Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Biodiversity
• Inclusion and Diversity
• Responsible Investment
• Human Rights

Environmental Achievements

• Aegon’s direct business operations in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been carbon-neutral since 2016. Carbon neutrality was extended to cover the entire Group in 2019.
• Aegon’s direct energy usage fell by 17.6% in 2020
• In January 2021, Aegon UK announced its intention to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its default pension fund ranges by 2050.

Social Achievements

• Aegon surpassed its goal of 30% gender diversity at management level worldwide in 2020, reaching 32% female representation.
• Transamerica scores 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index for the third consecutive year.
• Aegon UK employees raised more than GBP 106,000 for its charity partners and other good causes following a series of fundraising initiatives.
• Aegon the Netherlands introduced a ‘Blue Heart’ program that enabled people facing financial difficulties to postpone their payments.

Governance Achievements

• Aegon implemented a revised Group-wide Responsible Investment Policy and expanded the measurement of the carbon emissions associated with its investments.
• Inclusion and diversity targets are incorporated into the remuneration of all Executive Board and Management Board members.
• 50% of a member’s variable compensation is related to non-financial performance indicators, of which at least one must be ESG-related.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• COVID-19 pandemic impact on earnings, capital, expenses, and sales.
• Increased pressure on retirement systems due to increased longevity, population aging, and low interest rates.
• Climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Low interest rates.
• Economic uncertainty.
• Cyberattacks and data security threats.

Mitigation Strategies

• Steps taken to strengthen the balance sheet and improve the Company’s risk profile.
• Expense savings program targeting a EUR 400 million reduction by 2023.
• Rebasing of the dividend to ensure sustainability.
• Increased investment in information security.
• Development of new digital solutions and customer support initiatives.
• Active engagement with investee companies on ESG issues.
• Implementation of a revised Group-wide Responsible Investment Policy.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 67 of top 250 suppliers (56% of spend) assessed via EcoVadis

Responsible Procurement

• Vendor Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Wildfires
• Extreme weather events

Transition Risks

• Regulatory changes

Opportunities

• Development of sustainable investment solutions

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS-EU), International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) framework, Dutch Corporate Governance Code, Dutch Civil Code, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Certifications: ISO 50001 (UK premises), ISO 14001 (UK premises)

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 1: No Poverty
• Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
• Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 13: Climate Action

Aegon's initiatives contribute to these goals through various programs and policies related to financial inclusion, health and well-being, renewable energy, responsible investment, and climate action.

Awards & Recognition

• Customer Service of the Year awards (Aegon Spain)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• ESG integration
• Active ownership
• Solutions
• Climate change
• Corporate governance
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Access to medicines and vaccines

Environmental Achievements

• Aegon N.V. committed to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 for its EUR 156 billion general account investment portfolio.
• Aegon AM signed the Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative.
• Launched Aegon Global Sustainable Sovereign Bond Strategy.
• Aegon Global Sustainable Equity product won a UNCTAD Sustainable Global Fund Award.

Social Achievements

• Increased active ownership activity: 596 engagements (up from 575 in 2020), voted on 2,963 meetings (up from 2,511 in 2020).
• Focused attention on health and social issues within engagements, particularly access to medicines and vaccines for developing countries.
• Achieved 33% women in senior management roles globally (exceeding the 30% target).

Governance Achievements

• Expanded the RI team to 17 members.
• Aegon AM UK joined the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative.
• Aegon AM UK officially renamed the Aegon Sustainable Diversified Growth Strategy.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Difficulty in procuring ESG information in challenging asset classes (e.g., sovereign bonds).
• Complexity in assessing ESG factors for sovereign bonds due to limited data, lack of consistency in measurement, and the influence of social unrest, political and economic stability, and climate change.
• Challenges in aligning global listed real estate portfolios with sustainability trends due to mixed data quality, differences in regulation, and limited comparability.

Mitigation Strategies

• Developed a proprietary ESG scoring methodology for sovereign bonds to support qualitative research.
• Combines external ESG information with internal assessments and traditional financial evaluations for sovereign bonds.
• Uses a bottom-up and thorough sustainability research approach for real estate, similar to other single-asset sustainable strategies.

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Focus on RSPO-certified palm oil suppliers.
• Engagement with suppliers to address deforestation concerns.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Transition Risks

• Increasing regulation and carbon taxes

Opportunities

• Growth opportunities around climate change and energy transition
• Tenant demand for green buildings

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: PRI, TCFD, UN SDGs, SASB

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Various UN SDGs

The Aegon Global Sustainable Sovereign Bond Strategy invests in countries demonstrating significant progress toward the UN SDGs.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Aegon Global Sustainable Sovereign Bond Strategy
• Aegon Global Sustainable Equity product
• Aegon Sustainable Diversified Growth Strategy
• AEAM Global Sustainable Real Estate Strategy

Awards & Recognition

• UNCTAD Sustainable Global Fund Award

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Inclusion and diversity

Environmental Achievements

• 20% reduction in weighted average carbon intensity (WACI) of corporate fixed income and listed equity general account assets against 2019
• 59% reduction in operational carbon footprint versus 2019 baseline

Social Achievements

• Appointed a Global Head of Inclusion and Diversity
• Increased employee engagement score by two points to 70%
• 36% women in senior management

Governance Achievements

• Established a Global Sustainability Board (GSB) and Local Sustainability Boards
• Enhanced Sustainability Reporting Program
• Executed a EUR 300 million share buyback program

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Volatile macroeconomic environment, including high inflation and rising interest rates
• Geopolitical tensions, particularly the war in Ukraine
• Market volatility impacting investment returns and customer outflows
• ESG-related criticisms from NGOs regarding emission targets and engagement transparency

Mitigation Strategies

• Strengthened balance sheet and reduced risk profile
• Improved operational performance through expense savings and growth initiatives
• Divestment of sub-scale businesses in Hungary and Turkey
• Combination of Aegon the Netherlands with a.s.r.
• Engaged in constructive dialogue with NGOs to address concerns

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 72% of procurement expenditure involving the 250 largest vendors covered by EcoVadis program

Responsible Procurement

• Vendor Code of Conduct
• EcoVadis program
• Social Enterprise UK membership (UK)

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Transition Risks

• Stranded assets
• Regulatory changes
• Market shifts

Opportunities

• Financing the energy transition
• Climate-driven investment insights

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD, GRI, UN Global Compact, UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

Awards & Recognition

• Aegon-Industrial Fund Management Company received the Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility from the Shanghai Daily newspaper

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate Change
• Inclusion and Diversity

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced the carbon footprint of its operational activities by 68% compared to the 2019 baseline by the end of 2023 (target was 25% reduction by 2025).
• Increased renewable energy share to 75% in 2023 from 64% in 2022.

Social Achievements

• Not disclosed

Governance Achievements

• Updated Responsible Investment Policy in 2023 to include concrete actions on engagement, exclusion, and/or funding criteria in climate change and human rights.
• 7% of overall variable compensation for the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer linked to Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI).

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Assessing the relevance of far-out climate change developments to the shorter-term organizational strategy timeframe.
• Differing potential climate change pathways and data availability.
• Allocating emissions to different customers due to diversity of product lines and the less material nature of Aegon's operational footprint compared to investment activities.

Mitigation Strategies

• Conducting a qualitative company-wide climate risk assessment (CRA) categorizing risks into four occurrence timeframes.
• Quantitatively assessing climate scenarios and their impacts on the investment portfolio using a 2050 timeframe.
• Direct engagement with clients to optimize footprint assessment; using a metric of operational greenhouse gas emissions by unit revenue (metric tons CO2e/EURm).

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Annual responsible procurement program assessments.

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events leading to asset devaluation and increased insurance claims liability.

Transition Risks

• Asset devaluation related to the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Opportunities

• Returns on investment in low-emission technology (e.g., C-PACE, GoodLeap).

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: TCFD, CSRD, ESRS, PCAF, GRI, NZAOA Target Setting Protocol

Certifications: Null

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Climate transition investment products.

Awards & Recognition

• Not disclosed

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Inclusion and diversity

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced the carbon footprint of operational activities by 25% (against 2019 baseline)
• Reduced the weighted average carbon intensity of corporate fixed income and listed equity general account assets by 25% (against 2019 baseline)
• Reduced the scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity of directly held real estate investments by 25% (kgCO2e/m2) (against 2019 baseline)
• Invested USD 2.5 billion in activities to mitigate climate change or adapt to its impacts

Social Achievements

• Established Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) focusing on culture, race and ethnicity, (dis)ability, generations, LGBTQIA+, wellbeing, and women's impact.
• Set a target of at least 38% female representation in senior management positions.
• Participates in Workplace Pride, a global benchmark for LGBTQIA+ policies and practices.

Governance Achievements

• Integrated environmental remuneration targets into the individual performance targets of key executives.
• Established a Global Sustainability Board (GSB) to advise the Executive Committee on sustainability.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Not disclosed

Mitigation Strategies

• Not disclosed

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Vendor Code of Conduct
• Responsible sourcing

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Not disclosed

Transition Risks

• Not disclosed

Opportunities

• Not disclosed

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: UN Global Compact, UNEP-FI, Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), TCFD

Certifications: Null

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Not disclosed

Awards & Recognition

• Not disclosed