a.s.r. organised an IFRS 17 & 9 information session for analysts and investors to provide an early update on the impact of the accounting change to IFRS 17 & 9.
In 2022, a.s.r. announced the strategic and transformational transaction with Aegon Ltd. to combine its Dutch businesses to create a leading insurer in the Netherlands. In 2023, all the conditions set for the transaction to combine the business activities of a.s.r. and Aegon NL were met and the transaction was subsequently completed on 4 July. As part of the transaction, a.s.r. issued 63,298,394 ordinary shares which have been delivered to Aegon Ltd. as part of the consideration. These shares have been listed and admitted to trading on Euronext Amsterdam as per 6 July 2023.
On 26 September 2023, the Court of Appeal in The Hague issued a ruling in a unit-linked life insurance case involving three (former) Aegon NL products. As the market attempted to assess the potential impact of this, the a.s.r. share declined by 14% in subsequent trading. Following the ruling, a.s.r. reached out to the major customer interest groups to resolve the matter. On 29 November 2023 a.s.r. announced that it has come to an agreement for a final settlement for unit-linked life insurance customers of Aegon NL and a.s.r. affiliated to the customer interest groups and that all collective proceedings against Aegon Ltd. and a.s.r. will be terminated. The settlement involves € 250 million. In addition to the amount involved in the settlement, a.s.r. is making an additional provision of € 50 million for special cases and for unaffiliated customers that have not previously received compensation. Following the announcement of the agreement the a.s.r. share price recovered from the initial decline in subsequent trading on 30 November 2023.
In order to ensure that investors were informed of relevant developments in a timely and accurate way, a.s.r. held an Investor Update in London on 30 November 2023, to notify the market of the progress of the integration of Aegon NL as well as provide an further detail on the developments in the unit-linked life insurance file.
For more information about a.s.r.’s policy on fair disclosure and bilateral dialogue, see www.asrnl.com.