AEGON OUTLINES TAIWAN AMBITIONS AND TARGETS PENSIONS MARKET

Dutch insurer Aegon has announced its plan to expand its insurance interest in Taiwan and hopes to be one of the country’s top five insurers over the course of the next five years by targeting Taiwan’s burgeoning pension market. Aegon, which currently stands at number 10 in the rankings of Taiwan-based insurers, recently established a joint life insurance venture with Taiwan-based Taishin Financial worth $66 million and is keen to exploit a market that brought in $58 billion in premiums last year (compared to $65 billion in China) and is ranked as the fourth biggest banking market in Asia. “Taiwan is a huge Asian market for foreign life insurers,” said James Liu, president and chief executive of Aegon Life (Taiwan) who was speaking at the opening of Aegon’s new Taiwan headquarters. “The big driver for our growth will come from pension-related products.”