THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, June 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of its ongoing portfolio review, and consistent with its strategy to reallocate capital to businesses with higher growth and return prospects, AEGON will withdraw from the Group Risk market in the United Kingdom, effective today. Group Risk products provide companies insurance coverage for their employee benefit programs. Typically, they cover life insurance, critical illness and income protection. The market for these products is generally mature and dominated by a few large providers. AEGON, however, has a sub-scale in-force business with limited prospects to achieve sufficient economies of scale. AEGON instead will pursue growth opportunities in more profitable business segments such as pensions, individual protection, investments and annuities. AEGON expects the closure of its Group Risk business in the United Kingdom to positively impact future earnings and value of new business. In addition, AEGON expects to release approximately EUR 55 million of capital over the next three years. As an international life insurance, pension and investment company based in The Hague, AEGON has businesses in over twenty markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. AEGON companies employ just over 31,000 people and have over 40 million customers across the globe. Key figures First quarter 2009 2008 Underlying earnings before tax EUR (22) million EUR 1.57 billion New life sales EUR 543 million EUR 2.63 billion Gross deposits EUR 8.2 billion EUR 40.75 billion Revenue generating investments (End of period) EUR 334 billion EUR 332 billion Website: http://www.aegon.com/ Forward-looking statements The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-looking statements: believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast, should, would, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to our company. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual results may differ materially from expectations conveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following: - Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; - Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to: - The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in our fixed income investment portfolios; and - The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities we hold; - The frequency and severity of insured loss events; - Changes affecting mortality, morbidity and other factors that may impact the profitability of our insurance products; - Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly changing interest rate levels; - Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates; - Increasing levels of competition in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and emerging markets; - Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting our operations, the products we sell, and the attractiveness of certain products to our consumers; - Regulatory changes relating to the insurance industry in the jurisdictions in which we operate; - Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics; - Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments; - Litigation or regulatory action that could require us to pay significant damages or change the way we do business; - Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels; - Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect the distribution cost of or demand for our products; - Our failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving initiatives; and - The impact our adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards may have on our reported financial results and financial condition. Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the company are described in the company's filings with Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 20-F. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. AEGON Group Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Media relations Investor relations Greg Tucker Gerbrand Nijman +31-(0)70-344-8956 +31-(0)70-344-8305 or +1-877-548-9668 - toll free USA only E-mail: E-mail: DATASOURCE: AEGON N.V. CONTACT: AEGON Group Corporate Communications & Investor Relations: Media relations, Greg Tucker, +31-(0)70-344-8956, E-mail: ; Investor relations, Gerbrand Nijman, +31-(0)70-344-8305 or 877 548 9668 - toll free USA only, E-mail:

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