Russell will assume the new responsibility on 1 September 2024.  

Rider will continue his association with Aegon as a non-executive member of the board of Transamerica. 

Russell joined Aegon in 2020 as chief transformation officer.  

His experience in the financial sector includes his tenure at Admiral Group, where he was the CFO of Admiral Financial Services, and at NN Group, where he managed group capital management, treasury, business development and group strategy.  

Russell also worked at JP Morgan as the managing director and head of equity research European insurance. 

Aegon CEO Lard Friese said: “I am pleased to appoint Duncan Russell as our new CFO. I am confident that with his financial acumen, deep insurance expertise and comprehensive knowledge of the capital markets and our organisation, he will continue to contribute to the success and transformation of our company.” 

In conjunction with the executive appointment, Aegon issued a first-quarter trading update.  

For the quarter, Aegon generated operating capital of €256m, down from €292m during the same period in 2023. 

The company remains confident in achieving its 2024 guidance of approximately €1.1bn. 

It highlighted strong sales growth in its US Strategic Assets, UK workplace businesses and Brazilian life insurance operations, while flagging that the UK Retail business is still grappling with challenging market conditions.  

Aegon also announced a new €200m share buyback programme, set to commence in early July 2024 and conclude by the end the year. 

Friese added: “The beginning of the year was marked by continued positive commercial momentum in the US and Brazil, as well as net inflows at our asset manager, and was underscored by solid operating capital generation of €256m, as well as healthy capital ratios in our main operating units.”