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COMPANY PROFILE AEGON SCOTTISH EQUITABLE INTERNATIONAL
Bryan Low, managing director,
Acuity Consultants
FACT FILE
Company name and parent
group: Aegon Scottish Equitable
International, Aegon NV
Head office: Dublin,
+353 1 673 8800
No of employees: 115
Core markets: UK. Also
a manufacturer of unit-linked
products with guarantees for
other Aegon and Aegon-related
companies. Initial market
is Spain (launched 2008)
Branches/rep offices:
UK distribution: via Aegon
Scottish Equitable, which
has 12 regional sales centres
throughout the country and
a phone-based sales operation
Key products:
� Wealth Management Portfolio
� 5 For Life
� Flexible Investment Plan
Website:
www.aegonsei.ie
In tune with the times
Aegon Scottish Equitable International has focused on the UK market
since 2002, relaunching itself with a bang with the rollout of its
innovative Money Market Portfolio. It is now attracting headlines with
its 5 for Life product which could fuel cross-border forays into Europe
As one of the top product
providers by volume in
the UK offshore market,
and the largest provider
into the UK offshore
market from Ireland by far,
Aegon Scottish Equitable
International (SEI) is now
an established and respected
player. But its success is
rather more recent than is
generally understood and
results from the key strategic
decision it took in
2001 to relocate most of
its cross-border activities to
Dublin from Luxembourg.
By 2003, SEI was making
its presence felt in the UK
market; by 2007 it was writing
some £81m annual premium
equivalent of predominantly
single premium
business, making it the
third-largest player in the
IFA market. With new business
up by 33% on its 2006
results, its assets under
management at the end of
Sales growth (new business) ’03 – ’04
£m
100
80
60
40
20
0
’03
Source: Acuity
’04
2007 reached £2.3bn.
But in its early years in
the late ’90s the Luxembourg
firm struggled to achieve
the level of penetration in
the UK market commensurate
with its importance as
a major investment product
provider or with its access
to significant distribution
infrastructure throughout
the UK.
l Adhering to rules
At this time SEI had difficulty
in managing the
potentially conflicting
demands for new and creative
internal fund links
with the more prescriptive
and lengthy regulatory
fund approval process of
the Luxembourg regulator,
the Commissariat du
Assurance.
In addition, Aegon SEI
experienced some resistance
from many of its tra-
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INTERNATIONAL ADVISER [www.international-adviser.com] OCTOBER 2008
’07
ditional intermediary supporters
in the UK to promoting
a ‘foreign’ company
to their clients. The
Luxembourg company SEI
SA closed to new business
in 2004 and it was subsequently
sold in 2006 to La
Mondiale Europartner, in
which the ultimate parent
company, Aegon NV, has a
35% shareholding.
Scottish Equitable International
(Dublin) had been
launched in 2002. Following
the decision to focus solely
on the UK intermediary
market, it became the main
life company in the offshore
division.
l Time for change
In April 2007, the company
changed its name to Aegon
SEI and reinforced its position
within the Aegon business
unit that focuses on
individual products lines,
Assets under management ’03 – ’04
£bn
2.5
1.5
0.5
2
1
0
’03
Source: Acuity
’04
including pensions, protection
and investment products
for the pre- and postretirement
markets, including
annuities and offshore
investment solutions.
Its UK sister company,
Scottish Equitable, was
established in 1831 as a
mutual office, demutualising
in 1994 to become part
of the Dutch-based insurance
company Aegon insurance
group.
Aegon is one of the
world’s largest listed insurance
groups, employing
approximately 30,000
people worldwide. Its businesses
serve millions of
customers across 20 markets
throughout the
Americas, Europe and Asia,
with major operations in
the US, the Netherlands
and the UK.
Since the establishment
of the Dublin subsidiary
and the transfer of the
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