Aegon May Not Be Pretty, but It Is Slowly Getting More Attractive

Aegon has long been plagued by what is sometimes considered a strength of the insurance industry: the diversification of products and geographies. The problem with this lies in the point at which a company chooses to diversify and whether it has pinned down its expertise and market leadership before it moves on to another product or country. In this case, a business can apply what it learned through establishing the local and narrow competitive advantage to its new country or product group. In sum, diversification should be carried out only with core ascendency, and it should be carried out in a very focused and strategic way. Aegon has not done this.