original Luxembourg business
to La Mondiale, Aegon
SEI’s sole focus has been
on the UK market.
The early growth in the
business following the relocation
to Dublin in 2002
can be largely attributed to
its Money Market Portfolio
product that it launched
at a time when the 2000
to 2003 bear market was
still raging. This innovative
product was launched into
the market in similar investment
market conditions to
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
those being experienced in
2008, and was subsequently
replicated by many of
Aegon SEI’s competitors.
l Achieving the goal
The firm’s success with the
Money Market Portfolio
was largely down to the
leading-edge intermediaryoriented
marketing and
support materials that
accompanied it, which
helped many advisers open
up new sources of busi-
DAVID HEALY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, AEGON SEI
How long have you been managing director
of Aegon SEI?
I have been the MD of the Dublin operation since
its inception in 2002. Before then I was the MD
of the Luxembourg operation.
What is your career background?
A total of 15 years in the cross-border insurance market with
companies including J Rothschild International.
What do you see as the key issues facing the offshore life industry
over the next two to three years?
� Distribution and investments
� Service/technology
� Client needs/demographics. The ageing population and increasing
geographic mobility offer great opportunities for offshore
investments, with products that provide guarantees becoming
particularly important as the population ages.
���Legislation – particularly changes to tax, such as the
Conservatives’ proposals for increasing the inheritance
tax (IHT) limit, which would have a significant impact.
� Regulation – the Retail Distribution Review may persuade advisers
to position their offering in the high net worth market, where
offshore products offer many advantages.
What have you set as the strategic direction of the company?
We aim to make Aegon UK the best long-term savings and protection
business in the UK and the Aegon Group the leading guaranteed
product player.
What are the key challenges facing you now?
Finding the best way to take our ability to manufacture unitlinked
products with guarantees to new markets and through new
distributors, as this involves building expertise in tax and regulation
in new countries.
What makes your brand and company unique/special?
Aegon is our unique element. It involves bringing together global
power and local knowledge. The ability to offer guaranteed products
through different parts of Aegon is a good illustration – in this case
using our hedging expertise in the US.
How would you describe your company culture?
We aim to provide excellent product and customer service for the
demanding high net worth market. We achieve this through Aegon’s
brand values, which derive from our desire to be refreshingly
different – by being clear, bright and deep.
2007 sales by key products
Wealth Management Portfolio 8% Aegon SEI has become
a major force in the UK IFA
market since re-domiciling
from Luxembourg to Dublin
5 for Life 8%
in 2001.
Source: Acuity
ness with cash-rich smallmedium-size
enterprises.
As investment market
conditions improved, much
of this ‘cash’ Money Market
Portfolio business was
traded up into equity fund
links, but the product had
achieved the main objective
of relaunching the
company back into the
market with a bang.
The Money Market
Portfolio was withdrawn in
2006 and Aegon SEI has
since focused on profitability
rather than headline new
business sales levels,
although it still competes
aggressively for discretionary
managed business.
l Take 5
The firm has been the focus
of a great many column
inches in the consumer and
trade press over the past 18
months since launching its
US-style variable life product,
5 for Life.
This proposition, developed
by the Aegon subsidiary
in the US, had already
shown some export potential
in the Japanese market.
The decision to base the
European rollout of the
variable life development
around Aegon SEI reflects
the growth and development
of the Dublin company,
and its importance as
the manufacturing centre for
”
OCTOBER 2008 [www.international-adviser.com] INTERNATIONAL ADVISER
profiles
such business in Europe.
The 5 for Life proposition
is clearly in step with
changing consumer needs
that are themselves responding
both to current market
conditions and medium/
long-term demographic
trends. But sales in the UK
market have grown steadily
rather than spectacularly as
the market adjusts to what
is still a relatively new concept
for it and gets to grips
with the price of providing
the guarantee inherent in
the product’s structure.
l Expanding network
Historically, Aegon SEI has
had an exclusively IFA distribution
profile. But in line
with Aegon’s UK strategy,
new non-IFA distribution
links have been established.
The most notable examples
are Openwork and Barclays
Bank. In both cases, 5 for
Life has been adopted and
has been, to some extent,
the ‘door opener’ with
these distributors.
Having reined in its
wider European ambitions
to focus on the UK IFA
market following the move
to Dublin in 2002, 5 for Life
is now likely to help give
Aegon SEI the impetus to
attack the mature markets
of Europe on a cross-border
basis through multiple distribution
channels.
Flexible
Investment
Plan 8%
Other 8%
KEY POINTS
It is the leading Dublin-based
insurer selling into the UK
offshore market.
IFAs have historically been
its main distribution channel
but it is broadening this out
to selling through banks and
multi-ties.
“
The company
has been the focus
of a great many
column inches in the
consumer and trade
press over the past
18 months since
launching its US-style
variable life product,
5 for Life
31
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