Aegon's Turnaround Is Still Turning

Aegon has had its share of problems over the last 13 years, averaging close to 4.4% return on equity over this period. That is well below the 11% cost of capital we assign to the business. These struggles have stretched across capital, solvency, governance, management, and recurring nonrecurring items. Additionally, communication with the investment community was not good. However, we think recent results show a change of direction in terms of strategy.