Portugal, new life sales decreased 18% to €8m due to lower sales from the bancassurance joint ventures.
Platform net inflows
Aegon’s UK platform saw net inflows of £900m in the third quarter, mainly from existing customers coming onto the platform rather than new money. This resulted in a total of £5.3bn of assets on the platform.
The UK pension business, meanwhile, increased earnings before tax from £4m in 2014 to £9m this year.
It said the UK pension flexibility regulation that came into effect in April, 2015, led to higher outflows from Aegon’s back book in the third quarter of 2015, although the pace of outflows decreased over the quarter.
It further expected this trend to continue in the fourth quarter of 2015, albeit at lower levels than in the second and third quarters.
Earnings impacted
Chairman Alex Wynaendt said: “During the third quarter of the year, Aegon’s earnings were impacted by assumption changes, our ongoing model refinement program, and the anticipated book loss on the sale of our low-return business in Canada.
“At the same time, sales for the quarter remained strong, particularly in our fast-growing US retirement plan and asset management businesses.
“We are pleased to have strengthened our position in one of our key growth areas, becoming a top ten provider in the US retirement sector through the acquisition of Mercer’s defined contribution record-keeping business.”
He added that the “progress we have recently made in preparing for Solvency II gives us confidence that we are well-positioned to operate successfully in this new regulatory framework”.
Globally important
Aegon also commented in its report on the Financial Stability Board announcement on 3 November that it had been designated as one of a group of nine global systemically important insurers (G-SII).
On this front, it would “continue to engage with supervisors in the upcoming consultations on both the methodology applied to determine the systemic level of insurance companies and on the definition of non-traditional insurance and non-insurance activities”.
