New products and modifying existing product specifications

AEGON regularly reviews products marketed and developed in former years and, if necessary, will modify product specifications as well as processes and distribution. In 2009, AEGON companies also responded to demand among customers for greater guarantees because of the financial crisis, as well as quicker, timelier information:

 

  • In the United States, Transamerica Retirement Services developed the 'Recover Plan' to help existing customers manage their investments during the economic downturn. Since February 2009, copies of the company's Recover Plan video presentation have been sent to more than 100,000 retirement plan participants.
  • AEGON Direct Marketing Services took steps to improve its complaints procedure and introduced a new system to increase the number of customer enquiries answered without the need for a repeat call.
  • In response to the financial crisis, AEGON's subsidiary Western Reserve Life extended its no lapse guarantee on its variable universal life product until 2011, allowing policyholders temporarily to pay a lower premium. Western Reserve Life also introduced a new indexed universal life product in response to demand from customers wanting exposure to the rapidly-growing markets of the Pacific Rim.
  • In the United Kingdom, AEGON improved the way the company routes calls from customers to ensure they are connected immediately to the right person within the organization. This contributed to a 16% increase in customer satisfaction in this area.

 

In the Netherlands, in July 2009, AEGON struck an agreement with customer groups to further reduce charges on its unit-linked insurance products. Under the agreement, AEGON committed an additional EUR 110 million to improving the terms and conditions of the policies. This amount included EUR 80 million to help those customers experiencing the worst financial difficulties. The agreement was part of industry-wide efforts to address concerns over the charges, and was the result of several months of negotiations with customer groups. The agreement was fully in line with recommendations made by the Dutch Financial Services Ombudsman. Prior to the agreement, AEGON had already committed approximately EUR 380 million to improving the terms and conditions of these policies. AEGON's portfolio of unit-linked insurance products in the Netherlands consists of some 1.3 million policies.