Aegon chief vows platform will break even in 2016
Aegon UK chief executive Adrian Grace has defended the company's Aegon Retirement Choices platform, claiming it will break even in 2016.
The company’s platform increased its assets to £5.3 billion in the third quarter of the year, more than double its assets of £2.3 billion in the same period in 2014.
However, Aegon’s value of new business was hit because the platform was not yet ‘at break-even level’.
Grace (pictured) denied the platform was performing behind its targets and said it would break even in 2016.
‘We’ll break even in 2016. We are very much on track, we are certainly not off track on our journey to break even. We are very clear we are in this for the long term and have invested for the long term. We are actually delighted with the progress,' he said.
Grace said the platform would not increase its charges next year in order to break even, but would focus on getting more of its life company back-book business onto the platform.
‘We think we offer is good value for money. Our charges are what we expect to help us,’ he said.
‘We’ll do more in the workplace, we’ll do more for advisers and we’ll move more from the back book.’
Grace also said no decision had been made on selling the company’s annuity business.
In September, Grace wrote a note to Aegon staff which confirmed the company was reviewing its annuity business in order to focus on its platform.
He said the annuity review was a ‘work in progress’ and the business was focussed on its platform.
‘We are a business that is very focussed on the execution of its strategy, and that annuity business is a work in progress right now,’ he said.