NETHERLANDS – Aegon Nederland has denied a claim by Fortis Investments that it has opted for the latter’s products as part of a pensions outsourcing move.

Fortis said in a newsletter for journalists called ‘In Touch’ this week that Aegon had chosen Fortis funds. It stated: “Pension experts Aegon Nederland has selected Fortis Investments' funds for its defined contribution scheme.”

It added: “The pension, protection and investment company chose six sub-funds of the Fortis L Fund and the Fortis OBAM for its in-house pension scheme after changes to legislation forced it to outsource its pension arrangements.”

But Ronal Kooren, a spokesman for Aegon Nederland, emphatically denied that such an appointment has taken place. “It is ridiculous” he told IPE. “It implies that we are going to outsource the management_of our scheme. We manage the scheme internally.”

Kooren said that an explanation for the confusion could be found in the fact that Aegon’s accountant, Ernst & Young, has outsourced the management of its DC scheme to conform to the law aiming at avoiding conflicts of interest.

An official on Ernst & Young’s pension desk shed light in the matter.

The official confirmed to IPE that the firm outsourced the asset management of DC scheme to Fortis Investments in January. The DC scheme, which in January was worth 40 million euros, is for employees who as well as their core pension, want to lay aside an extra.

The management of Ernst & Young’s defined benefit scheme, which constitutes the core pension for the employees, remains under Aegon’s management.