Aegon grew its workplace pensions book by 13 per cent in the first half of the year, while outflows on its adviser platform grew by 66 per cent.
The provider increased net deposits on its workplace pensions platform to £1.7bn in the first half of 2024, compared to £1.5bn for the same period in 2022. But net outflows on the adviser platform rose from £1.1bn to £1.8bn over the same period. It blamed the macro-economic environment and ‘increased consolidation and vertical integration in non-target adviser segments.
Total platform assets under administration, across both workplace and adviser platforms, increased by 11 per cent compared with June 30 last year, to £111bn, and the provider says it expects this to grow to £135bn by 2028. It describes the inflows on its workplace assets as record-breaking for the provider.
Globally Aegon suffered a net loss of £55.3m, with shareholder equity per share down 6 per cent compared to December 31, 2023, according to the provider’s H1 2024 results.
Aegon UK CEO Mike Holliday-Williams says: “The figures have been supported by 140 new scheme wins, which have helped the 13 per cent record net flow in workplace. But you have to keep on innovating to drive continued growth – we have the new private markets allocation for the default coming through in October, and we’ve set up the new Peterborough office to support the master trust.
“In terms of the adviser platform figures, we are focusing on our target 500 – but overall we have net outflows in this period. About half of that is non-target advisers, some being acquired, others moving to another platform. We knew we would get net outflows on the adviser platform and anticipate that continuing going forward. We are focusing on our target 500 where we have strong relationships – they generate about 70 per cent of our inflows, but we know we have work to do there.”