content_image/263778.jpg content_image/263779.jpg
■ Re-pricing, redesigning and withdrawing products, improving Aegon’s overall product mix to reduce capital requirements and improve profitability; 

■ Restructuring in Spain – by securing a twenty-five year joint venture and distribution partnership with Banco Santander, the country’s largest bank, and exiting some former joint ventures; 

■ Entering new distribution partnerships with other key banks, including Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom. 

## Enhance customer loyalty 

Aegon is expanding digital distribution capability and improving understanding of customers’ changing needs by: 

■ Launching new online products in Spain and Turkey. Aegon now retails online in nearly all its markets, and has also expanded its digital marketing and social media efforts; 

■ Investing in emerging new business models. In the Netherlands, Aegon launched Kroodle, a social media platform to sell general insurance, and in recent years has begun distribution through the drugstore chain Kruidvat; 

■ Expanding the company’s variable annuities business, and launching other related products, such as a new series of mutual funds in the United States, and new additional risk riders with products in Central & Eastern Europe; 

■ Implementing a common measurement for customer loyalty. Aegon has implemented the Net Promoter Score (NPS) across its businesses, and is using NPS methodology to drive long-term improvements in products and customer service. The company has also established a Customer Intelligence Council to improve analysis of customer data and statistics, and launched the not-for-profit Transamerica Center for Health Studies to research and contribute to important health issues in the United States. 

## Deliver operational excellence 

Aegon improved efficiency, supported intermediaries and expanded distribution through traditional channels by: 

■ Continuing to reduce costs where possible to allow for increased investments. Cost saving initiatives included the creation of a shared service center in the Americas, further cost reduction in the Netherlands, and restructuring both in the United Kingdom and at Aegon’s Corporate Center; 

■ Pursuing value over volume through a strict pricing discipline, an approach aimed at securing profitable, sustainable growth – while making sure that, before any new product or service is introduced, customer benefits are fully assessed and taken into account through an updated Pricing & Product Development Policy; 

■ Investing in a new online platform in the United Kingdom, called Aegon Retirement Choices. The platform provides independent financial advisors with a clear overview of Aegon's product range, and helps them to provide the right advice to Aegon's customers; 

<img src='content_image/263778.jpg'>

■ Opening up access to Aegon’s Global Ethics Line to make it easier for outside parties to report suspected misconduct and violations of the company’s Code of Conduct; 

■ Completing a second transaction to reduce the risk associated with longer life expectancy in the Netherlands and cover EUR 1.4 billion in longevity reserves. 

## Empower employees 

Aegon strengthened employee engagement, and improved the working environment by: 

■ Introducing limited paid time off for volunteer work. By the end of 2013, 91% of Aegon’s employees worldwide had access to this benefit; 

■ Helping employees establish new affinity groups in the United States and the Netherlands in support of broader efforts to improve workforce diversity; 

■ Deepening Aegon’s regular talent review, which maps employees’ skills against the company’s long-term requirements; 

■ Supporting employees impacted by company restructuring with social plans and programs to find new employment within and outside the company; 

■ Implementing local action plans based on the findings from the 2013 Global Employee Engagement Survey. Aegon identified three main priorities: do more to explain the company’s business strategy to employees; strengthen employees’ focus on customers; provide additional opportunities for career development; 

■ Developing an Employer Value Proposition, which sets out the advantages of working for Aegon among prospective employees. The Employer Value Proposition will support wider efforts in new recruitment. 

## Market conditions 

The global economy continued to recover in 2013, but growth was low in many countries, and business confidence remained depressed. Overall, world output expanded by 2.9%, the lowest annual rate of growth since the end of the previous recession in 2009. Growth is forecast to accelerate in 2014, but the global economy still faces significant downside risks. 

In the United States, economic growth improved. There was further improvement in the US housing market. Unemployment decreased – though much of the decline in reported rates was attributed to people withdrawing from the labor force rather than to job creation. Cuts in government spending subdued economic growth, however. 

In Europe, growth rates continued to lag behind those of the United States and other developed economies. High rates of unemployment persisted, particularly in those countries hit hardest by the recent eurozone crisis. The German and French economies showed modest growth, while those of Spain and 

<img src='content_image/263779.jpg'>

