Market Research Report Life insurance sector trends Netherlands,Netherlan | Page 2

well as by making realistic cost assumptions in their technical provisions and subject these
assumptions to stress tests.
Currently six big insurers dominate the life insurance industry in the Dutch market. With a
small and decreasing market it is believed that further consolidation is an important step in
efficiently running current individual life portfolios that are decreasing in size. Consolidation
between the „big six‟ has not yet taken place for a variety of reasons, ranging from state
ownership and regulatory reluctance to technological barriers. The big six are: AEGON,
Nationale Nederlanden, SNS Reaal, Achmea, Delta Llyod, ASR. Recent NN Group's
takeover approach to Delta Lloyd reinforces expectation that M&A activity in the Dutch
market could accelerate
Individual life is expected to continue to reduce and flatten over the coming 10 years,
reaching a new steady state that mainly consists of protection and some annuity insurance.
Pension premiums are expected to increase due to renegotiation of new DB pension contracts
at lower interest rates.
Analysis of future profitability: New business for individual life savings and annuity
products have decreased drastically. In order to maintain size, insurers have shifted focus to
individual protection products. Together with the low interest rate environment, this has put
severe pressure on the profitability of new business. On top of decrease in technical result,
insurers still face the risk of future claims regarding the miss-selling of unit-linked products.
These potential claims could put additional pressure on future profitability.