As an insurance company, AEGON believes it will have a vital role to play in the years ahead in helping ensure the long-term sustainability of pension systems in the developed markets of North America and western Europe as well as in the new emerging economies of Asia, the Americas and Central and Eastern Europe.

In many parts of the world, people are living longer, healthier lives. Workforces available to fund pension systems are shrinking and governments, particularly those in western Europe, are shifting more responsibility for funding retirements to the private sector. In Europe, it is estimated that by 2050, the working age population will have declined by 20%. At the same time, the number of over-65s will have risen by a staggering 80%.

Longer life expectancy means people spending more time in retirement. Already, the average person in western Europe spends more than a fifth of his or her life in retirement. In the more developed markets of western Europe, North America and Japan, this is leading to a fundamental shift away from simply saving for retirement to managing those savings for an increasingly costly old age.

In the emerging economies of Asia, the Americas and Central and Eastern Europe, economic reform has led to the introduction of new, private pension systems. Over the next eight years, for example, investment in mandatory, privately run pension plans in Central and Eastern Europe is expected to grow nearly five-fold. In many of these emerging countries, recent strong economic growth has led to an increase in personal wealth. People have become more ambitious, both for themselves and their families and demand for life insurance, pensions and long-term savings and investments is growing.