• Operating capital generation increased 5% to EUR 1,073 million, building on a strong prior-year base, supported by business growth in Europe. Well on track to achieve 2028 OCG target of EUR 2.2 billion
• NN Group Solvency II ratio increased to 224%, supported by net capital build and the exclusion of NN Bank from the NN Group Solvency II ratio, which more than offset unfavourable markets, as well as model and assumption changes
• Free cash flow increased 7% to EUR 922 million; remaining on track to achieve the 2028 target of over EUR 1.8 billion
• Operating result increased to EUR 1,507 million from EUR 1,443 million in the first half of 2025; net result increased to EUR 1,066 million
• Continued delivery of attractive and compounding capital return to shareholders, with a 2026 interim dividend of EUR 1.55 per ordinary share, up 12% compared with the 2025 interim dividend

Continued strong commercial performance

• Value of new business increased 16% to EUR 275 million, driven by growth in Insurance Europe and a pension transaction at Netherlands Life
• Netherlands Non-life showed 6% gross written premiums growth. The combined ratio for the first half year was 90.5%, ahead of the 91-93% guidance range
• Dutch pensions business ranked number one in broker satisfaction for the fourth consecutive year. Assets under management of the defined contribution pension business grew by 13% to EUR 48 billion, benefitting from high net inflows and markets
• Future Ready programme on track to deliver EUR 200 million in annual benefits by 2027, with 65% already achieved by June 2026

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today, we are pleased to report a strong set of results. Our performance during the first half of 2026 demonstrates our ability to successfully execute our strategy and positions us well to meet our 2028 targets.

Operating capital generation, our key performance indicator, amounted to EUR 1.1 billion. This was largely driven by strong business growth in our European businesses, highlighting the benefits of our strategy to diversify our earnings. Our Solvency II ratio increased to 224%, driven by net capital build and the exclusion of NN Bank from NN Group’s Solvency II ratio. This was partly offset by unfavourable markets, as well as model and assumption changes.

Value of new business (VNB) increased to EUR 275 million. In Europe, our businesses delivered a 14% increase in VNB, mainly driven by higher sales volumes in risk protection products, which was supported by our strong distribution capabilities. Assets under management of pensions services across Europe surpassed the EUR 50 billion mark for the first time. This more than offset lower VNB from Japan, where demand shifted towards shorter-duration products, moderating sales growth.

In the Netherlands, our Non-life business delivered a 6% increase in gross written premiums. The business achieved a combined ratio of 90.5%, ahead of our target range of 91-93%.

Our Dutch Life & Pensions business recorded net inflows of EUR 1.7 billion in defined contribution pension assets, increasing related assets under management to EUR 48 billion.

At the same time, our Future Ready programme remains firmly on track and continues to deliver tangible results. By the end of June, we had completed around 70% of investments related to the programme and delivered cumulative annual benefits of EUR 130 million. As a result, we remain on course to achieve our target of EUR 200 million in annual benefits. The programme is also helping us generate growth: for example, our use of AI is driving higher sales in Europe through our Agent Digital Office, an innovative platform that connects agents with potential customers. We remain focused on using AI efficiently and are carefully managing token-related costs.

We also continue to deliver strong progress against our other strategic priorities that focus on customers, our colleagues and society. Customer satisfaction remains strong across our markets. Eight of our nine international units continue to outperform their local market, while customer satisfaction in the Netherlands is also above the market average. In addition, we have achieved the highest level of broker satisfaction for pensions in the Netherlands for the fourth consecutive year. We are pleased that we continue to achieve high employee engagement scores, remaining above benchmark levels as we work to transform the company. Alongside this, we increased the volume of our investments in climate solutions to EUR 14.3 billion, demonstrating our commitment to supporting the transition to a more sustainable economy.

Our performance during the first half of 2026 enables us to continue delivering attractive, compounding capital returns to shareholders, reflected in a 2026 interim dividend per share of EUR 1.55, up 12% year on year.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2026 and beyond, these results provide a strong platform for future growth and position us well to continue to deliver sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders. We thank our customers and shareholders for their continued trust, and our colleagues for their dedication and hard work.’

You can access the full press release and the rest of the documents related to NN Group's 1H 2026 results here.

Together with this report, NN Group published a Solvency and Financial Condition Report and a Total Tax Contribution Report.

NN Group’s 2025 Annual Report is available for download at Annual Report 2025 

• Operating capital generation increased 9% to EUR 2.1 billion, exceeding the 2025 target of EUR 1.9 billion, reflecting continued strong business performance.
• Free cash flow grew 7%, slightly ahead of the 2025 target of EUR 1.6 billion, with the contribution from business segments increasingly diversified.
• NN Group Solvency II ratio increased to 220%, benefiting from favourable market conditions and continued strong net capital build.
• Operating result rose 17% to EUR 3,002 million; net result of EUR 1,188 million.

Accelerating dividend growth and stepping up the annual buyback 

• Based on strong business performance, cash, and capital levels, NN Group enhances its capital return by an additional EUR 100 million beyond the progressive dividend policy, splitting this evenly between the dividend and the annual share buyback.
• Consequently, the total dividend per share for 2025 is up 13% to EUR 3.88 per share and annual share buyback programme is increased by EUR 50 million to EUR 350 million. 

Excellent and continued commercial momentum

• Future Ready programme well on track to reach EUR 200 million benefits in 2027; further extension of data literacy programme for employees to understand, analyse, and use data effectively.
• Value of new business (VNB) of Insurance Europe increased 16%, reflecting higher sales and a favourable product mix.
• VNB of Japan Life increased 25% following the introduction of a new long-term savings product in March.
• Gross written premiums for Netherlands Non-life up 6%, surpassing EUR 4 billion for the first time, driven by premium increases and volume growth. The combined ratio was 92.9%, within the 91%-93% guidance range.
• Netherlands Life saw assets under management of the defined contribution pension business grow by 9% to EUR 43 billion, benefitting from high net inflows and markets.

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO 

‘Today, we are presenting a very strong set of results for 2025, reflecting continued positive business performance and strategy execution despite ongoing geopolitical volatility. We exceeded our targets for 2025 and are well on track to achieve the 2028 goals outlined at our Capital Markets Day in May 2025. 

In Europe, we reported continued growth across the region, most notably in Poland, Greece, Romania and Slovakia. Netherlands Non-life increased gross written premiums by 6%, reaching the EUR 4 billion mark for the first time. Our business in Japan also showed a strong commercial performance, driven by the successful launch of a long-term savings product for business owners. Our Netherlands Life business benefitted from strong net inflows of EUR 2.6 billion and favourable market movements in defined contribution pension products, and continued to capture opportunities arising from the changing Dutch pension market. 

Our Future Ready programme, which is focused on further improving the customer experience, and driving operational efficiencies and profitable growth, is well on track towards our goal of generating EUR 200 million annual benefits as of 2027. At the end of 2025, we had 236 AI use cases in production, including a system that enables us to approve and pay out various car insurance claims within minutes. 

Operating capital generation (OCG), our key performance indicator, increased 9% to EUR 2.1 billion. Combined with positive market developments, this contributed to a further strengthening of our capital position, with a Solvency II ratio of 220%. The strong business performance, cash, and capital levels enable us to step up our annual share buyback programme to EUR 350 million, and propose a 13% higher full-year dividend compared to 2024. We continued to deliver on our strategic objectives focused on our customers, people, and our contribution to society. 

Customer satisfaction scores further improved, with eight of our nine international markets scoring above the market average. In the Netherlands, we maintained our number one position in broker satisfaction, reflecting our proven strategy to work closely with this key partner group. We also saw a further improvement in employee satisfaction. In support of a sustainable economy, we increased investments in climate solutions, reaching a total of EUR 14 billion by the end of 2025. Since 2022, our community investment programme has supported more than one million people. 

Looking ahead, these results provide us with a strong foundation for future growth, which enables us to continue to create sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders. We would like to thank our customers and shareholders for their trust, and our colleagues for their ongoing commitment.’

The note is primarily intended to assist the sell side analyst community covering NN Group, and may be useful for their analysis. The note is available on the Financial Results page of the Investors section on NN Group’s website.

NN Group will publish its 2H25 results on 12 February 2026.

• Operating capital generation (OCG) increased 6% to EUR 1,020 million, reflecting continued strong business performance, mainly supported by 10% growth of Insurance Europe and 15% growth of Netherlands Non-life
• Solvency II ratio of NN Group increased to 208%, or 205% on a pro-forma^1,2 basis, from 194% at the end of 2024, benefiting from favourable market conditions, strong organic capital generation and a new longevity reinsurance agreement
• Free cash flow (FCF) of EUR 863 million in the first half of 2025, on track to achieve EUR 1.6 billion target for 2025
• Continued delivery on attractive and compounding capital return to shareholders, with a 2025 interim dividend of EUR 1.38 per ordinary share, up 8% compared with the 2024 interim dividend
• Operating result increased to EUR 1,443 million from EUR 1,329 million in the first half of 2024; net result of EUR 391 million

Strong commercial performance in growth segments

• 11% increase of value of new business (VNB) for Insurance Europe, reflecting higher sales across most channels and products as well as a favourable product mix
• VNB of Japan Life increased 25% following the recent introduction of a new long-term savings product
• Total VNB was broadly stable due to lower defined benefit pension sales in the Netherlands
• Assets under management of the defined contribution pension business remained stable at EUR 39 billion, as EUR 1.2 billion net inflows offset market impacts in the first half of 2025
• Netherlands Non-life showed 6% gross written premiums growth driven by premium increases and volume growth. The combined ratio for the first half year was 91.2%, at the lower end of the 91%-93% guidance range
• Number 1 ranking in Dutch broker satisfaction

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘The strong results we report today show that, amid a globally volatile first half year of 2025, we continue to deliver on our strategy. With these results, we are creating a foundation for future growth, as announced during our Capital Markets Day on 27 May 2025. Operating capital generation increased 6% to EUR 1,020 million in the first half of 2025, compared with EUR 959 million in the first half of 2024, driven by higher OCG from Netherlands Life and continued business growth of Insurance Europe as well as Netherlands Non-life, partially offset by Banking due to lower interest margins, Japan and the segment Other. Our capital position increased with a Solvency II ratio of 208%, or 205% on a pro-forma^1,2 basis, from 194% at the end of 2024, reflecting favourable market conditions, strong organic capital generation and a new longevity reinsurance agreement.

We saw continued strong commercial results, across markets. Value of new business in Europe and Japan increased with respectively 11% and 25%, highlighting the strength of our diverse businesses and customer dedication. Customer satisfaction continued its positive trajectory, particularly in international markets. We rank overall number 1 in Dutch broker satisfaction. Improved distribution and higher demand drove stronger sales across Europe, notably in Greece, Poland, and Slovakia. NN Japan recorded significant sales growth due to launch of a long-term savings product. In the Netherlands, the Non-life activities achieved a combined ratio of 91.2%. Our pension administrator AZL achieved a major milestone by transitioning the first pension fund to its new platform consistent with the new Dutch pension legislation. We expect more customers to follow soon.

To enhance our digital presence and operational efficiency, while maintaining a strong emphasis on customer experience and growth, targets were introduced. We launched our Future Ready programme, designed to transform NN Group by emphasising AI, standardisation, automation, and re-use. This transformation aims to improve customer experiences, drive growth, and generate approximately EUR 200 million in annual benefits by 2027. Early adoption of AI provided a foundation for measurable outcomes. We are making significant progress towards our goal of generating 50% of new sales from digital leads in Insurance Europe by 2028, having reached 40% in the first half of 2025, up from 36% in 2024. Furthermore, we currently have 191 AI use cases in production compared with 148 cases at the end of 2024, with all business units reporting strong progress.

Our focus remains firmly on our customers, people and our contribution to society. In addition to maintaining net-zero targets across investments, own operations, and insurance underwriting, we reinforced our dedication to supporting a more sustainable economy and society by publishing our new Biodiversity Plan in January and updating both our Climate Action Plan and Active Ownership Report in April. Total investments in climate solutions increased to EUR 14.3 billion as of 30 June 2025. We are also pleased to note that our employee engagement scores remain high.

In line with our attractive dividend policy, we will pay an interim dividend of EUR 1.38 per share.’

The note is primarily intended to assist the sell side analyst community covering NN Group, and may be useful for their analysis. The note is available on the Financial Results page of the Investors section on NN Group’s website.

NN Group will publish its 1H25 results on 8 August 2025.

• Operating capital generation (OCG) for 2024 reached more than EUR 1.9 billion, reaching our 2025 target a year ahead of plan
• Free cash flow up 8% year-on-year to EUR 1.5 billion, with contribution better diversified between business units
• Dividend per share also up 8% year-on-year, reaching EUR 3.44; annual EUR 300 million share buyback programme announced
• Solvency II ratio remains robust at 194%, mainly due to adverse market impacts and regulatory changes, partly offset by management actions
• Full-year operating result increased to EUR 2.6 billion; the net result increased to EUR 1.6 billion from EUR 1.2 billion in 2023

Strong business performance supported by excellent commercial momentum

• Value of new business increased 20% to EUR 395 million, driven by organic growth and higher margins in Europe and higher defined benefit sales in Netherlands Life. Net inflows in the defined contribution pension business in 2024 were EUR 2.3 billion, boosting assets under management above EUR 39 billion
• Insurance Europe exceeded its OCG target of EUR 450 million one year ahead of schedule, mainly supported by strong pension performance and new business growth
• Netherlands Non-life showed strong performance in 2024 with ~4.5% premium growth on a like-for-like basis driven by premium increases as well as volume growth, and achieved a strong level of OCG at EUR 406 million. The combined ratio was 93.1%
• Customer satisfaction scores continue positive trend with 8 out of 10 countries ranking at or above market average; number 1 broker satisfaction scores at Dutch life and pension businesses as well as P&C commercial lines
• Continued progress in reducing carbon footprint of corporate investment portfolio; total investments in climate solutions increased to EUR 12.8 billion

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today we are reporting very good results for 2024, highlighting the strength of our diverse businesses and showing we are well on track in the delivery of our strategy focused on customers, our people, and contribution to society. Operating capital generation was EUR 1.9 billion, a slight increase compared to the previous year and a year ahead of the 2025 target. This was supported by continued strong business performances across the group, particularly in Europe and Netherlands Non-life. 

Our business in Europe continued to show strong commercial momentum, with higher sales of protection products thanks to our successful distribution mix and new product launches. In the Netherlands, our pension business also reported continued growth, supported by strong inflows in defined contribution, renewals of existing defined benefit pension contracts and pension buyouts. Our Dutch non-life business maintained its robust performance and delivered volume growth. 

We remain committed to offering a superior digital experience for customers and agents, as is evidenced by the underlying improvements in customer satisfaction scores, particularly in our European markets. We rank at or above market average in 8 out of 10 countries. Employee satisfaction scores also showed an upward trend. As part of our commitment to contribute to a sustainable future, we further increased our investments in climate solutions, bringing total investments to EUR 12.8 billion by the end of 2024. Since 2022, we have supported 766 thousand people through our community investment programmes. 

Our capital position remained robust with a Solvency II ratio of 194%, from 197% at the end of 2023. The slight decrease was mainly caused by adverse market impacts and regulatory changes, which were partly offset by management actions. We propose a final dividend of EUR 2.16 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2024 to EUR 3.44 per share, an increase of 8% compared to 2023. In addition, in line with our policy we again announce an annual share buyback programme of EUR 300 million. 

With our leading market positions and robust balance sheet, we are well-positioned to continue to create long-term value for our stakeholders. We will provide an update of our strategy and new medium-term targets at our Capital Markets Day in May.’

The note is primarily intended to assist the sell side analyst community covering NN Group, and may be useful for their analysis. The note is available on the Financial Results page of the Investors section on NN Group’s website.

NN Group will publish its 2H24 results on 20 February 2025.

• Strong operating capital generation (OCG) of EUR 959 million in the first half of 2024, despite a slight decrease from the same period last year which benefitted from favourable claims; delivering towards OCG target of EUR 1.9 billion in 2025
• NN Group Solvency II ratio remains robust at 192% from 197% on 31 December 2023
• Free cash flow up 8% year-on-year to EUR 899 million, with contribution better diversified between business units
• Committed to capital return policy of a progressive dividend per share and annual share buyback of at least EUR 300 million; 2024 interim dividend of EUR 1.28 per ordinary share
• Operating result was EUR 1.3 billion and net result was EUR 0.6 billion in the first half of 2024
• Announcing a Capital Markets Day on 27 May 2025 to provide updates on strategy and targets

Strong business performance, benefitting from commercial momentum in Europe

• Value of new business increased to EUR 241 million in the first half of 2024 compared with EUR 195 million in the first half of 2023, due to an increased volume in Netherlands Life and good sales momentum in Insurance Europe
• Sustained growth in Europe with increased sales in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly notable in the value of new business of Greece, Czech Republic, and Poland
• Net inflows of EUR 1.2 billion in the defined contribution pension business in the first half of 2024
• Netherlands Non-life business maintains robust and positive performance, achieving a combined ratio of 92.2%
• Customer satisfaction scores continue positive trend; total investments in climate solutions at EUR 11.5 billion

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today we are reporting strong results for the first half of 2024, highlighting we remain well on track to deliver on our strategic and financial targets for 2025. The results were driven by a continued solid financial and commercial performance in the Netherlands and our growing European markets. Operating capital generation (OCG) was EUR 959 million in the first half of 2024, compared with EUR 997 million in the first half of 2023, reflecting a lower contribution from Netherlands Non-life, which benefitted from favourable claims in the same period last year including benign weather. This was partly offset by higher contributions from Netherlands Life, Insurance Europe and our Banking business. Despite a number of large fire claims at the start of 2024, Netherlands Non-life continued its strong business performance with a combined ratio of 92.2%.

We continue to see high demand for our products and services as reflected by the higher value of new business, which increased by 23% to EUR 241 million in the first half of 2024, supported by higher pension volumes at Netherlands Life and solid sales of protection and pension products across our European markets. In addition, Netherlands Life reported net inflows of EUR 1.2 billion at its defined contribution pension business.

The results demonstrate the strength of our diverse businesses and the sustained execution of our strategy focused on our customers, our colleagues and contribution to society. Customer satisfaction scores, as measured by the relational Net Promoter Score (NPS-r), continued their underlying positive trend, especially in our international markets. Further improving the customer experience remains our focus in all our markets, and we are successfully scaling artificial intelligence (AI) applications across NN to support agents and our employees.

We continue to play our role in contributing to a more sustainable economy and society through our business activities and investments. In February, we committed EUR 350 million to finance a portfolio of assets in the coming years, focused on climate change mitigation and adaption and the broader energy transition. Total investments in climate solutions were EUR 11.5 billion by the end of the first half of 2024.

Our solid business performance and operating capital generation underpin our commitment to our capital return policy of a growing dividend per share and an annual share buyback of at least EUR 300 million. On 27 May 2025, we will host a Capital Markets Day to provide the market with an update of our strategy and targets. We would like to thank our customers, our colleagues, and our shareholders for their continued commitment and trust.’

• Continued strong business performance with full-year operating capital generation (OCG) rising 13% (excluding the asset management business that was sold in 2022) to EUR 1.9 billion in 2023, exceeding 2025 target of EUR 1.8 billion ahead of plan
• Increased OCG target to EUR 1.9 billion and free cash flow target of EUR 1.6 billion in 2025
• NN Group Solvency II ratio remains robust at 197% from 201% at 30 June 2023; unit-linked settlement agreement and attractive longevity deals have reduced the risk profile of the balance sheet
• Consequently, 15% step-up of 2023 total dividend to EUR 3.20 per share; structural increase of annual share buyback programme to EUR 300 million
• Full-year operating result was EUR 2.5 billion; full-year net result was EUR 1.2 billion

Solid business performance across the group

• Record net inflows of EUR 2.3 billion at our defined contribution pension business in 2023
• Continued growth momentum in Europe with higher sales in Central and Eastern Europe, most notably strong value of new business in Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, despite macroeconomic uncertainties
• Continued strong and favourable business performance in Netherlands Non-life; combined ratio of 92.6%
• Banking continued to benefit from higher interest result
• Value of new business was EUR 330 million in 2023 versus EUR 432 million in 2022, reflecting lower sales in Japan

Consistent execution of strategy; progress in customer satisfaction and responsible investment

• Customer satisfaction scores continue upward trend with International Insurance business scoring above market average NPS-r; refined strategy to accelerate our digital transformation
• Employee engagement at 7.8, showing resilience in competitive labour market
• Continued progress in responsible investment with EUR 10.8 billion total investments in climate solutions by the end of 2023 and a 10% reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of our corporate investment portfolio versus 2021 levels 
   

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today we are reporting strong results for the second half and full-year of 2023, driven by a solid performance despite the volatile macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. Full-year operating capital generation (OCG) rose 13% on a like-for-like basis to EUR 1.9 billion, exceeding our 2025 target of EUR 1.8 billion ahead of plan. This reflects increased contributions from Netherlands Non-life, Banking, the segment Other and Insurance Europe. Netherlands Non-life reported a continued strong and favourable business performance, while Insurance Europe and Banking benefitted from higher rates. This helped to offset a lower contribution from Netherlands Life which was mainly driven by the financial markets. While business growth is expected to return to normalised levels, we continue to expect underlying growth in the coming years. We have therefore increased our OCG target for 2025 to EUR 1.9 billion.

The strong results reflect the consistent execution of our strategy that focuses on our customers, employees and role in society. Customer satisfaction scores improved, driven by our customer engagement and digitalisation efforts. Our International business scored an above market average relational net promoter score, with strong underlying improvements in Belgium, Czech Republic, Japan and Poland. To further increase operational efficiencies and improve the customer experience in the coming years, we recently refined our strategy with a focus on accelerating our digital transformation through the use of data and artificial intelligence (AI).

We continued to support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. On the investment side, we invested a total amount of EUR 10.8 billion in climate solutions, such as certified green buildings and renewable energy. We also reported a 10% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in our corporate investment portfolio, moving us towards our goal of a 25% reduction by 2025 versus 2021 levels. On the insurance side, our Dutch Non-life business increasingly focuses on offering sustainable damage repair to our customers. This means we offer repair instead of complete replacement, where possible using circular materials and implementing measures such as offering customers the opportunity to upgrade their windows with insulated glass.

We took important steps to further optimise and de-risk our balance sheet, with two attractive longevity reinsurance transactions in December 2023 and a final settlement agreement on unit-linked life insurance products at the start of 2024.

Our strong business performance and balance sheet give us confidence in further growing our free cash flow (FCF), resulting in an FCF target of EUR 1.6 billion by 2025. This enables a step up of the proposed final dividend to EUR 2.08 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2023 to EUR 3.20 per share, an increase of 15% compared to 2022. We also announce a structural increase of our annual share buyback programme to an amount of EUR 300 million. From this higher base, we confirm our commitment of a progressive dividend per share, an annual share buyback of at least EUR 300 million and additional excess capital to be returned to shareholders unless used for value-creating opportunities.

Looking ahead, we are well-positioned to continue creating sustainable long-term value for our stakeholders. We would like to thank our customers and shareholders for their ongoing trust and loyalty, and our colleagues for their commitment in servicing our customers and other stakeholders.’

Delivering on our strategic commitments

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: one that delivers sustainable long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – Improving our offering through new initiatives and partnerships

NN reached a final settlement with five interest groups regarding unit-linked insurance products sold in the Netherlands by Nationale-Nederlanden, including Delta Lloyd and ABN AMRO Levensverzekering. The settlement relates to all unit-linked insurance products of customers affiliated with one of the interest groups and is subject to a 90% acceptance rate of affiliated policyholders that have received an individual proposal for compensation. As part of the settlement, all pending (collective) proceedings with respect to unit-linked products against Nationale-Nederlanden will be discontinued once the settlement is executed, which is anticipated ultimately 30 June 2025. The settlement also includes that no new legal proceedings may be initiated by the interest groups or their affiliated parties. With this settlement we provide clarity to our customers and can finally resolve this issue. To cover the settlement costs, a provision of EUR 360 million was recognised in the fourth quarter of 2023. This includes EUR 60 million for hardship cases and customers unaffiliated with one of the interest groups who have not previously received compensation.

Across NN, we are focusing on improving our customers’ experience through the use of data and artificial intelligence (AI). Our Dutch brand OHRA uses a machine-learning model that automatically drafts email responses to customer claims, enabling faster claims payments. Across our international markets, we are using an AI-driven solution to personalise our product offering to existing customers and increase the effectiveness of tied agents in acquiring new customers. The solution has been implemented in Poland, Romania, Spain, Hungary and Greece.

As we continue to focus on improving and simplifying communications and interaction with our customers, NN Belgium introduced a pension passport, a physical booklet supported by a digital version. The tool summarises the Belgian state’s pension annual statement in plain language, which increases customers’ knowledge about their personal pension situation.

Improving customer engagement continues to be top priority, and we saw a continued upward trend of our relational net promoter scores (NPS-r), especially in Europe. On an aggregated level, the NPS of our Dutch business remained stable, scoring on par with market average, while our International business scored above market average for the first time, with strong underlying improvements in Belgium, Czech Republic, Japan and Poland.

Products and services – Meeting our customers’ needs with new protection products

As we aim to support the transition to a sustainable society, our Dutch Non-life business started a series of initiatives for sustainable damage repairs. For example, following a successful pilot, we now offer retail customers the opportunity to upgrade to better insulated glass as the new standard for our home insurances, enabling them to save on energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, OHRA announced its intention to make sustainable damage repair the norm for its customers, aiming for at least 65% sustainable recovery of claims on home insurance policies.

We continued our efforts to meet customers’ evolving needs for protection. In Romania, we launched a critical illness insurance covering treatment abroad for cancer, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery and transplants. In Greece, we launched a health product to support customers in the case of hospitalisation, providing various allowances for hospital stay, surgery and home recuperation. The product is especially valuable for people living in small cities who do not have access to hospitals or the means to cover their hospital stay.  

People and organisation – empowering our people to be their best

In our semi-annual survey carried out in the second half of 2023, employee engagement was 7.8, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.1 compared with the mid-year 2023 results. The survey results indicate our colleagues feel they have the right resources and support to successfully work in a hybrid setup, they feel their work is valued, and they feel connected with our values: care, clear, commit. Collaboration between departments and process efficiency continue to be areas of improvement and management is taking actions to look into this and correct course at a team level.

With a rapidly evolving macroeconomic and technological landscape, we must ensure our skills match our strategic needs. In light of this, we announced a programme for senior management to build the data and digital capabilities needed for the future. The programme will be further rolled out in the coming years for the wider workforce.

Financial strength – improved results and strong capital position

Full-year OCG rose 13% on a like-for-like basis to EUR 1.9 billion in 2023, exceeding our 2025 target of EUR 1.8 billion ahead of plan. We upgraded our target for OCG to EUR 1.9 billion, whilst introducing an FCF target of EUR 1.6 billion in 2025.

We announced a step up of the proposed final dividend to EUR 2.08 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2023 to EUR 3.20 per share, an increase of 15% compared to 2022. We also announced a structural increase of our annual share buyback programme to an amount of EUR 300 million.

NN Life completed two transactions to transfer the full longevity risk associated with in total approximately EUR 13 billion of pension liabilities in the Netherlands. The deals have reduced NN’s exposure to longevity risk and thereby further strengthen NN’s capital position. The unit-linked settlement has also further reduced the risk profile of the balance sheet. At the end of December 2023, NN Group decided to inject EUR 1 billion into NN Life. The capital injection will cover for the unit-linked settlement provision whilst the remainder will be deployed according to NN Life’s strategic asset allocation over time.

The NN Group Solvency II ratio at the end of 2023 was robust at 197% and the NN Life Solvency II ratio was 196%.

Society – further progress in responsible investment

We continued to make further progress in our responsible investment strategy. By the end of 2023, we recorded total investments of EUR 10.8 billion in climate solutions such as certified green buildings and renewable energy. We also reported a 10% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of our corporate investment portfolio, moving us towards our goal of a 25% reduction by 2025 versus 2021 levels. In the coming years, we will continue to focus on our long-term decarbonisation strategy through a combination of a best-in-class approach and engagement to encourage and support decarbonisation in the companies we invest in.

In recognition of our efforts, NN Group was ranked as one of the top performing insurers in a key benchmark for responsible investment in the Netherlands. The Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) awarded NN an absolute score of 4.1 out of 5 points, a slight improvement from the previous benchmark.

With EUR 20 million of charitable contributions, we supported more than 165 partners and met our goal of contributing 1% of our operating result before tax to our communities in 2023. Our group-wide community investment programme supported the financial, physical and/ or mental well-being of 172,000 people in 2023 (401,000 cumulative 2022-2023), putting us on track to reach our strategic target of supporting 1 million people by the end of 2025.

For the seventh consecutive year, NN Group was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for 2023. According to the benchmark, NN ranks amongst the top 10% of the insurance sector globally with regard to our sustainability performance. Overall, NN scored 70 (out of 100), with the insurance sector averaging a score of 31.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 2H23 results at 07:45 CET on Thursday 29 February 2024. Journalists can join the press call by registering via this link.

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2H23 results at 10:30 CET on Thursday 29 February 2024. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Analysts can participate in the Q&A by registering according to the following instructions:

• Register for the conference call online via this link
• After registration, you will receive a confirmation email containing the dial-in number and personal PIN code
• Use these details to dial in to the conference call

• Operating capital generation (OCG) showed a year-on-year increase of 14.8% to EUR 997 million in the first half of 2023 on a like-for-like basis, reflecting higher contributions from Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe and Banking; underscoring the strength of our diversified portfolio of businesses
• NN Group Solvency II ratio increased to 201% from 197% at 31 December 2022, mainly driven by strong OCG, partly offset by capital flows to shareholders
• Committed to capital return policy of a progressive dividend per share and annual share buyback of at least EUR 250 million; 2023 interim dividend of EUR 1.12 per ordinary share
• Updated combined ratio guidance to 91-93% from 93-95% at Netherlands Non-life in 2025 to reflect the discounting effects arising from the move to IFRS 17 accounting standards as well as continued strong business performance
• Operating result increased by 24.5% to EUR 1.40 billion from EUR 1.12 billion in the first half of 2022, reflecting improved results across most segments. The net result in the first half of 2023 was EUR 0.6 billion. As of this reporting period results are based on IFRS 9 and IFRS 17; all comparative results have been restated

Solid business performance despite volatile macroeconomic environment

• Strong net inflows of EUR 1.3 billion at our Defined Contribution pension business in the Netherlands; up from EUR 0.9 billion in the first half of 2023
• Commercial momentum at Insurance Europe continued, driven by higher sales and benefitting from the acquired MetLife businesses
• Strong combined ratio of 90.1% at Netherlands Non-life; Banking benefited from higher interest result
• Value of new business (VNB) was EUR 195 million, down from EUR 257 million in the first half of 2022, mainly driven by lower sales and negative currency impact at Japan Life

Good progress on execution of strategy focused on customers, people and society

• Customer satisfaction scores in European markets showing upward trend; Dutch and International Insurance businesses on par with market average, supported by digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI)
• Employee engagement remains high at 7.9, reflecting our efforts to further develop an attractive and inclusive workplace in a tight labour market
• Continued progress on our sustainability efforts, with EUR 9 billion total investments in climate solutions; disclosure of first interim net-zero targets for our mortgage and insurance underwriting portfolios

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today we are reporting strong results for the first half of 2023 and good progress on our strategic and financial targets, underscoring the strength of our diversified portfolio of businesses in this uncertain macroeconomic environment. Operating capital generation (OCG) rose 14.8% to EUR 997 million compared with the first half of 2022, excluding the impact of the sale of our asset management business in April 2022. This reflects strong business performances from Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe and Banking, more than offsetting a decrease in OCG at Netherlands Life mainly due to adverse financial markets. Our capital position remains resilient, and we continue to be comfortable with the high quality of our investment portfolio.

Our commercial performance was solid across our businesses. Netherlands Life realised net inflows of EUR 1.3 billion at its Defined Contribution pension business, a significant increase compared with EUR 0.9 billion in the first half of 2022, reflecting our strong position in the Dutch pension market. Netherlands Non-life reported a strongly improved combined ratio of 90.1%, benefitting from a favourable claims experience supported by benign weather, as well as higher interest rates. Commercial momentum at Insurance Europe continued, as reflected by higher sales across the region despite inflationary pressures in many of our markets.

We continued to make progress on our strategy focused on customers, our talented people and our contribution to society. We became one of the first companies to work with ChatGPT in our own secure environment as part of our focus to enhance our digital capabilities to further improve the customer experience. The technology is currently being used in our call centres and more than 4,000 colleagues have access to the tool, partly to identify further opportunities for application across our business. In the Netherlands, we are intensifying efforts to help our customers navigate the changes in the pension market following the adoption of the pension reform by the Dutch Senate in May. Throughout our European markets, we are stepping up efforts to respond to the rise in mental health problems with additional products and services. From July onwards, we have been supporting customers faced with damages caused by the extreme weather this summer.

We are pleased with the continued high engagement levels of our people, as reflected by an employee engagement score of 7.9, unchanged from the end of 2022. This demonstrates our focus on building an attractive and inclusive workplace in a tight labour market, for example by supporting our colleagues’ well-being and offering opportunities to grow. We continue to make progress on embedding sustainability into everything we do. We launched a EUR 300 million investment fund for infrastructure climate solutions, we further tightened our stance on proprietary investments in the oil and gas sector, and this summer we published our first interim net-zero targets for our residential mortgages and insurance underwriting portfolios.

With these results, we remain well on track to deliver on our ambitious strategic and financial targets for 2025 despite the ongoing macroeconomic challenges. We would like to thank our customers, our people and our shareholders for their continued trust and commitment.’

Delivering on our strategic commitments

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – Improving our offering through new initiatives and partnerships

We want our colleagues to focus on helping our customers as much as possible. To this end, in the Netherlands we are deploying generative artificial intelligence (AI) across our call centres. Through automated call logging, agents get an automatic summary of their conversations with customers within seconds after the calls end, saving them time to focus on helping our customers. The tool was first implemented at a call centre at our banking business and will be rolled out to other call centres in the coming months.

As we continue to strengthen our distribution network across our European markets, NN Czech Republic entered into a seven-year exclusive partnership with MONETA Money Bank for the distribution of its life insurance and pension savings products to Moneta’s customers. Through the cooperation, the bank’s customers can purchase NN products both at Moneta’s branches and through the bank’s online portals. Additionally, NN Slovakia started a partnership with Slovenská sporiteľňa, the country’s largest bank, offering its customers NN life insurance and a new risk insurance product.

We have a strong focus on customer engagement. We continue to enhance the customer experience we offer, and continue to improve our position compared to the market. We measure our customer engagement based on Net Promoter Scores (NPS-r), amongst other metrics. Based on the latest scores, our Dutch and International business units score on par with market average NPS-r, with many of our European businesses showing an upward trend.

Products and services – Meeting our customers’ needs with new protection and health products

We continued our efforts to meet customers’ evolving needs for protection. For example, across our markets we have been responding to the rise in mental health problems in Europe. To support the mental well-being of the self-employed, NN Belgium introduced preventive services as an add-on to its disability insurance. The service includes psychological support counselling, life coaching and a mindfulness programme for stress prevention. Our Polish business was amongst the first insurers to include psychological and psychiatric support for mental disorders, as an add-on to its group life insurance. The product can be extended to cover employees’ families. In the Netherlands, we are exploring work absenteeism in relation to mental health. In June, Nationale-Nederlanden published its third trend report showing a 5.6% work absenteeism rate in 2022, which is driven in part by psychological issues. Nationale-Nederlanden is providing solutions to increase the focus on employees’ mental health. For example, in addition to our occupational health and safety services, we offer a prevention package which helps employers and employees prevent absenteeism.

In preparation for the new Dutch pension legislation, which has been in effect since 1 July 2023, Nationale-Nederlanden and BeFrank, our online pension administrator, organised sessions to educate advisors on the legislation changes and their impact on customers. We have developed a digital tool that gives an indication of the financial consequences of the new Dutch pension legislation for employers. Advisors can also use the tool for pension schemes from other providers.

In Greece, following the legal merger of former MetLife and NN Hellas, we launched an investment product which combines the best features of both companies’ products. The product offers a range of investment options, including sustainable options that promote environmental and/or social characteristics and at the same time protection to the customer and their family in case of an accident.

People and organisation – Initiatives supporting a diverse workplace and our people’s well-being

We continued our efforts to become a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Colleagues representing all NN markets visited Rotterdam Pride, of which we are the main partner, combining their attendance with a two-day training session on LGBTI+ topics. We launched an international D&I network, while in Spain, we organised volunteer activities with people with an intellectual disability. NN Turkey is amongst the signatories of the UN Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), committing to support gender equality. NN Life Japan sponsored the launch of the Japanese community of Women In Tech, an international organisation that aims to close the gender gap and help women embrace technology. As part of our focus on hiring and retaining tech talent, NN Life Japan established a Technology Operations Centre in the tech hub of Fukuoka city. The centre will be equipped with personnel to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster impacting our Tokyo office.

To support our employees’ well-being, we introduced the Personal Health Check in the Netherlands. By completing the Personal Health Check, colleagues gain insights into their lifestyle, blood pressure, cholesterol, work stress and more. They receive a personal health report with their risk assessment and recommendations on how to improve their health.

In the semi-annual survey carried out in the first half of 2023, NN employees’ engagement remained high at 7.9 (stable compared to the second half of 2022). The results show that colleagues feel that there is a good match between the values of NN and their own, that they receive the right support to work in a hybrid setup, and that their work is valued. We continue to focus on process efficiency and collaboration between departments, which remain improvement areas.

All ten business units within NN International Insurance were certified as Top Employer for the fifth time. For the first time, NN Group was included in the Top 10 ranking companies in Europe, as a result of having more than five business units certified as Top Employer in Europe with a high aggregated score.

Financial strength – Strong results and resilient balance sheet

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive financial returns for shareholders. Operating capital generation (OCG) showed a year-on-year increase of 14.8% to EUR 997 million in the first half of 2023 on a like-for-like basis. Our Solvency II ratio increased to 201% from 197% at 31 December 2022, mainly driven by strong OCG, partly offset by capital flows to shareholders.

We successfully conducted a liability management transaction to proactively address part of the subordinated notes due for refinancing for 2024. We issued EUR 1 billion of dated green subordinated notes on 3 May 2023 to repurchase subordinated notes for the same amount. We continue to have ample financial flexibility given our remaining tiering capacity and low financial leverage ratio.

Society – Investing in climate solutions and our communities

In July, we published our updated Climate Action Plan which describes the steps we are taking towards net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. For example, we further tightened our stance on proprietary investments in the oil and gas sector to also include conventional oil and gas activities. New investments in the sector will be directed only to companies that take adequate action to align their business strategies with the Paris Agreement. We also included interim targets for our residential mortgages and insurance underwriting portfolios.

In February, we announced the launch of a EUR 300 million investment fund for infrastructure climate solutions, together with Rivage Investment. The fund finances infrastructure assets aimed at addressing climate change, focusing on wind, solar, hydro, batteries and energy management solutions.

We continued to invest in our communities to support people’s financial, physical and/or mental well-being. We organised our annual company-wide volunteer week with 3,215 colleagues participating, reaching more than 9,330 people and supporting 35 charities. On a local level, NN Romania launched the first scholarship fund in the country to support the education of students who want to start their own business, but have limited financial means. In partnership with a local organisation, NN increased students’ chances to become entrepreneurs through scholarships amounting over EUR 200,000.

As part of our commitment to promoting people’s health and financial well-being through physical activity, NN has been the proud sponsor of the NN Marathon Rotterdam since 2015. This year, we partnered with the Youth Education Fund to offer primary school children and coaches from vulnerable neighbourhoods the opportunity to participate in the NN Kids Run. In Poland, Nationale-Nederlanden became the title sponsor of the Warsaw Marathon. The partnership aims to encourage citizens to focus on their well-being. During the marathon, runners and visitors had free access to medical tests in the NN area.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 1H23 results at 07:45 CET on Tuesday, 29 August 2023. Journalists can join the press call by registering via this link.

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1H23 results at 10:00 CET on Tuesday, 29 August 2023. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on NN Group - Investors (nn-group.com).

Analysts can participate in the Q&A by registering according to the following instructions:

• Register for the conference call online via this link
• After registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the dial-in number and personal PIN code
• Use these details to dial in to the conference call

Financial calendar

• Publication 2H23 results: 29 February 2024

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

• NN Group 1H23 Financial Supplement, NN Group 1H23 Analyst Presentation, NN Group Company Profile and NN Group ESG presentation
• NN Group 30 June 2023 Condensed consolidated interim financial information

• Operating capital generation (OCG) increased to EUR 812 million from EUR 804 million in the second half of 2021 despite the sale of the Asset Management business (NN IP), reflecting a higher contribution from Netherlands Life and Insurance Europe; Full-year 2022 OCG up 8.0% to EUR 1,711 million
• NN Group Solvency II ratio of 197% versus 196% at 30 June 2022, reflecting strong OCG and asset and liability management transactions, partly offset by market impacts and deduction of the proposed 2022 final dividend
• Proposed 2022 final dividend of EUR 1.79 per ordinary share, bringing total 2022 dividend to EUR 2.79 per ordinary share, up 12% on 2021
• New share buyback programme for an amount of EUR 250 million
• Operating result of EUR 760 million versus EUR 917 million in the second half of 2021, largely due to the sale of NN IP; Full-year 2022 operating result of EUR 1,743 million compared with EUR 2,036 million in 2021
• Net result of EUR -444 million versus EUR 1,864 million in the second half of 2021, reflecting negative real estate revaluations and impairments on equity securities, while the comparative period included gains on the sale of public equities and government bonds as well as positive real estate revaluations; Full-year 2022 net result of EUR 1,562 million versus EUR 3,278 million in 2021

Resilient commercial performance

• Value of new business (VNB) of EUR 177 million versus EUR 186 million in the second half of 2021, mainly reflecting lower VNB at Insurance Europe as a result of the negative impact of discounting at higher interest rates; Full-year 2022 VNB up 0.7% to EUR 431 million
• Strong net inflows of EUR 2.0 billion in Defined Contribution pension business in 2022
• NN Bank and Woonnu originated EUR 8.7 billion of new mortgages in 2022, maintaining a stable market share

Strong focus on customers, employees and society

• 8 of our 11 Dutch and International businesses score on or above market average Net Promoter Score (NPS-r)
• Employee engagement increased to 7.9 from 7.7 in June 2022
• Percentage of women in senior positions increased to 40% from 39% in June 2022
• Total investments of around EUR 3 billion as part of target EUR 6 billion additional investments in climate solutions
• Climate Action Plan published, setting out a clear roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero
• 229,000 people reached via NN programmes to support their financial, physical and/or mental well-being

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Despite the challenging economic and geopolitical environment, we see good progress on the execution of our strategy, and we are pleased to report a resilient commercial performance for the second-half and full-year 2022.

With the full-year operating capital generation of more than EUR 1.7 billion, we have exceeded our 2023 target of EUR 1.5 billion. This result reflects the impact of higher interest rates and a strong business performance of Netherlands Life and Insurance Europe and was despite the sale of our asset management business NN IP. Our balance sheet remains strong, with a Solvency II ratio of 197% at year-end 2022, giving us ample financial flexibility and allowing us to continue to deliver solid capital returns to shareholders.

At Netherlands Life, we attracted net inflows in the Defined Contribution pension business of EUR 1.1 billion in the second half of the year. Netherlands Non-life reported a strong combined ratio of 95.4% reflecting improved D&A results partly offset by lower P&C results. And despite the slowing down of the Dutch housing market, NN Bank maintained its market share and originated in total EUR 3.8 billion of new mortgages during the second half of the year.

While we may see some short-term pressure on sales in Europe due higher prices and lower disposable incomes, we expect the structural demand for protection products to result in sales growth over time. In the second half of the year, the MetLife businesses that we acquired in Poland and Greece, delivered a positive contribution to the operating capital generation, sales, and value of new business of Insurance Europe.

We continue to focus on executing our strategy, which is centered around customer engagement, our talented people, and our contribution to society. We measure customer satisfaction based on Net Promoter Scores (NPS). Based on the latest scores, 8 of our 11 business units scored an at or above market average NPS. We have the strong ambition to further improve the customer experience we offer and enhance our scores. Within NN Life, the pension intermediary satisfaction increased from 7.6 in 2021 to 7.8 in 2022, ranking first in the Dutch market.

Especially in today’s competitive labour market, we are pleased with the high levels of engagement of our people, represented in an increased employee engagement score of 7.9. Our efforts in the area of reporting transparently on gender equality has again resulted in an inclusion in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. In 2022, for the first time, the number of women in senior management positions has increased to 40%.

In December, we published our first Climate Action Plan, which sets out a clear roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero in our own operations by 2040, as well as in our investments and insurance underwriting by 2050. Together with other insurers, we launched a target setting protocol to set science-based targets to transition our underwriting portfolios to net-zero. We are pleased to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for the sixth year in a row.

In November 2022, we announced new strategic and financial targets for 2025, reaffirming our commitment to create long-term value for all our stakeholders. We aim to deliver EUR 1.8 billion of OCG by 2025 and a mid single-digit growth of OCG and free cash flow in the long term. We have announced today a proposed final dividend of EUR 1.79 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2022 to EUR 2.79 per share, an increase of 12% on 2021. In line with our capital return policy, we have also announced a new share buyback programme for an amount of EUR 250 million.’

(download the full Press Release)

Delivering on our strategic commitments

Our purpose statement reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: we help people care for what matters most to them. It’s our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – Improving the experience of our customers and intermediaries across our markets

In November 2022, NN Bank became the online direct distributor of our Non-life products in the Netherlands. This proposition further strengthens the relationships of Nationale-Nederlanden with its customers, while also creating synergies through integrated marketing, customer service and IT-related activities.

NN Life Japan launched an Artificial Intelligence and Optical Character Recognition functionality to support its sales support system. This new functionality enables hardcopy documents, such as policy contracts and status reports, to be automatically read and converted into a digital format, enabling NN agents to centrally manage insurance policies of corporate customers and increase their efficiency.

Nationale-Nederlanden Poland launched a new digital platform for customers which provides an overview of their products, insurance coverages and investments. The platform enables them to manage their products themselves, supported by a clear layout and simple language.

In terms of customer satisfaction, 8 of our 11 combined International business units as well as our Dutch businesses scored above market average at the end of 2022. We are stepping up our efforts to effectively steer and steady our NPS-r scores towards achieving our 2025 target of International and Dutch business units scoring all above market average on NPS-r.

The focus of Nationale-Nederlanden on digitalisation and improvements in our services and communication towards intermediaries is reflected in increased intermediaries satisfaction scores in the Netherlands. Our Dutch Life business ranked first regarding intermediary satisfaction in the pension market, as evaluated by independent research. It also ranked first regarding intermediary satisfaction in the market of term life insurance. In addition, intermediary satisfaction of the Dutch Non-life business increased significantly and is above market average.

Products and services – Supporting customer needs for protection and health

In the second half of 2022, we continued our efforts to meet the increased demand for long-term health and protection products. For example, Nationale-Nederlanden Spain partnered with Sanitas, a private health insurance provider, and launched a new protection solution for people over 55 years old. The product offers health services such as physical and telephone consultation with specialists and preventative exams, and combines these services with accident protection covers as well as medical help at home.

In view of recent changes in the Belgian pension system for the self-employed, NN Life Belgium launched a new pension solution for the fourth pension pillar of savings without tax benefits. This product meets the pension needs of the self-employed with investment funds and additional coverages and compensates for them losing part of the benefits from the second pillar professional pension.  

In the Netherlands, we took further steps to improve the digital customer experience with an advanced chat platform. Customers that visit our Dutch websites (nn.nl and mijn.nn.nl) can get acquainted with ‘Sanne’, a digital assistant developed using Artificial Intelligence technology. It allows customers to ask questions on a 24/7 basis and download documents. In 2022, we helped more than 240,000 customers through the digital assistant, while we expect to further expand its use with new functionalities.

Our Netherlands Life business continued to roll out the Human Capital Planner platform, which enables advisors and employers to have fact-based conversations with employees about their pension plans. NN’s Zorggenoot service, which offers support in finding, arranging and financing informal care for elderly loved ones - a pressing issue for the 5 million informal caregivers in the Netherlands - is now offered as a complementary service via the Human Capital Planner.  

As part of our ambition to support the transition to a sustainable society, our Dutch Non-life business started a pilot with 65 recycling Dutch companies to investigate how this sector can be better insured, recognising their difficulties to take out insurance due to factors such as a high fire hazard risk or remote location. The pilot was successfully completed and certain recycling risks are now part of the regular underwriting mandate in our fire insurance product. In addition, we added extra coverage on our environmental hazard insurance for cleaning up damaged solar panel particles scattered by fire or storm and are currently investigating the opportunities to insure new technologies such as light electric vehicles, wooden housing and energy capture and storage systems.

People and organisation – New initiatives offering a diverse and inclusive workplace

We nurture a culture aimed at empowering our colleagues to be their best. We strengthened our efforts towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive (D&I) workplace. In the Netherlands, we launched the NN Cultural Diversity Network aimed at encouraging cultural diversity and diversity of thought. NN Hungary was awarded the Family Friendly workplace certificate, partially due to its inclusive parental leave policy. NN Turkey extended maternity leave to 24 weeks, from the legal requirement of 16 weeks, and paternity leave to 3 weeks from 1 week. NN Czech Republic signed the Czech Diversity and Inclusion charter. 

As part of our efforts to support a healthy work-life balance and flexible working conditions for our employees, NN Slovakia received an HR Inspiration award by the largest HR professional association in the country for introducing its four-day working scheme.

On the semi-annual survey carried out in the second half of 2022, NN colleagues’ engagement increased to 7.9 (from 7.7 in the first half of the year). The results show colleagues feel empowered to choose how they carry out their work, they feel connected to NN’s values and experience room for professional growth. Process efficiency continues to be an improvement area, and colleagues indicate to experience slow, but steady, improvement.

Financial strength – Maintaining a strong balance sheet

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive financial returns for shareholders. Despite the ongoing turbulence in financial markets and uncertain macroeconomic environment, our operating capital generation was EUR 812 million in the second half of 2022 and increased by 8% to EUR 1.7 billion for the full year. Our Solvency II ratio at year-end 2022 was 197%, our cash capital position EUR 2.1 billion, and with a leverage ratio of 22.9%, we continue having ample financial flexibility.

In August 2022, NN Group raised EUR 500 million through the issuance of subordinated notes in what was the first issuance under NN Group’s Sustainability Bond Framework, which was established in February 2022 to finance green and social projects.

Society – Initiatives supporting the financial, physical and mental well-being of people in our communities

In December 2022, NN Group launched the NN Social Innovation Fund which, with an initial EUR 5 million investment, aimed at supporting early-stage social enterprises focused on increasing financial, physical and/or mental well-being.

BeFrank organised an awareness campaign encouraging young people to choose their investment risk though the company’s Profile Determiner – a tool that helps people determine what risk suits them. The campaign included direct mailings, a website and social media presence and reached more than 2,400 young people.

Nationale-Nederlanden Poland partnered with the Rak'n'Roll Foundation for a social campaign aimed at encouraging illness prevention. As part of this initiative, Nationale-Nederlanden Poland established a ‘Day for U’ for its employees, giving them an additional day off to undertake prevention exams. NN Romania partnered with the ‘Autism Voice’ NGO for the launch of the Autism Voice Institute, the first multifunctional therapy and research centre in Romania aimed at supporting autism patients.  

NN Group’s total contributions to its communities reached EUR 12.8 million in 2022, including more than 30,900 hours of volunteering, more than EUR 9.7 million in cash donations and supporting around 229,000 people.

For the fourth consecutive year, NN Group is top scorer of the Dutch Tax Transparency Benchmark published by the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO).

For the sixth consecutive year NN Group was included in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI World) meaning that NN Group ranks amongst the top 10% of the insurance sector globally, with regard to its sustainability performance. Scores are given on economic & governance, environmental and social dimensions. Overall NN scored 80 (out of 100), compared to the average industry score of 33.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 2H22 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 16 February 2023. Journalists can join the press call. Passcode: you will receive an e-mail containing the dial-in number and a personal PIN code upon registration via this link.

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2H22 results at 10:00 am CET on Thursday 16 February 2023. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on NN Group - Investors (nn-group.com).

Analysts can participate in the Q&A by registering according to the following instructions:

• Register for the conference call online at link
• After registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the dial-in number and personal PIN code
• Use these details to dial in to the conference call

Financial calendar          

• AGM: 2 June 2023
• Publication 1H23 results: 29 August 2023

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

• NN Group 2H22 Financial Supplement, NN Group 2H22 Analyst Presentation, NN Group Company Profile and NN Group ESG presentation
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available in our Media library (nn-group.com)

• NN Group’s operating capital generation increased to EUR 899 million from EUR 780 million in the first half of 2021, reflecting a higher contribution from Netherlands Life, Japan Life and Insurance Europe partly offset by a lower contribution from Banking, Netherlands Non-life and the sale of NN Investment Partners (NN IP)
• Operating result of EUR 983 million versus EUR 1,119 million in the first half of 2021, mainly reflecting the impact of the February storm in the Netherlands and the sale of NN IP
• Net result of EUR 2,006 million, up from EUR 1,414 million in the first half of 2021, largely driven by the gain on the sale of NN IP

Good commercial momentum

• Value of new business of EUR 254 million, up 5% from the first half of 2021, primarily due to higher sales at Netherlands Life
• NN Bank and Woonnu originated EUR 4.9 billion of new mortgages in the first half of 2022
• Net inflows of EUR 0.9 billion in the Defined Contribution pension business in the Netherlands

Resilient balance sheet; delivering attractive capital returns to shareholders

• NN Group Solvency II ratio decreased to 196% versus 213% at 31 December 2021, mainly reflecting the deduction of capital flows to shareholders and the negative impact of market movements, partly offset by operating capital generation
• Cash capital position at the holding increased to EUR 2,467 million from EUR 1,998 million at 31 December 2021, reflecting the proceeds from the sale of NN IP and free cash flow to the holding, partly offset by capital flows to shareholders, repayment of senior debt and amounts paid for acquisitions
• 2022 interim dividend of EUR 1.00 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 294 million

Continued focus on customers, employees and society

• Customer satisfaction: 4 of our businesses scoring an above market average Net Promoter Score
• Women in senior management positions increased to 39%, reflecting an extended scope of the target group to further improve on our gender diversity ambition
• Target to invest an additional EUR 6 billion in climate solutions by 2030, EUR 625 million committed

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Today we are reporting strong capital generation for the first half of 2022, and we are on track to deliver on our financial and other strategic targets. These results were achieved against the backdrop of a turbulent period with major geopolitical developments and the resulting impact on the macro-economic environment, such as the sharp rise in inflation as well as significant volatility in financial markets. The impact of this turbulence on our business performance has been limited, demonstrated by the strong increase of capital generation, mainly driven by the Dutch life business as well as our international insurance businesses. The market volatility did impact our Solvency II ratio, specifically the widening of Dutch mortgage spreads and lower equity markets. Our Solvency II ratio decreased from 213% to 196% at 30 June 2022 as the strong operating capital generation of EUR 899 million in the first half of the year was offset by the deduction of the interim dividend and the EUR 1 billion share buybacks that we are currently executing, as well as the impact of market movements. At the same time our capital generation and investment returns are expected to continue to benefit from this higher spread environment and current interest rate levels.

In the first half of 2022, we continued to focus on our customers, employees and society, as measured against the non-financial targets of our strategy. We are there for our customers when it matters most. In the Netherlands, we supported them throughout the severe February storm. We increased our customer service capacity, enabling us to adequately handle the increased number of claims, while we also provided tips on how to prevent damage to properties. Further improving our customer experience continues to be a key priority.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has had severe humanitarian consequences in the region. As a large insurer active in Central and Eastern Europe, NN has provided multiple forms of support to help those affected. For example, we recently extended our core offering to provide medical care services to refugees in Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The direct impact of the conflict on our business activities in the region continues to be limited.

As part of our ambition to achieve a net-zero proprietary investment portfolio by 2050, we aim to invest an additional amount of at least EUR 6 billion in climate solutions by 2030. Together with CBRE Investment Management, we launched a Positive Impact Programmatic Venture with the aim to build sustainable and affordable housing in the Netherlands.

(download the full Press Release)

Operating capital generation in the first half of 2022 was EUR 899 million, mainly reflecting a higher contribution from Netherlands Life as well as Japan Life and Insurance Europe, partly offset by a lower contribution from Banking, Netherlands Non-life and Asset Management, because of the sale of NN Investment Partners (NN IP).

The operating result was EUR 983 million, compared with EUR 1,119 million in the first half of last year, mainly reflecting the impact of the February storm and the sale of NN IP.

The storm resulted in an impact of EUR 86 million (net of reinsurance), mainly in the Netherlands Non-life segment. In Netherlands Non-life, we furthermore strengthened our reserves as a result of higher inflation. In combination with favourable claims development on prior accident years in P&C and higher underwriting results in D&A, the overall combined ratio continued to be solid at 96.1%.

Compared with the first half of 2021, NN Group’s value of new business was up almost 5%, mainly driven by a higher volume of new pension contracts in the Netherlands. Net inflows in Assets under Management DC amounted to EUR 0.9 billion, at Netherlands Life in the first half of 2022. Sales remained resilient across the group in a more challenging environment. Sales at Insurance Europe were slightly down compared with last year. In Japan, protection sales have been stable despite negative currency impacts.

NN Bank and Woonnu originated EUR 4.9 billion of mortgages in the first half of the year. Customer mortgage rates have started to increase following the rise in market rates and as a result we saw margins on new origination increasing. With an average Loan-to-Value ratio of 55% and low historical loan losses, this is a good quality asset class.

The operating result for the current period includes one quarter for the asset management business, following the completion of the sale of NN IP to Goldman Sachs in April 2022. We also completed the acquisition of MetLife’s businesses in Greece and Poland in January and April, respectively. The contribution of these businesses to results will start to come through mainly in the second half of the year. In the Netherlands, at NN Life we recently completed the acquisition of ABN AMRO Verzekeringen’s life insurance subsidiary.

We remain well positioned to benefit from the long-term growth trends in our markets and to meet our financial and other strategic targets. Our resilient balance sheet, high quality investment portfolio and our strong underlying business performance, give us confidence that we can continue to navigate the current market conditions.’

Delivering on our strategic commitments

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – Enhancing customer experience through new partnerships and initiatives

In preparation for the new Dutch pension agreement, we invested in digital solutions to support employers and employees navigate the changes. BeFrank, our online pension administrator, developed an easy-to-use tool that shows employers what they need to change in their employees’ pension scheme and how it affects individual pensions. Employers can use the tool, together with their advisors, to make the right choices for their employees’ future pension. In addition, Nationale-Nederlanden updated its ‘mijn.nn Financial Future’ portal to enable customers to include data from other pensions schemes and their bank accounts. This gives customers a comprehensive overview of their expected future income, enabling them to better prepare for their financial future.

NN Slovakia became the majority shareholder of Finportal, one of the fastest growing distribution companies in the Slovakian financial market with more than 2,000 financial advisors and highly advanced digital solutions. This investment will give NN Slovakia new opportunities in the areas of digital solutions and customer service.

NN Life Japan introduced automated accounting for owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To help navigate the complex accounting procedures for corporate-owned life insurance (COLI), customers and agents can now easily find documents for accounting purposes, any time and in just a few clicks. The service aims at improving the customer experience and making the accounting process easier on them.

We also continued our efforts to reach customers by offering our products through existing customer engagement platforms. Nationale-Nederlanden expanded its partnership with motorhome rental platform Indie Campers to France and Germany, the biggest camper destinations in Europe. As a result, Nationale-Nederlanden now offers on-demand rental insurance for customers that share their campervan with other customers, in five countries.

Products and services – New protection products and services to meet customers’ evolving needs

We continued our efforts to meeting our customers’ evolving needs, with new and improved products and services. NN Romania, in partnership with ING Bank, launched an insurance product offering protection in case of unemployment, full or partial disability due to illness or accident, and extended medical leave due to incapacity to work. The product is available to customers who receive their salary in an ING Bank account and offers three levels of protection, depending on the customers’ needs. It also includes a ‘Back to Work - Unemployment Assistance’ package, supporting customers in finding a new job.

NN Life Japan partnered with IT solution provider, Writeup Co. Ltd., to launch a new one-stop service that allows SME owners to easily find grants and subsidies their company is eligible for and the expected amounts. In addition, SME owners that are NN policyholders can receive free on-line consultation to learn more about the grants and subsidies, and a 10% discount on the application assistance service, if they require professional support to make the applications.

In the Netherlands, we continued to roll out the Human Capital Planner, an online data and services platform which enables advisors and employers to have fact-based conversations with their employees about their pension plans and investments. To date, 12,000 Dutch employers and 600 advisors are using the planner, which was expanded this year to include ‘Pension Pulse’, a tool that encourages employees to research their pension, complete their risk profile and ask questions about their pension.

As part of our efforts to invest in preventative solutions, our Dutch Non-life business has piloted a new Smart Sensors service looking into whether electrical fires can be prevented by using data from sensors. This is a great added value service for customers in sectors with a high fire risk, such as hospitality and agriculture.

People and organisation – Supporting our people by promoting inclusive working conditions

We nurture a culture aimed at empowering our colleagues to be their best. As part of our efforts to support a healthy work-life balance and flexible working conditions for our employees, in the Netherlands we are initiating ‘vitality leave’ in which colleagues can take two months’ leave every five years, during which they receive reduced salary but continue pensions accrual.

We continued our efforts to become a more diverse and inclusive workplace. For this reason, we introduced the ‘You matter leave’, a tailormade leave for colleagues in the Netherlands, for example to be used to mourn a loved one or to receive a gender transition treatment. We also published our first Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) report, which includes insights and examples from across our businesses. NN Romania signed the Romanian Diversity Charter.

To further improve and strengthen the impact of our gender diversity ambition, we extended the scope of our target to have at least 40% women in senior management positions by 2023. As of 2022, in addition to the Management Board (MB) and managerial positions reporting directly to the MB, this target group includes all senior managerial positions reporting in our business units.

Especially in current tight labour markets, we are pleased to see the engagement of NN colleagues remaining high at 7.7 in the first half of 2022 (and stable compared with the second half of 2021). The results show colleagues feel empowered to fulfil their role, they feel valued, and experience room for professional development.

NN Group was included in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) for the fourth time in a row. The index recognises companies’ efforts to report transparently on gender equality, and on topics such as female leadership, inclusive culture, pro-women brand, equal pay and gender pay parity. In addition, for the fourth time, all business units within NN International Insurance have been certified as Top Employer 2022, scoring above benchmark with progress in the areas of Diversity & Inclusion, Work Environment, and Learning.

Financial strength – Maintaining a strong balance sheet and continuing to generate attractive returns in volatile markets

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive financial returns for shareholders. Despite the macro-economic and financial markets turmoil, we increased our operating capital generation in the first half of 2022. The shift to higher-yielding assets in 2020 and 2021 is generating higher returns on our conservative asset portfolio. Our Solvency II ratio stood at 196%, our cash capital position was EUR 2,467 million and with a leverage ratio of 21.7%, we have ample financial flexibility.

Society – Continuous support and investment in our communities

We continued to support our communities through various initiatives and partnerships in the areas of Inclusive economies, Healthy and safe living, and Sustainable planet. In May 2022, NN Group organised a company-wide volunteer week, the ‘Your community matters week’, with 2,613 colleagues participating. Overall, we organised 45 volunteering activities that reached over 7,500 people and supported 42 charities.

On a local level, Nationale-Nederlanden in Spain partnered with ‘Unoentrecienmil Foundation’, which promotes research projects to find a cure for leukaemia. The collaboration starts with an initiative to incorporate sports therapy into children’s treatment and the construction of a physical exercise research unit. NN Turkey launched a breast cancer awareness project, supporting early diagnosis. The programme involves training sessions on breast cancer, access to cancer screening and psychological support to breast cancer patients. In ten months, the project has reached 900 women in five cities. In the Netherlands, we extended our partnership with non-profit organisation JINC to launch a new ‘Networking for Work’ project aimed at supporting youngsters with their entry into the labour market.

NN Group published its first Community Investment Report, a comprehensive overview of the initiatives we support as part of our strategic commitment to contribute to society. The report showcases how we put our resources, expertise and networks to use for the advancement of our communities in the countries we operate. The report will be published annually.

In the first half of 2022, NN Group’s total contributions to communities was EUR 3.8 million, including more than EUR 2.8 million in cash donations and more than EUR 670,000 in monetised volunteer hours.

NN Bank issued a EUR 500 million inaugural green covered bond with a maturity of 10 years and a coupon of 1.87%. This was the first ever green covered bond issued by a Dutch Bank.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 1H22 results at 07:30 am CET on Thursday 11 August 2022. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0) 20 795 2758 (NL). The operator will request the following Conference ID: 3828646.

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO), Annemiek van Melick (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1H22 results at 10:30 am CET on Thursday 11 August 2022. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on NN Group - Investors (nn-group.com).

Analysts can participate in the Q&A using the following dial-in numbers:

• +31 (0) 20 795 2758 (the Netherlands)
• +44 800 260 6466 (UK)
• +1 800 715 9871 (US)

Financial calendar          

• Investor Update: 17 November 2022
• AGM: 2 June 2023
• Publication 2H22 results: 16 February 2023

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

• NN Group 1H22 Financial Supplement, NN Group 1H22 Analyst Presentation, NN Group Company Profile and NN Group ESG presentation
• NN Group 30 June 2022 Condensed consolidated interim financial information
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

Delivering on our financial targets

• Operating capital generation increased to EUR 804 million from EUR 450 million in the second half of 2020, driven by strong business performance and commercial momentum; Full-year 2021 operating capital generation of EUR 1,584 million versus EUR 993 million in 2020

• Operating result of EUR 917 million versus EUR 963 million in the second half of 2020; Full-year 2021 operating result of EUR 2,036 million, up 7.8% on 2020

• Net result of EUR 1,864 million, up from EUR 1,317 million in the second half of 2020; Full-year 2021 net result of EUR 3,278 million versus EUR 1,904 in 2020

Strong commercial momentum; interim targets defined for our net-zero emissions ambition

• Value of new business of EUR 186 million, up 29.2% from the second half of 2020, reflecting higher sales and an improved margin at Japan Life as well as higher sales at Insurance Europe

• NN Bank and Woonnu originated record volume of new mortgages of EUR 9.9 billion in 2021

• Netherlands Life’s DC Assets under Management increased to EUR 29.9 billion from EUR 27.4 billion at 30 June 2021, driven by market growth and net inflows

• Improved customer satisfaction with 5 of our businesses scoring an above market average Net Promoter Score

• ESG-integrated Assets under Management increased to 91%; interim targets defined to underpin our net-zero emissions ambition for both our investments as well as our business operations

Robust balance sheet and attractive capital returns to shareholders

• NN Group Solvency II ratio of 213% versus 209% at 30 June 2021, mainly reflecting operating capital generation and favourable market impacts, partly offset by the deduction of the proposed 2021 final dividend

• Cash capital position at the holding increased to EUR 1,998 million from EUR 1,533 million at 30 June 2021, reflecting free cash flow to the holding and proceeds from the issuance of senior debt, partly offset by capital flows to shareholders and amounts paid for acquisitions

• 2021 final dividend proposal of EUR 1.56 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 476 million, bringing the total 2021 dividend to EUR 2.49 per ordinary share, up 7% on 2020

• New share buyback programmes for a total amount of EUR 1.0 billion

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘In the second half of 2021, we saw a continued strong commercial and financial performance. We remained focused on engaging with our customers to meet their needs and to offer solutions that create long-term value, especially in these uncertain times. The Covid-19 pandemic entered its second year and continued to dominate our daily lives. It is putting pressure on sickness and disability rates, which makes our efforts to support and reintegrate customers even more significant. The global economy rebounded strongly from a severe contraction in 2020, but financial markets were turbulent and inflation has risen in many parts of the world. Extreme weather struck during the summer of 2021, underscoring the real-life impact of climate change. These developments contributed to a higher awareness of risk and vulnerability, which resulted in an increased demand for protection products. This supported the substantial increase in NN Group’s value of new business of 61% over the year. All of our business segments performed better compared with a year earlier, with strong results at Netherlands Non-life, despite the claims resulting from the floods in July, as well as higher sales in Japan.

To support our growth ambition, we assess and optimise our portfolio of businesses. In 2021, this led to a number of acquisitions and divestments. We reached an agreement to acquire MetLife’s business activities in Greece and Poland, which will further strengthen our leading positions in these growth markets. The acquisition of MetLife Greece was completed on 31 January 2022 and we expect Poland to follow in the first half of this year. In addition, we acquired a 70% stake in Heinenoord in the Netherlands, in order to strengthen our distribution capabilities and reinforce our position in the Dutch non-life market. Furthermore, we divested our Bulgaria business and took the decision to sell the closed book life portfolio of NN Belgium. We also reached an agreement on the sale of our asset manager, NN Investment Partners, to Goldman Sachs Group, which is expected to be completed in the coming months. The partnership with Goldman Sachs Asset Management will provide us the optionality to develop a broader range of asset management propositions to our customers.

Contributing to the well-being of people and the planet is one of our key strategic commitments. We aim to support the transition to a low-carbon economy across our business activities and operations, and want to offer products and services that reflect the different needs of the societies in which we operate. For example, we assist our customers in making their houses more energy efficient; the bank’s sustainable mortgage label, Woonnu, continued to be in demand and originated EUR 1.4 billion of mortgages in 2021. In November, we also set interim targets to align with the Paris Agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2025 we aim to reduce the emissions of our corporate investments by 25% and of our own operations by 35%, compared with 2019. As part of this, for new investments we focus on companies which we view as frontrunners in the transition to a low-carbon economy, and aim to more than double our investments in climate solutions by 2030. Additionally, today we launched a sustainability bond framework, to enable the future issue of green, social and sustainability bonds.

Thanks to the efforts of our colleagues, who have mostly been working from home since the start of the pandemic, we have been able to further improve our customer satisfaction scores. Using remote working and digital channels we continued serving our customers and other stakeholders, under different and at times challenging circumstances. Therefore, we are pleased to see that the high employee engagement scores remained broadly stable in 2021. All in all, we are well on track to achieve our financial and non-financial targets in 2023.

Operating capital generation in the second half of 2021 was EUR 804 million driven by the strong business performance and commercial momentum. This brings total capital generation for 2021 to almost EUR 1.6 billion, already meeting our EUR 1.5 billion target that we set for 2023. Even after the sale of the asset management unit in the coming months, our 2023 target for operating capital generation remains unchanged given the expected contribution in the coming years from the acquired businesses, as well as ongoing strong performance across the group.

The significant growth in capital generation supports the robust balance sheet and capital position of NN Group. The Solvency II ratio was 213% and holding company cash capital was EUR 2.0 billion at year-end 2021. In the coming months, we expect to receive the proceeds from the sale of our asset manager, while also paying the consideration for the acquisition of the MetLife businesses as well as redeeming the maturing senior debt. This allows us to deliver substantial capital returns to our shareholders. We have announced today a proposed final dividend of EUR 1.56 per share and share buyback programmes for a total amount of EUR 1.0 billion.’

(download the full Press Release)

Delivering on our strategic commitments

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – enhanced customer engagement

In the second half of 2021, we continued our efforts to enhance customer engagement, by developing platforms on key themes such as Carefree Retirement and Selfcare. In the Netherlands we launched WYZ, a digital one-stop shop for people over 50, providing useful content and access to services such as informal homecare (Zorggenoot) and employment (Kwiek).

In addition to developing our own customer engagement platforms, we reach customers through embedding our products in existing ones. For example, our e-bike insurance product is currently sold in four European countries via 32 partners, including e-bike dealers, manufacturers and brokers. By integrating our product into distributors’ platforms, we offer customers protection against theft, damage and roadside breakdown for their new bicycle at a convenient moment in the purchasing process. This also helps expand our non-life insurance offering and access customers in new markets.

With the aim to simplify the insurance application process, NN Life Japan partnered with DataRobot, a machine-learning solution provider, to implement automated technology in incremental steps within 2022. With the help of artificial intelligence, the application process could be as short as three minutes from the current ‘two-to-three day’ cycle.

Our increased focus on customer engagement is reflected in improved customer and broker satisfaction scores in 2021. At the end of the year, five of our insurance business units scored above market average on NPS and three insurance business units scored on par with market average. We have launched several initiatives to gain more insights on NPS such as best practice sharing sessions and additional driver studies that give each business unit details on their relative performance, improvement areas and directions.

Products and services – Meeting customers’ needs with new, protection and sustainable products

We continued our efforts to meeting our customers’ evolving needs, with new and improved protection products. For example, in Hungary, we launched a new income protection insurance as an add-on to our main life insurance products and offering a monthly allowance for customers experiencing financial difficulties due to incapacity or unemployment. In Hungary, we also offer a health assistance service to all our individual customers. The health assistance includes a 24/7 call centre and an online platform where customers can either book an appointment to meet a doctor in person or consult with a physician online.

As market leader in pension savings, NN Slovakia introduced an ESG pension fund and became the first company in Slovakia to do so. The Respect Fund is unique, as it invests the savings based on environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria. In addition, NN Belgium received two awards for the best Belgian sustainable fund offering and for the best Belgian term life product.

BeFrank celebrated its ten-year anniversary having grown into the largest Premium Pension Institution (PPI) in the Netherlands, with more than 1,000 clients and 270,000 pension participants and with total Assets under Management of around EUR 6.8 billion. BeFrank is the only brand in the Dutch market that offers a CO2 neutral pension scheme to customers.

NN IP made progress on its strategic ambition to build a globally recognised alternative credit capability. Its efforts were also externally recognised with an improved ranking and still the only Dutch-based asset manager in the Global Top 100 Private Debt Fund Raisers. Notwithstanding the current divestment process, NN IP attracted new mandates, with net third-party inflows of EUR 5.2 billion in 2021.

People and Organisation – Progress in becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace

We nurture a culture aimed at empowering our colleagues to be their best. The changing Covid-19 situation, requires us to continuously adjust our working conditions. During the second half of the year, we intensified our preparations to combine working from home with working in the office, offering a mix of tools to our colleagues. Our semi-annual employee engagement survey carried out in the second half of 2021 revealed that NN colleagues’ engagement remained high at 7.7 (compared with 7.8 in June 2021). The survey results show that colleagues feel empowered to fulfil their role, despite the circumstances, and have room for professional growth, but a point for attention is process efficiency.

During the second half of 2021, we strengthened our efforts towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive (D&I) workplace. We conducted a series of workshops in our markets, involving internal and external stakeholders. This led to a maturity gap analysis report with a thorough analysis and action plan for each market aimed at improving our position on diversity. We launched a D&I ambassadors network with country representatives who discuss, challenge and inspire each other on D&I-related topics. In Belgium, Japan and Spain we extended paternity leave. NN Spain was recognised as one of the 30 companies with the best D&I practices in the country.

Financial strength – Maintaining a strong balance sheet and generating attractive returns

The integration of VIVAT Non-life has reached a final stage with the completion of the migration of 1.8 million policies to NN systems. We have already achieved our EUR 40 million cost savings target, a year earlier than planned, and are working towards finalising the integration in the first half of this year.

NN Group reached an agreement with ABN AMRO Bank and our joint venture ABN AMRO Verzekeringen (AAV) to sell AAV’s life insurance subsidiary to NN Life & Pensions. AAV’s life insurance activities will be integrated into NN Life & Pensions and together with ABN AMRO Bank, we will make additional investments in the coming years to strengthen AAV’s digital capabilities and further grow its non-life portfolio. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

In December 2021, NN Re entered into the market of reinsurance through catastrophe bonds, used as a form of external risk transfer in the event of a natural disaster, for an amount of EUR 75 million and a duration of three years.

At the end of December 2021, NN Life completed a longevity reinsurance transaction to transfer the full longevity risk associated with approximately EUR 4 billion of pension liabilities. This will reduce NN’s exposure to longevity risk, and consequently reduce the required capital and further strengthen NN’s capital position. The longevity reinsurance agreement has no impact on the services and guarantees that NN provides to its policyholders. The transaction is expected to have limited financial impact on NN Group.

Following the publication of its Green Bond Framework in June 2021, NN Bank issued a seven-year EUR 500 million inaugural green bond under the Framework in September 2021. The bond qualifies as Minimum Required Eligible Liabilities (MREL) and was distributed to a large group of institutional investors. The proceeds of the bond are used to (re)finance mortgages for energy efficient residential properties in the Netherlands and supports NN Bank's objective to make its mortgage portfolio more sustainable.

Society – Raising financial awareness and investing to support our communities

NN has joined forces with the Amsterdam School of Economics at the University of Amsterdam to open the Research Centre for Longevity Risk, a new, independent research centre to conduct research on the financial and social consequences of changing life expectancies.

The percentage of NN IP’s assets under management (AuM) where environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are integrated in the investment process increased to 91%, driven by the inclusion of mortgage portfolios and the qualification of other Alternative Credit portfolios as ESG-integrated.

As a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, NN IP is committed to support the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As part of this commitment, NN IP announced in November its initial scope of assets to be managed in line with reaching net-zero in 2050 or sooner. The scope includes assets managed in equity, corporate fixed income and sovereign bond portfolios. To underpin NN Group’s ambition to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, we have set interim targets for 2025 and 2030 for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of our corporate investment portfolio. In October, NN Group became a member of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance.

Nationale-Nederlanden, which has a leading position in the Dutch group pensions market, continued its efforts to raise awareness on the new Pension Agreement. ‘Pensioen TV’ broadcasts launched earlier in the year proved to meet a real need. In addition, and on the occasion of Sustainable September, we extended our efforts beyond raising awareness to informing Dutch citizens on the sustainability of NN’s pension schemes by publishing articles, interviews and videos and an online magazine on sustainability.

For the third consecutive year, NN has been the leading company in the annual Tax Transparency Benchmark, published by the Dutch association of investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO). The benchmark ranks 77 Dutch listed companies on the level of transparency they provide on tax and the quality of tax governance they demonstrate.

Throughout the year we continued supporting our communities through various initiatives and partnerships. For example, experts from NN Poland shared their knowledge with user experience design and supported the development of virtual reality glasses for children with cancer. During medical procedures, young patients use VR glasses, helping reduce their stress during treatments. NN Romania entered into a partnership with Children’s Heart Association (Asociatia Inima Copiilor). We invested in the expansion the Cardio Surgery Department of Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest and developed a platform inviting citizens to donate via SMS, doubling the donations until the necessary amount for the medical unit’s expansion is reached. NN Group’s total contributions to its communities increased to EUR 8.0 million in 2021, including more than 13,500 hours of volunteering and more than EUR 6.2 million in cash donations.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 2H21 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 17 February 2022. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO), Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2H21 results at 10:00 am CET on Thursday 17 February 2022. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on NN Group - Investors (nn-group.com).

Analysts can participate in the Q&A by registering according to the following instructions:

• Register for the conference call online at link

• After registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the dial-in number, entry code and personal ID code

• Use these details to dial in to the conference call

Financial calendar

• AGM: 19 May 2022
• Publication 1H22 results: 11 August 2022
• Investor Update: 17 November 2022

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

• NN Group 2H21 Financial Supplement, NN Group 2H21 Analyst Presentation, NN Group Company Profile and NN Group ESG presentation

• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

Strong financial and commercial performance across NN Group for the first half of 2021

On track to deliver on financial targets

Operating capital generation increased to EUR 780 million from EUR 543 million in the first half of 2020, mainly reflecting strong business performance at all segments

Operating result increased to EUR 1,119 million from EUR 926 million in the first half of 2020, with almost all segments reporting higher results

Net result of EUR 1,414 million compared with EUR 587 million in the first half of 2020

Continued commercial momentum; sustained high employee engagement; improved ESG-integrated AuM

Value of new business of EUR 242 million, up 98% on the first half of 2020, mainly driven by improved sales at Japan Life and Insurance Europe

NN Bank originated EUR 4.4 billion of new mortgages in the first six months; Net third-party inflows at NN IP of almost EUR 4 billion

Assets under Management DC business increased to EUR 27.4 billion from EUR 24.6 billion at 31 December 2020

Implementing initiatives to enhance customer satisfaction, with 3 of our insurance businesses scoring an above market average Net Promotor Score

Employee engagement remains high with an overall score of 7.8, progressing with hybrid way of working

ESG-integrated Assets under Management up at 75%; continued progress implementing net-zero ambition

Solid balance sheet; delivering on our commitment to attractive capital returns to shareholders

NN Group Solvency II ratio of 209% versus 210% at 31 December 2020, mainly reflecting capital flows to shareholders and a reduction of the UFR, partly offset by operating capital generation and market variance

Cash capital position at the holding increased to EUR 1,533 million in the first half 2021, mainly reflecting remittances from subsidiaries, partly offset by capital flows to shareholders

2021 interim dividend of EUR 0.93 per ordinary share¹⁾ or approximately EUR 287 million

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘We are reporting strong financial and commercial results for the first half of 2021 and we are making good progress in implementing our strategy to achieve resilient and growing long-term capital generation. We saw higher sales at Japan Life and Insurance Europe, with markets recovering as Covid-19 restrictions are easing and agents and brokers are moving sales online. The impact of the pandemic has also highlighted protection shortfalls that affect people’s livelihoods and health. Higher awareness of risk and vulnerability leads to an increased demand for such protection products. This has supported the increase in value of new business that almost doubled compared with the first six months in 2020. Our other units also continued to show commercial momentum. Our asset manager NN Investment Partners (NN IP) attracted new mandates, with net third-party inflows of almost EUR 4 billion. In addition, we saw a further growth of NN IP’s ESG-integrated, sustainable and impact strategies in the first half of the year. The Dutch housing market is still buoyant, which is driving the high volume of mortgage origination. In the first six months of the year, almost 17 thousand new mortgages for a total amount of EUR 4.4 billion were originated by NN Bank. At the same time, we are optimising our performance in Life and Non-life, for example by shifting to higher-yielding assets. The integration of VIVAT Non-life is well on track. In the first six months we migrated 90% of the EUR 800 million of VIVAT premiums to NN systems.

Our base case is organic growth, however we regularly assess our portfolio with the aim to strengthen market positions. In this context, the acquisition of MetLife’s businesses in Poland and Greece, which we announced in July, will reinforce our position in life and pensions in Poland and create the market leading life insurance company in Greece. We also reached an agreement to acquire a 70% stake in Heinenoord, one of the largest service providers and brokers in the Netherlands, through which we will secure our leading Non-life position by responding to the ongoing broker service consolidation. In February, we divested our company in Bulgaria, as the new owner is better positioned to further develop this pension and life business. For our asset manager NN IP, we are currently reviewing options with the aim to broaden its platform and accelerate growth. We are making good progress with this strategic review and we will provide an update when appropriate.

Covid-19 continues to impact the lives of many and uncertainties remain. Since the outbreak, NN has put the health and well-being of customers and employees first and has adapted to the changing environment. Customer processes have been digitised and our offices are being reshaped for hybrid ways of working. Our purpose is to help people care for what matters most to them. In recent months, we put this into practice by supporting our customers, for example on the cancellation policies of their travel insurance. Also following the devastating floods in July, we opened mobile shops in the affected regions in the Netherlands and Belgium so customers could reach us more easily. Based on current claims estimates, the financial impact of the floods on our results is expected to be around EUR 70 million (pre-tax, net of external reinsurance) in the second half of the year.

As part of our commitment to contribute to the well-being of people and the planet, we are significantly upscaling our contribution to our communities. In the first half of 2021, we initiated new partnerships and successful volunteering activities, for example the ‘Your community matters’ week in which 1,599 colleagues participated. We continued implementing our net-zero ambition for NN’s proprietary investment portfolio by developing and rolling out our Paris Alignment strategy for different asset classes. To underline our efforts we joined the new net-zero commitment platforms established by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. With regards to our own operational carbon footprint we set a science-based target to reduce it by at least 70% by 2030. We will continue to offset the remainder of our emissions.’

‘NN Group’s operating result in the first half of the year was up 21% compared with the same period in 2020, with almost all business units reporting higher results. For example, in Netherlands Non-life we are pleased to see that the measures we have been taking to improve the results are starting to bear fruit, with the overall combined ratio improving to 92% for the first half of 2021. However the Non-life results are volatile by nature and we will continue to implement improvements to strengthen the results of this business.

Our capital position remains strong, with a Solvency II ratio of 209% at 30 June 2021. The increase of our operating capital generation mainly reflects improved underwriting results in Netherlands Non-life, the shift to higher-yielding assets, new business at Insurance Europe and the positive contribution from Banking following the change in methodology in 2021. Our resilient solvency position and capital generation support attractive returns to our shareholders, and we have announced today that we will pay an interim dividend of EUR 0.93 per ordinary share.

With our strategic commitments as a guiding principle, we will continue to work towards achieving both our financial and non-financial targets, while maintaining our strong position and remaining relevant to our stakeholders.’

(download the full Press Release)

Delivering on our strategic commitments

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution – New platforms and partnerships enhance customer engagement

In the first half of 2021, we intensified our efforts to enhance customer engagement, by being an active participant in platforms on key themes such as Self-care and Carefree Retirement. We launched our first self-care platform in Turkey ‘NN Iyi Hayat’ and are currently running pilots in other markets. NN Iyi Hayat addresses Turkish families and individuals' needs to access high-quality healthcare professionals and services by combining telehealth services, tips and a dashboard for medical information storage.

Nationale-Nederlanden partnered with Indie Campers, Europe’s largest motorhome rental platform, to offer insurance tailored to a traveller’s specific trip. The insurance solution covers, for example, damage, theft and roadside assistance when not covered by the primary insurance, in the case of renting the campervan to another party. Furthermore, Nationale-Nederlanden partnered with VVCR Prodrive, a leading player in road safety solutions, to further grow our concept Hello Mobility. Hello Mobility offers entrepreneurs insights into their vehicle fleet, which combined with coaching, can improve driving behaviour and expands our services from risk protection to risk prevention.

HCS, Nationale-Nederlanden’s label that focuses on occupational health and safety services in the Netherlands, acquired Qare. As a result, we are able to meet a growing need for innovative solutions in the field of risk and case management for absenteeism and disability. HCS also launched Veerkracht a new vitality platform and app that promotes mental, physical and social well-being. The app is developed for employees, but also offers employers insights enabling them to meet their workforce’s needs. Veerkracht is an example of our efforts to shift our focus from cure and treatment to prevention.

NN in Japan has reached the milestone of 100,000 SME customers. We have been present in the Japanese market for 35 years, dedicated to helping SME business continuity through our products and services.

Products and services – New protection products and responsible investment funds

In our efforts to meet our customers’ evolving needs, we launched several protection and living benefit products. In Japan, we launched an income protection insurance which safeguards SME CEOs and their employees against the risk of not being able to work due to sudden illness or accident, and supports business continuity. In Spain, we introduced a payment protection product offered to our ING customers who have a personal loan, protecting them against loss of income. In Hungary, we won a tender with Raiffeisen Bank allowing for the launch of our first payment protection insurance product in the country, which supports the bank’s personal loan customers if they cannot pay their debt. We also partnered with Bank360, one of the largest retail loan aggregators in Hungary, to promote an income protection insurance.

NN Bank renewed its retail app improving customer experience and providing the basis for future functionality. The new app is easy to use and allows customers to view their products and manage their finances. Its data-driven architecture allows for targeted customer contact.

In July, Nationale-Nederlanden announced the buyout of the pension obligations and assets amounting to around EUR 125 million of Stichting Pensioenfonds Henkel Nederland B.V. This agreement relates to approximately 750 (former) employees of Henkel.

NN IP added the first sovereign bond fund to its green bond offering which aims at a positive environmental impact through the projects it finances. Five years after launching the first green bond fund, NN IP has reached the EUR 4 billion milestone in assets under management in green bond strategies. NN IP also launched its first fully-adaptive equity fund which invests in US stocks, using an adaptive process to capture investment opportunities as they emerge. In June, NN IP announced it will increase its focus on responsible investing in Asia. As part of this, it will establish a responsible investing hub in Singapore and further develop its product offering in ESG-integrated Asian solutions.

People and organisation – Well on our way with preparations for the hybrid way of working

In our efforts to realise our ambition with regard to our people agenda, we are measuring our employee engagement in our (semi) annual employee survey. For the first half of 2021, our score remained high at 7.8 (from 7.9 in the same period in 2020). The survey results show that colleagues work well together remotely, although being able to connect in person continues to be important for people’s well-being. Therefore, we are preparing for the mix of working from home and in the office when the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

At NN, our approach to diversity is about embracing everyone. Together we build an environment in which people feel welcome, valued, and respected. As part of European Diversity Month in May, we were proud to sign the Dutch Diversity Charter which shows our commitment to promote and increase diversity and inclusion in our workplace. NN Slovakia also became an ambassador of the Slovakian Diversity Charter and alongside other companies, actively supports a diverse work environment based on openness, fairness, and trust.

As a step to support flexibility and a healthy work-life balance, NN Slovakia has been the first company in the country to introduce a four-day working week scheme. The scheme was launched as a pilot in the beginning of the year and so far 20% of employees have joined stating that they experience a positive impact on their well-being.

Testament to our efforts is the certification of our Insurance International business units as Top Employer 2021. For the third year in a row, our International businesses received this recognition which stands for excellence in HR practices and distinctive work conditions. Japan has been certified for the second time.

Financial strength – Maintaining a strong balance sheet

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive and growing capital returns for shareholders. NN Group has a strong capital position with a Solvency II ratio at 209% and cash capital at the holding of EUR 1.5 billion at 30 June 2021. The leverage position is comfortable with a financial leverage ratio of 22.2% and NN Group has been awarded financial strength credit ratings from S&P (A, stable) and an upgrade from Fitch (AA-, stable).

NN Bank published its newly established Green Bond Framework in June 2021. NN Bank aims at issuing Green Bonds under the Framework in order to finance and/or refinance mortgages for energy efficient residential properties in the Netherlands. The Green Bond Framework supports NN Bank’s ambition to help clients make their homes more sustainable, and it stimulates further disclosure and transparency of energy efficiency data.

Society – Continued climate change efforts and successful volunteer week to support local communities

During the first half of 2021, we rolled out our Paris Alignment strategy for government bonds and developed a similar strategy for equity and corporate bonds. Furthermore, NN IP recently became a supporter of the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials (PFAB), a partnership of financial institutions that work together to explore opportunities and challenges on the impact of biodiversity associated with their loans and investments. 75% of NN IP’s assets under management are now ESG-integrated.

At NN, being a good corporate citizen means we want to put our resources, expertise, and networks to use to maximise positive change in society In June 2021, NN Group organised ‘Your community matters week’, engaging colleagues to volunteer with our community partners. Overall, NN Group organised 44 volunteering activities in 10 countries and 1,599 colleagues dedicated their time and energy to support inclusive economies, healthy and safe living, and a sustainable planet. Our activities reached 1,558 people and supported 36 charities. During the volunteer week, we organised our first NN Charity Run, where 811 colleagues across our markets ran a total of 4,985 km together, raising almost EUR 40,000 for local charities.

In Greece, in collaboration with the South Aegean Region, we provide, for free, the Dr Online health services to more than 10,000 inhabitants of the 15 islands in the Regional Unit of the Dodecanese, also including the smallest and most remote ones. Dr Online teleconference application allows users to receive medical recommendations via video call or chat and can schedule doctors’ appointments.

Nationale-Nederlanden and BeFrank, which have a leading position in the Dutch group pensions market have introduced a number of initiatives and partnerships to raise awareness on the new Pension Agreement. Nationale-Nederlanden launched Pension TV, a live streaming television that informs Dutch citizens about their pension schemes and keeps them updated on developments. Nationale-Nederlanden and AZL joined a partnership with stakeholders in the Dutch pension field to make information about pensions more accessible and to help prepare Dutch citizens for their future financial well-being.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 1H21 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 12 August 2021. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1H21 results at 10:30 am CET on Thursday 12 August 2021. Members of the investment community can follow the live audio webcast on NN Group - Investors (nn-group.com).

Analysts can participate in the Q&A by registering according to the following instructions:

Register for the conference call online at link

After registration, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the dial-in number, entry code and personal ID code

Use these details to dial in to the conference call

Financial calendar

Publication 2H21 results: 17 February 2022

Publication 1H22 results: 11 August 2022

AGM: 19 May 2022

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

NN Group 1H21 Financial Supplement, NN Group 1H21 Analyst Presentation, NN Group Company Profile and NN Group ESG presentation

NN Group 30 June 2021 Condensed consolidated interim financial information

Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

Strong financial and commercial performance; cost reduction target achieved

Operating result increased to EUR 963 million from EUR 881 million in the second half of 2019, mainly driven by a higher investment margin and lower administrative expenses at Netherlands Life; Full-year 2020 operating result of EUR 1,889 million, up 5.3% on 2019

Operating capital generation of EUR 450 million versus EUR 653 million in the second half of 2019, reflecting the negative impact of lower interest rates; Full-year 2020 operating capital generation of EUR 993 million, compared with EUR 1,349 million in 2019

Limited negative impact of Covid-19 on operating result of around EUR 23 million in the second half of 2020, bringing the full-year 2020 impact to EUR 53 million

Net result of EUR 1,317 million, up from EUR 844 million in the second half of 2019; Full-year 2020 net result of EUR 1,904 million versus EUR 1,962 million in 2019

Further cost reductions of EUR 23 million in the second half of 2020; total cost reductions of EUR 404 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base, thereby achieving the cost reduction target

Value of new business of EUR 144 million, up 17.9% from the second half of 2019, mainly driven by the recovery in sales of COLI products in Japan Life

Focus on all stakeholders; high employee engagement and increased ESG-integrated Assets under Management

Customer satisfaction remained broadly stable amidst the pandemic, with 4 of our businesses scoring an above market average Net Promotor Score

Employee engagement increased substantially with an overall score of 7.9, up from 7.4 in 2019

ESG-integrated Assets under Management increased to 74% from 68% in 2019

Resilient balance sheet; delivering on our commitment to attractive capital returns to shareholders

NN Group Solvency II ratio of 210% versus 221% at 30 June 2020, mainly reflecting the inclusion of NN Bank in the Group Solvency II calculations as of the end of 2020 and the deduction of the proposed 2020 final dividend, partly offset by operating capital generation

Cash capital position at the holding decreased to EUR 1,170 million in the second half of 2020, reflecting capital flows to shareholders and remittances from subsidiaries

2020 final dividend proposal of EUR 1.47 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 456 million, bringing the pro forma total 2020 dividend to EUR 2.33 per ordinary share, up 7.9% on 2019¹⁾

New share buyback programme of EUR 250 million announced in line with dividend policy

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘In 2020 we delivered a strong financial and commercial performance, even though it clearly was an unprecedented year, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and various other economic, political and regulatory developments. These circumstances impacted people and societies, and are reshaping markets, industries and companies - which requires adaptability and resilience from us all. When designing our new strategy in the first half of the year, we took these changes into account as much as possible. It is our aim to pursue long-term value creation, based on the belief that a focus on the well-being of customers and employees is in the end beneficial for all our stakeholder groups.

For our employees, we want to create an inclusive and inspiring working environment, which stimulates agility, efficiency and transformation. Last year, our people demonstrated proactivity and flexibility in giving unwavering attention to our customers in a difficult change environment. This has also proven to be a strong accelerator for the transformation journey we embarked on, of becoming more customer centric and data driven. Thanks to the efforts of our colleagues, who were mostly working remotely, we were able to continue to go the extra mile for our customers. We were for example able to provide payment holidays for insurance premiums and mortgages to customers facing financial difficulties, and temporary coverage of delivery services for businesses that normally do not deliver products. Also, we supported the communities in which we live and work, for example by computer donations, enabling children to home school. Besides supporting customers to navigate today's challenges, we also want to help by giving them the confidence to look and plan ahead. This way, insurers can make an important contribution to economic recovery, a goal we are very committed to support.

Our overall financial performance remained strong in 2020. The second half-year operating result was up more than 9% compared with the same period in 2019, with Netherlands Life posting solid results on the back of the accelerated shift to higher-yielding assets in the first half of the year. At Netherlands Non-life, lower underwriting results in Disability & Accident were partly offset by lower claims in Property & Casualty and the inclusion of the results of VIVAT Non‐life. The overall combined ratio held up well at 95.7%. Further expense savings were achieved across the company, allowing us to achieve the cost savings target of EUR 400 million.

We saw resilient commercial momentum in the second half of the year as sales were up at Japan Life and Insurance Europe, resulting in a higher value of new business, despite Covid-19 restrictions. Defined Contribution assets under management increased to EUR 24.6 billion, reflecting our market leading position in Dutch pensions. Total Assets under Management at NN Investment Partners increased to EUR 300 billion, driven by positive market performance and strong net third party inflows of EUR 10.1 billion. NN Bank, the fifth largest mortgage originator in the Netherlands, originated new mortgages for a total amount of EUR 3.8 billion.

As expected, operating capital generation in 2020 was impacted by the exceptional market circumstances and low interest rates, as well as the suspension of bank dividends. On the other hand, our accelerated shift to higher-yielding assets provided some offset in the form of higher investment margins. Our strong solvency and capital generation support attractive and growing cash returns to shareholders. We followed the request for prudence from regulators, and limited dividend flows from our subsidiaries to the holding. However, our strong Solvency II ratio and capital generation allows us to fulfill the commitments made in our dividend policy.

With the aim to contribute to the well-being of people and planet, we supported the transition to a sustainable economy by engaging with hundreds of investee companies, and voting for change at more than 2,500 AGMs. Through these actions, we also give substance to our ambition to transition our proprietary investment portfolio to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. Together with around 40 financial institutions, NN Investment Partners signed the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge calling on global leaders to act, and committing ourselves to protect and restore biodiversity through our finance activities and investments. We are pleased to have received external recognition for our ESG performance by again being included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, both the World and Europe index, and by our improved CDP climate change disclosure A- rating.

All in all, we have made a promising start with the implementation of our new strategy and have a solid foundation for delivering both on our financial and non-financial target.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business update

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution

As part of our efforts to enhance customer engagement and focus on service solutions, we aim to be an active participant in platforms on key themes such as Selfcare and Carefree Retirement. In the Netherlands, we launched several initiatives such as Zorggenoot, a network of local experts who can help find, arrange and finance informal elderly homecare. We initiated Kwiek, a platform supporting people over 65 years find a job and fight loneliness, and we invested in Klup, a social platform for people over 50 years old.

Our distribution partners play a vital role in engaging with our customers. Our tied agents throughout Europe adjusted swiftly to remote sales and service processes and adapted to our customers’ changing needs. They made a major contribution to Insurance International results, increasing sales by 2% compared with 2019, despite challenges from Covid-19. In the Netherlands Life business, we managed to further grow the overall satisfaction of our business partners to 7.6. In the Netherlands Non-life and Bank business we steadily improved our broker and customer satisfaction over the year.

We continued to strengthen and expand our partnerships. In the Netherlands, we partnered with Insify, a digital insurance platform that enables small businesses to arrange their own insurance anytime, anywhere. Nationale-Nederlanden acquired a stake in Invers, a company developing smart technology to analyse and deliver financial data. In the Czech Republic, we entered a partnership with AirBank to sell and service our pension products. NN Belgium Life partnered with one of the most prominent brokers in Belgium, Wilink, strengthening our distribution in the retail and self-employed broker segments.

NN started the integration of Keerpunt in its label, HCS. Keerpunt is a quality player in the occupational health and safety service market. Its expertise and products, combined with HCS’s IT and innovation power, will enable us to further develop services for our customers.

Products and services

We launched several protection and living benefit products meeting our customers’ evolving needs. NN Romania entered the general insurance market by launching a home insurance product, and in just two months issued over 1,700 policies, of which 30% to new customers. In Spain, we introduced a flexible, transparent and guaranteed protection product targeted to the self-employed which allows them to pay only for the coverage they need. Sales of COLI products in Japan showed signs of recovery in the second half of 2020, supported by the launch of two new products at the beginning of the year, the Emergency Plus CSV and Emergency Plus LCV which offer sudden-death insurance to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners.

In the Netherlands, we collaborated with Hyfen, APG, PGGM and Blue Sky Group to develop our first blockchain solution, an automated and digitised value transfer process for individual pensions, which also offers support with customer questions and reduces processing time. We also entered a collaboration with the Dutch Consumers’ Association (Consumentenbond) which will offer NN’s cybersecurity emergency call service, Cyberwacht, to their customers for one year.

NN Bank developed NOVA app, a digital household budget providing insights on customers’ actual spending. NN Bank also introduced Woonnu, a new mortgage label which incentivises sustainable living, for example by linking the mortgage interest rate to the home’s energy label.

NN IP expanded its mortgage proposition with two new funds. Partnering with Channel Capital Advisors LLP, NN IP also initiated the NN (L) Flex Trade Finance fund, offering institutional investors access to a conservative portfolio of globally sourced, short-dated trade finance loans. In addition, NN IP strengthened its global Emerging Markets Debt (EMD) team by transferring MN’s EMD team including USD 4 billion of MN’s in-house managed EMD assets to NN IP. The total size of NN IP’s AuM in EMD is now over USD 17 billion.

People and organisation

We are on a journey to transform our company, which also means enabling colleagues to adapt to change. The Covid-19 pandemic measures in 2020 required great flexibility from employees, while at the same time led to enhanced digitisation and new ways of working. Our colleagues embraced these ongoing changes throughout the year, as evidenced by the high engagement score of 7.9 based on the semi-annual survey carried out in the second half of 2020.

We want to be known for our talented employees, and we do this by fostering the NN culture and creating an inclusive working environment. In December, we launched NN’s diversity and inclusion (D&I) statement, explaining our approach to creating a more inclusive workforce, customer experience and community support. We also started the internal series Wo{men}talk to discuss D&I-related topics, and we initiated the NN Pride Network to connect colleagues within the LGBTI+ community.

The integration of VIVAT Non-life is progressing well, and a total of 380 new colleagues from VIVAT joined NN and received a warm virtual welcome.

Financial strength

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive financial returns for shareholders.

On 17 December 2020, European regulator EIOPA published an Opinion to the European Commission on the review of Solvency II. A change of legislation is expected to be implemented at the earliest in 2024. Based on the EIOPA Opinion and the prevailing market conditions in December, the net impact from the proposed changes to NN Group’s Solvency II ratio at the anticipated implementation date is expected to be manageable.

In September, NN Bank issued a EUR 500 million 15-year Soft Bullet Covered bond at an attractive yield, thereby further broadening its investor base and lengthening its funding profile.

Society

NN IP has again been awarded the top score (A+) from the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), for its strategy and governance approach to responsible investing and its ESG integration. NN IP also ranked sixth amongst the world’s largest asset managers using proxy voting for action on climate and social issues, by ShareAction, an association dedicated to raising awareness and participation of sustainable practices in financial activities.

Once more NN was the top-scoring company in the annual Tax Transparency Benchmark, published by the Dutch association of investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO). The jury praised NN for further improving the disclosures of direct and other taxes on a country-by-country basis, and for gaining third-party tax assurance on its 2019 Total Tax Contribution Report.

We continue to focus on supporting our communities during Covid-19 through various initiatives. For example, in the Czech Republic, 150 employees took part in a challenge to support single parent families, lonely seniors and people in senior care homes. In the Netherlands, 350 colleagues were trained as home administration volunteers, a training developed by the National Institute for Family Finance Information (Nibud), and are now able to help family members and friends when they face challenging financial circumstances. We also made donations to the association of Dutch food banks and other charitable organisations.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2H20 results at 10:00 am CET on Thursday 18 February 2021. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 2H20 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 18 February 2021. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• AGM: 20 May 2021
• Publication 1H21 results: 12 August 2021

Additional information

NN Group 2H20 Financial Supplement, NN Group 2H20 Analyst presentation, NN Group Company profile and NN Group ESG presentation

• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

Robust capital position

• NN Group Solvency II ratio of 221% versus 224% at the end of 2019; the Solvency II ratio before deduction of the interim dividend and EUR 183 million of share buybacks in the first half of 2020 was 231%

• Cash capital position at the holding decreased to EUR 1,315 million from EUR 1,989 million at the end of 2019, reflecting cash outflows of EUR 1,132 million including the consideration paid for the acquisition of VIVAT Non-life, the redemption of EUR 300 million senior debt and the repurchase of own shares, partly offset by remittances from subsidiaries to the holding

• 2020 interim dividend of EUR 2.26 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 705 million, which comprises the amount of the suspended final dividend plus the regular interim dividend amount

• Resumption of share buybacks for the remaining amount of EUR 67 million of the original EUR 250 million programme

Strong results in current economic environment

• Operating capital generation decreased to EUR 543 million from EUR 697 million in the first half of 2019, reflecting lower interest rates and the impact of COVID-19 restrictions

• Operating result increased to EUR 926 million from EUR 914 million in the first half of 2019, which benefited from EUR 67 million of private equity dividends, while the current half-year includes EUR 16 million of private equity dividends and non-recurring benefits

• Limited negative impact of COVID-19 of around EUR 30 million in the first half of 2020

• Net result of EUR 587 million, down from EUR 1,118 million in first half of 2019, which benefited from positive revaluations

• Further cost reductions of EUR 21 million in the first half of 2020; total cost reductions achieved to date of EUR 381 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base

• The value of new business was EUR 122 million, down from EUR 236 million in the first half of 2019, reflecting lower sales in Japan and Insurance Europe

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘Despite the current turbulent economic environment, we present a solid set of results for NN Group today. We were able to respond quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring continuity of our business and adapting to the changing needs of our customers, employees and other stakeholders. Our Solvency II ratio remains strong at 221% and our balance sheet is resilient, with a strong cash capital position of EUR 1,315 million at the end of June 2020.

The decision to suspend the 2019 final dividend and share buyback programme in April followed the recommendations of the European and Dutch regulators in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the uncertainty about how that would develop. However, it was always our intention to make those distributions to shareholders when the time was right and therefore we now announce that we are resuming the share buyback programme and will pay an interim dividend of EUR 2.26 per ordinary share, comprising the combined amount of the suspended final dividend and the regular interim dividend.

Our focus is now on operating capital generation (OCG) and our commitment to grow OCG to mid-single digit over time. The OCG in the first half of 2020 was EUR 543 million, reflecting the impact of low interest rates and
COVID-19. We are reporting an operating result for the first half-year of EUR 926 million, an increase of 1.3% compared with the same period last year. The impact of the pandemic on our operating result was limited at around EUR 30 million, while sales and value of new business were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions and the tax regulation change in Japan. In Netherlands Life we accelerated the shift to higher-yielding assets and we took various expense initiatives at Insurance Europe to maintain efficiency. And in Japan we successfully kept surrender rates down, for example by offering policy loans.

In the first six months of the year almost 15 thousand new mortgages for a total amount of EUR 4.4 billion were originated at NN Bank, compared with 12.5 thousand mortgages and EUR 3.7 billion in the first half of 2019. Total Assets under Management at NN IP increased to EUR 285 billion, compared with EUR 276 billion at the end of 2019. Our asset manager attracted net Third-Party assets of EUR 3.5 billion in the first half-year, mainly in Fixed Income and multi-asset strategies as well as in its Dutch residential mortgage fund. The pandemic understandably put some pressure on our customer engagement scores (NPS), while our employee scores improved significantly. Employees indicate they value the measures taken by the company to safeguard their well-being and facilitate working from home.

We reduced administrative expenses by a further EUR 21 million in the first half of the year, bringing our total expense reduction to EUR 381 million at the end of the first half of 2020. After completing the acquisition of VIVAT Non-life on 1 April, we have started the process of integrating the business, for example by redirecting new business to NN platforms and cooperating closely with our intermediaries on migrations. Overall Netherlands Non-life performed well with a combined ratio of 94.9% for the first half of 2020. We are taking measures to improve the performance of the Netherlands Non-life business, especially at Disability & Accident.

During our Capital Markets Day in June, we presented our strategy as well as new targets for the Group and the individual business segments. It is our aim to create value for the benefit of all stakeholders. Our broader responsibility to society is reflected in our non-financial targets that, for instance, help to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy by transitioning our proprietary investments to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This commitment to align with the Paris Agreement follows earlier steps, such as the phase-out strategy of thermal coal-exposed proprietary investments by 2030, the carbon footprint analysis, and the climate-related scenario analysis. At the end of June 2020, the percentage of our total Assets under Management where environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are integrated in the investment process, was 71 percent.

With our priority to maintain a strong balance sheet, and the strategic actions we are taking to achieve resilient and growing long-term capital generation, we are well-positioned to navigate through volatile markets, drive profitable growth and deliver attractive capital returns going forward.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business update

At NN, we help people care for what matters most to them. Our purpose reflects the kind of company we aspire to be: a company that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders. Our ambition is to be an industry leader, known for our customer engagement, talented people, and contribution to society. To realise our ambition, we identified five strategic commitments, with all parts of our business contributing.

Customers and distribution

Responding to the coronavirus pandemic, we enabled our sales agents to move sales processes online in all markets to serve our customers remotely. We also changed the terms of some of our products to support customers unable to pay their insurance premiums. NN Bank increased the use of payment breaks for both mortgage and consumer loan customers in financial distress. Nationale-Nederlanden announced a partnership with MKB-Nederland, the largest entrepreneurs’ organisation in the Netherlands, through which experts share knowledge, experience and solutions to help Dutch entrepreneurs.

Nationale-Nederlanden and BeFrank, which have a leading position in the group pensions market in the Netherlands, are engaging in constructive dialogues with all relevant parties involved in the new Dutch pension agreement to ensure a sustainable solution for Dutch customers in the long term.

In our efforts to make our operations more efficient and reduce IT complexity, the migration to the target retail protection platform in NN Belgium Life is complete for brokers and the legacy system decommissioned.

Products and services

Several new protection products were launched in the first half of 2020, such as NN Orange Risk in the Czech Republic, a standard term risk product offering a variety of coverages and options for discounts. NN Orange Risk brings together best practices following the integration of NN and Aegon and is offered through brokers, and later in the year, through tied agents and our banking partners. In Turkey, we introduced Return of Premium, a long-term life protection product with a partial premium return at maturity, subject to the insured person’s survival. Accidental death and critical illness are provided as riders and the policy duration is offered from three to five years.

In Poland, we launched a diabetes insurance, as a supplement to life insurance contracts. This is a unique product in Poland, allowing people already suffering from diabetes to take out an insurance product.

NN Non-life successfully launched a new state of the art target platform in Belgium in close collaboration with bancassurance partner ING to offer car insurance and other products.

In March, NN Investment Partners (NN IP) and its strategic partner China Asset Management Co. Ltd. (ChinaAMC) together launched an inaugural ESG-integrated China A-Share Equities strategy. The current market developments underline the importance of integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into our investment strategies, making the fund well-positioned to leverage on this opportunity.

People and organisation

We empower our colleagues to be their best and nurture a culture that supports continuous learning, collaboration, and diversity of thinking. Testament to our efforts is the Top Employer 2020 certification our Insurance International units received, which stands for excellence in HR practices and distinctive work conditions. We measure our employee engagement in our (semi) annual employee survey in which we want to hear views of our employees on how we are doing as a company, how they feel about working at NN, and how we can make our company an even better place to work. Our Employee engagement score increased from 7.4 to 7.9 in the first half of 2020.

Financial strength

We aim to maintain a strong balance sheet and generate attractive financial returns for shareholders. In the first half of 2020, we accelerated the shift to higher-yielding assets by investing in investment grade bonds, equities and Emerging Market Debt for a total amount of EUR 4.2 billion.

In May 2020, NN Life completed three transactions to transfer the full longevity risk associated with a total of approximately EUR 13.5 billion of pension liabilities in the Netherlands. This will reduce NN’s exposure to longevity risk, and consequently reduce the required capital and further strengthen NN’s capital position.

In June, NN Bank successfully launched and priced its inaugural EUR 500 million, 10-year Soft Bullet Covered bond, thereby further diversifying the Bank’s funding mix and broadening its investor base.

Society

NN IP complemented its impact investment offering through the launch of the NN (L) Corporate Green Bond fund and three thematic impact equity funds - NN (L) Health & Well-being, NN (L) Climate & Environment, and
NN (L) Smart Connectivity each seeking to tackle specific UN Sustainable Development Goals.

NN, amongst other companies, is a signatory to a statement by the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, requesting the government to place sustainability at the cornerstone of the COVID-19 recovery. Following last year’s announcement that NN Group and Plastic Whale are joining forces to fight plastic waste, in April 2020
Nationale-Nederlanden Spain signed a plastic pledge to reduce the use of plastic in our offices.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1H20 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 6 August 2020. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO), Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Bernhard Kaufmann (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 1H20 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 6 August 2020. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 2H20 results: 18 February 2021

• AGM: 20 May 2021
• Publication 1H21 results: 12 August 2021

Additional information

• NN Group Financial Supplement 1H20, NN Group Analyst Presentation 1H20

• NN Group 30 June 2020 Condensed consolidated interim financial information

• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

• 4Q19 operating result increased to EUR 428 million from EUR 343 million in 4Q18, reflecting improved results at almost all segments; Full-year 2019 operating result of EUR 1,794 million, up 10.3% from 2018

• 4Q19 net result of EUR 329 million versus EUR -533 million in 4Q18 which included a goodwill impairment; Full-year 2019 net result of EUR 1,962 million versus EUR 1,117 million in 2018

• Further cost savings of EUR 36 million in 4Q19, bringing total cost reductions to EUR 360 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base

• Full-year 2019 value of new business of EUR 358 million, down 8.3% from 2018, reflecting lower sales in Japan due to a tax change, partly offset by an improved business mix and higher life and pension sales at Insurance Europe

• Customer satisfaction improved in 2019; NN Group Net Promoter Score increased to +4 versus -1 in 2018

• Solvency II ratio of 218% reflects operating capital generation and positive market impacts, partly offset by the deduction of the proposed 2019 final dividend

• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 1,989 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting net remittances received from subsidiaries, and cash outflow to repurchase own shares

• 2019 final dividend proposal of EUR 1.40 per ordinary share (EUR 448 million), bringing the full-year 2019 dividend to EUR 2.16 per ordinary share (EUR 698 million)

• Share buyback programme of EUR 250 million to be completed within 12 months, anticipated to commence on 2 March 2020

• Updated dividend policy consisting of a progressive dividend per share and a recurring annual share buyback of at least EUR 250 million

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘NN Group’s financial performance was strong in the fourth quarter with the operating result 25% higher compared with the same quarter last year. The full-year 2019 operating result was up by 10% on 2018 with most segments contributing. The measures we are taking to improve the profitability of the Non-life business are bearing fruit, demonstrated by the full-year combined ratio of 95.4% compared with 99.4% in 2018. We have made additional efficiency gains by further reducing the cost base of the units in the scope of the integration by EUR 36 million in the fourth quarter, bringing total cost savings to date to EUR 360 million.

Customer satisfaction improved during the year, with the Group Net Promoter Score increasing 5 points from -1 in 2018 to +4. Motivated and engaged colleagues are key to providing an excellent customer service and this is reflected in a higher employee engagement score of 7.4 compared with 7.1 in 2018. New sales at Insurance Europe and Netherlands Life were up in 2019, while sales in Japan were impacted by the new tax rules for COLI (Corporate-Owned Life Insurance) products. Total value of new business in 2019 was down 8% on 2018, reflecting the lower sales in Japan, partly offset by 21% growth in Europe. NN Bank originated a record amount of EUR 8 billion in mortgages in 2019. The total Assets under Management at our asset manager increased by EUR 30 billion in 2019 to EUR 276 billion, driven by positive market performance.

During the year we continued to strengthen our distribution and customer platforms, including through new strategic partnerships. The acquisition of Human Capital Services (HCS) in the Netherlands reinforced our position with regard to sustainable employability, and supports the broader shift from insurance products to service solutions. The announced acquisition of VIVAT Non-life will further strengthen our market position in the Non-life segment in the Netherlands. Our balance sheet remains strong, with a Solvency II ratio of 218% after deducting the final dividend, and a cash capital position of close to EUR 2 billion at the end of 2019. We will propose a 2019 final dividend of EUR 1.40 per ordinary share at our annual general meeting of shareholders on 28 May 2020, which brings the full-year 2019 dividend per ordinary share to EUR 2.16, up almost 14% from 2018.

NN Group has a track record of distributing excess capital to shareholders. Our approach to this has not changed. We have today announced a new share buyback programme of EUR 250 million, anticipated to commence on 2 March 2020, which will be completed within 12 months. This decision takes into account the fact that we expect cash outflows in 2020 relating to the acquisition of Vivat Non-life and the repayment of maturing senior debt which we intend not to refinance.

Going forward we will pay a progressive ordinary dividend per share. We will also continue to return excess capital to shareholders, with a recurring annual share buyback of at least EUR 250 million under normal circumstances.

In April, we will celebrate the 175th anniversary of Nationale-Nederlanden and the founding of our predecessor ‘De Nederlanden van 1845’. During all these years, we have been dedicated to meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations. Based on this foundation we are further sharpening our strategy, investing in growth and in the transformation of our businesses, with the aim to create long-term value for our customers and other stakeholders. We will present our new plans at the Capital Markets Day on 24 June.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business update

Our business is built on a solid foundation of purpose, values and brand attributes, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Customers

The International insurance business launched new products in several markets to increase its service offering to customers. Nationale-Nederlanden in Spain launched Contigo Futuro, a financial product and tool that helps customers reaching their personal savings goals. Environmental, social and corporate governance criteria are being applied to the investments made via the tool. In addition, Contigo Futuro includes a protection rider that waives premiums if the customer suffers permanent disability. NN in Turkey launched a health insurance that covers the surcharges for medical services from private medical institutions that are contracted by the state Social Security system. This product results from government efforts to relieve overcrowded public hospitals and is sold via agents and joint ventures. NN in Hungary announced plans to introduce payment protection insurance, home insurance and travel insurance products in 2020 and 2021. In addition, NN Slovakia launched NN Partner, a new risk life insurance product. The basic component is death coverage with a guaranteed sum, plus a traffic accident death benefit. Additional riders can cover death, disability, illnesses and accidents. NN Partner has been available via most brokers since 1 October 2019.

Dutch group Robeco’s pension scheme assigned its fiduciary mandate of EUR 750 million to NN Investment Partners (NN IP). In addition, NN IP was selected as the fiduciary manager for the EUR 3.2 billion portfolio of the Dutch pension fund for notaries and their staff.

NN wants to offer its customers personal and relevant products and services. To this end, Nationale-Nederlanden in the Netherlands introduced Smart Move, a personalised digital checklist for customers who are moving house detailing the actions needed before, during and after the move. Customers have the option to outsource multiple tasks and book them directly. Together with Tango, an operator of unmanned petrol stations, we started a pilot for car insurance allowing owners to just pay for kilometres driven while being insured at all times. Tango Car Insurance is modelled on the Nationale-Nederlanden’s Bundelz concept which was developed in our SparkLab innovation lab.

We also saw strong growth in our health insurance business, with more than 60,000 new customers welcomed by OHRA Zorg and NN Zorg for the new 2020 policy year.

Partnerships

In November, NN IP acquired a majority stake in Venn Hypotheken, allowing the asset manager to broaden its offering to its institutional clients to invest in Dutch mortgages, besides the existing NN Dutch Residential Mortgages Fund. In October, NN IP and Irish Life Investment Managers expanded their joint product range with three enhanced index funds, which offer investors a way to responsibly invest while closely tracking an established stock index, as well as with a Real Liability Driven Investment fund, which hedges pension liabilities against inflation and interest rate risks.

Brand, sponsorships, events and awards

In November, NN Group was awarded the top-scoring company in the fifth annual Tax Transparency Benchmark published by the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development. We believe our tax contributions play an important role for the communities in which we operate. BeFrank was awarded by PensioenWegwijzer 2019 for the most effective pension communication. In October, NN Czech was recognised as the best life insurance company in the Czech market by Hospodářské noviny, one of the leading Czech financial daily newspapers. NN Belgium was awarded the innovation and term life product prize at the Belgian Life Insurance awards ceremony organised by Decavi. The innovation award was received for NN Lifelong Income, our annuity solution that is unique in the market. The term life product prize was received for NN Hypo care, in the category Best Debt Balance Insurance/Term Life insurance linked to mortgages. Further, ABN AMRO Verzekeringen was awarded best insurer by Dutch Magazine Management Team (MT1000) for the third consecutive year.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO and interim CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q19 results at 10:30 am CET on Thursday 13 February 2020. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com/investors.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO and interim CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 4Q19 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 13 February 2020. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Annual General Meeting: 28 May 2020
• Capital Markets Day: 24 June 2020
• Publication 1H20 results: 6 August 2020
• Publication 2H20 results: 11 February 2021

Additional information

• NN Group 4Q19 Financial Supplement, NN Group 4Q19 Analyst Presentation
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

• Operating result of EUR 453 million versus EUR 463 million in 3Q18, mainly due to lower private equity and special dividends at Netherlands Life and a lower result at the reinsurance business, largely offset by higher results at Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe, Japan Life and Banking
• Net result of EUR 515 million compared with EUR 788 million in 3Q18, mainly reflecting lower non-operating items
• Further cost reductions of EUR 17 million in 3Q19, bringing total cost reductions achieved to date to EUR 323 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base
• Solvency II ratio of 217% up from 210% at the end of 2Q19, reflecting the positive impact of operating capital generation
• Holding company cash capital of EUR 1,943 million, including EUR 285 million of dividends received from subsidiaries

Statement of David Knibbe, CEO

‘We are pleased to present NN Group’s strong results for the third quarter of 2019, reflecting a continued focus on providing our customers with value-added products and services and an excellent experience.

Looking back at the financial performance of the past quarter, most segments have reported improved results compared with the same quarter last year. Netherlands Non-life showed a good result, with a combined ratio of 94.2%. Insurance Europe, Banking and Japan Life also contributed to the result, while private equity and special dividends at Netherlands Life were lower than a year ago. We have reduced the expense base of the units in scope of the integration by a further EUR 17 million in the third quarter, bringing total cost savings to date to EUR 323 million. We have seen commercial momentum in the Netherlands, including an increased mortgage origination of EUR 2 billion at Banking and strong sales at Insurance Europe. NN IP, our asset manager, achieved inflows of new assets which contributed to bringing the total assets under management to EUR 287 billion. Total new sales of the insurance businesses were down on the third quarter of 2018, due to lower sales at Japan Life following the introduction of the new tax rules for certain COLI products.

NN Group has a strong capital position, as evidenced by a Solvency II ratio of 217% and cash capital at the holding of EUR 1.9 billion.

Customer satisfaction scores remained stable or increased to date this year. NN in the Netherlands has the highest brand consideration and preference score for pensions in the market. We aim to become even more relevant in the lives of our customers and to further improve their experience with our company, by offering them the right products and services that meet their needs and by connecting data analytics across distribution channels and sales points.

We want to play our part in enabling sustainable progress in society. We are proud that NN Group has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for the third year in a row, in recognition of our performance on set economic, environmental and social indicators.

Looking ahead, we have decided to move from quarterly to semi-annual reporting from 2020, as this better suits the long-term nature of our businesses. We are pleased to confirm the date of our Capital Markets Day on 24 June 2020, at which we will provide an update on the strategic and financial developments of NN Group.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business update

Customers

NN’s ambition is to offer our customers personal and relevant products and services. In July, NN Bank introduced a new risk-based pricing system for NN mortgages, under which mortgage rates charged to customers are automatically lowered during the fixed rate period if the loan is eligible for a lower risk premium as a result of repayments. In case of an increase of real estate value, customers can request for a decrease of interest rate, if applicable to their situation. Furthermore, Nationale-Nederlanden launched a simplified term life insurance product, available via www.nn.nl. The offering is aimed at customers who wish to take out a policy to provide financial protection for their relatives, without seeking (financial) advice. This product is available alongside the existing, more extensive term life insurance, offered through insurance and mortgage brokers. BeFrank now offers customers the option of a sustainable pension scheme, whereby companies can choose to make their invested pension capital completely CO2-neutral through a tree planting scheme. The online pension provider works closely with Land Life Company, a company that plants trees on exhausted land.

NN in Slovakia launched an awareness PR initiative that prompts single parents to prepare financially for unexpected events. To support these customers, ‘NN Smart’ offers extensive healthcare coverage for parents and their children. The premium also covers part of the loss of income in situations such as long-term sickness and hospitalisation.

Partnerships

Supporting the responsible investing needs of our clients, NN Investment Partners (NN IP) partnered with Irish Life Investment Managers in September to expand its Enhanced Index Sustainable Equity range with three new funds with a more sustainable profile.

Sustainability

NN IP was again awarded the top score (A+) for its excellent strategy and governance approach to responsible investing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration by the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). In August, NN IP announced that it integrates the three ESG factors demonstrably and consistently throughout the investment process for two-thirds of its strategies. Early September, NN IP launched an ESG index fund investing in Polish blue-chip stocks included in the WIG-ESG index (index comprising WIG20 and WIG40 stocks (blue chips) listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. NN Group also contributed to the practical guide for insurers on managing climate-related risks and opportunities that was published in September by Shareaction/AODP (Asset Owners Disclosure Project).

Brand, sponsorships, events and awards

On 12 October 2019, NN Running Team athlete Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to finish a marathon in under two hours at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. Nationale-Nederlanden Spain launched a partnership with Runnea, a leading running community. The collaboration provides customised training systems for runners via a dedicated website.

For the third consecutive year, NN IP won the Cashcow award in the Netherlands for being the best provider in Impact Investing. NN Bank was also awarded by Cashcow for being the best online asset manager. And, in September, NN IP was included in the annual incentive scheme by the Financial Services Commission for its contribution to Taiwan’s local fund industry. This allows NN IP to benefit from the introduction of new types of funds into Taiwan and to increase the ratio of Taiwanese investors for each fund.

Management changes

On 26 September 2019, the Supervisory Board of NN Group N.V. notified the Extraordinary General Meeting about the intended appointment of David Knibbe as member of the Executive Board and CEO of NN Group. The Supervisory Board subsequently appointed David Knibbe as from 1 October 2019 for a term of four years. It was also announced that Tjeerd Bosklopper will succeed him as CEO Netherlands on an ad interim basis. This appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

On 6 November 2019, it was announced that Jan-Hendrik Erasmus decided to step down as member of the Management Board and CRO of NN Group as of 31 December 2019. Delfin Rueda, CFO, will assume the responsibilities of the CRO portfolio until a suitable successor is found.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q19 results at 10:30 am CET on Thursday 14 November 2019. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com/investors.

Press call

David Knibbe (CEO) and Delfin Rueda (CFO) will host a press call to discuss the 3Q19 results at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 14 November 2019. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 4Q19 results: 13 February 2020
• AGM: 28 May 2020
• Capital Markets Day: 24 June 2020
• Publication 1H20 results: 6 August 2020

Additional information

• NN Group 3Q19 Financial Supplement, NN Group 3Q19 Analyst Presentation
• NN Group 30 September 2019 Condensed consolidated interim accounts
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

• Operating result of EUR 445 million versus EUR 508 million in 2Q18, reflecting lower private equity dividends at Netherlands Life and lower results of the reinsurance business, partly offset by improved results at Insurance Europe, Netherlands Non-life and Japan Life
• Net result of EUR 606 million, up from EUR 463 million in 2Q18
• Total cost reductions achieved to date of EUR 306 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base
• Value of new business (VNB) for 6M19 up 15.4% to EUR 236 million driven by Insurance Europe and Japan Life;
• Total new sales (APE) of EUR 243 million, down 32.5% from 2Q18 at constant currencies
• Solvency II ratio of 210% down from 213% at the end of 1Q19, reflecting movements in credit spreads and the deduction of the 2019 interim dividend, partly offset by operating capital generation
• Holding company cash capital of EUR 2,220 million, including EUR 558 million dividends received from subsidiaries in all segments
• 2019 interim dividend of EUR 0.76 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 252 million

Delfin Rueda, CFO of NN Group: ‘NN Group has today reported an operating result of EUR 445 million for the second quarter of 2019. We see continued improvement in the performance of Netherlands Non-life, with a combined ratio of 95.8% for this quarter. Insurance Europe and Japan Life also posted higher results. Conversely, private equity dividends at Netherlands Life were lower than a year ago and the reinsurance business received higher claims. We continue to focus on enhancing the efficiency of the organisation, with total expense reductions to date of the units in scope of the integration of EUR 306 million compared with the 2016 full-year administrative expense base. We are committed to reducing the cost base by EUR 400 million by the end of 2020, however we don’t expect expense reductions to be linear going forward as some units are incurring costs to support their growth and to make necessary investments.

The value of new business increased 15% in the first six months of this year, mainly driven by an improved business mix and higher life and pension sales in Europe, as well as higher sales in Japan in the first quarter of the year.

Our capital position remains strong with a cash capital position of EUR 2,220 million at the end of the second quarter and a Solvency II ratio of 210%, after deduction of the interim dividend announced today of EUR 0.76 per ordinary share to be paid in September.

The announcement in June to acquire VIVAT Non-life represents a next step in strengthening the Non-life business in the Netherlands, as scale is essential to deliver attractive and sustainable customer propositions in this competitive market in the long term.

As part of our efforts to support the Paris Agreement on climate change, we implemented a coal policy. By placing investment restrictions on thermal coal mining companies and intensifying our dialogue with power generation companies, we aim to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Earlier this week we announced the intended appointment of David Knibbe as CEO of NN Group, as successor for Lard Friese who has stepped down from this role, effective 12 August 2019. We are convinced that David, currently CEO of our Netherlands businesses, is the right person to lead NN Group during the next phase of its journey. Following this change in the leadership we have decided to reschedule the Capital Markets Update to mid-2020.

Last month we celebrated our fifth anniversary as a standalone company. Together with our 15,000 employees, we have guided NN Group from the IPO in July 2014 to the company it is today. NN is well-positioned for the future and fully committed to helping our customers secure their financial futures.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business update

Our business is built on a solid foundation of purpose, values and brand attributes, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Strategic developments

NN Group is strengthening its Non-life activities with the announcement to acquire VIVAT’s Non-life business in June. Furthermore, NN announced the acquisition of Human Capital Services (HCS) in July, a company focused on services and solutions for sustainable employability. HCS is entering into a strategic partnership with Otherside at Work, an organisation that develops software in the field of occupational health and social security. In addition to this, NN also acquired a minority interest in Otherside. These transactions strengthen Nationale-Nederlanden’s positions in sustainable employability services.

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) formalised its long-term partnership with ING Bank Śląski in Poland in July after receiving regulatory approval. Under this partnership, ING Bank Śląski has acquired a 45% stake in NN IP in Poland, and will distribute NN funds to the Polish retail market through its extensive branch network.

Customers

NN Life Japan is adjusting its product portfolio to meet the requirements of the new tax rules and was the first to launch renewed COLI products in July. In addition the continued focus of NN Japan Life on the sale of protection products resulted in a 30% growth in protection VNB during the first six months of 2019.

OHRA launched Clixx, an insurance for borrowed cars which can be taken out for just one day with a maximum of 30 days. In May, NN Hellas in Greece launched a new growing guarantee product ‘Smart Move’ which is offered through the bancassurance channel. This product allows customers to build up a long-term investment through regular payments, instead of by providing initial capital. NN IP takes an active approach to Responsible Investing. In April 2019, it launched a new short-duration green bond fund, which contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sustainability

NN wants to have a positive impact on society, for example by contributing to the transition towards a low carbon economy. Together with approximately 50 other representatives, NN Group signed the financial sector commitment to the Dutch Climate agreement, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030 (compared with 1990 levels). In addition, NN and the social enterprise Plastic Whale joined forces to fight plastic waste by raising awareness.

Sponsoring, Events and Awards

Spanish economic newspaper Expansión and Allfunds named the joint Nationale-Nederlanden and NN Investment Partners Europa Pension Fund one of the best pension funds of 2018 in the category ‘Pension Funds- Multi-Asset Moderate’. Furthermore, a number of NN IP funds achieved recognition in the second quarter: amongst others, the NN (L) Green Bond was awarded Best Global Aggregate Bond Fund at the GFSI Swiss Sustainable Awards in June. The ABN AMRO Verzekeringen legal assistance insurance was named best product by Dutch consumer organisation ‘De Consumentenbond’ and its travel insurance given a five star rating by MoneyView. The NN North Sea Jazz Festival took place in Rotterdam from 12 to 14 July, the second edition with NN as the title sponsor. The 75,000 visitors to NN North Sea Jazz could also enjoy photography by Ed van der Elsken at the 'Lust for life' popup exhibition, a collaboration between Nationale-Nederlanden and the Nederlands Fotomuseum.

People

On 29 May 2019, Jan Holsboer stepped down as chair of the Supervisory Board of NN Group N.V., and was succeeded by David Cole. Furthermore, as part of the ongoing integration of Delta Lloyd, the separate Collective Labour Agreements of Delta Lloyd and NN have been harmonised into one new agreement. In addition, NN IP was recognised for its achievements in diversity and inclusion with the ‘Golden Pump’ award, an award given by the association of Women in Institutional Pensions in the Netherlands.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Jan-Hendrik Erasmus (CRO) will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q19 results at 10:30 am CET on Thursday 15 August 2019. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com/investors.

Press call

Delfin Rueda (CFO) and Jan-Hendrik Erasmus (CRO) will host a press call to discuss the 2Q19 results, which will be held at 07:45 am CET on Thursday 15 August 2019. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 3Q19 results: 14 November 2019
• Publication 4Q19 results: 13 February 2020

Additional information

• NN Group 2Q19 Financial Supplement, NN Group 2Q19 Analyst Presentation
• NN Group 30 June 2019 Condensed consolidated interim financial information
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr

• Operating result increased to EUR 468 million from EUR 313 million in 1Q18, which reflected the negative impact of a storm in January 2018, while the current quarter benefited from a dividend from an indirect stake in the former ING Life Korea
• Net result of EUR 512 million, up from EUR 399 million in 1Q18
• Further cost reductions of EUR 20 million in 1Q19; total cost reductions achieved to date of EUR 310 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base
• Total new sales (APE) of EUR 945 million, up 72% from 1Q18 at constant currencies, reflecting higher sales in Japan and a higher volume of group pension contracts in the Netherlands
• Solvency II ratio of 213% reflects unfavourable movements in credit spreads and interest rates, the deduction of the EUR 500 million share buyback as well as a reduction of the UFR, partly offset by operating capital generation and positive equity revaluations
• Holding company cash capital at EUR 2,048 million

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘The year 2019 started off well with NN Group reporting an operating result for the first quarter of EUR 468 million. Netherlands Life, Netherlands Non-life and Japan Life posted solid results, while we saw some pressure on the results of Insurance Europe, Asset Management and Banking. We continued to make progress towards our expense reduction target of EUR 400 million by the end of 2020. This quarter we reduced administrative expenses by EUR 20 million through further realisation of efficiencies bringing our total expense reduction to EUR 310 million by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

Our commercial momentum was strong as demonstrated by a 72% increase in new sales versus the same quarter last year. All segments contributed to this increase, especially in Japan where higher sales were the result of strong sales efforts as well as customer expectations of a revision of tax rules for COLI (corporate-owned life insurance) products. In addition, NN Investment Partners reported positive net flows, in total as well as in third party business.

We operate in a heavily regulated environment and often have to navigate changes in local markets. In April, the Japanese National Tax Agency published a proposal for a revision of the tax treatment of certain COLI products, and changes are anticipated for the pension systems in Romania and Poland. We are experienced in coping with such developments given our in-depth knowledge of the local markets and by differentiating ourselves with continuous product innovation, sales support and high-quality training programmes for distribution partners.

Our capital position remains strong with a Solvency II ratio of 213% and a cash capital position of EUR 2,048 million at the end of the first quarter.

We continued to integrate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors into our investment decisions, and actively engage with a variety of companies in our portfolios. To strengthen our engagement efforts with palm oil companies, we joined forces with other asset managers in the Netherlands and became a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in the first quarter. NN Investment Partners continued to actively raise the issue of climate change with various parties, including oil and gas companies.

Going forward, our focus remains on the integration process of the various Delta Lloyd and NN businesses in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as on further driving growth and improving the customer experience through innovation and our client centric approach. We plan to organise a capital markets update for NN Group in the Netherlands on 4 December 2019.’

(download the full Press Release)

Business highlights

Our businesses are built on a solid foundation of purpose, values and brand attributes, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Netherlands

NN Life managed to maintain its strong position in the market and as a result of proactive engagement, NN Life’s customer (NPS) and broker satisfaction scores increased. For example the IG&H broker satisfaction score improved to 7.7 in the first quarter of 2019, from 7.2 on average in 2018. Compared to the same quarter last year, BeFrank increased its portfolio by more than 20% in terms of recurring premiums following commercial success and autonomous growth. Furthermore 95% of customers whose pension contract would expire at the end of 2018, renewed their contract with us.

Sparklab, the innovation lab of Nationale-Nederlanden, launched two new solutions; Hello Mobility and MMOX Smart. Hello Mobility uses an online dashboard to record and analyse driving behaviour, fuel consumption, repairs and maintenance costs of professional drivers. With the dashboard, a coach can propose improvements and training opportunities for drivers. This allows entrepreneurs and professional drivers to save costs and operate a more sustainable car fleet. MMOX Smart, a cooperation between Sparklab and MMOX, is the first all-in-one cyber protection product for SMEs, combining smart software with a repair service and insurance.

NN Bank issued its fourth EUR 500 million benchmark covered bond in February at an attractive rate. The issuance was well received in the market, underlining the reliable nature of this funding instrument for NN Bank.

NN saw strong origination of new mortgages in the first quarter on the back of a competitive proposition and the introduction of new mortgage solutions at the end of 2018.

International Insurance

The core of the business model of International Insurance is to take on the risks that people cannot bear alone providing them protection for what matters most to them. For example, NN in Romania launched a series of new protection products, designed as flexible and modular riders. These products offer financial protection for critical illness or the incapacity to work due to permanent disability, helping customers to overcome financial distress, cover medical expenses and benefit from support for treatment and recovery. A new unit linked product has been launched for ING in Belgium. The solution targets different segments, ranging from private banking to private individuals. It offers a different tax regime than mutual funds, and it allows for inheritance planning. NN Bulgaria and Eurobank Bulgaria AD (Postbank) expanded their partnership as Postbank has involved its whole branch network in the distribution of NN Bulgaria’s pension products to provide more savings to Bulgarian people.

The international business continues to roll out digital tools and products to support customers. In February, NN Belgium introduced NN Connect, an app (retail) customers can use to view the status of their assets and insurance contracts. NN in Hungary was awarded the iF Design Award, a prestigious international design award, for protect.me, an innovative product which offers ‘pay-as-you-go’ life and accident insurance through a mobile app. In addition to this, NN in Hungary introduced their agile way of working throughout the organisation, aiming to be faster and offer more flexibility to customers. For example, the risk assessment process has been shortened from approximately 13 days to just several minutes.

As part of the efforts to improve agility and efficiency within the organisation, the NN global IT Hub officially opened in the heart of Prague, Czech Republic. The NN Hub delivers IT services to all NN Group business units, from the Netherlands to Japan. The IT Hub employs over 130 IT specialists from around the world, and focuses on IT services such as security monitoring, ethical hacking, user access management, data centre management, development and the administration of global applications, support for agile teams with automation, development, and testing.

Asset Management

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) continued its focus on responsible investing. In March 2019, it published its 2018 Responsible Investment Report that elaborates on the 2018 engagement and voting results. In the same month the asset manager announced it will jointly manage a range of sustainable enhanced equity index strategies with Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM). These strategies combine NN IP’s long history of ESG investing with ILIM’s expertise as a global indexation manager, offering clients attractively priced sustainable solutions and rewarding companies for good governance and effective climate change policies.

Furthermore, the company recently partnered with Yale University (the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance, YISF), on a new research stream called ‘Delivering value to investors from sustainability’. This academic research programme explores whether and how integration of ESG aspects in the investment process may improve risk/return of investment portfolios, supporting NN IP in the development of tools to achieve both financial and sustainable goals.

At the end of the first quarter, the merger of the Luxembourg management company with the Dutch licensed entity NN Investment Partners B.V., became effective after the receipt of all regulatory approvals. This step increases NN IP’s efficiency, helping to better leverage existing capabilities and accelerating decision-making.

NN IP funds achieved recognition in several markets in the first quarter of 2019. At the 2019 Morningstar Awards ceremony in Singapore, the NN (L) Asian Debt (Hard Currency) P Cap USD fund was named Best Asian Bond Fund 2019. The award is a testimony to the fund’s consistent outperformance in both strong and weak markets over the past 10 years. Furthermore, NN IP’s NN (L) European Sustainable Equity fund was given one of the ten highest scores among Climetrics’ 5-leaf rated funds at the CDP Europe Awards in Brussels. A five-leaf rating also indicates that NN IP’s monitoring and oversight of climate issues is among the best in the Climetrics universe of analysed funds.

Other events

NN Group values the role of art and culture in society, as we believe art inspires and connects people. Therefore NN contributes to making art more accessible to a wider audience, and invests in cultural partnerships with Dutch museums and artists. Recent art and culture activities include sponsoring the exhibition of one of the most famous Dutch photographers, Erwin Olaf, at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague that attracted more than 200,000 visitors. Furthermore, at the Art Rotterdam Fair earlier this year, the NN Group Art Award was presented for the third time. This incentive prize for exceptionally talented artists was awarded to Katja Mater.

It was also announced that the corporate partnership between NN Group and the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague will be extended until 2021, with the attraction of new audiences to the museum as one of the main shared goals.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst and investor call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1Q19 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 16 May 2019. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 1Q19 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 16 May 2019. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Annual General Meeting: 29 May 2019
• Publication 2Q19 results: 15 August 2019
• Publication 3Q19 results: 14 November 2019
• Capital markets update: 4 December 2019

Additional information

• NN Group 1Q19 Financial Supplement, NN Group 1Q19 Analyst Presentation
• NN Group 31 March 2019 Condensed consolidated interim accounts
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr.

Solvency II ratio 230%, final dividend and share buyback announced

• 4Q18 operating result of the ongoing business of EUR 343 million, broadly stable versus 4Q17 reflecting improved results at Netherlands Life, Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe and Japan Life, offset by lower results at the segment Other and Asset Management
• Full-year 2018 operating result of the ongoing business of EUR 1,626 million, up 3% from 2017
• Net result EUR -533 million in 4Q18 versus EUR 700 million in 4Q17, reflecting the goodwill impairment resulting from the progress of the integration of NN Life and Delta Lloyd Life (as announced on 13 December 2018) and lower non-operating items
• Full-year 2018 net result of EUR 1,117 million versus EUR 2,110 million in 2017
• Further cost savings of EUR 20 million in 4Q18, bringing total cost reductions to EUR 289 million versus the full-year 2016 administrative expense base
• APE at the insurance businesses up 8.1% at constant currencies compared with 4Q17. Full-year 2018 value of new business (VNB) of EUR 391 million, up 13.4% from 2017
• 2018 final dividend proposal of EUR 1.24 per ordinary share, bringing the full-year 2018 dividend to EUR 1.90 per ordinary share, or approximately EUR 637 million in total, up 14.5% compared with 2017
• Solvency II ratio of 230% reflects changes in the corporate tax rate in the Netherlands, the impact of the final dividend and the termination of the warrant agreement as well as negative equity revaluations, partly offset by the expansion of the Partial Internal Model and operating capital generation
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 2,005 million, reflecting net dividends from subsidiaries partly offset by shares repurchased in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the termination of the warrant agreement with ING Groep
• Share buyback programme up to EUR 500 million over 12 months, anticipated to commence on 1 March 2019

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘2018 was a successful year for our company. We further strengthened our market position and reached a number of important milestones in the integration process of Delta Lloyd’s asset management, banking and the Dutch and Belgium insurance businesses. We obtained approval from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) to expand our Partial Internal Model to include the Delta Lloyd Life and Non-life entities in the Netherlands, and we merged Delta Lloyd Life and Non-life into NN Life and Non-life on 1 January 2019. In the Netherlands and Belgium, we have achieved total cost reductions to date of EUR 289 million compared with the full-year 2016 administrative expense base. We have further integrated teams, systems and processes, increased efficiency, and introduced new products and services to meet our customers’ needs. The rebranding of Delta Lloyd’s products and services to Nationale-Nederlanden is virtually complete.

The 2018 operating result was up 3% compared with 2017, driven by better performance at Netherlands Life, Netherlands Non-life and Insurance Europe, while at the same time Japan Life, our asset manager and the reinsurance business faced some headwinds.

Commercial momentum continued, supported by an improved product mix that drove a 19.6% increase in the value of new business in Europe and a 10.3% increase in Japan in 2018 compared with 2017. New sales in 2018 were down compared with 2017, as pension contracts in the Netherlands are not renewed each year and in 2018 we saw a lower volume of pension contracts coming up for renewal.

In line with our objective to achieve value creation and profitable growth, we completed the acquisition of Aegon’s life insurance business in the Czech Republic and its life insurance and pension businesses in Slovakia in January 2019.

Our balance sheet remained strong in the fourth quarter, with a Solvency II ratio of 230% after deducting the final dividend, and a cash capital position of EUR 2,005 million. We will propose a 2018 final dividend of EUR 1.24 per ordinary share at our Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 29 May 2019. Together with the interim dividend paid in September 2018, this brings the full-year 2018 dividend per ordinary share to EUR 1.90, up 14.5% compared with 2017 and represents a pay-out ratio of 50% of the full-year 2018 net operating result of the ongoing business. This is in line with our aim for a double-digit increase in the dividend per share in 2018.

We are today announcing a programme to buy back shares up to EUR 500 million over a period of 12 months. This underlines our disciplined capital management as well as our commitment to returning excess capital to shareholders. At the same time, we believe it is essential to maintain a robust capital position and the financial flexibility to be able to pursue opportunities to strengthen our business further and to create additional value.

We again took steps to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into our investment processes. Furthermore, NN Group increased its score in the Sustainalytics rating and now ranks amongst the leaders in the sector. In January 2019, NN Group was included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. This index highlights 230 companies that are committed to transparency in workplace gender reporting.

All these achievements would not have been possible without the dedication and efforts of our employees and business partners. We continue to focus on our key priorities to successfully integrate Delta Lloyd, further improve performance, accelerate the transformation of the business model, and to allocate capital rationally. I am confident that the company is well-positioned to deliver on our priorities going forward.’

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and priorities

Our businesses are built on a solid foundation of purpose, values and brand attributes, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, new pension customers are selecting NN for its attractive products, the quality of service, and the financial conditions. For example, A.S. Watson transferred its pension plans to NN Life and BeFrank as of January 2019. Interfood, an international dairy company, also selected NN Life to manage its pension plan.

In November, NN Bank extended its mortgage product range by launching the ‘Buy-to-Let’ mortgage, specifically designed for financing residential property for private letting.

NN aims to adapt its business to changing market dynamics, and continuously looks for new ways to meet customers’ needs. In January 2019, Nationale-Nederlanden, together with a number of third parties, launched Perfect Day cybersecurity. Perfect Day, an initiative from the innovation centre Sparklab, focuses exclusively on SMEs. It includes a new service that offers practical insights (for example on vulnerability of websites, protection of client information or weak passwords), provides concrete solutions, and makes cybersecurity affordable.

We continue to explore options to build partnerships, and invest in technology and analytics that will help us to improve our offering. In line with this strategy, NN Group has entered into a partnership with Crunchr, a young company that develops and offers cloud solutions for workforce analytics. Its products and services enable companies to make workforce decisions using data and analytics. It also offers tooling for employee surveys. By adding the Crunchr products to its offering, NN will strengthen its position as a business partner.

The products of ABN AMRO Verzekeringen have been recognised by various organisations for their high quality. The company also received an award for best insurer by the Dutch magazine Management Team, and was given five stars by MoneyView. Furthermore, OHRA received a bronze EFFIE, a respected communication award in the Netherlands, for its campaign ‘Mobiel Verzekeren’. This year OHRA was awarded for its successful campaign ‘Rob and Els’, which met the set targets in terms of awareness, attitude and behaviour.

Movir, which offers individual disability insurance to self-employed workers in the Netherlands, was awarded the title of ´Best income insurer´ by the association of independent financial advisors, Adfiz. Movir also ranked first in the category ‘Best Partner claims handling’.

International Insurance

NN’s International Insurance businesses are expanding their portfolio of protection products and introduced several new propositions in various markets. For instance, Nationale-Nederlanden in Spain launched a new life insurance protection product, ‘Contigo Familia’, covering death, disability and illness, with different modular options tailored to a customer’s profile and that of his or her family. Customers have 24/7 access to medical specialists through a health app called ‘Meeting doctors’.

NN Life Japan continues to develop new Company-Owned Life Insurance (COLI) products, and expands and diversifies its distribution within the increasingly competitive market, with a focus on value over volume. COLI sales through Sumitomo Life accounted for 11% of NN Life Japan’s total sales in 2018. Sumitomo Life agents started offering NN Life Japan’s accelerated living disability benefit and increasing term products in April 2017, and its critical illness insurance as of April 2018. The new COLI product introduced in November 2018 provides coverage to business owners in the event of unforeseen accidents, the need for nursing care or disability. Sales performed well in the last two months of 2018.

NN Turkey launched a modular, flexible and innovative life protection product in November. The product supports customers throughout the different stages in life, with its benefits adapting to meet a customer’s changing needs. NN Turkey also launched ‘e-NN’, the company’s first online sales platform offering three products: life, critical illness and personal accident insurance assistance services. It aims to expand the product range in the near future.

In 2018, International Insurance set up a centre of excellence, ‘NN Data Science Hub’, to strengthen analytics capabilities and accelerate data-driven transformation. At NN, analytics is used to improve processes throughout the value chain: from product development to marketing and sales, from risk assessment and underwriting to claims management. For example, the Hub launched a pilot for a weather alert system for home insurance customers in Spain. When the official Spanish weather forecast website expects bad weather, an alert will be sent to customers so they can take appropriate measures to prevent any damages to their houses.

As a financial services company active in 18 countries, we operate within diverse regulatory environments. In Romania, where NN is market leader in life and pensions, the government approved significant changes to the second pension pillar in December 2018. These changes are being closely studied by NN and may impact the fundamentals of the second pension pillar system in Romania.

Asset Management

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) completed the integration of Delta Lloyd Asset Management (DLAM) in the second quarter of 2018. With the aim to better leverage on existing capabilities and accelerate decision-making, in November, NN IP announced its intention to consolidate the Luxembourg management company, NN Investment Partners Luxembourg S.A., with NN Investment Partners B.V., the Dutch licensed entity.

NN IP aims to establish and develop partnerships for distributing its products and solutions. In the fourth quarter of 2018, it reached an agreement to strengthen the long-term partnership with ING Bank Śląski in Poland. Under this agreement, ING Bank Śląski will acquire a 45% stake in NN IP in Poland, and distribute NN IP investment funds to the Polish retail market through its extensive branch network. In Japan, together with Rakuten Securities it announced the launch of a new investment service, which makes it possible to deliver a customised target-year investment solution for retail clients. The first products and solutions through NN IP’s partnership with Irish Life Investment Management have been launched.

NN IP considers ESG analyses throughout the entire investment process. The NN (L) Euro Green Bond Fund has grown into one of the world’s largest green bond funds, crossing an AuM of EUR 570 million. In the fourth quarter of 2018, NN IP launched the NN (L) European Sustainable Infrastructure Debt Fund, in response to growing investor demand for high quality infrastructure debt investments with robust and predictable cash flows, generated from assets that contribute to a more sustainable future.

In its latest update, Morningstar awarded Star Fund, the third pillar Belgian pension fund managed by NN IP Belgium, four Morningstar Globes. The fund also appears in the 14th percentile in terms of sustainability within the category “Allocation EUR flexible”, making it the best-ranked Belgian third pillar pension fund distributed in Belgium.

Other events

In November 2018, NN Group was recognised with the overall fifth position in the 2018 Tax Transparency Benchmark. This study is commissioned by the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), and ranks 76 Dutch listed companies on their level of transparency regarding their tax strategy and implementation.

For the fourth consecutive year, NN Group improved its score in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), outperforming the majority of the 850 GRESB participants. In the 2018 assessment, NN Group investments in private real estate received an improved score of 80 (on a scale of 1 to 100) against a relevant benchmark average of 66. The portfolio maintained four stars out of five in the 2018 ranking. The GRESB is a leading global standard for assessing real estate’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, including performance indicators such as energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water and waste.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst call 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q18 results at 10.30 am CET onThursday 14 February 2019. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 4Q18 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 14 February 2019. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 1Q19 results: 16 May 2019
• Annual General Meeting: 29 May 2019
• Publication 2Q19 results: 15 August 2019
• Publication 3Q19 results: 14 November 2019

Additional information

• NN Group 4Q18 Financial Supplement, NN Group 4Q18 Analyst Presentation
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr.

• Operating result ongoing business EUR 463 million, up 7.4% from 3Q17, reflecting an improved underwriting performance at Netherlands Non-life, higher dividends at Netherlands Life, as well as lower expenses
• Net result of EUR 788 million, up 7.3% from 3Q17, reflecting the higher operating result and an additional divestment result related to ING Life Korea
• Further cost reductions of EUR 33 million in 3Q18, bringing total cost reductions achieved to date to EUR 269 million
• Solvency II ratio increased to 239% from 226% at 2Q18, reflecting operating capital generation and positive market impacts
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 1,899 million, including EUR 338 million dividends received from subsidiaries

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘We look back on a quarter in which our business performed well, and we again delivered a solid set of results. The 7% increase in the operating result was supported by an improved underwriting performance in both the D&A and P&C portfolios of Netherlands Non-life and higher dividends at Netherlands Life, as well as lower expenses. The Non-life results have shown gradual improvement over the past few quarters, and in the third quarter benefited from favourable claims experience. However claims experience is volatile by nature, and we will continue to implement measures in order to structurally improve the combined ratio. New sales in the third quarter were down on last year at Netherlands Life as well as Japan Life, which continues to see intensifying competition in the COLI market. Additionally, new sales at Insurance Europe were impacted by currency effects and adverse economic conditions in Turkey.

Our continued focus on the successful integration of Delta Lloyd and on increasing efficiency is reflected in further cost savings of EUR 33 million at the units in scope of the integration, bringing total cost reductions to EUR 269 million compared with the 2016 full-year administrative expense base.

Our balance sheet remained strong with a Solvency II ratio of 239%, and a cash capital position of EUR 1.9 billion at the end of the third quarter.

As an international financial services company, we aim to create long-term value, and we want to contribute to society by further integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into our decision making. To this end, we recently strengthened our responsible investment approach and restricted investments in companies involved in oil sands production and controversial pipelines, given the related concerns around human rights and environmental pollution. NN Group was again included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), both in the World and Europe index.

This quarter’s performance confirms that we are progressing well in executing our strategy, which focuses on successfully integrating Delta Lloyd, further improving performance, accelerating the transformation of the business model and continuing to allocate capital rationally. This will ensure a sustainable business for tomorrow, helping people secure their financial futures.’

Strategy and priorities

Our businesses are built on a solid foundation of purpose, values and brand attributes, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Netherlands

In line with NN’s strategic focus to be more digital, personal and relevant in interactions with its customers, several new products, services, and initiatives were introduced during the quarter. For example, NN Bank launched the Senior Citizens’ Residence mortgage, allowing people of 57 years and older to finance a new, smaller home, as well as the Expat Mortgage, with a tailored acceptance policy for expats wanting to settle in the Netherlands.

BeFrank introduced a Sustainable Impact Dashboard which allows employees of pension schemes to monitor the impact of their contributions on waste production, water consumption and CO2 emission, when opting for the sustainable investment mix. BeFrank is the first pension provider to offer this option to contribute to a better environment.

On 8 November, health insurance premiums for 2019 were announced. Following the rebranding of Delta Lloyd health insurance, the first NN health insurance campaign was launched aimed at attracting new customers for NN’s health insurance product. NN health insurance offers a free choice of healthcare providers, access to the best medical specialists, and waiting list mediation.

OHRA introduced a solution specifically designed for self-employed workers to provide insurance cover of their business risks, for example legal assistance, liability insurance, and insurance for theft and damage of laptops and tablets.

On 18 September, Nationale-Nederlanden and ABN AMRO Verzekeringen were awarded the highest rating for their legal assistance insurance, and Nationale-Nederlanden and OHRA received the highest rating for their individual liability insurance. These ratings were awarded by MoneyView, an independent research institute that collects information about financial products.

International Insurance

In January 2018, Sparklab Turkey successfully launched a pilot project in response to the Pillar II pension regulation, introduced at the beginning of the year. The Project ‘NN Ekstra’ is a digital-lead generation and distribution platform that incentivises partners to act on behalf of NN. The platform directly forwards its users to NN’s digital platform, helps to create master contracts, and facilitates the process to on-board employees of pension clients. Since the beginning of this year, NN Ekstra digitally on-boarded 275 new companies and more than 7,000 new employees.

Nationale-Nederlanden in Poland launched an accidental health insurance for children. This new product, which is sold online, includes care assistance covering doctors’ visits, prescriptions, and private lessons during long absences from school, as well as medical assistance providing help in arranging doctors’ visits.

The Non-life business in Belgium introduced the service ‘My Advisor@Home’ in April. When a customer’s property suffers heavy damages, an advisor visits within 24 hours, and helps to take care of all necessary arrangements and repairs throughout the claims handling process. This concept is offered through ING, and fits perfectly with NN’s brand promise ‘You matter’. This service has been very well received by NN’s customers, as reflected in high customer satisfaction scores.

NN Life Japan continues to develop new COLI products, and expand and diversify its distribution within the increasingly competitive COLI market, with a focus on value over volume. COLI sales through Sumitomo Life accounted for 11% of NN Life Japan’s total sales in the third quarter of 2018. Sumitomo Life agents started offering NN Life Japan’s Accelerated Living Disability Benefit and Increasing Term products from the beginning of April 2017, and Critical Illness insurance from April 2018. In addition, Protection sales increased by 77% compared with the same quarter last year, on the back of product repricing and higher sales of the Emergency Plus product.

In September, NN Life Japan started providing a new online sales tool to Sumitomo Life, enabling its tied agents to easily advise potential customers about NN Life Japan’s products and the details of insurance applications at any time.

The international business continues to roll out digital tools to support NN’s distribution partners, for example, NN’s businesses in the Czech Republic and Slovakia launched a user-friendly digital sales platform, ‘NN Stela’, in order to improve customer experience.

Asset Management

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) in Poland became the country’s first asset manager to launch a risk-profiling tool with a robo-matching module, which helps customers decide in which funds to invest. As mutual funds are a complex product to offer through online channels, this solution makes it easier for potential clients to start investing online.

In July, NN IP Japan and Rakuten Securities announced the launch of a new investment service called ‘Target Year Wrap’. With this new service, Rakuten Securities provides retail investors with a customised investment solution.

NN IP’s Dutch Residential Mortgage Fund surpassed the EUR 2 billion mark. Since its inception in November 2015, the fund has grown steadily, as institutional investors are increasingly keen to invest in Dutch mortgages in the current low-yield environment. More and more foreign investors have also shown interest, and the fund has been passported to amongst others Belgium, Germany, France, the UK and Spain.

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) again awarded NN IP the top A+ score for its Strategy & Governance approach to responsible investing and ESG integration. NN IP has been a signatory of the United Nations-supported PRI since 2008, and has been active in responsible investing since 1999.

Other events

NN’s branding strategy is geared towards building long-term relationships with the communities we operate in. Our running sponsorship fits well with our company’s values and our aim to contribute to people’s well-being. In 2017, NN and its partners launched the first professional running team in the world. Since then, the team’s athletes have achieved 82 victories. In September 2018, Eliud Kipchoge, member of the running team, made international headlines when he broke the existing world record at the 2018 BMW Berlin marathon.

NN Bulgaria received a special award in recognition of its work to inspire the country’s students to be entrepreneurial and improve their financial literacy. As part of its efforts, NN Bulgaria launched the textbook, ‘Personal Finance: Introduction’, for students in non-economic specialties. This textbook aims to help young people understand, plan, and manage their personal finances. The long-term goal of the project is to introduce a 'Personal Finance' course at higher education institutions.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst call 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q18 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 15 November 2018. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 3Q18 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 15 November 2018. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 4Q18 results: 14 February 2019
• Publication 1Q19 results: 16 May 2019
• Annual General Meeting: 29 May 2019
• Publication 2Q19 results: 15 August 2019

Additional information

• NN Group 3Q18 Financial Supplement, NN Group 3Q18 Analyst Presentation
• NN Group 30 September 2018 Condensed consolidated interim accounts
• Photos of NN Group executives, buildings and events are available for download at Flickr.

Solid operating performance, Solvency II ratio at 226%
 

• Operating result ongoing business EUR 508 million, up 25.6% from 2Q17, reflecting an improved underwriting performance at Netherlands Non-life, private equity dividends at Netherlands Life and lower expenses
• Net result EUR 463 million, up 92.7% from 2Q17, reflecting the higher operating result and higher capital gains, while 2Q17 included a provision related to ING Australia Holdings
• Further cost reductions of EUR 62 million in 2Q18, bringing total cost reductions achieved to date to EUR 236 million
• Total new sales (APE) of EUR 357 million, down 7.5% from 2Q17 at constant currencies. VNB for 6M18 up 20.2% to EUR 205 million, driven by Japan Life and Insurance Europe
• Solvency II ratio of 226% up from 213% at the end of 1Q18, reflecting operating capital generation, positive market impacts and the deduction of the 2018 interim dividend
• Holding company cash capital was EUR 1,799 million, including EUR 536 million dividends received from subsidiaries
• 2018 Interim dividend of EUR 0.66 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 222 million

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘Today, we are reporting a solid result for the second quarter of 2018. The operating results of most segments improved compared with the second quarter of last year, supported by an improved P&C underwriting performance at Netherlands Non-life. The cost base of the units in scope of the integration was further reduced by EUR 62 million this quarter, bringing total cost reductions to EUR 236 million compared with the 2016 full-year administrative expense base. This means we are well on our way to achieving our cost reduction target of EUR 400 million by the end of 2020.

Our profitable commercial momentum continued with the value of new business increasing at both Insurance Europe and Japan Life. The measures implemented to improve performance at Netherlands Non-life are starting to bear fruit. The combined ratio improved to 97.9% in the second quarter. While this is encouraging, work remains to be done to structurally improve the combined ratio to 97% or below.

Further steps have been taken with regard to the integration. The application for including the Delta Lloyd entities in the Partial Internal Model has been submitted, we have completed the integration of the asset management businesses as well as the head offices, and we have decommissioned several IT systems. Most Delta Lloyd products have been rebranded to NN. During the migration phase, our efforts have been focused on ensuring the least possible disruption for our customers and business partners, and we are pleased to see that customer satisfaction levels remain high.

We again took steps to further integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into our investment processes, which was also substantiated by our support for the International Corporate Social Responsibility covenant for the insurance sector. Together with our Dutch peers, several NGOs, the largest Dutch union and the government, we aim to ensure that insurance companies identify, and take into consideration, ESG issues in their investment decisions.

Our cash capital position was EUR 1,799 million at the end of the second quarter. Our Solvency II ratio was 226% after the deduction of the interim dividend of EUR 0.66 per ordinary share to be paid in September.

In addition to our second quarter results, we today disclosed that we have reached an agreement to acquire Aegon’s Life Insurance business in the Czech Republic and its Life Insurance and Pension businesses in Slovakia. In line with our strategy, we consider this a good opportunity to increase our presence in two attractive markets.

Furthermore, we announced today a new composition of our Management Board. With this team, we are ready for the next phase of our company’s journey, and will remain focused on our key priorities; to successfully integrate Delta Lloyd, further improve performance, accelerate the transformation of the business model, and continue to allocate capital rationally.’

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and priorities

Our businesses are built on a strong foundation of purpose, values and brand, which, combined with a strong focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a respected company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Netherlands

The integration of NN and Delta Lloyd is progressing well. As of 1 July, the Nationale-Nederlanden PPI (Premie Pensioen Instelling) and online pension administrator BeFrank joined forces. The combined company, operating under the name BeFrank, has approximately 170,000 participants and EUR 2.5 billion in assets under management, making it the leader in the PPI market.

Furthermore, NN Life launched a new pension proposition ‘Persoonlijke pensioenuitkering’ which combines the best product features of Delta Lloyd and NN. It offers user friendly online administration services, competitive pricing and optimal investment flexibility. This product anticipates the need for more flexibility after retirement. It is currently the only product in the Netherlands which allows customers to change their investment profile after the pension payments have started.

Former Delta Lloyd P&C products have been rebranded, and the retail products are available in the ‘mijn.nn’ customer portal and NN app. All 220,000 healthcare customers have received new NN branded passes. In addition, over 80,000 Delta Lloyd and OHRA internet savings accounts have been successfully migrated to an NN internet savings account.

In the second quarter, NN Non-life entered into an agreement with Van Ameyde to insource its claims handling activities as of 1 July 2018. This will create further efficiencies and strengthen the NN Non-life organisation, underpinned by an excellent customer experience, clear pricing and underwriting, and digital services.

NN Bank issued its second EUR 500 million benchmark covered bond in June at an attractive rate. The issuance was well received in the market, underlining the reliable nature of this funding instrument for NN Bank.

In order to continuously serve our customers’ needs, Nationale-Nederlanden has introduced its first chatbot on www.nn.nl. This new automated dialogue function will help customers find answers and navigate through our website. In addition, subject-specific chatbots are being developed, for example to assist in calculating a premium for travel insurance and displaying the telephone number and waiting times of the customer contact centre.

International Insurance

International insurance continues to innovate and enhance the customer experience by launching new products and improving services. NN Romania’s Sparklab launched ‘NN Bike’, the country’s first bike insurance for urban riders. NN Bike is an accident insurance that covers cyclists’ medical expenses for injuries and hospitalisation caused by an accident.

NN in Hungary launched a new product, ‘protect.me’. This innovative product is a pay-as-you-go life and accident insurance available through a mobile app. The on-demand solution can be easily activated or deactivated in just a few seconds, offering a user-friendly opportunity for customers who have an active lifestyle and only want insurance cover for a few hours.

Due to the growing popularity of group insurances in Poland, Nationale-Nederlanden Poland is offering its corporate clients the opportunity to broaden their contracts with additional medical benefits. Customers who choose to sign a supplemental agreement will gain access to cashless services such as rehabilitation, medical tests, and examinations in over 3,000 clinics throughout the country.

COLI sales through Sumitomo Life accounted for 13% of NN Life Japan’s total sales in the second quarter. Sumitomo Life agents started offering NN Life Japan’s Accelerated Living Disability Benefit and Increasing Term products from the beginning of April 2017, and Critical Illness insurance from April 2018.

In line with the NN brand promise ‘You matter’, various initiatives in several countries are specifically focused on what is important in life. NN Pensions in Czech Republic was awarded a silver medal in the 2018 Czech PR Awards category ‘Financial Market and Financial Services’ for its Value of Life project. The project seeks to trigger public debate on topics of wide social relevance, such as attitudes towards old age from the perspective of different generations, pension dreams, financial security and planning, as well as related health and social aspects connected to the different stages of life.

Asset Management

The integration of Delta Lloyd Asset Management (DLAM) into NN IP was completed in the second quarter. The DLAM and NN IP Dutch funds have been merged and rebranded and the majority of the former DLAM systems have been decommissioned.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in April with China’s leading asset manager, China Asset Management Co., Ltd. (ChinaAMC). The MoU will provide a platform for NN IP and ChinaAMC to explore joint product development opportunities and consequently leverage each other’s capabilities in European and Chinese capital markets. In particular, the MoU is expected to strengthen NN IP’s and ChinaAMC’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) offerings.

The collaboration between NN IP and FMO Investment Management, which aims to support companies in developing countries to achieve sustainable growth, entered a new phase. The joint NN-FMO Emerging Markets Loans Fund saw strong Dutch and international institutional demand at a first close of USD 250 million.

Other events

NN continues to look for investment opportunities and potential partnerships with fintech companies to accelerate its innovation and transformation efforts. For example, NN recently invested in the InsureTech Fund of MTech Capital, which focuses on investments in technology companies with the potential to transform various components of the insurance industry.

Following the latest annual index review, NN Group retained its place in the FTSE4Good Index Series. The FTSE4Good Index Series measures the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.

Furthermore, NN Group has been included in the regional Euronext-Vigeo Eiris 120 index as from June 2018 as a result of its improved overall performance. This index comprises the 120 most sustainable listed companies in the Eurozone.

(download the full Press Release)

Analyst call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q18 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 16 August 2018. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 2Q18 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 16 August 2018. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Publication 3Q18 results: 15 November 2018
• Publication 4Q18 results: 14 February 2019
• Publication 1Q19 results: 16 May 2019
• Annual General Meeting: 29 May 2019

Additional information

Solvency II ratio at 213%, integration progressing well.

• Operating result of the ongoing business decreased to EUR 313 million from EUR 406 million in 1Q17, mainly due to a EUR 89 million total impact of the storm in January
• Net result of EUR 399 million, down 8.4% from 1Q17, reflecting the lower operating result and higher special items, partly compensated by higher non-operating items
• Further cost reductions of EUR 42 million in 1Q18; total cost reductions achieved to date of EUR 175 million; cost reduction guidance raised to EUR 400 million by 2020 of which at least half by the end of 2018
• Total new sales (APE) of EUR 547 million, down 7.8% from 1Q17 at constant currencies
• Solvency II ratio of 213% up from 199% at the end of 4Q17, driven by a combination of positive market impacts and operating capital generation
• Holding company cash capital at EUR 1,631 million, reflecting dividends received mainly from the Dutch units

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

‘In the first quarter of 2018, we have made further progress in integrating Delta Lloyd, with the completion of the legal mergers of the banking activities, asset management companies, and the life businesses in Belgium. The rebranding of products and services is well on its way and we expect this process to be largely finalised by the end of the year. Building on our strong track record of cost discipline, we further improved efficiency with EUR 42 million of cost savings this quarter in the business units in the scope of the integration. We have now achieved total cost reductions of EUR 175 million compared with the full-year 2016 administrative expense base representing half of our targeted cost reduction of EUR 350 million by 2020, well ahead of the earlier envisaged schedule. Given the strong progress so far, we announce today that we are raising the cost reduction guidance to EUR 400 million by the end of 2020. We expect to achieve at least half of these savings by the end of this year.

The current quarter operating result decreased from last year mainly due to the impact of the severe storm in January. As it is our aim to support our customers in times of need, we were able to settle most of the thousands of storm claims within one month. We want to provide relevant products for our customers, while writing profitable new business, focusing on value rather than volume. New sales at Netherlands Life were down in the first quarter of 2018 compared with a year ago, reflecting a lower volume of group pension contracts that were up for renewal, while new sales in Japan remained broadly stable – despite increased local competition.

Our balance sheet remains strong, inline with our disciplined capital management approach. The Solvency II ratio increased to 213% and the cash capital position to EUR 1,631 million at the end of the first quarter.

Our businesses are committed to drive value and achieve their medium-term targets by further improving performance. Following the acquisition of Delta Lloyd last year, we continue to deliver on the transaction by successfully extracting the envisaged synergies and combining the strengths of our businesses and cultures. Throughout this process we will continue to be focused on further improving our services through innovative customer solutions and value added products.’

(download the full Press Release)
 

Strategy and priorities

Our businesses are built on a strong foundation of purpose, brand, values and ambition which, combined with a focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to consistently create long-term value. This is how we deliver on our ambition to be a respected company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.

Netherlands

The integration of NN and Delta Lloyd is well on track. Throughout the integration process, the business continues to focus on improving the customer experience, resulting in increased Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and broker scores in the first quarter compared with a year ago. Nationale-Nederlanden’s advisors satisfaction level improved in the first quarter, whilst Delta Lloyd’s and BeFrank’s advisor satisfaction level remained at a high level. The combined market share in Life Pensions increased slightly in the quarter, mainly due to new business in the DC market.

NN Group continues to make its processes more efficient and effective. For example, the Non-life business and Voogd & Voogd have entered into a partnership for non-life insurance products for retail customers which will be effective as of 1 July 2018. The partnership will support further cost savings and customer service improvements.

NN is transitioning to an agile way of working to be able to respond faster and better to the rapidly changing customers’ needs and expectations. NN and OHRA are recognised for their effective online customer journey and prompt handling of complaints. OHRA scores highest among all insurers on the Complaints Management and Fraud Management themes for the period 2015-2018, according to certifying organisation ‘Keurmerk Klantgericht Verzekeren’. OHRA also received an Integral Online Service Award from customer journey and business specialist WUA.

International Insurance

International Insurance continues to grow its businesses, by expanding sales of protection products through diverse distribution channels. In February Nationale-Nederlanden in Poland launched its first travel insurance product. In Hungary, a product for families with children was launched. This product is a regular premium unit-linked insurance, while also offering protection cover for children.

The integration of Delta Lloyd and NN Belgium is progressing well. The legal merger and the rebranding were completed on 30 March 2018, and a commercial TV and online campaign to promote the NN brand has been launched. Customer experience improvements continue with the introduction of a new online medical acceptance tool. The first steps to integrate the teams and systems have been initiated in order to prepare for the move to one building that will be completed by the end of October 2018.

NN Life Japan announced a partnership with Freee, a leading cloud accounting software company, to provide users of the software with personalised and innovative insurance products, including protection and financial solutions.

Sparklabs are our out-of-office environments used to foster innovative ideas and help infuse more innovative thinking into NN. The most recent Sparklab was launched in Spain. The partner of the NN Hayat ve Emeklilik Sparklab in Turkey, Hesapkurdu, introduced an online straight-through loan process with one of the biggest banks in Turkey, Is Bankasi, in April 2018. This is the first full integration between an aggregator and a bank in the Turkish market, making NN’s Life insurance propositions more widely available. Sparklab in Poland became the official partner of the #Warsaw booster’ 18 programme, dedicated to fintech and insuretech startups. This partnership provides an opportunity for technology startups to accelerate their business and cooperate with experienced mentors and business partners.

The international businesses are also introducing the agile way of working to be able to respond faster and better to the rapidly changing customer needs.

For the second year in a row, NN Czech Republic’s life insurance products were ranked as top-of-the-market by the renowned independent financial online portal Finparada.cz. In the same ranking, NN Pensions took third place in the category supplementary pension savings. NN Czech Republic was awarded the Czech Superbrands title for the third time in a row; the award is based on the opinion of both experts and customers.

Asset Management

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) recently won its first export credit agency (ECA) loan mandate in Germany. In addition, NN IP launched the NN (L) Emerging Markets Debt Short Duration Hard Currency Fund. Building on NN IP’s long and extensive experience in investing in emerging markets debt (EMD), the fund is designed to offer investors stable, long-term income with low credit risk.

The legal merger of Delta Lloyd Asset Management (DLAM) and NN IP was completed in January 2018, and the integration of the various teams and operational activities in the Netherlands is a head of schedule.

Other events

NN Group has taken a next step in its responsible investment policy by taking the decision to exclude tobacco from all its investments. Currently tobacco is already excluded from the sustainable and impact products which NN IP manages on behalf of its clients. The decision takes into account concerns regarding public health, as well as the related economic and societal impact.

In March, NN Group participated in Money Week, an initiative of the Dutch Money Wise platform. By giving guest lectures about insurance and banking at primary schools in the Netherlands, we aim to teach children about money and risks at a young age, and in a fun and interactive way. This initiative reached a total of around 7,500 children this year. NNCzech Republic joined Global Money Week for the first time with a presentation at the GMW conference sponsored by the Czech government and the Czech National Bank. The presentation focused on the importance of financial education and economic empowerment of young people for the wellbeing of society. These initiatives are part of NN Future Matters, our community investment programme, which aims to empower people to grow their (financial) skills and increase their future opportunities in the markets where NN operates.

(download the full Press release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1Q18 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 17 May 2018. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.
 

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 1Q18 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 17 May 2018. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Financial calendar

• Annual General Meeting: 31 May 2018
• Publication 2Q18 results: 16 August 2018
• Publication 3Q18 results: 15 November 2018
• Publication 4Q18 results: 14 February 2019
   

Additional information

• NN Group 1Q18 Financial Supplement, NN Group 1Q18 Analyst Presentation, NN Group 1Q18 Condensed consolidated interim financial information

• 4Q17 operating result of the ongoing business of EUR 345 million, up 22.3% from 4Q16, driven by the contribution of the Delta Lloyd businesses
• Full-year 2017 operating result of the ongoing business increased to EUR 1,586 million, up 29.3% from 2016, mainly driven by the contribution of the Delta Lloyd businesses and improved results at most segments, partly offset by lower results at Netherlands Non-life
• Net result increased to EUR 700 million from EUR148 million in 4Q16, mainly driven by higher capital gains and revaluations and the higher operating result. Full-year 2017 net result up 77.5% to EUR 2,110 million
• Administrative expense base of the businessunits in the scope of the cost reduction target decreased by EUR 133 million versus the full-year 2016 base of EUR 2,024 million
• Robust commercial momentum: APE at the insurance businesses up 35.1% at constant currencies compared with 4Q16. Full-year 2017 VNB of EUR 345 million, up 60.7% from 2016
• Solvency II ratio of 199% at the end of 4Q17, reflects the deduction of the proposed final 2017 dividend
• Holding company cash capital lower at EUR 1,434 million, reflecting the repayment of senior notes and the repurchase of own shares, partly offset by dividends received mainly from the Dutch units
• Final 2017 dividend proposal of EUR 1.04 per ordinary share, or approximately EUR 348 million in total, bringing the full-year 2017 dividend to EUR 1.66 per ordinary share

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘2017 was a memorable year for NN Group in which we successfully completed the acquisition of Delta Lloyd. We have started the integration in the Netherlands and Belgium creating a leading insurance and pension company, with attractive propositions in asset management and banking. We are making good progress. On 1 January 2018, the first legal mergers of business units were completed, with Delta Lloyd Bank merging into NN Bank, and Delta Lloyd Asset Management merging into NN Investment Partners. Most head-office departments have been integrated, we have started rationalising systems and portfolios, and products are being rebranded from Delta Lloyd to NN.

A tour Capital Markets Day on 30 November 2017, we outlined the strategy and new targets for the combined company. One of our top priorities going forward is to deliver on the Delta Lloyd transaction and extract the synergies. In this respect we continue to increase efficiency and have lowered the cost base of the units in scope of the integration by EUR 133 million in 2017 towards our target of EUR 350 million by 2020.

The operating result for 2017 reflects a strong contribution of Delta Lloyd and improved operational performance in businesses such as Netherlands Life, Insurance Europe, Japan Life and the bank. We continue to see volatility in the results of the Non-life business, where an improvement in the P&C business was offset by a deterioration in D&A performance. We are implementing arange of measures to sustainably improve the Non-life performance.

Commercial momentum continues, with new sales up 33.9% at constant currencies and value of new business up 60.7% compared with 2016. NN Investment Partners attracted EUR 5.1 billion of third-party assets in 2017 offset by out flows of affiliated assets, and the mortgage portfolio of the banking business grew to EUR 17.6 billion. Over the last 12 months our client satisfaction again increased in almost all countries where we are active. With our strengthened market positions, we are well placed to capture growth opportunities.

Our Solvency II ratio and cash capital position remain robust, at 199% and EUR 1,434 million respectively, in line with our disciplined approach to managing our capital. We will propose a final 2017 dividend of EUR 1.04 per ordinary share at our Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 31 May 2018. Together with the interim dividend paid in September 2017, this represents a pay-out ratio of around 45% of the 2017 full-year net operating result of the ongoing business.

Looking ahead, we will maintain our efforts to improve our overall performance, deliver excellent customer service, and further accelerate the transformation of our business through innovation.’

(download the full Press Release)
 

Quarterly Business Update

The strong foundation of our purpose, brand, values and ambition, combined with a focus on our strategic priorities, enables us to create long-term value for our company and our stakeholders: customers, shareholders, employees, business partners and society at large.

Transparent products and services

ABN AMRO Verzekeringen, the joint venture of NN Group (51%) and ABN AMRO Bank (49%), was ranked best insurer by Dutch magazine Management Team and achieved a top three position in all three categories: customer focus, product leadership and excellent implementation.

In December 2017, NN Life Japan launched ‘Emergency Plus’, an innovative sudden-death insurance which offers protection to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners. The product accounted for 48% of the total protection product sales in December and is expected to help further expand the COLI protection business of NN Life Japan in line with its strategy.

Capturing growth

New sales (APE) at Japan Life increased to EUR 171 million, up 33.8% from the fourth quarter of 2016, excluding currency effects, mainly due to higher sales of COLI products launched in 2017 and sales through the Sumitomo partnership. Sumitomo Life, which started offering NN Life Japan’s COLI products in April 2017, contributed more than 10% of Japan Life’s total sales in the fourth quarter. In addition to this, higher bank activation and the expansion of the bank distribution network to 76 partners at the end of December 2017, compared with 61 partners a year earlier, also led to a strong increase in bancassurance COLI sales.

NN Bank in the Netherlands launched an online campaign for discretionary asset management ‘Beheerd Beleggen’. The campaign focused on the dreams and goals people have in life and how the investment advisors of NN Bank can help to achieve these goals financially. The campaign was very successful in terms of positive interactions, and led to a 30% growth in the ‘Beheerd Beleggen’ new customer base.

Multi-access distribution

In the fourth quarter of 2017, our businesses continued to expand its bancassurance partnerships. In Slovakia a partnership was set up with Slovenska sporitelna, one of the leading banks, and NN’s pension products are now being sold through part of its network. NN Hayat ve Emeklilik in Turkey put in place a five-year distribution agreement with Burgan Bank to distribute its life insurance and pension products.

Nationale-Nederlanden in Poland launched a partnership with Play, the largest telecom provider in the country, providing dedicated health products (heart and cancer insurance) through Play’s newly launched insurance market platform, ‘Play Insurance’. Play customers will be able to buy the health insurance through the Play smartphone application, making NN products available to over 14 million Play customers.

Nationale-Nederlanden in Spain launched a Direct Channel, an online platform that uses facial recognition technology, which replaces the client’s signature in the online purchase process and enables the company to issue paperless contracts. Nationale-Nederlanden Spain is the first insurance company in the country to use this technology to issue paperless contracts.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group is committed to continuously making its processes more efficient and effective. The Non-life business and service provider Voogd & Voogd have signed a letter of intent for amandated broker partnership in the field of Retail non-life insurance.

The Life business in the Netherlands migrated 90,000 policies from its legacy system to the modern target system. The policy details are now available to customers in the ‘MijnNN’ customer portal and in the NN app.

Innovation

NN Bank in the Netherlands developed and piloted the 360 degrees video service, a virtual reality tool to support customers in selling their house. NN facilitates customers to present their property online, and provide a personal tour, which allows buyers to digitally move through the house. NN distributes these videos to a selection of potential buyers via social media.

NN’s businesses in the Czech Republic and Slovakia launched a digital sales platform in November 2017, which will significantly improve the customer experience of buying a life or savings product, both in terms of time taken and convenience. The process of managing new leads/business opportunities and follow-up is already fully digitalised, while digitalisation of contract origination including electronic signature is in the pilot phase.

In addition to continuously innovating its own product portfolio, NN looks for partnerships or investment opportunities with fintech companies to accelerate its innovation and transformation efforts. For example, NN recently invested in RightIndem, which offers digital, customer-driven claims management solutions. Another example is Dopay, a company that simplifies payroll management and disbursement in developing countries and enables employees without a bank account to be paid electronically.

Other events

Customer satisfaction has continued to increase in almost all countries where NN is active over the past 12 months. The business continues to focus on customer centricity and on innovating and improving customers’ experience. This is reflected in higher and above-average customer loyalty and increasing Net Promotor Scores (NPS) as customers recommend NN’s products to their relatives and friends. These results show that our employees remain committed to delivering an excellent customer service while integrating NN and Delta Lloyd.

Delta Lloyd and BeFrank were ranked number one in terms of advisor satisfaction in the Dutch pension market for the sixth year in a row as measured by independent agency IG&H, giving additional momentum to our pension plan proposition in the Dutch market.

The bank savings products of NN Bank and Delta Lloyd Bank were awarded in the categories policies and price by MoneyView, an independent research institute that collects information about financial products. The international insurance business received many awards, for example the businesses in Spain, Poland and Turkey were recognised as Top Employer, and NN in Greece was named best life insurance company by World Finance Magazine for the fourth time in a row.

NN Bank in the Netherlands received a silver award, ‘Zilveren Spreekbuis Hypotheekverstrekkers 2017’, for mortgage providers. This award is a recognition from customers and intermediaries of NN Bank’s innovations.

FitVermogen.nl, the online platform for investment funds of NN Investment Partners (NN IP), gives customers insight into future study costs of their children and grandchildren and advises on how to finance them. FitVermogen.nl made it possible for ‘Startpunt Geldzaken’, a partnership of several organisations that focus on raising financial awareness for consumers in the Netherlands, to launch a free online money planner 'Geldplan Studie (klein)kinderen’ in November 2017.

To enhance long-term investor value and instigate positive change in terms of sustainability, NN IP has been actively engaging on climate risk with companies in the utilities sector since 2016. In December 2017, NN IP expanded its engagement to the chemicals sector by joining the global Climate Action 100+ initiative, a new initiative to engage with the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters to curb emissions, strengthen climate-related financial disclosures and improve governance on climate change.

(download the full Press release)
 

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q17 results at 10.30 am CET on Thursday 15 February 2018. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 4Q17 results, which will be held at 07.45 am CET on Thursday 15 February 2018. Journalists can join the press call at +31 20 531 5863 (NL).

Lard Friese and David Knibbe will host a lunch for journalists, which will be held at 12.30 pm CET on Thursday 15 February 2018.

Financial calendar

• Publication 1Q18 results: 17 May 2018
• Annual General Meeting: 31 May 2018
• Publication 2Q18 results: 16 August 2018
• Publication 3Q18 results: 15 November 2018
   

Additional information

• NN Group 4Q17 Financial Supplement, NN Group 4Q17 Analyst Presentation

Strong performance of the combined group; Solvency II ratio at 204%

• Operating result ongoing business increased to EUR 431 million from EUR 319 million in 3Q16, driven by improved results at most segments, the contribution of Delta Lloyd of EUR 51 million and EUR 32 million non-recurring benefits in the segment Other, partly offset by lower results at Netherlands Non-life
• Net result of EUR 734 million versus EUR 436 million in 3Q16, reflecting the improved operating result and higher capital gains
• Ongoing expense reduction at Netherlands Life, Netherlands Non-life, Asset Management, the segment Other and Belgium, of EUR 86 million in the first nine months of 2017
• Solvency II ratio of NN Group increased to 204% from 196% at 2Q17, reflecting operating return and positive market impacts
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 1,789 million reflecting EUR 332 million of dividends received from subsidiaries

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

‘We are pleased to report another strong set of results for NN Group for the third quarter of 2017. This is the second quarter in which the results of Delta Lloyd have been included in our company’s overall performance, after the acquisition of the company in April this year. Apart from the Non-life business, all our businesses performed well. Japan Life and Insurance Europe in particular reported a healthy increase in earnings and continue to achieve strong growth in sales.

At the same time, we continue to strive for efficiency, as reflected in further cost savings of EUR 64 million in the quarter. Our balance sheet remains robust, with a Solvency II ratio of 204% and cash capital position of EUR 1.8 billion. We will redeem EUR 575 million of senior notes which mature tomorrow. Together with the transaction we concluded with Fonds NutsOHRA in April, we will have reduced our financial leverage by approximately EUR 1 billion.

As a financial company with a significant economic footprint, we want to contribute to society; among other things by further integrating ethical, social and environmental components into our core strategy. As of September, NN Group is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, for both World and Europe. This means NN Group now ranks among the top 10% of the insurance industry group with regard to its sustainability performance.

The integration of the Delta Lloyd and NN operations in the Netherlands and Belgium is progressing well. In the Netherlands, we reached agreements with the trade unions and the Works Councils on the Reorganisation Framework and the guiding principles for integration, that facilitate further implementation of the integration plans. Another important step forward as a combined group was the start of the brand transformation from Delta Lloyd to NN. Furthermore, to optimally serve our customers, new product offers are being developed by the combined front offices. We also reached out to intermediaries on multiple occasions to personally share and explain the rationale and the benefits of the combined group. With the integration process well on its way, we will continue to shape the future strategy of the combined group, and we look forward to sharing the progress we are making on these fronts at our Capital Markets Dayon 30 November.’

(download the full Press Release)
 

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s robust financial position provides a solid foundation for executing the company’s strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and that meet customers’ lifetime needs.

Transparent products and services

This quarter, two new innovative home insurance products were launched. Nationale-Nederlanden Spain launched ‘Mihogar Seguro’. This is a flexible product offering modular coverage including the repair of electrical appliances, services related to travel assistance and services related to pets (for example telephone counselling or access to veterinary centres). In total, more than 60% of these policies sold include such additional coverage. The Non-life business in the Netherlands launched a flexible home insurance product, in which the customer can choose specific insurance coverage in a more granular way to fit their personal needs.

Since the third quarter, NN Bank in the Netherlands has been offering mortgage solutions for the self-employed. These mortgages are available for entrepreneurs who have been self-employed for over a year and less than three years.

In September, the liability insurance products of OHRA and ABN AMRO Insurance, as well as the legal insurance products of Nationale-Nederlanden and ABN AMRO Insurance were awarded a five-star rating by MoneyView, which collects information about financial products and makes them transparent and comparable.

Capturing growth

NN’s leading position in the area of Defined Contribution (DC) in the Dutch pension market was further strengthened by contract renewals in a broad range of sectors, and new sales in the SME and Corporate markets, an example is SGS, a multinational with over 90,000 employees worldwide, which chose NN’s insured DC-product. The general pension fund ‘De Nationale APF’ signed contracts with two new clients, Unisys and AFM, resulting in a total of approximately EUR 1 billion in assets under management as of January 2018.

The banking business – NN Bank and Delta Lloyd Bank – continued to grow their mortgage business in the third quarter adding EUR 0.4 billion to reach a combined mortgage portfolio of EUR 17.8 billion. To address its ongoing funding needs and to further diversify its sources of funding, NN Bank successfully issued a EUR 500 million conditional pass-through covered bond in October under its covered bond programme. The bonds were placed with a broad range of institutional investors and will help NN Bank to further grow its business.

In the third quarter of 2017, the sale of protection products at Insurance Europe grew by 47.9% across the region compared with the same quarter in 2016.

In Turkey, a new law came into effect on 1 January 2017, under which all employees under the age of 45 will been rolled in a new compulsory pension scheme, managed by a pension company to be selected by their employers. NN Hayat ve Emeklilik successfully introduced a pension product to meet this new demand, capturing around 7% market share. To support the product’s introduction, an online peer-to-peer referral model was developed by our innovation lab ‘Sparklab’ in Turkey to acquire new pension customers through third parties such as accountants, HR companies and payroll companies.

Multi-access distribution

Nationale-Nederlanden in the Netherlands took further steps in the omni-channel approach. Online chat and co-browse technology has been implemented in our digital environment, creating ease of use for our customers and intermediaries.

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels. Bancassurance COLI sales for Japan Life increased by 30% at constant currencies, compared with the third quarter of 2016, despite increasing competition. Higher bank activation and the expansion of the bank distribution network to 73 partners as of the end of September 2017, compared with 61 partners a year earlier, were key drivers for the increase in sales. Furthermore, Sumitomo Life started offering NN Life Japan’s COLI products from the beginning of April 2017, contributing more than 10% of Japan Life’s total sales this quarter.

NN Hellas in Greece renewed its bancassurance agreement with Piraeus Bank for the coming 10 years, with the possibility of a further five-year extension. Piraeus Bank, the leading bank in Greece, will continue to offer NN Hellas’ life and health products to its customers.

In September 2017 Nationale-Nederlanden Poland introduced a new Payment Protection Insurance product specifically geared to both retail and entrepreneur customers of ING Bank Ślaski. The product offered to retail customers consists of both life and non-life insurance. The product for small businesses, ‘Safe business’, provides loan payment protection in the event that the owner is incapacitated for work.

In November NN Hayat ve Emeklilik in Turkey entered into a strategic partnership with Hesapkurdu.com, the leading online loan aggregator for mortgages and consumer loans in the Turkish market.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group is committed to making its processes as efficient and effective as possible. The Dutch life business has started an automation project, called `Robo for Life´. Currently ,seven robotic systems have been implemented in four different streams; Pay-outs, Start Pension & Decease, Divorce and Value Transfer. This has resulted in a decrease in operational costs and an improvement in customerservice levels.

NN in Belgium launched Medic@Home, a medical acceptance process for mortgage-linked Term Lifeinsurance, which allows customers to complete the medical questionnaire entirely online, on any device (laptop, smartphone, tablet), guaranteeing a smooth service. So far, more than 80% of customers have chosen to file their medical acceptance online, using the NN Portal. NN is analysing how Medic@Home can be further rolled out for other life protection products with banking partners and in the broker channel in other markets.

In Hungary NN introduced the ‘Green Lane’ project which automates and digitises the underwriting and issuance of insurance policies. This includes real-time straight-through processing and enables multichannel access for customers. This is a significant step forward from the current 11 day issuance process, saves costs and allows quicker payment of commissions.

Innovation

NN International Insurance has developed a tool to support sales agents in their daily activities, the Smart Agent Mobile App, which is currently being piloted in Greece. The app supports agents by providing them with up-to-date information on customers and prospects, an overview of open tasks, and their personal performance. The app is integrated with NN systems and phone functionalities allowing agents to easily connect with customers and prospects and to deliver better customer experience.

The Non-life business in the Netherlands recently introduced a new car insurance: ‘Roxo’, developed together with Independer, a Dutch comparison site for financial products, and which uses machine learning to calculate risk premiums.

Other

ESG & Sustainability remains an area of focus for NN Investment Partners (NN IP) and has been performing well across the different asset classes. NNIP’s Sustainable & Impact Equity funds, the Green Bonds & Sustainable Credit offering as well as the Sustainable Multi-Assetsolutions have seen overall positive net flows.

Furthermore, NNIP recently developed an innovative approach for assessing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) exposure of companies and for investing according to the SDGs. The United Nations SDGs offer a solid path to value creation for society and shareholders: investing in a better world while achieving healthy financial returns. This new approach helps NNIP and its clients contribute to this as well.

(download the full Press release)
 

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q17 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 16 November 2017. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call
Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 3Q17 results, which will be held at 07.30 am CET on Thursday 16 November 2017. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 531 5863.

Financial calendar

• Capital Markets Day: 30 November 2017
• Publication 4Q17 results: 15 February 2018
• Publication 1Q18 results: 17 May 2018
• Publication 2Q18 results: 16 August 2018

Additional information

• NN Group 3Q17 Financial Supplement, NN Group 3Q17 Analyst Presentation, NN Group 3Q17 Condensed consolidated interim financial information

Strong operating and commercial performance of the combined group; Solvency II ratio at 196%

• Operating result ongoing business was up from EUR 321 million in 2Q16 to EUR 404 million, of which Delta Lloyd contributed EUR 49 million. The operating result excluding Delta Lloyd increased by EUR 33 million
• Net result was down 28.2% from 2Q16 to EUR 240 million, of which Delta Lloyd contributed EUR 21 million. The net result excluding Delta Lloyd decreased by EUR 115 million, reflecting a provision related to ING Australia Holdings partly compensated by higher non-operating items
• Strong commercial momentum: APE was up 43.1% from 2Q16 at constant currencies to EUR 400 million, of which Delta Lloyd contributed EUR 66 million. VNB for 6M17 was up 69.4% to EUR 170 million driven by Japan Life and Insurance Europe
• Solvency II ratio of NN Group was 196% reflecting the acquisition of Delta Lloyd, positive market impacts, operating return and the deduction of the 2017 interim dividend
• Holding company cash capital was EUR 1,731 million; including EUR 820 million dividends received from subsidiaries and EUR 500 million capital injection into Delta Lloyd Life
• Interim dividend 2017 of EUR 0.62 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 209 million

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

‘Today we are reporting our first fully consolidated set of quarterly results for NN Group and Delta Lloyd, and I am pleased with the strong overall performance of the combined group in the second quarter of 2017. We have seen a healthy contribution from Delta Lloyd, and almost all our segments reported improved results compared with a year earlier, most notably in Japan Life and Insurance Europe. The results of our Netherlands Non-life business were impacted this quarter by a EUR 40 million strengthening in the Property & Casualty insurance liabilities. We continued to deliver cost efficiencies across our businesses, leading to a further reduction of our cost base. The Solvency II ratio was 196%, providing a solid foundation for the combined group going forward. The commercial momentum we saw earlier has been sustained, as both sales and the value of our new business increased significantly, and NN Investment Partners again attracted robust Third Party net inflows.

We have made steady progress in our first quarter together with Delta Lloyd, and a start has been made to integrate our businesses, with the aim of taking the combined group into the next phase of our journey. Integrating two organisations and business cultures requires effort and focus. Throughout this process, our employees remain committed to deliver an excellent customerservice, further innovate our businesses and to contribute to the societies in which we operate.

We are excited to start this new chapter as a combined group, reporting a first strong set of results. While we bring together the best of our businesses and cultures to integrate NN and Delta Lloyd in the Netherlands and Belgium, our focus remains on disciplined capital management, a strong balance sheet, and on driving ahead with full energy to further improve the customer experience across our 18 markets.’

(download the full Press Release)
 

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s robust financial position provides a solid foundation for executing the company’s strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs.

Capturing growth

With the acquisition of DeltaLloyd, NN’s proposition in the Dutch pension market was further strengthened, especially in the area of Defined Contribution (DC) pensions. Delta Lloyd brings significant additional DC business to the existing NN portfolio, leading to a combined #1 market position in DC. The first half of 2017 also showed a steady inflow of new contracts at AZL, NN Life’s pension administrator, for a number of industry pension funds. These new contracts will significantly increase the total number of participants from almost 900,000 to 1,250,000 as from 1 January 2018.

Our general pension fund ‘De Nationale APF’ signed a contract with a new client, McCain. De Nationale APF is an independent entity which provides an attractive solution for pension funds and employers to comply with increasingly complex pension regulations and to benefit from economies of scale.

In the second quarter of 2017, the sale of protection products of Insurance Europe grew by 47.8% across the region compared with the same quarter in 2016. Several of our business units in Europe developed health products. For example, our Spanish business expanded the ‘For You’ proposition to tiedagents. This product provides specific coverage for the diagnoses of breastcancer and offers specific services such as a second medical opinion, homecare and childcare services. A campaign raising awareness for cancer prevention, supported the marketing of the product.

NN Hellas in Greece introduced a new health insurance programme, ‘NN Orange Health’. This is specifically designed to meet the needs of young families, as it covers up to six insured people in the same policy. NN Orange Health provides access to more than 40 private hospitals in Greece at an affordable price. It includes coverage abroad, medical expenses in the event of an accident, surgical allowance, and urgent transportation within Greece.

The NN Accident Insurancepackages of NN Hungary have proven to be successful, with more than 10,000 policies sold to date, since its launch in the second quarter of 2016. Offered online, the packages provide specific coverage in the event of an accident, including coverage for daily hospital costs and loss of income, plus a rider covering the costs of physiotherapy, assistance service and help at home. The demand for this product shows that customers are becoming more conscious about preparing for the loss of income due to an accident. In addition to this, new riders were added to Motiva, NN Hungary’s easy-to-understand pension insurance product.

NN Investment Partners saw positive net flows for Third Party assets for the fourth consecutive quarter amounting to EUR 3.1 billion in the second quarter. And our banking businesses- NN Bank and Delta Lloyd Bank - grew their combined mortgage portfolio by EUR0.5 billion to EUR 17.4 billion in the second quarter of 2017. During that same period, their customer savings grew by EUR 0.2 billion to EUR 13.7 billion.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels.

Following the acquisition of Delta Lloyd, the distribution capabilities of NN Group have been expanded with the inclusion of its direct channel OHRA and bank distribution channel ABN AMRO Insurance in the Netherlands. ABN AMRO Insurance provides ABN AMRO customers with life and non-life insurance product and service solutions in the Retail and SME segments. With over a million customers serviced through call centres, internet and branches, ABN AMRO Insurance is an attractive bancassurance platform in the Netherlands. In Belgium, the distribution scope has been broadened with the brokers and direct channels of Delta Lloyd Life Belgium.

In the second quarter of 2017, our businesses in Europe added new banks to the bancassurance platform, through which life and non-life products are offered. NN Bulgaria added three new banks, and in the Czech Republic the cooperation with Moneta Money Bank is showing positive results with a significant increase in sales of life insurance policies and pensions. Nationale-Nederlanden in Poland started offering health insurance packages to customers through its strategic partnership with ING BankŚląski, using their online banking channel.

NN Hayat ve Emeklilik launched a new partnership with Abank, a player in the Turkish and international market. This partnership enables customers to have access to NN Hayat ve Emeklilik’s product portfolio through Abank’s 53 branches across Turkey, over the next 5 years.

Bancassurance COLI sales for Japan Life increased by 26.4% at constant currencies, compared with the second quarter of 2016, despite increasing competition. Higher sales were driven by the higher bank activation and the expansion of the bank distribution network to 68 partners as of end of June 2017, compared with 57 partners a year earlier. Furthermore, Sumitomo Life started offering NN Life Japan’s COLI products from the beginning of April 2017, contributing over 10% of Japan Life’s total sales this quarter.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group is committed to making its processes as efficient and effective as possible. The businesses in the Netherlands are working on the integration process with Delta Lloyd, but at the same time continue to implement efficiency initiatives. For example, NN Life is separating its pension business into Pension Services and Pensions NewBusiness to further improve the customer experience for both segments.

Furthermore, NN Life has successfully migrated around 140,000 policies to a new platform. This system creates a flexible cost structure and enables our customers and tied agents to see their product details online.

Innovation

NN’s innovation lab, Sparklab, in Hungary is developing several health initiatives, including a mobile application connected to a smart device to help those living with diabetes. The aim of the project is to use technology to help people to take care of their health and make it easier to follow their health status and results. Sparklab in the Netherlands launched ‘Bundelz’, the first prepaid car insurance. It allows customers to buy a 1,000-kilometre bundle of car insurance, instead of paying a monthly premium. This user based service is ideal for drivers who only drive occasionally, or short distances. The Dutch Cyber Collective, an NN initiative supporting SMEs to reduce cybercrime, launched the ‘Cyberwacht’, an emergency service for hacked companies. The Cyberwacht limits damage, investigates causes and removes malicious software.

We offer our agents and employees digital tools to simplify and improve the experience of our customers. For example, we are deploying new digital illustration tools for our agents to help customers select the right products and services. Paperless application processes, including electronic underwriting and biometric signatures, enable our customers to access our products and services effortlessly.

Movir, which offers individual disability insurance to self-employed workers in the Netherlands, joined forces with Totem Open Health, an innovative start-up in the mobile health sector, aimed at detecting and addressing people’s high stress levels. Based on data from ECG sensors using Totem, a person’s stress level can be monitored, which, if needed, prompts the user to seek timely help in order to prevent potential burnout.

Other events

As part of our commitment to society, NN Group endorsed the final recommendations of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. A consistent disclosure framework helps us as an investor and insurer, to more effectively measure the financial implications of climate change. To demonstrate that climate change warrants specific attention, NN Group has published the carbon footprint of a large part of its proprietary assets, and joined the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). These steps help us to engage with investee companies to encourage them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the Paris Agreement.

OHRA, Delta Lloyd’s direct distribution channel for healthcare and non-life protection products won a SAN Accent Award for its health insurance campaign in the Netherlands.

(download the full Press release)
 

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q17 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 17 August 2017. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 2Q17 results, which will be held at 12.00 pm CET on Thursday 17 August 2017. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 531 5863.

Financial calendar

• Publication 3Q17 results: 16 November 2017
• Capital Markets Day: 30 November 2017
• Publication 4Q17 results: 15 February 2018
   

Additional information

• NN Group 2Q17 Financial Supplement, NN Group 2Q17 Analyst Presentation, NN Group 2Q17 Condensed consolidated interim financial information
   

Strong operating performance; Solvency II ratio at 238% 
 

• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 406million, up 33.3% from 1Q16, driven by higher results in all segments
• Net result of EUR 435 million, up 61.0% from1Q16, reflecting the higher operating result, higher non-operating items and a lower hedge-related loss for Japan Closed Block VA
• Further cost savings in the Netherlands bringing the expense base down to EUR 748 million
• Strong commercial momentum: APE of EUR 620million, up 28.3% from 1Q16 at constant currencies, driven by higher sales at Netherlands Life, Insurance Europe and Japan Life; net third party inflows of EUR 2.1 billion at Asset Management; EUR 1.1 billion of mortgage production at NN Bank
• Solvency II ratio of NN Group decreased to 238% from 241% at the end of 4Q16 primarily due to market impacts
• Holding company cash capital higher at EUR 2,977million, reflecting the EUR 500 million senior notes issued in January and dividends received from subsidiaries, partly offset by the acquisition of shares in Delta Lloyd in February 2017

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

‘NN Group showed a strong performance in the first quarter of 2017, with all segments contributing to the increase in the Group's operating result compared with the first quarter of 2016. We continue to improve efficiency, with cost savings in the Netherlands bringing the expense base down further. And our balance sheet remains robust, with NN Group´s Solvency II ratio at 238%.

Every day, we strive to deliver excellent service to our customers, innovate our products, and improve our business mix, which is reflected in increased sales this quarter. Insurance Europe presented higher life sales of 29.4% across the region, and in Japan the COLI critical illness product, introduced in July 2016, contributed to a sales increase of 31.3%.

It was a memorable start of 2017. Over the past months, we took a next step to strategically prepare our company for the future, and strengthen our leading position in the Netherlands and Belgium. In April, the acquisition of 93.3% of Delta Lloyd was complete. We announced the senior management appointments for the combined company and launched the integration process. Preparations for the legal merger continue. We believe the combination of Delta Lloyd with the Dutch and Belgian activities of NN will benefit customers, by expanding our product offering and further broadening our distribution network. It will also generate a materially higher free cash flow available to shareholders over time through the benefits of scale.

Our policy has always been to return excess cash to shareholders unless we can use it for value creating opportunities. The acquisition of Delta Lloyd was an opportunity to deploy excess cash at an expected attractive return on investment. Our approach of disciplined capital management has not changed and we will continue to prioritise a strong balance sheet and maintaining a robust capital position. The pro-forma Solvency II ratio of NN Group including Delta Lloyd is estimated at approximately 180% at the end of the first quarter. In August we will publish the full consolidated results for the combined group for the second quarter of the year. And we will provide a more detailed strategic update at our Capital Markets Day on 30 November 2017.

Going forward, our focus will be onensuring a smooth transition process and on driving further improvement in customer experience through innovation and our client centric approach: helping our customers to secure their financial future.’

(download the full Press Release)
 

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s robust financial position reflects the resilience of its businesses in an environment which continues to be characterised by low interest rates and market volatility. Our financial position provides a solid foundation for executing the company’s strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs.

Transparent products and services

NN Life’s pension business reached a milestone with the PPI (Premiepensioeninstelling) accumulating EUR 1 billion of assets under management. This is the result of a partnership between NN Investment Partners, AZL, and NN Life. NN Life’s competitive position in the pension market remains strong. The first months of 2017 showed a steady inflow of new contracts, specifically in the area of Defined Contribution. In addition, NN Life became the pension provider for Nutreco’s employees in the Netherlands. Furthermore, on 1 September 2016, the Enhanced Premium Scheme Act (Wet verbeterde premieregeling) came into force in the Netherlands, which makes it possible to invest accumulated pension capital after the retirement date. NN Life launched a new product in the first quarter of 2017, a variable annuity variant of its pension pay-out product ‘Active Pension (DIP)’, in order to capture the opportunities created by this new legislation.

Movir, which offers individual disability insurance to self-employed workers in the Netherlands, was awarded the title of ´Best income insurer´ of 2016 by Adfiz, the association of independent financial advisors, for the sixth time in a row. Movir scored higher than other insurers on all aspects, including customer focus, timely claims handling and expertise of employees. Winning the award this year was particularly encouraging, as Movir has been responsible for the management and administration of the individual disability (AOV) portfolio of Nationale-Nederlanden since the beginning of 2017, which required extra effort by all involved.

Capturing growth

The fundamental need for people to protect themselves against uncertainties will continue to drive growth in the insurance industry over the long term. NN Group continually adapts its businesses to capture this growth potential. In the first quarter of 2017, the sale of protection products grew 49% across Europe compared with the same quarter in 2016, with Poland and Romania as the largest contributors.

In the Netherlands, NN Bank grew its mortgage portfolio by EUR 0.3 billion to EUR 13.1 billion in the first quarter of 2017. During that same period, its customer savings grew by EUR 0.4 billion to EUR 10.6 billion. NN Bank introduced Brickler, an application which provides better insights in the different steps a customer has to take when buying a house. This app offers customers the possibility to search for new homes, calculate the spending limit, and compare different mortgage suppliers.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels. It is our aim to achieve profitable growth through multi-access distribution. Inline with strategy, the international businesses made further headway in the first quarter to increase partnerships in the area of bancassurance. Nationale-Nederlanden in Poland has built a modern and innovative IT platform for banks, which differentiates by allowing products to be introduced within weeks. It also offers full flexibility in tailoring stand–alone protection products, which can be adapted to the specific needs of the banks’ customers. As part of their bancassurance strategy, Nationale-Nederlanden Spain launched a protection product in cooperation with ING Direct Spain. The product, which is offered to individuals when digitally contracting a consumer loan at ING, provides payment protection in cases of unemployment, permanent disability or death. From a customer perspective, the newly designed insurance will have a differentiated positioning in the Spanish market by offering full protection to consumers, automated underwriting and easy access as the process is fully digitalised.

In the first quarter 2017, bancassurance COLI sales in Japan increased by 48%, at constant currencies, compared with the same quarter of 2016. This was driven by the higher bank activation and the expansion of the bank distribution network, bringing the total to 63 banking partners at the end of the first quarter of 2017. On 3 April 2017, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company started offering NN Life Japan’s corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) products through Sumitomo Life’s sales network of approximately 30,000 agents.

The creation of dedicated teams and sharing of best practices between NN Hellas and Piraeus Bank have intensified their collaboration. This has led to significant sales increases through the bancassurance channel in Greece.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group aims to make its processes as efficient and effective as possible. The businesses in the Netherlands continue to implement efficiency initiatives, for example the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in our central Finance departments, as well as in our Non-life business. Building on this experience, further roll-out in the Life business will take place to replace repetitive, labour intensive, administrative processes. NN Life Japan also implemented RPA for handling part of its processes in the Customer Service Department, resulting in operation optimisation and simplification, operational time reductions, and error reduction, along with contributing to creating a paperless environment.

Innovation

Following the successful innovation labs in the Netherlands, NN opened two international innovation labs ‘Sparklab’, the first one in Hungary and the second one in Turkey. At least six other labs will be launched shortly. In the Netherlands, ‘Sparklab’ started a test with ‘Gappie’, an app which enables customers to buy on-demand car insurance when borrowing a car from family or friends.

NN Group joined the National Blockchain Coalition (Nationale Blockchain Coalitie) in the Netherlands as a founding partner. The coalition brings together over twenty companies and organisations from the financial, logistics, and energy sectors, as well as government and knowledge institutions. The aim of the coalition is to make the Netherlands an international front runner in the application of blockchain technology.

In addition to continuously innovating its own productportfolio, NN Group also invests in fintech partnerships with third parties, for example the fast-growing Berlin-based fintech company OptioPay GmbH. OptioPay has developed an innovative business model that allows consumers to convert incoming payments— from insurers, energy companies and even employers—into higher value products, services or vouchers with a broad range of merchants and service providers. NN is keen to support OptioPay as it expands in its home market and in new geographies.

Other events

In April 2017, NN Group and Global Sports Communication presented the NN Running Team, the first professional running team in the world, adding a new dimension to running. The NN Running Team brings together the world's top long-distance runners in a partnership with the world's best athletes, recently in Hamburg and London.

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) expanded its Responsible Investment team, adding significant weight to the team’s primary goal to drive the further development of responsible investing at NN IP, and to support all investment teams in their ESG integration strategy. NN IP also developed a tagging approach that allows for assessing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) exposure of companies. This approach offers investors the opportunity to choose stronger exposure to SDGs and easier opportunities for impact investing along with company engagement on impact.

(download the full Press release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1Q17 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 18 May 2017. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 1Q17 results, which will be held at 12.00 pm CET on Thursday 18 May 2017. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 531 5863.

Financial calendar

• Annual General Meeting: 1 June 2017
• Publication 2Q17 results: 17 August 2017
• Publication 3Q17 results: 16 November 2017
• Capital Markets Day: 30 November 2017

4Q16 operating result up 13%; Solvency II ratio at 241%

• 4Q16 operating result ongoing business of EUR 282 million, up 12.6% from 4Q15, reflecting a higher investment margin at Netherlands Life, higher fees and premium-based revenues at Insurance Europe and improved results at NN Bank and the reinsurance business, partly offset by unfavourable claims experience at Netherlands Non-life
• Full-year 2016 operating result decreased to EUR 1,227 million from EUR 1,435 million in 2015 which benefited from higher private equity dividends and a significantly higher technical margin in Netherlands Life, while 2016 was impacted by severe storms at Netherlands Non-life
• Net result of EUR 148 million, down 58.9% from 4Q15 mainly due to lower non-operating items and negative results on divestments. Full-year 2016 net result down to EUR 1,189 million from EUR 1,565 million in 2015
• Further costs savings in the Netherlands bringing the expense base down to EUR 761 million
• Robust commercial momentum in the quarter, with APE up 12.0% at constant currencies in the insurance businesses, net third party inflows of EUR 1 billion at Asset Management and mortgage production of EUR 0.9 billion at NN Bank. Full year VNB of EUR 214 million, up 6.4% from 2015
• Strong capital position: Solvency II ratio increased from 236% to 241% at the end of 4Q16, reflecting market impacts, the reversal of the EUR 333 million suspended share buyback and the deduction of the proposed final 2016 dividend of EUR 307 million
• Holding company cash capital higher at EUR 2,489 million, driven by dividends received from subsidiaries, partly offset by capital injections and share buybacks
• Final 2016 dividend proposal of EUR 0.95 per ordinary share, or approximately EUR 307 million in total, bringing the full-year 2016 dividend to EUR 1.55 per ordinary share

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

‘2016 was an eventful and important year for NN Group, a year in which we made considerable steps. We invested in accelerating change and innovating our customer experience, and worked on new and improved products and services. In April, ING completed its divestment of NN Group. We were able to maintain a strong capital position, making us well-positioned to weather volatile markets. This strong financial position allowed us to take an important step in bringing consolidation to the Dutch insurance and asset management markets and to announce an intended offer for the outstanding shares of Delta Lloyd in October 2016. After a period of constructive interactions, on 23 December we announced that the Boards of NN Group and Delta Lloyd reached an agreement on a recommended public offer with the aim to combine Delta Lloyd with the Dutch and Belgian activities of NN Group. Early February we launched the offer for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares in Delta Lloyd at EUR 5.40 per share and announced that we increased our stake in Delta Lloyd to 8.0% of ordinary shares. This transaction represents a significant step in our journey to build a profitable business for the future, and to strengthen our leading position in the Netherlands and Belgium.

NN Group reported a healthy operating result in the fourth quarter of 2016. Most of our businesses are making steady progress in delivering on their strategic targets. The Netherlands units achieved a further reduction in their cost base, which is targeted to be reduced to EUR 685 million by the end of 2018, ahead of the reduction that was expected to be achieved in 2016. Our European and Japanese insurance businesses reported higher sales as a result of the successful launch of new products, while the total value of new business increased for the full year, despite lower interest rates. NN Bank continues to generate considerable growth in the mortgage and savings markets and our asset manager, NN Investment Partners, again attracted net inflows of third-party assets in the fourth quarter. There is still more work to do, for example in bringing down the combined ratio of our Non-life business.

Our Solvency II and cash capital positions remain robust, at 241% and EUR 2,489 million respectively. We will propose a final 2016 dividend of EUR 0.95 per ordinary share at our Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 1 June 2017. Together with the interim dividend paid in September 2016, this represents a pay-out ratio of around 51% of the 2016 full-year net operating result of the ongoing business. In January 2017, we successfully refinanced part of our outstanding debt and allowing us to repay the final tranche of hybrid debt to ING.

Looking ahead, ongoing uncertainty with regard to economic growth, macro developments, and potential political shifts are likely to impact the financial markets in 2017. Irrespective of these developments, we are committed to delivering an excellent customer service, innovating our products and further improving our businesses. The progress we made in these areas in 2016 is reflected in our employee engagement and Net Promotor Scores. This strong foundation enables us to further shape our ambition of creating a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.’

(download the full Press Release)

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s robust financial position in 2016 reflects the resilience of its businesses in an environment which continues to be characterised by low interest rates and market volatility. This provides a solid foundation for executing the company’s strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs.

Transparent products and services

In the Dutch pension market, NN maintained its leading position in 2016. This was acknowledged by the Dutch magazine Management Team, which ranked Nationale-Nederlanden as the best pension provider in the Netherlands for the third year in a row. Moreover, the Dutch pension business introduced new features to further improve its product proposition, for example the ‘additional savings’ option for its Defined Contribution product which allows customers to increase their individual savings to secure future income. In Poland, the cooperation with Notus started and the Polish flagship product, a protection and investment proposition, was tailored for customers of Notus and launched in the fourth quarter.

Capturing growth

The fundamental need of people to protect themselves against uncertainties will continue to drive growth in the insurance industry over the long-term. NN Group adapts its businesses to capture this growth potential. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the sale of protection products grew 11% across Europe compared with the same quarter in 2015, with Romania, Turkey and Belgium as the largest contributors. In Turkey, a new law entered into force on 1 January 2017, under which all employees under the age of 45 will be enrolled in a new compulsory pension scheme while their employers can select a pension company. NN Hayat ve Emeklilik successfully introduced a new pension product to meet this new demand.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, total sales at Japan Life increased by 23%, excluding currency effects, driven by the sales of the COLI critical illness product launched in July. Bancassurance sales grew 37%, at constant currency, compared to the same quarter of 2015. This was driven by higher bank activation and the expansion of the bank distribution network, bringing the total to 61 banking partners at the end of 2016.

At the beginning of 2016, NN Romania launched the first health insurance on the local market. At the end of December 2016, over 10,000 clients contracted health insurance from NN, 50% more than initially expected for the first year.

In the Netherlands, NN Bank grew its mortgage portfolio by EUR 2.2 billion to EUR 12.7 billion in 2016. During that same period its customer savings grew by the same amount to EUR 10.2 billion. In the Dutch market, bank savings are increasingly replacing Life annuities, and NN Bank has established a strong position in this market. Movir, which offers individual disability insurance to self-employed workers in the Netherlands, successfully launched a campaign to inform medical specialists about their renewed product offering, which complements the existing disability insurance (AOV).

The fourth quarter also saw positive developments in the area of securing new contracts as NN Investment Partners was selected to become the fiduciary manager of assets under administration (AuA) for two large Dutch pension funds for a total amount of EUR 4.8 billion. In addition to this, NN Group’s general pension fund ‘De Nationale APF’, secured its first client.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels. It is our aim to achieve profitable growth through multi-access distribution. In line with this strategy, our insurance company in the Czech Republic entered into a strategic partnership with Moneta Money Bank. This enables NN Czech to reach a larger number of customers and provide products to meet their protection and pension savings needs. Moneta Bank extended its product offering with NN’s term life insurance and pension savings products.

In the Netherlands, the website NN.nl continues to attract an increasing number of visitors, and over 90% of NN Bank’s new customer savings is generated through this online channel.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group aims to make its processes as efficient and effective as possible. The businesses in the Netherlands continue to implement efficiency initiatives. For example, the pension business in the Netherlands established a system which links to salary package software from HR benefits companies, improving administrative efficiency for both customers and NN Life. In addition, NN Life entered into a strategic partnership to outsource business processes and IT for the individual life closed book. Furthermore, in line with the retail strategy in the Netherlands, several new products were made available on the online distribution channel ‘My NN’ and in the NN app. Also the Dutch Non-life business remains focused on increasing efficiency, for example by sending close to a million documents to the digital mailbox of intermediaries, instead of in hardcopy. Moreover, NN Bank extended digital tooling and self-service processes, providing customers with insight and options to make adjustments to their products. One example is a track and trace system for mortgage applications.

Japan Life is introducing self-compliance and medical self-service tools improving our service and reducing administrative efforts. In Belgium, a Home & Family portal was created, where customers are able to modify their Building, Contents, Theft and Family insurance, request certificates or file a claim online. This reduces manual work and delivery time and increases the self-reliance of the customer. After the introduction of tablets for our sales force in Poland in the third quarter of 2016, 90% of the new business applications were fully automated, resulting in efficiency gains and improving customers’ experiences and communications.

Innovation

As part of our ambition to enhance the quality of advice and service to customers, improve staff productivity, and create cross-sell, upsell and retention opportunities, NN Life Japan launched a one-stop intuitive service platform for agents in December 2016, which will help strengthen relationships with distributors. Furthermore, NN’s broker in Turkey, Sigorta Cini, is operating from 25 ‘insurance shops’ across the country, and is the second most visited online aggregator in Turkey with more than 1 million unique visits annually. Improvements in website functionality and investments in search marketing has helped NN in Turkey to reach out to more online customers looking for price comparison.

The Non-life business in the Netherlands launched several initiatives to increase safety for retail and SME customers. In November, Sparklab (the innovation lab of NN Non-life) launched the Dutch Cyber Collective. This association is supporting SMEs to reduce cybercrime. Other examples include a safety check for children’s bikes in schoolyards in The Hague and the ‘Safest Street of the Netherlands’ (‘Veiligste straat van Nederland’).

Other events

In 2016, NN launched a new campaign ‘It’s different when it’s yours’, celebrating the uniqueness of our individual customers. In the coming months, the new campaign will be launched in many NN countries. It focuses on those moments in life we all experience, yet we all experience differently. NN is proud to help millions of individuals, families, homes and businesses every day, and we are well aware that the family, home or business of each individual customer matters most to him or her.

As part of our commitment to considering environmental, social and governance aspects in our investment decisions, during 2016 experts from NN and NN Investment Partners contributed to a report called ‘Building Highways to SDG Investing’. With this report, a group of 17 financial institutions including NN Group, invited the Dutch government and Central Bank to continue to make a concerted effort in cooperation with the financial sector in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by the United Nations, these goals relate to climate, poverty, health care, education, and other societal challenges.

(download the full Press Release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q16 results at 09.30 am CET on Thursday 16 February 2017. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093(US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press lunch

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press lunch to discuss the 4Q16 results, which will be held at 11.30 am CET on Thursday 16 February 2017.

Financial calendar 
 

• Publication 1Q17 results: 18 May 2017
• Annual General Meeting: 1 June 2017
• Publication 2Q17 results: 17 August 2017
• Publication 3Q17 results: 16 November 2017

Strong capital position and net result

• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 319 million compared with EUR 392 million in 3Q15, which was supported by EUR 127 million private equity dividends versus EUR 13 million in 3Q16; excluding these, the operating result improved by 15.5%
• Net result of EUR 436 million versus EUR 329 million in 3Q15, mainly driven by higher capital gains and revaluations as well as a lower hedge-related loss for Japan Closed Block VA
• Cost savings in the Netherlands of EUR 21 million in 3Q16, bringing the expense base down to EUR 765 million
• Solvency II ratio decreased to 236% from 252% at 2Q16 primarily due to market impacts
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 2.4 billion driven by dividends from several units, partly offset by the payment of the 2016 interim dividend and share buybacks

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘Despite the prevailing uncertain economic conditions, we continue to deliver on our targets to generate capital and improve earnings, while bringing our brand promise ‘You matter’ to life for our customers every day. We maintain a strong balance sheet, with a solvency ratio of 236%.

Given the market dynamics and the competitive operating environment, we believe there is a clear and compelling logic to bring consolidation to the Dutch insurance market. Being one of the best capitalised and less leveraged insurance companies in Europe, NN Group is well-positioned to take a significant step in this consolidation process. On 5 October, we announced our intention to make an offer to acquire all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Delta Lloyd. We see strong merit in a combination of Delta Lloyd and the Dutch and Belgian activities of NN Group, and remain open to a constructive and substantive dialogue with Delta Lloyd to come to a recommended transaction. We consider this potential transaction to be financially and strategically compelling and beneficial to both companies’ stakeholder groups.

We take a disciplined and rational approach in executing our strategy, and regardless of the outcome of the above-mentioned process, will continue to focus on earnings improvement and free cash generation – while maintaining a strong balance sheet and solvency position. At the same time we are committed to innovating our businesses in order to keep improving our services and products to customers, and proactively respond to the trends in our sector.

Our strong customer relationships were reflected in our performance in the first nine months. In the Netherlands, NN Bank is welcoming new customers in the savings and mortgage market and growing its operating result. NN Life Japan entered into a long-term collaboration with Sumitomo Life Insurance focusing on our COLI products for small and medium-sized enterprises. New sales at Japan Life grew more than 22% year-on-year, excluding currency effects, driven by the launch of a critical illness COLI product. And in this quarter NN Investment Partners was able to attract EUR 600 million of net inflows in Third-Party assets.

NN Group has a history that stretches back more than 170 years. We have been an active member of society, involved in the lives of our customers, and doing what we do best – helping people secure their financial futures. We want to contribute to the well-being of society and have the ambition to further integrate ethical, social and environmental components into our core strategy. We feel encouraged by the improvement of our position in the ranking of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index to 77 points (out of 100), which places NN Group in the top quartile of the global insurance industry.’

(download de full Press Release)

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s strong financial position during the first nine months of 2016 reflects the resilience of its businesses in an environment which continues to be characterised by low interest rates and market volatility. This provides a solid foundation for executing its strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs.

Transparent products and services

NN Life Japan launched a new Corporate-Owned Life Insurance (COLI) critical illness product in July, driving significant growth of new sales in the third quarter. Our Dutch Non-life business launched a marketing campaign in Belgium in the third quarter to promote its new Home and Family insurance product covering Building and Contents, as well as legal aid and liability. The product involves a fast online subscription process and initial results are encouraging. NN Hellas, our insurance company in Greece, was the first to introduce the Growing Guarantee product in July 2016. This product is less capital intensive and provides a guarantee for customers with upward potential. In the fourth quarter of 2016, this product will also be made available through NN Hellas’ bancassurance partner Piraeus Bank.

Capturing growth

The fundamental need of people to protect themselves against uncertainties will continue to drive growth in the insurance industry over the long-term. NN Group continues to adapt its businesses to optimally capture this growth potential. For example, in Hungary, NN launched a special programme for clients with maturing policies, offering them tailored advice from financial advisors. This way, NN is fostering customer relationships by recognising and rewarding long-term loyalty.

NN Hayat ve Emeklilik, our business in Turkey, is developing a new pension product to meet both customers’ needs and regulatory requirements following a new auto-enrollment pension law passed in August. Under this law, which will be effective as of 1 January 2017, all employees under the age of 45 will be enrolled in the new compulsory pension system while their employers can select a pension company. In the Netherlands, NN Bank welcomed over 7,000 new customers during the third quarter, as well as another 13,600 insurance customers through cross-selling efforts. And in this quarter NN Investment Partners was able to attract net inflows from third parties.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels. It is our aim to achieve profitable growth through multi-access distribution. In line with this strategy, NN Life Japan recently announced that it has entered into a long-term collaboration with Sumitomo Life Insurance. Sumitomo Life Insurance will sell NN Life Japan’s COLI products to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through its nationwide tied agency network. The agreement also provides a framework for collaboration on potential future product initiatives.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group aims to make its processes as efficient and effective as possible across all segments, and is sharpening its client focus tailored by type and country, increasing organisational agility. In the Netherlands, the strategy is centred around providing digital, personal and relevant services with the aim of enhancing the customer experience. As part of this strategy, Nationale-Nederlanden continues to expand its digital outreach to customers via its ‘My NN’ web portal. In the third quarter, it introduced My Mortgage Application, which makes it possible to track and trace the status of applications, and also made available online Consumer Credit and Revolving Credit applications. As a result of these digital expansions, the number of visitors on My NN has increased to 200,000 visitors on average each month.

In November 2016, our general pension fund ‘De Nationale APF’, which was set up by AZL, NN Life’s pension administrator, and NN Investment Partners received its license from DNB. De Nationale APF is an independent entity which provides an attractive solution for pension funds and employers to comply with increasingly complex pension regulations and to benefit from economies of scale.

The international business continues to focus on protection products via bancassurance channels and tied agents. In addition, sales channels are being digitalised, leading to more efficient operations. The implementation of digital solutions in the international businesses is progressing well. Following the example from Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia also launched paperless sales processes. This quarter, NN Hungary introduced an online client portal, NN Direkt, which is the first online client portal in the market with an audited electronic signature. NN Direkt increases the means of communication with customers, while simultaneously reducing costs.

Innovation

In July, the Dutch Non-life business launched a pilot for a new customer service called ‘prevention scan’, which provides for an independent Prevention Coach to perform a comprehensive check on a client’s house. The safety assessment by the coach is accompanied by tailor-made advice on how to improve fire safety, prevent burglary and avoid water damage. NN Non-life also offers assistance to implement these safety improvements.

Other events

Further strengthening our corporate brand, a new multi-media campaign was launched in the Netherlands during the third quarter, adopting the theme ‘There is only one like you’ (‘Er is maar een Nederlander zoals jij’). The campaign features a variety of unique individuals with their own circumstances, wishes and goals. Nationale-Nederlanden recognises this uniqueness of their customers, and knows that every person deserves personal services that suit their individual lives. After a period of two weeks the first two products were added to the campaign; Managed investments (‘Beheerd Beleggen’) and Your future income (‘Jouw inkomen later’). These new products exemplify our goal of offering services that fit each individual customer’s needs.

It is our ambition to make a positive impact on society through integrating sustainability aspects into our core activities. NN Group improved its position in the ranking of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). NN Group scored 77 points (out of 100), an increase of 9 points compared with 2015 mainly driven by improved scores on Tax strategy, Customer Relationship Management and Financial Inclusion. The average for the insurance sector is 50 points. The research executed by RobecoSAM helps us gain insight on areas for further improvement.

In the Netherlands, Nationale-Nederlanden signed up to a ‘green deal’ to promote car sharing, and will modify its policy terms and conditions to extend insurance coverage for car sharing initiatives. Green deals are partnerships between the Dutch government and third parties to achieve sustainability targets. The aim is to achieve 100,000 shareable cars in the Netherlands by the end of 2018.

(download de full Press Release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q16 results at 09.30 am CET on Thursday 17 November 2016. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 3Q16 results, which will be held at 11.30 am CET on Thursday 17 November 2016. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 531 5863. 
 

Financial calendar 
 

• Publication 4Q16 results: 16 February 2017
• Publication 1Q17 results: 18 May 2017
• Annual General Meeting: 1 June 2017
• Publication 2Q17 results: 17 August 2017
• Publication 3Q17 results: 16 November 2017

Additional information

• NN Group 3Q16 Financial Supplement, NN Group 3Q16 Analyst Presentation and NN Group 3Q16 Condensed consolidated interim accounts

Capital position remains strong; lower operating result

• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 321 million versus EUR 488 million in 2Q15; the current quarter was impacted by higher claims at Netherlands Non-life due to severe storms, while the second quarter of last year was supported by a private equity dividend and a significantly higher technical margin in Netherlands Life
• Net result of EUR 335 million versus EUR 392 million in 2Q15 reflecting a lower operating result and negative hedge results in Japan Closed Block VA due to market volatility, partly offset by higher non-operating items
• Progress on cost savings in the Netherlands, bringing the annual expense base down to EUR 786 million
• Solvency II ratio increased to 252% from 241% at 1Q16 as positive market impacts were only partly offset by deductions for the EUR 500 million share buyback programme and the 2016 interim dividend
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 2.3 billion driven by dividends from almost all segments
• Interim dividend 2016 of EUR 0.60 per ordinary share or approximately EUR 195 million

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘With a Solvency II ratio of 252% and a cash capital position of EUR 2.3 billion, NN Group’s capital position remained strong and resilient during the second quarter of 2016, allowing us to weather severe market volatility and pay an interim dividend in line with our dividend policy.

Our businesses were however impacted by market conditions and low interest rates, reducing the investment income of our insurance businesses. Extraordinary developments in recent months, including the result of the ‘Brexit’ referendum, impacted global financial markets. The asset management environment remains difficult due to ongoing market turmoil, resulting in continued de-risking by clients and pressure on fees.

Our Non-life combined ratio was impacted by severe storms in the Netherlands in the Property and Casualty business, which was only partly compensated by a favourable claims development in the Disability & Accident portfolio. Regulatory changes, such as the tax on assets in Poland introduced in February 2016, impacted the operating result of Insurance Europe. We are closely following the Polish government’s plans to further reform the pension system.

Amidst these challenging conditions, new sales of life insurance products held up well compared with the same quarter last year. The execution of our cost saving plans is well underway, and NN Bank is showing robust growth in mortgages and savings, reporting a solid net inflow of retail saving deposits in the first six months of this year.

Going forward, we will continue to focus on the execution of our strategy, delivering excellent service to our customers making our operations more efficient and effective, and pursuing growth in selected European markets and Japan.’

(download the full Press Release)

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group´s strong financial position in the first half of 2016 reflects the resilience of its businesses in an environment which continues to be characterised by low interest rates and market volatility. This provides a solid foundation for executing the strategy, which is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on transparent products and services and long-term relationships. NN Group aims to help people secure their financial futures, and is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs. 
 

Transparent products and services

NN Hungary successfully launched a new accident insurance product which has been well received by both customers and tied agents. The product offers financial support and unique medical and assistance services that are crucial for faster recovery after an accident.

Our Czech business unit launched NN Život, an insurance product covering a wide range of risks including death, illnesses, long-term disability and hospitalisation. Japan Life launched a new COLI critical illness product to help ensure business continuity when SME owners fall ill.

In the Netherlands, Nationale-Nederlanden helps SME companies to understand the implications of a new ‘Return to Work’ regulation for partially disabled employees (WGA Flex), also offering them solutions. Non-life’s continued focus on customer centricity and transparent customer communication resulted in higher customer loyalty as measured by its increasing Net Promotor Scores. Furthermore, Netherlands Life is strengthening its commercial position by developing new features for group pension schemes, allowing participants to invest additional contributions during their working life (‘Bijsparen’), or to keep investing after their retirement (‘Doorbeleggen’).

Capturing growth

The fundamental need of people to protect themselves against uncertainties will continue to drive growth in the insurance industry over the long term. For example, NN Life in Romania launched an innovative private health insurance solution in their market, insuring the financial future of a customer’s family should unexpected medical situations arise.

In Spain, Nationale-Nederlanden recently launched a suite of Growing Guarantee savings products, which are less capital intensive, while guaranteeing our customers their investment with an upward potential. Movir, which offers individual disability insurance to business professionals in the Netherlands, successfully launched a campaign to inform clients about the option to align their individual disability insurance to their pension age, resulting in additional recurring premium income. NN Bank continues to grow its customer base, attracting almost 8,000 new clients in the second quarter. Through cross-selling efforts, another 4,500 insurance customers became clients of NN Bank. In the second quarter, NN Bank grew its mortgage portfolio from EUR 10.9 billion to EUR 11.4 billion and its customer savings from EUR 8.6 billion to EUR 9.3 billion.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group serves its customers through multiple channels, comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels. Bancassurance COLI sales in Japan increased by 54% compared with the same quarter in 2015, excluding currency effects, driven by the expansion of the bank distribution network.

The acquisition of Notus Financial Advisors, a leading financial broker in Poland, which was announced in the second quarter, was completed in July 2016. The acquisition will further strengthen and diversify the distribution network of Nationale-Nederlanden Poland.

Effective and efficient operations

NN Group aims to make its processes as efficient and effective as possible across all segments, and is sharpening its client focus tailored by type and country, making the organisation more agile. For example, during the severe storm and flooding in Belgium this quarter, an NN Mobile Office was used to help customers settle their claims. This temporary office and the service provided were highly valued by customers.

In the Netherlands, the strategy is centred around providing digital, personal and relevant services with the aim of enhancing customer experience. Nationale-Nederlanden has combined various individual customer communication channels, making it easier for clients to communicate with the company, while reducing costs at the same time. New functionalities are continually being implemented to meet the growing customer demand for 24/7 services and solutions, while at the same time wanting to be recognised and treated as an individual customer. For example, customers logging into the NN portal receive a personal message alerting them when the fixed rate period of their mortgage will end within four months.

Our asset manager, NN Investment Partners, is making good progress with its ‘focus, simplify and optimise’ initiatives. The fund rationalisation project is well on track. Investment boutiques have been aligned with growth opportunities, capturing economies of scale in the product portfolios.

Innovation

By investing in innovation, NN Group aims to improve customer satisfaction, intuitive interaction and efficiency at the same time. NN Group announced in July that it entered into a three-year partnership with StartupBootcamp, a growth accelerator, which helps fintech start-ups expand into full-grown businesses. The programme aims to increase the speed of innovation and strengthen customer centricity. In addition to providing financial support, NN Group will offer professional assistance to fintech start-ups by providing employee mentors. Also, through internships, our employees are given the opportunity to gain insights and hands-on experience in fintech product innovation.

Furthermore, Sparklab (NN Non-life’s innovation lab) introduced its ‘Ab Concept’ in the Dutch market. This is a pilot in which prevention services are combined with residents’ participation and new technology, with the aim of increasing safety in residential areas.

NN’s broker in Turkey, Sigorta Cini, is executing a ‘clicks & bricks’ strategy, enabling the company to become a ‘top 3’ online aggregator.

NN Group believes that mind-set is crucial in creating businesses that nurture innovation. In order to further foster this mind-set, all NN Life managers have participated in a programme focusing on stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and accountable leadership.

Other events

In the second quarter of 2016, NN Group became a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. This inclusion demonstrates that the company has met stringent environmental, social and governance criteria, and is well positioned to capitalise on the benefits of responsible business practice.

NN Group’s sport sponsorship policy focuses on running, an activity that unites different generations and is accessible to everyone. This way we want to contribute to people’s health and wellbeing. NN Group has been the main sponsor of large running events across Europe and in Japan, including marathons in Athens and Rotterdam, and the San Silvestre race in Madrid, Spain. This quarter, NN Group was the official sponsor of the 2016 European Athletics Championships, the largest sports event in the Netherlands in 2016.

(download the full Press Release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q16 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 18 August 2016. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 2Q16 results, which will be held at 12.00 pm CET on Thursday18 August 2016. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 5315863.

Financial calendar 
 

• Publication 3Q16 results: 17 November 2016
• Publication 4Q16 results: 16 February 2017
• Publication 1Q17 results: 18 May 2017
• Annual General Meeting: 1 June 2017
• Publication 2Q17 results: 17 August 2017
• Publication 3Q17 results: 16 November 2017

Operating result stable; strong capital position

• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 305 million, stable on 1Q15, as higher dividends at Netherlands Life and improved results at NN Bank were offset by lower results at Netherlands Non-life, Insurance Europe and Asset Management
• Net result of EUR 270 million, down from EUR 485 million in 1Q15, which included a capital gain on an equity investment while 1Q16 reflects a negative result for Japan Closed Block VA due to higher market volatility
• Cost savings in the Netherlands of EUR 11 million in 1Q16, bringing the expense base down to EUR 792 million
• Strong capital position; Solvency II ratio at 241% at 1Q16 versus 239% at 4Q15
• Holding company cash capital increased to EUR 2.1 billion reflecting dividends from subsidiaries of EUR 390 million partly offset by the EUR 250 million share buyback
• Share buyback programme up to EUR 500 million over 12 months commencing 1 June 2016

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘We are pleased with our strong capital position, with a Solvency II ratio of 241% and robust free cash flow to the holding in the first quarter of 2016, especially given the volatile market conditions in the first few months of the year.

While the group operating result for the first quarter of 2016 was stable on the same quarter in 2015, the operating performance of the individual segments showed a mixed picture. Netherlands Life reported higher results supported by continued strong investment performance, and the results of NN Bank improved on the back of the continued growth of the mortgage portfolio and customer deposits. Our international businesses continued to grow their fees and premium-based revenues, which were offset by the impact of the low interest rate environment and equity market depreciation. The non-life and asset management businesses continue to have our full attention. The results of the non-life business have been quite volatile and were impacted by an unfavourable claims experience in the Individual disability portfolio in the first quarter. We continue to implement our management actions aimed at improving underwriting performance and efficiency. In response to the challenging environment, NN Investment Partners is enhancing its strategic focus as announced at the end of last year. The asset manager aims to attract third-party assets by focusing on its areas of expertise, rationalising its product range and improving the efficiency of its operations. In the first quarter of 2016, the asset manager won several Lipper Group Awards recognising the success of its Multi-Asset strategy and Emerging Markets Debt funds. Our cost reductions in the Netherlands are on track to achieve the target expense base set out for 2018, and in the first quarter we realised EUR 11 million in cost savings. 
 

We are today announcing a programme to buy back shares up to EUR 500 million over a period of twelve months. This demonstrates our disciplined capital management as well as our commitment to returning excess capital to shareholders. At the same time, we believe it is essential to maintain a robust capital position and the financial flexibility to be able to pursue value creating corporate opportunities.

On 14 April, ING sold its remaining 14.1% stake in NN Group. This transaction marked the completion of our journey to become a stand-alone company. Going forward, it remains essential that we capture the many opportunities of changing consumer behaviour, retrenching governments and the use of new technology. We will continue to invest in innovating our businesses, focused on improving our service to customers and achieving our goals of increased efficiency and agility.’
 

(download the full Press Release)

Quarterly Business Update

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on strong products and services and long-term relationships. In executing this strategy we will focus on agility in order to navigate the ever-changing insurance and asset management landscape, as well as the challenging market dynamics. 
 

Transparent products and services

NN Group is committed to delivering products and services that are easy to understand and meet customers’ lifetime needs. For example, Netherlands Life launched a programme called ‘Retirement in the mix’ (Pensioen in de mix) aimed at increasing pension awareness among employers and employees. Another new service is Pension Assistance (Pensioen Hulp), an online tool open to customers and non-customers alike, which provides relevant and personalised information to help people prepare for their retirement in the ten years leading up to this phase. A new product recently introduced by Nationale-Nederlanden is Active Retirement (Actief Pensioen) whereby employees can purchase a pension with immediate effect from their accrued pension capital. In the first quarter of 2016, Japan Life continued to increase its COLI protection sales, driven by products launched in 2015, including a new term product and a new income protection product for SME owners. NN Investment Partners successfully launched a Green Bond fund, underlining our commitment to responsible investing.

Capturing growth

The fundamental need of people to protect themselves against life’s uncertainties will continue to drive growth in the insurance industry over the long term. In Europe, we continue to expand our sales of new protection products. By way of example, in Romania we have deployed an innovative product development approach with ING Bank, which has resulted in a significant increase in risk protection sales. Similarly, Turkey has introduced a new simple account protection product for bancassurance customers that provides customers a financial buffer in the case of an unexpected event. In addition, our Greek business has launched a new direct online health proposition, which is seeing early signs of success. In the Netherlands, NN Bank is one of the top 5 players in the mortgage market in terms of new mortgage production, with its mortgage portfolio growing to EUR 10.9 billion from EUR 10.5 billion at the end of 2015. Customer deposits increased to EUR 8.6 billion at the end of the first quarter. Also our asset manager continues to experience strong demand for its Dutch Residential Mortgage Fund.

Multi-access distribution

NN Group strives to be available to serve our customers through multiple channels. We have a diverse mix of distribution channels comprising tied agents, bancassurance partners, brokers and direct channels, which we are looking to constantly strengthen. Within Japan Life, for example, we continue to enhance and diversify our distribution through bank networks where we have experienced sales growth of 33% in the first quarter of 2016. In Greece, new sales via our bancassurance partner, Piraeus Bank grew by 63% year on year. In Poland, we recently announced the acquisition of Notus Financial Advisors, a leading financial broker in the market. The acquisition of Notus will further strengthen and diversify the distribution network of Nationale-Nederlanden Poland with over 350 of Notus’ own agents in Poland’s largest cities as well as nationwide coverage through franchises giving access to 600 financial advisors.

Effective and efficient operations

We aim to make processes as efficient and effective as possible, in order to deliver value for money for our customers. In the Netherlands we continue to reduce expenses, for example by work towards IT-cloud solutions, offshoring and application rationalisation.

The digital transformation of our business improves customers experience as well as our efficiency. Last year, in Spain we implemented a paperless sales process for tied agents. This increased customer experience, measured by our Net Promoter Score, and reduced new business processing costs. On the back of this success in Spain, we have recently launched digital solutions in Poland and the Czech Republic and will be launching similar platforms in other European countries in the coming months.

Innovation

We continue to invest in innovation and in the first quarter of the year, Netherlands Non-life introduced the SmartHome pilot in the 'Smartest House of the Netherlands' in Eindhoven. The pilot, initiated by Sparklab (NN Non-life’s innovation lab), is intended to explore the effect that home sensors have on residents’ overall feeling of safety.

(download the full Press release).

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1Q16 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 26 May 2016. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press call

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 1Q16 results, which will be held at 12.00 pm CET on Thursday 26 May 2016. Journalists can join the press call at +31 (0)20 531 5863.
 

Financial calendar 
 

• Annual General Meeting: 2 June 2016
• Publication 2Q16 results: 18 August 2016
• Publication 3Q16 results: 17 November 2016
• Publication 4Q16 results: 16 February 2017

2015 operating result up 32%; Solvency II ratio at 239%

• 4Q15 operating result ongoing business of EUR 250 million, down 3.6% from 4Q14. Full-year 2015 operating result ongoing business of EUR 1,435 million, up 32.2%, with almost all segments reporting improved results
• Net result of EUR 360 million, up 82.2% from 4Q14. Full-year 2015 net result up to EUR 1,565 million from EUR 588 million in 2014
• Cost savings in the Netherlands of EUR 15 million in 4Q15 bringing the expense base down to EUR 803 million
• Strong capital position: Solvency II ratio at 239% at 4Q15 based on the Partial Internal Model, after deduction of the proposed final 2015 dividend of EUR 341 million
• Holding company cash capital higher at EUR 1,953 million, reflecting free cash flow at the holding company for full-year 2015 of EUR 1,366 million and EUR 849 million returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks
• Final 2015 dividend proposal of EUR 1.05 per ordinary share, or EUR 341 million in total, bringing the full-year 2015 dividend to EUR 1.51 per ordinary share
• Full-year 2015 value of new business (VNB) at EUR 202 million, up 13.1%. New sales (APE) EUR 258 million, down 4.3% from 4Q14, at constant currencies, reflecting focus on profitable growth. Full-year 2015 sales down 3.1% to EUR 1,295 million, at constant currencies
• AuM at Asset Management EUR 187 billion, down 1.5% from 3Q15

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

‘We are pleased with the strong set of results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2015, as this demonstrates our steady progress in achieving our objectives to improve earnings and generate capital.

With around 11,500 employees, we aim to offer our customers value for money, with an approach that is committed, straightforward and personal. The process of rebranding our company to NN and our brand promise “You Matter” provides us with a clear and recognisable identity in all of the markets where we operate and unites our businesses and colleagues. The progress we have made on these fronts is reflected in higher employee engagement and Net Promotor Scores. Our continued focus on delivering excellent service to our customers, innovating our products and improving our business mix is reflected in a 13.1% increase of the value of new business to EUR 202 million in 2015.

As we continue to deliver on our medium-term objectives, there are areas where additional focus is needed. We are taking measures to improve the results of the Non-life business through better underwriting performance and a further reduction of expenses. We have already made progress by improving the claims handling processes and fine-tuning premium rates but there is still more to do. The challenging market environment has prompted us to sharpen the strategic focus of our asset management business for which we have taken a restructuring provision of EUR 13 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The capital generation of our businesses remains solid and our NN Group Solvency II ratio was a strong 239% at the end of 2015, based on our Partial Internal Model which was approved by the Dutch regulator in December 2015. We will propose a final 2015 dividend of EUR 1.05 per ordinary share at our Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on 2 June 2016. Together with the interim dividend paid in September 2015, this represents a pay-out ratio of 41% of the 2015 full-year net operating result of the ongoing business, and an increase of 32% compared with the annualised 2014 dividend per ordinary share.

In January 2016, we completed a EUR 250 million share buyback when ING Group sold down part of its shareholding in NN Group. Furthermore ING exchanged the final tranche of mandatory exchangeable subordinated notes of the three anchor investors into ordinary shares in NN Group and cash, bringing ING’s stake in NN Group to 14.1% of outstanding shares.

In 2016 we will build on our track record as we continue to focus on our financial targets while delivering an excellent customer experience, and achieve our ambition to be a company that truly matters in the lives of our stakeholders.’

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve our customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever and whenever they want, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver excellent customer service.

Netherlands Life

Netherlands Life aims to benefit from its strong position in the pension market and selectively capture growth opportunities in the Dutch market, driven by the shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes. As part of the pension services, a social media campaign featuring retirees was recently launched in the Netherlands, with the aim of increasing pension awareness and encouraging people to think about pension planning. Furthermore AZL, NN Life’s pension administrator, and NN Investment Partners launched a General Pension Fund (Algemeen Pensioenfonds or ‘APF’) in December 2015 ahead of the changes in regulations which became effective in January 2016. To realise its financial targets, Netherlands Life focuses on reducing expenses and gradually shifting to higher-yielding assets, such as mortgages and loans, in order to offset the negative impact of lower interest rates on the investment margin.

Netherlands Non-life

Netherlands Non-life aims to improve underwriting performance and to expand in specific market segments where there are clear opportunities for profitable growth. The continuing focus of the Non-life business on customer centricity and transparent customer communication has been rewarded by higher customer loyalty as measured by its gradually increasing Net Promotor Scores (NPS). An example of good communication is the policy conditions of the Home Insurance Product, which took second place in the National Writing Contest. Non-life not only focuses on exceeding customers’ expectations, it also puts great effort into further improving its relationships with intermediaries, resulting in high satisfaction scores for the products and services of Movir, according to Kien (a market research company). Adfiz, another external benchmark, confirmed this success, with Movir receiving the award for ‘The best performing D&A insurer’ for the fifth year in a row and NN Non-life climbing in the rankings as the second best all-round intermediary insurer.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe aims to grow profitably through disciplined capital allocation and by leveraging its significant distribution platform. It continues to shift its business mix towards capital-light products and reposition its savings and retirement products in response to the low interest rate environment, changing regulations and customer behaviour. Spain recently launched Growing Guarantee savings products, which respond to the needs of our customers by guaranteeing their investment and offering upside potential, while at the same time being capital-light products that are less sensitive to interest rates. Poland adapted its flagship savings product to changing regulation while simultaneously improving the customer proposition with extensive protection cover and added services such as medical assistance. The Insurance Europe businesses will continue to enhance the customer experience, supported by new products and further digitalisation.

Japan Life

Japan Life continues to drive value through product innovation and expanding its distribution. In the fourth quarter of 2015, corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) protection sales increased by 56% at constant currencies compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, driven by new product launches, such as a new term product addressing death and severe disability needs of SME owners up to age 90, new training programmes and new sales tools. Bancassurance-COLI sales increased by 39% in the quarter, driven by the continuing expansion of the bank distribution network. In December 2015, Japan Life received the highest rating for its after-sales call centre from the Help Desk Institute-Japan for the third consecutive year. The call centre was awarded for its ability to provide appropriate solutions to businesses and for the extensive knowledge of its staff leading to an excellent customer experience.

Asset Management

Assets under Management decreased from EUR 190 billion to EUR 187 billion in the quarter as the market environment remained challenging. Asset Management aims to grow its Third-Party business by following a tailored approach for each client segment. It plans to protect and further expand its leading position and continues to develop a more distinct range of products. As part of its strategy enhancement, Asset Management is rationalising and creating scale in its product range and building on its areas of expertise. Examples are the Dutch Residential Mortgage Fund, jointly launched by NN Investment Partners (NN IP) and NN Bank with a first tranche of EUR 165 million of mortgage loans sold to the fund. NN IP also complemented its successful multi-asset range with the Multi-Asset High Income fund. The asset manager aims to create investment awareness among retail clients in its home markets, and has recently implemented several initiatives in partnership with the Dutch Association of Stockholders (VEB) and with Nibud (the independent institute for financial advice and planning).
 

NN Bank

NN Bank continued to expand its mortgage and customer savings activities. In line with its strategy, NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 10.5 billion from EUR 10.0 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2015. The bank also expanded its product offering by introducing a personal loan proposition. Customer deposits slightly decreased to EUR 8.0 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. NN Bank further diversified its funding mix by completing a second public RMBS transaction in the fourth quarter, raising an amount of EUR 550 million in funding from institutional investors. On 20 January 2016 Standard & Poor’s (S&P) assigned single A/ A-1 long and short-term credit ratings to NN Bank with a stable outlook.

(download the full Press Release)

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q15 results at 10.00 am CET on Thursday 25 February 2016. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press briefing

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press briefing to discuss the 4Q15 results, which will be held at 12.00 pm CET on Thursday 25 February 2016 at NN Group’s head office, Schenkkade 65, The Hague.

Financial calendar
 

• Publication 1Q16 results: 26 May 2016 
   
• Annual General Meeting: 2 June 2016
• Publication 2Q16 results: 18 August 2016
• Publication 3Q16 results: 17 November 2016

Operating result increased and strong capital position

• 3Q15 operating result ongoing business of EUR 392 million, up 43% from 3Q14, supported by a private equity dividend, partly offset by an unfavourable claims experience in Property & Casualty in the Netherlands
• Net result down 7% to EUR 329 million, due to lower non-operating items and negative hedge results in Japan Closed Block VA
• Capital position remained strong with IGD ratio at 322%
• Holding company cash capital stable at EUR 1.6 billion, reflecting EUR 332 million dividends from subsidiaries and the payment of the 2015 interim dividend of EUR 156 million and EUR 150 million share buy-back
• Free cash flow to the holding for the first nine months of 2015 was EUR 1,031 million driven by dividends from all segments
• Cumulative cost savings in the Netherlands of EUR 201 million compared with 2013
• New sales (APE) EUR 261 million, down 15% from 3Q14 at constant currencies
• AuM at Asset Management down 2% to EUR 180 billion compared with 2Q15, mainly due to net outflows

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

"Overall, our business continued to show a solid performance in the third quarter of 2015 despite volatile financial markets. The strong increase in the Group's operating result compared with the third quarter of 2014 was mainly driven by Netherlands Life, supported by a large private equity dividend. Insurance Europe also contributed to the increased result and continues to make progress in shifting its product mix towards protection products. In Japan, our focus on the SME segment is bearing fruit, as COLI protection sales are showing double-digit growth. Overall sales for the Group were down, as we focus on profitable growth in the low interest rate environment. We recognise that there is more work to do to increase the net inflows of our asset management business and to improve the combined ratio of the Dutch Non-life company.

Our solvency ratios remain solid, reflecting the strong capital generation of our businesses. We were therefore able to complete another EUR 150 million share buy-back in September in line with our policy to return excess capital to our shareholders. This buy-back was part of ING's sell-down of another tranche of NN Group shares, reducing its remaining holding to 25.8% of outstanding shares.

To deliver on our medium-term and long-term strategic objectives, we will continue our focus on disciplined execution and innovation in our business operations. Since 2013, we have reduced our cost base in the Netherlands by a total of EUR 201 million. While this means that we have already achieved our original cost-reduction target for the Group, further efficiency improvements will remain a focus area, especially in the Netherlands. In helping to secure the financial futures of our customers, we are innovating our products and services. This year we have implemented several initiatives that employ new technologies to digitally engage with our customers. By doing so, we aim to continually improve their experience with us.

While we are pleased with another set of good results, we will further optimise our businesses to deliver on our financial and non-financial objectives and continue to create value for all our stakeholders - our customers, our shareholders, our employees and society at large."

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve our customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever and whenever they want, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver excellent customer service.

Netherlands Life

Netherlands Life aims to benefit from its strong position in the pension market and selectively capture growth opportunities in the Dutch market, driven by the shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, as well as selectively pursuing buy-out opportunities. In preparation for the expected changes in regulations, AZL, NN Life’s pension administrator, and NN Investment Partners are joining forces to establish a General Pension Fund (Algemeen Pensioenfonds or ‘APF’). NN’s strong position in the pension market was recently recognised, for the second year in a row, by the Dutch business magazine Management Team. Their annual survey among managers ranks Nationale-Nederlanden as best pension provider. Furthermore Netherlands Life focusses on reducing expenses and gradually shift to higher-yielding assets, such as mortgages and loans, in order to offset the negative impact of lower interest rates on the investment margin. In the third quarter we further invested in mortgages with an attractive yield.

Netherlands Non-life

Netherlands Non-life aims to improve underwriting performance and to expand in specific market segments where there are clear opportunities for profitable growth. The continued focus on exceeding customers’ expectations and transparent customer communication resulted in winning the Dutch Insurance Communication Award, granted by AM, a leading insurance magazine, and GfK, provider of market and consumer information. Another example of delivering excellent customer care is our improved Net Promotor Score for the Claims Manager at Home (‘Schademanager Thuis’) service. Furthermore, a new awareness campaign called the ‘Nationale Inbrekersindex’ was launched to help prevent burglary. Netherlands Non-life has also broadened its experience in Usage-Based Car Insurance with the launch of a third initiative called ‘Voorop’. This is a new usage-based proposition for the Dutch Retail market that registers driving behaviour. Pay How You Drive, as the insurance technique is also referred to, was introduced in pilot form (under the name of ‘Fairzekering’) in the Netherlands last year. It won several innovation awards.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe is shifting its business mix towards protection products and repositioning its savings and retirement products in response to the low interest rate environment. The Polish business, which was rebranded to Nationale-Nederlanden Poland in July, launched a new campaign reinforcing the importance of protection and offering customers clarity and guidance on how to lead a healthy lifestyle and secure their financial futures. In August, an awareness campaign was launched that features teenagers asking their parents about their health, and about their financial futures. The main message of the commercials is that parents should remain healthy to support their children, now and in the future. Campaigns like these reinforce Nationale-Nederlanden Poland’s reputation as a knowledgeable partner that truly cares about its customers. NN Slovakia recently launched a new life insurance option for children’s hospitalisation coverage, responding to customer and distributor demand for this product. This demonstrates the active dialogue and the ongoing engagement NN Slovakia has with its customers. This new option offers a daily allowance - paid from the first day - when a child has to stay in hospital.

Japan Life

In the third quarter of 2015, Japan Life continued to diversify its product and distribution. COLI protection sales increased by 26% at constant currencies compared with the third quarter in 2014, partly driven by the launch of a new term product addressing death and severe disability needs of SME owners up to age 90. Bancassurance COLI sales increased by 21% year-on-year, excluding currency effects, driven by higher bank activation and the continuing expansion of the bank distribution network. In September, Japan Life’s call center received a Service & Hospitality Award for its excellent customer care. This award programme was established in 2014 by the Japan Institute of Information Technology.

Asset Management*

Assets under Management decreased to EUR 180 billion, reflecting net outflows as well as negative market performance. In target markets, Asset Management plans to protect and further expand its leading position and continues to develop a more distinct range of products, including its sustainable product offering. The NN Global Sustainable Equity strategy and the NN European Sustainable Equity strategy reached a 15 and 10-year track record, respectively, in July and have also been granted the ESG label from LuxFLAG. Both strategies have performed well against their benchmarks and have seen strong client interest, driving assets under management in sustainable equity strategies to EUR 2.2 billion. Furthermore the European Central Bank recognised the expertise of NN Investment Partners by extending the contract for the Asset-Backed Securities Programme.
 

NN Bank

NN Bank continued to expand its mortgage and customer savings activities. In line with its strategy, NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 10.0 billion from EUR 9.5 billion at the end of the second quarter. Customer deposits (internet savings and bank annuities) grew to EUR 8.1 billion at the end of the third quarter. NN Bank improved the accessibility of its products and services by introducing the NN app. To further enhance its customer service NN Bank has started sending a personal video message to customers who have taken out a mortgage loan. This video addresses many practical questions about the customer’s mortgage, for example about installments, how to submit bills for a construction depot or about the variable interest rate.

* The segment Investment Management was renamed to Asset Management in the third quarter of 2015
 

(download the full Press Release)

Press call 
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 3Q15 results at 10.00 am CET on Wednesday 4 November 2015. Journalists can join the press call via + 31 20 531 5863.

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q15 results at 12.00 pm CET on Wednesday 4 November 2015. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Financial calendar
 

• Capital Markets Event: 19 November 2015
• Publication 4Q15 results: 25 February 2016
• Publication 1Q16 results: 26 May 2016
• Annual General Meeting: 2 June 2016
• Publication 2Q16 results: 18 August 2016
• Publication 3Q16 results: 17 November 2016

Operating result significantly higher

• 2Q15 operating result ongoing business of EUR 488 million, up 90% from 2Q14, driven by improved results in all segments and supported by a private equity dividend and technical provision releases in the Netherlands
• Net result up 56% to EUR 392 million, reflecting the higher operating result
• Expense reduction target in the Netherlands essentially achieved, with EUR 198 million cumulative costs savings compared with 2013
• Capital position remained strong despite unfavourable market movements: IGD ratio at 306%; holding company cash capital increased to EUR 1.6 billion
• Interim dividend over the first half of 2015 of EUR 0.46 per ordinary share, or EUR 156 million in total
• New sales (APE) EUR 278 million, down 10% from 2Q14 at constant currencies, mainly in Netherlands Life
• AuM at Investment Management decreased from 1Q15 to EUR 184 billion due to higher interest rates

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO

"Our second-quarter results were very strong and contributed to a good first half of the year. Overall operating result from the ongoing business was 90% higher, supported by several favourable items in the Netherlands, including a large private equity dividend. Even excluding these items, we saw healthy operating performance in all of our businesses, especially in Netherlands Life and Insurance Europe. With cumulative expense savings of EUR 198 million, we have essentially achieved our overall cost savings target of EUR 200 million in the Netherlands ahead of schedule. While we are pleased with another quarter of strong results, there is room for further improvement. We will continue to focus on efficiency, improving the combined ratio of our Non-life business, strengthening the capabilities of our asset manager and increasing the profitability of our international insurance businesses.
 

On 2 July, we celebrated the first anniversary of NN Group’s listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. In the first six months of this year, ING Group gradually sold down its stake in NN Group to 37.6% of outstanding shares. As part of ING’s sell-down in May, we completed a EUR 150 million share buy-back in line with our policy to return excess capital to our shareholders, while preserving a robust capital position. We will distribute an interim dividend of EUR 0.46 per ordinary share. In line with our dividend policy, we intend to pay a full-year ordinary dividend in accordance with our medium-term financial performance, while envisaging a pay-out ratio of 40-50% of the net operating result from the ongoing business.

Across our businesses we continue our customer-focused strategy of providing transparent products and services through tailored multi-access distribution, and efficient and effective operations. In Japan, we are catering to the needs of SME business owners with a new protection product offering death or severe disability coverage up to the age of 90. In terms of distribution, we are making more of our services accessible to customers anywhere and anytime. For example, in Turkey we launched a new client portal that makes it easier for customers to conduct transactions online also via mobile devices. In the Netherlands, we launched our newly developed platform for our four core pension products, while improving efficiency. Our rebranding programme also gained momentum during the second quarter, media campaigns in various countries further raised awareness about our brand promise ‘You matter’.

Going forward, we will continue to execute our strategy in order to achieve our financial objectives with a focus on capital generation and earnings improvement.”

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever and whenever they want, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver excellent customer service.

Netherlands Life

In the Netherlands Life segment, the focus is to reduce expenses and gradually shift to higher-yielding assets. Both of these priorities continued to deliver results in the second quarter. Another pillar of NN Life’s strategy is to benefit from its strong position in the pension market and selectively capture growth opportunities. Pension communication and awareness are important for customers to secure their financial future. That is the idea behind the ‘Pensioen Ophelder Service’ which was launched in the second quarter. This service has been designed for people who have built up pension rights with multiple employers and provides insight in their pension. This information can help them decide whether transferring the money to the pension fund of a new employer would be beneficial or not. New sales declined this quarter, mainly due to lower group pension renewals and lower sales of pension contracts. Cost reductions continued this quarter contributing to achieving the cumulative cost savings target in the Netherlands.

Netherlands Non-life

Netherlands Non-life focuses on offering transparent products and services. Ongoing management actions to improve underwriting performance resulted in a higher operating result, especially in Motor. The product rating index Moneyview awarded the Nationale-Nederlanden Retail Home Insurance product five stars (the maximum) for its terms and conditions. This product includes a guarantee against underinsurance with few restrictions or exclusions, as well as comprehensive coverage during repairs, renovation or the construction of a home.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe is shifting its business mix towards protection products and repositioning its savings and retirement products in response to the low interest rate environment. In line with the aim to provide customers with easy access to NN’s products and services, NN Hayat ve Emeklilik in Turkey launched a renewed client portal, as well as a new mobile branch app. NN Group has also started an international partnership with the non-profit organisation Junior Achievement Europe as part of our corporate citizenship programme, NN Future Matters. NN and JA Europe have joined forces to empower youth in the area of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness. In the second quarter Junior Achievement awarded NN Romania the title of ‘Investor in Education’ 2015.

Political and economic turbulence in Greece continues. NN Group is present in Greece through NN Hellas, which offers life and health insurance products. Given the situation, NN Hellas has been closely managing operations with a focus on continuing its service to customers. NN Group's direct exposure to Greek assets is limited in the context of the overall size of the Group.

Japan Life

Japan Life continued to execute its business diversification strategy in the second quarter of 2015. A new product called Smart Term, was added to the COLI protection product range. It provides death or severe disability cover for SME owners up to the age of 90. We also successfully expanded our bancassurance network, with six new banks distributing our COLI products.

Investment Management

Assets under Management decreased to EUR 184 billion, mainly due to negative market performance as a result of higher interest rates in the second quarter of 2015. Investment Management aims to grow its third-party business by following a tailored approach for each client segment. In target markets, Investment Management plans to protect and further expand its leading position and continues to develop a more distinct range of products, among which its sustainable product offering. Assets under Management in its sustainable equity and fixed income products stood at EUR 4.2 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2015. Furthermore, Investment Management announced the launch of a sustainable emerging market loan fund in cooperation with Dutch development bank FMO.

NN Bank

NN Bank continued to expand its mortgage and customer savings activities. In line with its strategy, NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 9.5 billion from EUR 8.6 billion at the end of the first quarter. Customer deposits (internet savings and bank annuities) grew to EUR 8.0 billion at the end of the second quarter. NN Bank's phased-in Common Equity Tier 1 ratio increased to 14.2% at the end of the second quarter from 13.8% at the end of the first quarter. This increase reflects a capital injection of EUR 57 million by NN Group in NN Bank using the proceeds of a capital injection from ING Group to fulfill a commitment to the European Commission.

Solvency II

NN Group has applied for the usage of a Partial Internal Model for NN Group and the insurance entities in the Netherlands. The Solvency II capital ratio remains subject to significant uncertainties, including the final interpretations of the Solvency II regulations and the regulatory approval process.

Interim dividend

Effective from 2015, NN Group intends to pay interim dividends calculated at approximately 40% of the prior year’s full year dividend, barring unforeseen circumstances. NN Group will pay a 2015 interim dividend of EUR 0.46 per ordinary share, or EUR 156 million in total based on the current number of outstanding shares (net of treasury shares). The 2015 interim dividend will be paid either in cash or ordinary shares from the share premium reserve at the election of the shareholder. To neutralise the dilutive effect of the newly issued shares for the stock dividend on earnings per ordinary share, NN Group will repurchase ordinary shares from ING Group equal to the number of shares that NN Group will issue as stock dividend at a price similar to the price used to calculate the stock fraction for the stock dividend. The NN Group ordinary shares will be quoted ex-dividend on 10 August 2015. The record date for the dividend will be 11 August 2015. The election period will run from 10 August up to and including 31 August 2015. The stock fraction for the stock dividend will be based on the volume weighted average price of NN Group ordinary shares on Euronext Amsterdam for the five trading days from 25 August through 31 August 2015. The dividend will be payable on 7 September 2015.

In line with its dividend policy, NN Group intends to pay an ordinary dividend in line with its medium term financial performance and envisages an ordinary dividend pay-out ratio of 40-50% of the net operating result from ongoing business.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 2Q15 results at 12.30pm. CET on Wednesday 5 August 2015. Journalists can join the press call via + 31 20 531 5863 or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Investor conference call and webcast

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q15 results at 10:30am CET on Wednesday 5 August 2015. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Financial calendar
 

• Publication 3Q15 results: Wednesday 4 November 2015 (provisional)
• Capital Markets Event: Thursday 19 November 2015 (provisional)

Net result and capital position further improved

• 1Q15 operating result ongoing business of EUR 304 million, up 3.1% from 1Q14, supported by the expense reduction programme in the Netherlands and lower debt funding costs
• Net result improved to EUR 485 million versus net loss of EUR 215 million in 1Q14, supported by a capital gain on an equity investment, whereas 1Q14 included a EUR 541 million charge related to the company’s employee pension plan in the Netherlands
• Cumulative costs savings in the Netherlands of EUR 164 million compared with 2013; EUR 22 million realised in 1Q15
• Strong capital position: IGD ratio up at 335% supported by market movements; holding company cash capital stable at EUR 1.4 billion
• New sales (APE) EUR 498 million, up 10.9% from 1Q14 at constant currencies, driven by a pension buy-out in the Netherlands
• AuM at Investment Management increased to EUR 203 billion, driven by market appreciation
• Rebranding from ING to NN started in 1Q15

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

“We are pleased with the strong performance that we are presenting today, which underscores our focus on delivering on our strategic objectives. The operating result from the ongoing business for the first quarter increased 3% to EUR 304 million. We are well on track with our expense reduction programme in the Netherlands, having already realised EUR 164 million of savings compared with our target of an absolute EUR 200 million cost reduction by the end of 2016. At the same time, lower funding costs also contributed to the improved results. Overall, new sales were up almost 11% this quarter. We completed a pension buy-out in the Netherlands, which substantially increased our new sales. Bancassurance sales in Japan grew further in line with our channel diversification strategy.

All in all, it was a good start of the year. However, there are areas where we want to further improve. In our Non-life business in the Netherlands, we are continuing with our management actions in order to bring down the combined ratio from slightly above 100% in order to achieve our target of 97% or lower by 2018. Growth in Insurance Europe has been held back by headwinds in the region, and therefore we are shifting our focus to promising growth areas such as protection products. Our asset manager had good inflows of assets in third-party mandates this quarter. We will continue our investments aimed at strengthening our capabilities in order to attract third-party assets going forward. It goes without saying that we remain focused on achieving our targets for all our operating segments.

We continue our journey as a standalone company. In February, ING Group further reduced its stake in NN Group to 54.6%. As part of this transaction, we took the opportunity to complete a EUR 200 million share buy-back. Another important milestone was NN Group’s inclusion in the AEX index. Furthermore, the rebranding of our businesses from ING to NN is underway, creating a recognisable identity for our customers and other stakeholders, supported by a clear promise: ‘You matter’.

In April we celebrated our 170th anniversary. Building on our strong heritage we will continue to keep a sharp eye on our strategic direction and a clear focus on executing our strategy.”

(download the full Press Release)

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience, based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever and whenever they want, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver excellent customer service.

Netherlands Life

In the Netherlands Life segment, the focus is on reducing expenses and gradually shifting to higher-yielding assets, such as mortgages and loans, in order to compensate the negative impact of lower interest rates on the investment margin. Furthermore, NN Life aims to benefit from its strong position in the pension market and to capture growth opportunities especially in the area of defined contribution pension plans, as well as selectively participating in pension fund buy-outs. In the first quarter of 2015, a large company pension fund transferred its accumulated pension benefits to NN Life, which contributed to the increased new sales (APE) in this segment. In the first quarter a new pension application, ‘Mijn Pensioencoach’ was successfully introduced. This application allows customers to get real-time information about their pension on their smartphone.

Netherlands Non-life

Netherlands Non-life aims to improve underwriting performance and to expand in specific market segments where there are clear opportunities for profitable growth. The operating result increased, mainly driven by positive recovery experience in Disability & Accident (D&A) and improved underwriting results in Motor. The combined ratio remained stable at 100.2%. Nationale-Nederlanden expanded its prevention programme by initiating a pilot called ‘Rij Wijzer’ for professional drivers. This programme uses smart technology to help professional drivers improve their driving behaviour and as a result reduce the risk of damages. In the first quarter, Movir (which offers individual disability insurance to medical and business professionals) was awarded the title of ‘Best income insurer’ by the association of independent financial advisors. Movir scored higher than other insurers on all aspects, including customer focused claims handling and the expertise of employees. In the first quarter of 2015, Movir launched a new D&A insurance product, called Flexible&Certain (‘Soepel&Zeker’), which complements its current D&A offering and is tailored to a new target group, the independent professionals.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe is moving its business mix towards protection products and repositioning its savings and retirement products for the low interest rate environment. New sales (APE) were stable compared with the first quarter of 2014, excluding currency effects. Lower pension sales in Turkey were compensated by higher life protection sales, mainly in Spain (protection sales were up 40.0% driven by a large group contract and 11.3% excluding this contract). In Spain, the pension fund Nationale-Nederlanden Europa was awarded for its good and consistent financial performance by “Expansión”, one of the country’s leading financial newspapers. NN Insurance Hungary launched a new modular protection and health insurance product. This product offers value added medical assistance services and can be easily adapted to customer’s individual needs.

Japan Life

In the first quarter of 2015, Japan Life continued to execute its channel diversification strategy. Three new banks started distributing COLI products, bringing the total number of bancassurance partners in Japan to 43 as of 31 March 2015. Bancassurance COLI sales increased by 15% compared with the same period a year ago. The productivity of independent agents remained strong, supported by the continuous enhancement of internal capabilities such as stronger training and sales tools. New sales (APE) were broadly at the same level as in the first quarter of 2014, excluding currency effects.

Investment Management

Assets under Management increased to EUR 203 billion driven by strong market performance in the first quarter of 2015. Investment Management aims to grow its third-party business by following a tailored approach for each client segment. For the retail business, Investment Management plans to protect and further expand its leading position and continues to develop a more distinct range of equity products. Investment Management continues to invest in building and broadening its capabilities, for instance by enhancing the processes supporting higher-margin products. Investment Management has received two Lipper Fund Awards 2015 for its real estate equity funds in the Netherlands. The Lipper Fund Awards programme by Thomson Reuters recognises funds that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance over several years.

NN Bank

NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 8.6 billion from EUR 7.9 billion at the beginning of the year. This increase is the result of further growth of new production and the transfer of ING Bank mortgages, partly offset by the sale of mortgages to NN Life and NN Non-life. In March, the comparison site Independer awarded Nationale-Nederlanden the title of best mortgage advisor (‘Beste thuisadviseur 2015’). The award was based on the highest customer satisfaction score, which was measured between 1 March 2014 and 1 March 2015. Customer deposits (internet savings and bank annuities) also continued to grow steadily, totalling EUR 7.7 billion at the end of the first quarter. Furthermore, NN Bank completed its first public Residential Mortgage Backed Securitisation transaction, raising EUR 650 million in funding from investors. With this transaction, NN Bank has attracted new long-term funding, leading to a further diversification of its funding profile.

Rebranding from ING to NN

In the first quarter, we started to rebrand our businesses from ING to the NN brand. The majority of our international insurance businesses have been rebranded from ING to NN or Nationale-Nederlanden. ING Investment Management changed its name to NN Investment Partners in April, and at the same time rebranded all investment funds to NN. Across Insurance Europe and Japan local brand campaigns were launched highlighting the name change and the new brand promise ‘You matter’. Our life and pension business in Turkey was the first to start with the rebranding to NN in February. In the Netherlands, our insurance business will keep the Nationale-Nederlanden name while the logo has been updated to align with the new NN brand. In 2015 and 2016, NN Group expects to incur total rebranding expenses of approximately EUR 135 million, which will be reported as special items and of which EUR 20 million was recorded in the first quarter of 2015.

NN started its running sponsorship

In the first quarter, NN Group officially started its running sponsorship with two major running events in the Netherlands, including the 35th edition of the NN Marathon Rotterdam. This marathon is well known for its fast times, professional organisation and almost 1 million enthusiastic supporters along the route. This running sponsorship will help NN Group to enhance awareness of the newly launched NN brand. In the years to come, NN’s objective is to support more running activities in some of its other key markets.

Solvency II

NN Group intends to apply for the usage of a Partial Internal Model for NN Group and the insurance entities in the Netherlands. The outcome of the application process remains subject to significant uncertainties, including the final interpretations of the Solvency II regulations and the regulatory approval process.

Share repurchase to neutralise stock dividend

NN Group has proposed a dividend of EUR 0.57 per ordinary share over the second half of 2014 subject to approval of the Annual General Meeting on 28 May 2015. The final dividend will be paid in cash or ordinary shares at the election of the shareholder. In order to neutralise the dilutive effect of the stock dividend on earnings per ordinary share, NN Group has reached an agreement with ING Group, subject to certain conditions, to repurchase ordinary shares from ING Group equal to the number of shares that NN Group will issue as stock dividend at a price similar to the price used to calculate the stock fraction for the stock dividend. NN Group and ING Group have also agreed to enter into similar transactions to neutralise the dilutive effect of future stock dividends by NN Group, subject to certain conditions and as long as ING Group holds shares in NN Group.

Unit-linked products in the Netherlands

Nationale-Nederlanden continues to reach out to customers to encourage them to carefully assess their unit-linked products in order to find an appropriate solution on an individual basis. On 29 April the European Court of Justice issued its ruling on a principal legal question with respect to information provision requirements related to unit-linked products. The European Court affirmed the position of Nationale-Nederlanden that the information requirements prescribed by the European Directive may be extended by additional information requirements included in national law, provided that these requirements are necessary for the policyholder to understand the essential characteristics of the commitment and are clear, accurate and foreseeable. Nationale-Nederlanden is of the opinion that general principles of Dutch law that are used as a legal basis in Dutch proceedings do not meet these criteria and that additional information requirements cannot be imposed retroactively. The Dutch courts must take the European Court’s ruling into account in individual Dutch legal proceedings. The ruling does not change earlier statements and conclusions disclosed by NN Group in relation to unit-linked products.

(download the full Press Release)

Press call
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press call to discuss the 1Q15 results at 09.30am CET on Thursday 7 May 2015. Journalists can join the press call via +31 20 531 5863.

Investor conference call and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 1Q15 results at 10:30am CET on Thursday 7 May 2015. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK), +1 866 349 6093 (US) or follow the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Financial calender
 

• Annual General Meeting: Thursday, 28 May 2015
• Publication 2Q15 results: Wednesday 5 August 2015 (provisional)
• Publication 3Q15 results: Wednesday 4 November 2015 (provisional)
• Capital Markets Event: Thursday 19 November 2015 (provisional)

2014 operating result up 20%; strong capital position

• 4Q14 operating result ongoing business of EUR 260 million, up 18.2% from 4Q13. Full-year 2014 operating result ongoing business of EUR 1,086 million, up 20.0%
• Net result improved to EUR 197 million versus a net loss of EUR 157 million in 4Q13. Full-year 2014 net result up 82.6% to EUR 588 million
• Strong capital position; IGD ratio up at 303% supported by market movements. Holding company cash capital up at EUR 1.4 billion
• NN Group Solvency II capital ratio (Standard Formula) estimated to be in a range around 200% at 31 December 2014, remains subject to significant uncertainties
• Dividend proposal: EUR 0.57 per ordinary share, or EUR 200 million in total, related to second half of 2014
• New sales (APE) EUR 264 million, down 8.0% from 4Q13; Full-year 2014 sales up 12.9% to EUR 1,315 million, both at constant currencies
• AuM at Investment Management increased to EUR 186 billion driven by strong market performance
• NN Group businesses to be rebranded from ING to the NN brand; expected rebranding expenses of approximately EUR 135 million in total over 2015 and 2016

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

“In 2014 NN Group became a standalone company, separate from ING Group. The successful initial public offering last July marked a new beginning. Although we are still at the start of our journey, we are pleased with the strong performance we are reporting today. The full-year results, with a net result of EUR 588 million, demonstrate the progress we have made so far in achieving our objectives to generate capital and improve earnings, while delivering excellent service and products to our customers. 
 

Our focus on our customers remains our driving force, which is demonstrated by strong new sales growth in 2014. At the same time we continue to strive for more effective and efficient operations which have resulted in a reduction of EUR 142 million in expenses in the Netherlands, showing good progress towards our target of EUR 200 million by 2016. Thanks to our multi-access distribution network, customers can reach us wherever and whenever they want and we will continue to develop this further throughout all regions.

With the strong capital generation of our businesses and our solid solvency ratios we are well prepared for Solvency II. In line with our focus on returning capital to our shareholders we will propose a dividend at our Annual General Meeting in May of approximately 50% of the net operating result of the ongoing business for the second half of 2014.

While we are further shaping our company, we will rebrand our businesses in 2015 and 2016 to the NN brand. A clear and recognisable identity that further unites our businesses and almost 12,000 employees. Over the years, Nationale-Nederlanden, ING Investment Management and ING Insurance, have built leading positions with a strong presence in more than 18 countries. The new branding represents another important milestone, and will further define the profile of NN Group as an international insurance and investment management company.”

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience, based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever and whenever they want, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver an excellent customer service.

Netherlands Life

In the Netherlands Life segment, the focus is on expense reductions and a gradual shift to higher-yielding assets, such as mortgages and loans. Furthermore, NN Life aims to benefit from its strong position in the pension market and to selectively capture growth opportunities. The operating result of Netherlands Life decreased in 2014 as fees and premium-based revenues and technical margin were adversely impacted by the run-off of the individual life closed book and a decrease in interest rates. These impacts were partly offset by a reduction in administrative expenses and a higher investment margin. Administrative expenses were down for the full year, reflecting the positive impact of the transformation programme in the Netherlands. The investment margin in the fourth quarter increased, driven by higher dividends from private equity, the positive effects of increased allocation to higher-yielding assets and higher invested volumes. In 2014, new sales (APE) increased, mostly due to pension contract renewals. In the Dutch pension market, pension fund buy-outs are an opportunity for growth. In January 2015 the ENCI company pension fund, with EUR 420 million of assets and around 2,200 participants, transferred its accumulated pension benefits to NN Life. In addition, ENCI chose NN Life’s defined contribution PPI solution with additional risk protection insurance for future pension accumulation. The capital position of NN Life improved further, with a Solvency I ratio of 260%, after deduction of a dividend of EUR 350 million paid by NN Life to NN Group in February 2015. Excluding the deduction of this dividend, the Solvency I ratio of NN Life as at 31 December 2014 would be 272%.

Netherlands Non-life

Netherlands Non-life aims to improve underwriting performance and to expand in specific market segments where there are clear opportunities for profitable growth. The operating result increased, reflecting favourable claims experience, lower administrative expenses and management actions taken to improve profitability. The combined ratio for 2014 improved to 99.4% from 101.5% over 2013. In 2014, Nationale-Nederlanden received recognition for its innovative car insurance ‘Fairzekeren’ with smart technology that helps drivers to improve their driving behaviour and as a result reduce the risk of damages for which they can earn a discount on their premium.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe is moving its business mix towards protection products and repositioning its savings and retirement products for the low interest-rate environment. In 2014, the operating result decreased due to a lower investment margin and the impact of the pension reforms in Poland, partly offset by higher fees and premium-based revenues. New sales (APE) were up 7.7%, compared with 2013 at constant currencies driven by higher life sales in most countries, with new sales of protection products up 16.9%. An example of a successful new service is “Improve your life style”. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia this interactive campaign was launched with a special website where visitors can fill in a health test, developed by well-known nutrition specialists, and receive a personalised health evaluation and some tips, via email, on how to improve their lifestyle. On the same website they can set up an appointment with a financial advisor to discuss health protection.

Japan Life

In 2014 Japan Life increased its agency productivity and diversified its distribution channels by substantially expanding its bancassurance channel. It recruited 16 new bank distribution partners over the year and, in order to further improve the service to its distribution partners, the commercial network agents have been equipped with tablets to ensure flexible and more effective support. In line with this, and supported by improved business sentiment, new sales (APE) increased 20.1% from 2013, excluding currency effects.

Investment Management

Assets under Management increased to EUR 186 billion driven by strong market performance. Investment Management aims to grow its third-party business by following a tailored approach for each client segment. In its retail business and in its home markets, Investment Management plans to protect and further expand its leading positions and continues to develop a more distinct range of equity products. Investment Management continues to invest in building and broadening the capabilities of the business, such as the hiring of investment professionals in the convertible bond team in the fourth quarter of 2014. In line with the ambition to grow its third-party business, Investment Management was appointed fiduciary manager of health insurer DSW with 530,000 customers in January 2015, a mandate that underscores its expertise in the insurance industry.

NN Bank

NN Bank continued to grow with the expansion of its mortgage and customer savings activities, and contributed positively to NN Group’s results in 2014. In line with its strategy, NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 7.9 billion from EUR 6.2 billion at the beginning of 2014. Customers and financial advisors granted NN Bank an award for mortgage suppliers ‘Gouden Spreekbuis Hypotheekverstrekkers 2014’ in December, because it ‘reinvented itself as a mortgage provider’. NN Bank also expanded its product offering in 2014, with the introduction of a consumer lending product in February and a credit card in October. Consumer savings continued to grow by offering attractive products under the strong Nationale-Nederlanden brand, leading to total customer deposits of EUR 7.0 billion at the end of 2014.

Rebranding from ING to the NN brand

Over the years, the Nationale-Nederlanden, ING Insurance and ING Investment Management businesses have built leading positions in Europe and Japan. In 2014 these businesses came together under the holding company name NN Group. After the successful IPO of NN Group in July 2014, which represented the final step in becoming a standalone company separate from ING Group, the businesses will be rebranded in line with the NN brand identity. The operational and legal entity rebranding will take place in 2015 and will be supported by marketing campaigns in the various markets in 2015 and 2016. Over these two years, NN Group expects to incur rebranding expenses of approximately EUR 135 million in total, which will be reported as special items, with the majority of rebranding activities expected to be completed in 2015.

Solvency II

NN Group continues to prepare for Solvency II. The NN Group Solvency II capital ratio (based on our current interpretation of the Standard Formula) is estimated to be in a range around 200% at 31 December 2014. NN Group is considering to apply for the usage of a Partial Internal Model. The Solvency II capital ratio remains subject to significant uncertainties, including the final specifications of the Solvency II regulations and the regulatory approval process.

Dividend proposal

An important financial objective is to generate capital and pay dividends to our shareholders. In line with that, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 28 May 2015, a dividend will be proposed of EUR 0.57 per ordinary share, or approximately EUR 200 million in total based on the current number of outstanding shares. This is equivalent to a dividend pay-out ratio of around 50% of NN Group’s net operating result of the ongoing business related to the second half of 2014. The final dividend will be paid in cash or ordinary shares at the election of the shareholder. NN Group will neutralise the dilutive effect of the stock dividend on earnings per ordinary share through repurchase of ordinary shares, which may include a repurchase of part of ING Group’s shareholding in NN Group. Going forward, and barring unforeseen circumstances, NN Group intends to pay ordinary dividends on a semi-annual basis. In line with NN Group's stated dividend policy, capital generated in excess of NN Group’s capital ambition is expected to be returned to shareholders unless it can be used for any other appropriate corporate purposes, including investments in value creating corporate opportunities. NN Group is committed to distributing excess capital in a form which is most appropriate and efficient for shareholders at that specific point in time, such as special dividends or share buy backs which may include a repurchase of part of ING Group's shareholding in NN Group.

(download the full Press Release)
 

NN Group Profile
 

NN Group is an insurance and investment management company with a strong, predominantly European presence in more than 20 countries. With around 12,000 employees the group offers retirement services, insurance, investments and banking to more than 15 million customers. NN Group includes Nationale-Nederlanden, ING Insurance Europe, ING Investment Management and ING Life Japan, and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ticker: NN)
 

Investor conference call and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 4Q14 results at 10:30am CET on Wednesday 11 February 2015. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK) or +1 866 349 6093 (US) or webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Press conference and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a press conference to discuss the 4Q14 results and elaborate on the rebranding of the businesses in 2015. The conference will be held at 12.30pm CET on Wednesday 11 February 2015 at NN Group’s head office, Amstelveenseweg 500, Amsterdam. The press conference will also be webcasted live. You can join in listen-only mode on + 31 20 531 5863 or watch the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Financial calender
 

Publication 1Q15 results: Thursday, 7 May 2015 (provisional)

Annual General Meeting: Thursday, 28 May 2015

Publication 2Q15 results: Wednesday 5 August 2015 (provisional)

Publication 3Q15 results: Wednesday 4 November 2015 (provisional)

Additional information on www.nn-group.com

• NN Group 4Q14 Financial Supplement and NN Group 4Q14 Analyst Presentation

Important legal information

NN Group’s Annual Accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (“IFRS-EU”). In preparing the financial information in this document, the same accounting principles are applied as in the NN Group N.V. condensed consolidated interim financial information for the period ended 30 June 2014. The Annual Accounts for 2014 are in progress and may be subject to adjustments from subsequent events. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding. Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in NN Group’s core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of the EC Restructuring Plan, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit and financial strength ratings, (18) NN Group’s ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Risk Factors section contained in recent public disclosures made by NN Group and/or related to NN Group (such as the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V.). Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of NN Group speak only as of the date they are made, and, NN Group assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Robust capital position and improved operating result

• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 274 million, up 16.6% from 3Q13, supported by the expense reduction programme in the Netherlands and lower debt funding costs. Year-to-date operating result ongoing business up 20.6%
• Net result improved to EUR 354 million versus a net loss of EUR 652 million in 3Q13, which included a loss on the divestment of ING Life Korea. Year-to-date net result 18.4% lower, reflecting a one-off charge in 1Q14 for making the closed defined benefit pension plan in the Netherlands financially independent
• Robust capital position maintained; IGD ratio up at 283% and holding company cash capital stable at EUR 1.2 billion
• Year-to-date cost reductions of EUR 108 million achieved in the Netherlands
• New sales up 17.2%, at constant currencies, supported by Japan Life and pension renewals in Netherlands Life
• Assets under management at Investment Management increased to EUR 180 billion driven by strong market performance

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

“NN Group delivered a set of strong results demonstrating progress towards our medium term objectives. As part of the listing process resulting in the IPO of NN Group on 2 July, we presented our strategic financial objectives in June this year with a focus on capital generation and earnings improvement.

Our capital position remains strong, mainly supported by capital generation from operating entities, a pre-IPO capital injection and favourable markets. At the same time, we continue to reduce expenses. With the successful implementation of the transformation programme in the Netherlands we are on track to meet our EUR 200 million expense reduction target by 2016, with realised cost reductions of EUR 108 million this year so far.

The core of our strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience. Our continued strong new sales growth in all regions underscores the dedication of our employees to keep our customers at the heart of everything we do. This is demonstrated by the increased sales in Japan Life, Insurance Europe, NN Bank and the pension business in the Netherlands.

Although we are still at the beginning of our journey as an independent company we are pleased with the strong performance and the progress we have made so far on delivering on our strategic objectives.”

Strategy and business highlights

NN Group’s strategy is to deliver an excellent customer experience, based on great service and long-term relationships. We aim to achieve this by offering transparent products and services that serve customers’ lifetime needs. We do this by making our multi-access distribution network available to customers wherever required, and by maintaining effective operations that deliver an excellent customer service. The strategic financial objectives are to generate capital and improve earnings. The year-to-date results demonstrate the initial progress made in delivering these. Improved operating results are supported by significantly reduced expenses. The strong commercial performance is demonstrated by sales growth across the group.

Netherlands Life

In the Netherlands Life segment, expenses are in part driven by the positive impact of the transformation programme in the Netherlands. The investment margin increased due to higher dividends on private equity, the shift to higher-yielding assets and higher invested volumes. New sales (APE) continued to grow driven by pension contract renewals. The capital position of NN Life remains strong with a Solvency I ratio of 252%. The strong position in the pension market has recently been recognized by Dutch business magazine Management Team. Their annual survey among managers ranks Nationale-Nederlanden first in pensions and second in insurance.

Netherlands Non-life

The successful reduction of expenses related to the transformation programme in the Netherlands also contributed to an increased operating result in the Netherlands Non-life segment. The operating result for Property & Casualty (P&C) suffered from a negative claims development, while in Disability & Accident (D&A) the results improved due to management actions to restore profitability and a favourable claims development.

Insurance Europe

Insurance Europe is moving its business mix towards protection products as well as repositioning its retirement services towards solutions that provide customers with downside protection in the low interest rate environment. The operations continue to increase retention and new business through an improved customer experience. The year-to-date sales increased 10.8% (excluding currency effects) supported by higher life sales in most countries. At the same time, the year-to-date expenses decreased.

Japan Life

Japan Life has increased its agency productivity and diversified its distribution channels by substantially expanding its bancassurance channel (recruiting 10 new bank distribution partners this year). Together with the more positive sentiment created by the steady economic recovery in Japan this resulted in substantially higher new sales with a year-to-date increase of 21.2%, excluding currency effects.

Investment Management

Investment Management aims to grow its third party business by following a tailored approach for each client segment. In its retail business and in its home markets, Investment Management plans to protect and further expand its leading positions and continues to develop a more distinct range of equity products. Assets under management increased to EUR 180 billion this quarter driven by favourable market performance. After a successful tender process, Investment Management has been appointed as one of the four parties to conduct the Asset-Backed Securities Purchase Programme of the European Central Bank. This mandate is a recognition of the expertise of Investment Management in Asset-Backed Securities trading.

NN Bank
 

NN Bank’s mortgage portfolio increased to EUR 7.4 billion from EUR 6.2 billion at the beginning of this year in line with its strategy. This increase is the result of new production and the transfer of ING Bank mortgages, partly offset by the sale of mortgages to NN Life. NN Bank continues to build its product offering in the Netherlands with the introduction of a consumer lending product in February of this year and a credit card in October. As part of our corporate citizenship programme that focuses on improving people’s financial well-being, NN Bank donates 10 eurocent for each credit card transaction to the Linda Foundation, a charity that helps (single-parent) families in financial distress. Consumer savings continued to grow by offering competitive rates and attractive products, leading to total customer deposits of EUR 6.6 billion at the end of the third quarter.

(download the full press release)

NN Group Profile
 

NN Group is an insurance and investment management company with a strong, predominantly European presence in more than 20 countries. With around 12,000 employees the group offers retirement services, insurance, investments and banking to more than 15 million customers. NN Group includes Nationale-Nederlanden, ING Insurance Europe, ING Investment Management and ING Life Japan, and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ticker: NN).

Media conference call
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host a media conference call to discuss the 3Q14 results at 9.30am CET on Wednesday 5 November 2014. Journalists can join the conference call at + 31 20 531 5863.

Investor conference call and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 3Q14 results on 5 November 2014 at 10:30am CET. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at +31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK) or +1 866 349 6093 (US) and via live audio webcast at www.nn-group.com.

Financial calender
 

Publication 4Q2014 results: Wednesday, 11 February 2015 (provisional)

Publication 1Q2015 results: Thursday, 7 May 2015 (provisional)

Annual General Meeting: Thursday, 28 May 2015

Additional information

The following documents are available on www.nn-group.com:
 

• NN Group Financial Supplement 3Q2014
   
• NN Group 3Q2014 Analyst Presentation
• Photos of NN Group executives, building and events are available for download at Flickr

Important legal information

NN Group’s Annual Accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (“IFRS-EU”).

In preparingthe financial information in this document, the same accounting principles are applied as in the NN Group N.V. condensed consolidated interim financialin formation for the period ended 30 June 2014. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in NN Group’s core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets, including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of the EC Restructuring Plan, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policy holder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit and financial strength ratings, (18) NN Group’s ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Risk Factors section contained in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V.

Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of NN Group speak only as of the date they are made, and, NN Group assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Robust capital position further strengthened; strong sales growth

• Successful IPO of NN Group, and subordinated debt issuances of EUR 2 billion in total
• Operating result ongoing business of EUR 257 million, down 6.2% from 2Q13 on lower operating income at Netherlands Life, partly compensated by a reduction of holding expenses and funding costs; year-to-date operating result ongoing business is up 22.4%
• Net result improved significantly to EUR 252 million from EUR 39 million in 2Q13, driven by positive hedge results at Japan Closed Block VA and higher revaluations
• Capital position further strengthened; IGD ratio at 272% and holding company cash capital increased to EUR 1,156 million
• Cost reductions drive total administrative expenses down; on track to achieve EUR 200 million expense reduction target by 2016
• Strong commercial performance reflected in year-on-year sales growth in Japan Life and Insurance Europe, as well as higher pension contract renewals in Netherlands Life
• Assets under management at Investment Management EUR 177 billion, up 5.4% compared with the end of 1Q14, driven by market performance and net inflows

Statement of Lard Friese, CEO
 

“Today we announce our first set of results after the successful listing of our company. The IPO of NN Group on 2 July was a major milestone, and represents the final step in our journey to become a standalone company. The success of our IPO reflects investor appetite for our business, a committed management team and an attractive investment proposition with a focus on capital generation and earnings improvement. NN Group delivered a solid performance and will continue to focus on delivering its strategic objectives.

Our cash capital position at the holding company substantially improved over the quarter due to dividend received from operating entities and a pre-IPO capital injection. In addition, the successful issuance of EUR 2 billion of subordinated debt in April and July, together with strong capital generation in the first half of the year, mark important steps in further strengthening our robust capital position.

Strong new sales growth was driven by Japan Life, Insurance Europe and higher pension contract renewals in Netherlands Life. Our continued client focus is increasingly being recognised. Nationale-Nederlanden has received the ‘Keurmerk Klantgericht Verzekeren’, a quality mark for customer focused insurance in the Netherlands.

At the same time, we have reduced expenses. We have made encouraging progress on the cost reduction programme in the Netherlands as so far this year we have realised EUR 75 million savings of our 2016 EUR 200 million expense reduction target. We are well positioned to achieve our strategic and operational objectives.”

NN Group Profile
 

NN Group is an insurance and investment management company with a strong, predominantly European presence in more than 20 countries. With around 12,000 employees the group offers retirement services, insurance, investments and banking to more than 15 million customers. NN Group includes Nationale-Nederlanden, ING Insurance Europe, ING Investment Management and ING Life Japan, and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ticker: NN).

Financial calendar 2014
 

Publication 3Q2014 results: Wednesday, 5 November 2014 (this date is provisional).

Press conference and webcast
 

A press conference will be held at 9.30am CET on Wednesday 6 August 2014 at NN Group’s head office, Amstelveenseweg 500, Amsterdam. The press conference will also be webcasted live. You can join in listen-only mode on + 31 20 531 5863 or watch the webcast on www.nn-group.com.

Investor conference call and webcast
 

Lard Friese and Delfin Rueda will host an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the 2Q14 results on 6 August 2014 at 12:00p.m. CET. Members of the investment community can join the conference call at+31 20 531 5865 (NL), +44 203 365 3210 (UK) or +1 866 349 6093(US) and via live audio webcast at www.nn-group.com.

Additional information

The following documents are available on www.nn-group.com:

• NN Group Financial Supplement
   
• NN Group Analyst Presentation
• NN Group Press Presentation
• NN Group Condensed consolidated interim financial information for the period ended 30 June 2014

(download the full press release)
 

Important legal information

NN Group’s Annual Accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (“IFRS-EU”).

In preparing the financial information in this document, the same accounting principles are applied as in the NN Group N.V. condensed consolidated interim financial information for the period ended 30 June 2014. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions, in particular economic conditions in NN Group’s core markets, (2) changes in performance of financial markets ,including developing markets, (3) consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro, (4) the implementation of the EC Restructuring Plan, (5) changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, sources of liquidity as well as conditions in the credit markets generally, (6) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, (7) changes affecting mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (8) changes affecting persistency levels, (9) changes affecting interest rate levels, (10) changes affecting currency exchange rates, (11) changes in investor, customer and policyholder behaviour, (12) changes in general competitive factors, (13) changes in laws and regulations, (14) changes in the policies of governments and/or regulatory authorities, (15) conclusions with regard to accounting assumptions and methodologies, (16) changes in ownership that could affect the future availability to us of net operating loss, net capital and built-in loss carry forwards, (17) changes in credit and financial strength ratings, (18) NN Group’s ability to achieve projected operational synergies and (19) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Risk Factors section contained in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V.

Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of NN Group speak only as of the date they are made, and, NN Group assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.