Despite a rise in outflows on Aegon’s adviser platform, the firm is confident in its plan to become the leading provider for workplace and advisers.
The firm’s half year results, published today (August 22), showed total assets under administration in its workplace and adviser platform increased to £111bn, up by 11 per cent compared with June 30, 2023.
However, its adviser platform saw net outflows increase to £1.8bn, compared with £1.1bn in the same period last year.
Mike Holliday-Williams, CEO of Aegon UK, said growth in overall assets supports its plan to invest between £70-80mn a year in its platform business.
He said recent outflows have been driven by cost of living pressures and consolidation in the market.
In June, Aegon outlined plans to “accelerate Aegon UK’s transformation into a leading digital savings and retirement platform”.
The firm said this transformation will enable Aegon UK to grow assets under administration of the combined adviser and workplace platforms to more than £135bn by 2028.
Holliday-Williams said: “We are investing heavily in this business over the next three or four years to deliver the proposition, experience enhancements, automation and digitalisation.
“We're well into that journey now and feel these results put us in a strong position to continue that investment and carry on building on that momentum.”
In July, Aegon launched a client reporting tool for advisers as part of these plans to improve the overall user experience of its platform.
Holliday-Williams said advisers want a platform which is simple and quick to use as well as more control over their investment proposition.
He said simpler back office integration and more digital verification were two things advisers would like to see from Aegon.
The UK CEO said price is “critically important” to the clients of advisers.
Aegon has a 0.29 per cent charge for the first £100,000, taken monthly from a client’s account, which reduces as the account grows in value.
“Advisers need to demonstrate value for money for their clients so price is important,” said Holliday-Williams.
“We are competitive on price but it isn’t enough, you have to provide a great experience and have a great proposition to support that.”
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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