Dutch financial services provider Achmea has announced that its Pensions & Life business contributed €145m to its €419m operational result for the first half of 2024.

The company said the increase in its operational result of plus 3 per cent was mainly driven by higher investment results.

During the period, Achmea Pension & Life Netherlands saw its new business market share, in terms of life insurance, increase to 14 per cent. However, Achmea said that it is continuing to ‘explore’ options relating to the portfolio, something it confirmed in February this year following reports that it was mulling a sale of the portfolio.

“For our pension and life portfolio, it is important that we proceed to operate as efficiently as possible. Earlier this year, we announced that we are exploring various strategic options for this. Continuing the current strategy is one of the options. We expect to complete this exploration in the second half of the year,” Achmea stated.

Regarding its retirement services business, the operational result increased to €41m due to portfolio growth and improved returns at Achmea Bank. Furthermore, revenue at Retirement Services increased by 19 per cent, partly due to an increase in assets under management at Achmea Investment Management (Achmea IM) to €194bn.

It also referenced the acquisition of Blue Sky Group Asset Management by Achmea IM, announced in July, which added €25bn in additional assets under management.

Commenting, Achmea executive board chair, Bianca Tetteroo, said: “We look back on a good first half year. Our customer satisfaction scores remain high, a clear recognition of the work of all our colleagues. It is also a testimony that our strategic investments in customer service and digitisation are bearing fruit.

"These results have been made possible with amongst others partners, such as Rabobank. Operational result increased, our solvency position is solid and turnover grew further. Premium income increased by 11 per cent and income from retirement services grew by 19 per cent, while costs increased by 6 per cent. In addition, partly thanks to continuous focus on optimisation of our investment portfolio, we achieved a strong return on our investments.

“We are on track financially and are also making good progress in the realisation of our strategy. An example of this is the recently announced acquisition of Blue Sky Group Vermogensbeheer by Achmea Investment Management. This is part of our growth strategy in retirement services and strengthens our position in asset management. The acquisition takes place at a strategically important moment, when many parties in pension and asset management are making key future choices related to the transition to the new pension system.”

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