Dutch insurer Aegon is to merge its two low-cost defined contribution vehicles (PPI), Aegon PPI and Cappital, into a single fund.
The new combined vehicle – to be named Aegon Cappital – will have €2.3bn of assets under management and 200,000 participants.
Aegon founded its two PPIs to serve different market segments: Aegon PPI focused on small and medium-sized businesses while Cappital served large companies.
In a statement, Aegon said that the new-look fund could also be appropriate for companies with between 50 and 500 staff.
“We will keep on offering a defined contribution [DC] pension to companies with a limited number of staff, as well as delivering tailor-made solutions for larger clients,” said Frits Bart, director of Aegon PPI.
He added that customers of the merged PPI would be offered a choice of investment funds offered by Aegon Asset Management and Aegon subsidiary TKP Investments.
Lifecycle investments would be standardised with the renewal of contracts and with the conclusion of new contracts, Bart said, with the options of neutral, offensive and defensive.
The merging vehicles will continue to operate from The Hague. They have placed their administration services with Groningen-based TKP.
An Aegon spokesman said that the merger, which will come with a new user portal for employers and workers, is scheduled to be completed before July next year.
Aegon PPI has 93,000 participants affiliated with 4,300 employers, and manages €900m.
Cappital’s 107,000 participants are employed by 200 large companies, including PostNL and IT firm Atos. Cappital has €1.4bn under management.
With the merger, the total number of PPIs operating in the Netherlands will be down to seven. Their combined assets amounted to €6.7bn at the end of 2017.
Earlier this year, i-PensionSolutions joined ABN Amro’s PPI. The PPIs of Delta Lloyd and Nationale Nederlanden have also merged, creating the largest low-cost DC vehicle in terms of assets.
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