After 12 years at the helm of Aegon Canada Inc., George Foegele is stepping down as chairman, president and CEO, but is staying on as chairman of the board in a non-executive position. Effective April 15, his successor is Paul Reaburn, a Canadian who returns home from Aegon Financial Planners in the U.S., at which he was chief operating officer.
Foegele says he made the decision to change roles so he could spend more time with his young family, to \u201cget my golf handicap back to where it was when I started this job\u201d and to explore other avenues down the line.
\u201cI\u2019m going to take on a number of selected board positions and I\u2019m going to look at a number of business opportunities,\u201d says Foegele, adding that he hasn\u2019t made any decisions yet, but that he doesn\u2019t lack options.
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, [the opportunities] seem to have appeared out of nowhere. When the world finds out you\u2019re changing course, opportunities just seem to come out of the woodwork,\u201d he says.
Toronto-based Aegon Canada is the corporate entity under which Transamerica Life Canada, Aegon Capital Management Inc., Aegon Dealer Services Canada Inc., Money Concepts (Canada) Ltd.<\/b> and Aegon Fund Management Inc.<\/b> operate. Aegon Canada, which has 700 employees across Canada and almost $9 billion in assets under management, is a subsidiary of Aegon NV of the Netherlands, a global insurance giant.
\u201c[Foegele] won\u2019t have a part in day-to-day operations; he\u2019ll have more of a strategic role, the focus being on: a) continuity of the operation; and b) continuing to explore development opportunities,\u201d says David Boone, Aegon Canada\u2019s vice president of marketing and corporate services.
Reaburn, Aegon\u2019s incoming chairman, president and CEO, is a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry. He holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Waterloo and is a designated actuary. Before joining Aegon, he worked for the Independent Order of Foresters in Toronto in a variety of positions, but predominately product development. In his final role at the IOF, Reaburn was responsible for all product development and pricing, risk management and the management actuarial function.
In 1997, he joined Aegon U.S. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at which he advanced through a number of executive jobs. As COO of AFP, Reaburn oversaw an operational group consisting of a number of divisions across the U.S.
Boone maintains that the change at the top will have no effect on the company\u2019s structure or direction in the near term, and that affairs at Aegon are \u201cbusiness as usual.
\u201cIt\u2019s not anticipated that [the change of president and CEO] in and of itself will lead to any other significant structural changes,\u201d Boone says. \u201cPaul, obviously, has a lot to observe in the immediate future in terms of our operations, so I suspect he\u2019ll want to have that immediate period of time to form his outlook for the future.\u201d
Boone says an important element to Aegon\u2019s strategy is continuing to grow and improve the company\u2019s distribution side.
\u201cI think if I had to point to one specific area in which there\u2019s a lot of focus, it\u2019s enhancing our service offering to our stakeholders, both the distributors and the producers that form our distribution channel,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have myriad activities ongoing that are going to allow us to take a quantum leap forward in how we service our distribution. And I can pretty much assure you that\u2019s where the focus will be in 2005.\u201d
Aegon\u2019s wholly owned distribution arm includes Aegon Dealer Services and Money Concepts Canada. It employs almost 500 planners in 101 branches across the country and has almost $5 billion in mutual fund assets under administration. Aegon also leverages a national network of independent distributors, one of which is World Financial Group<\/b>, which sells both life insurance and investment products.
Boone says Foegele leaves a strong legacy at the company, in which he has instilled \u201ca spirit of competitiveness.
\u201cWe have a very dynamic company \u2014 we\u2019re hustling to maintain and gain share,\u201d he says. \u201cGeorge brought that spirit.\u201d
Says Foegele: \u201cWe started off [as] a very small subsidiary of Transamerica Life. We survived and prospered through a time of huge consolidation in the 1990s and into the new millennium. When I think back to 1993, there were 55 companies competing in our marketplace. Today, there are 10 of us that control more than 90% of the market.\u201d\t
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