New CDSO office to support & drive the implementation of Impact24

Ageas has appointed its first Chief Development & Sustainability Officer (CDSO) within the context of the Group’s new strategic plan Impact24.

New CDSO office to support & drive the implementation of Impact24

Gilke Eeckhoudt, who also joins the Management Committee, will lead all transversal business initiatives within 3 areas of engagement: Business Development, Technology Development & Sustainability. This new role is designed to create Group-wide momentum around Impact24 and help deliver on the objectives set forward for the coming years.


It is no coincidence that the three areas of engagement directly reflect the main pillars of Impact24. Value will be delivered through a set of transversal initiatives:

·       to Grow the Core (Banca, Agency, Customer Experience),

·       to invest in New Growth Engines (Health, Digital Platforms, Protection),

·       to improve Efficiency (through Tech and Data),

·       with Sustainability at the heart of everything we do (ESG Products, ESG Investments and ESG People and Operations),

·       and supported by Tech Development as a key enabler

Through the creation of the CDSO, the aim is to increase and further strengthen our focus on implementation, allowing us to accelerate and deliver on our ambitions and targets. It will also function as an additional motor for change, contributing to Ageas being a future-proof organisation. 

The recipe for success

As a Group that believes in the power of being local, the CDSO will operate in full collaboration with the local operating companies and JV’s around the world, each of whom have their own priorities. Each transversal initiative is assigned to a tandem of experts at both the business and the CDSO side. Together they will drive action and change, leveraging knowledge and expertise. 

Action radius of the CDSO

Ultimately, the CDSO is all about making sure that we deliver the Group’s ambitions to our stakeholders over the next three years and beyond. 

 

As we look to unlock the full potential of our core business, the CDSO: 

  • will work on further distribution development in our existing channels such as banca and agency, 
  • with increased commercial excellence and a top quartile customer experience, 
  • and improved efficiency to compete in new market dynamics. 

 

In tapping into new growth engines, the CDSO will help prepare the long-term future of the Group by exploring opportunities in health and health care services, digital platforms, and protection. 

 

With sustainability at the heart of everything we do, we explore and optimise ESG in every corner of our business. We will pay special attention to sustainable investments and products, that help our customers and the companies that we invest in, to transition towards a more sustainable world. And we will continue our efforts to be a Great place to Grow for our people where we can nurture and attract the right talents. 

 

Finally, the CDSO will guide Technology Development for the Group in terms of group technological standards and shared group assets such as the Ageas cloud and a shared Security Operations Centre. In the context of Impact24, transversal initiatives such as Smart Automation, Digital transformation, API Management and ESG in IT, are a conditio sine qua non for the realisation of the Group’s ambitions for 2024 and beyond. 

Impact” for us is about making a meaningful contribution and the right impression in our chosen areas of activity. To be a supporter of the lives of our stakeholders. It is about having a positive impact on the lives of the people we work with - our employees and partners - and the people we work for - our customers, investors, and society at large. Making an impact is also about doing things in the right way and it is why sustainability sits at the heart of everything we do. We have a duty of care and responsibility to future generations.

We believe that Insurance is a people business and that applies to our customers, employees, partners and everyone we interact and work with. We want to provide best-in-class customer experience where it matters most to our customers. And customer and employee satisfaction go hand in hand to drive results.

We consider our people our greatest asset. They are supported by an action-oriented culture and strong values that allow them to make things happen. We want to be considered a great place to grow for our employees, and an inspiring employer in every market in which we operate across all sectors and all demographics.

We aim through Impact24 to unlock the full potential that we know exists within our current business and to broaden our scope andscalein the right way.

As we look at our insurance business today, we believe that our Core remains highly attractive to deliver a substantial part of our financial ambition by 2024.

We took time to understand the certainties and to embrace the uncertainties around future trends, identifying new opportunities where Ageas has the capability to participate and create impact.

This translated into selected long-term opportunities and investment in new growth enginess, adding new capabilities that complement our strengths, to keep Ageas future-proof.

To fuel further growth, we are focusing on opportunities in adjacent business in Health, Protection, Digital platforms & Reinsurance at Group level, with Home, Mobility and Life & Savings being our Local priorities.

For Ageas, working alongside strong partners is part of our DNAand this puts us in a strong position to engage with the current and future winners including the next-gen players who provide access to new pools of customers and growth.

Within our healthy Core we have continuing confidence going forward in banca, brokers and agents, and we will look to foster new alliances in partnerships that allow us to leverage the strengths of Digital platforms and Ecosystems.

To help turbo-charge our progress we will further deploy technology & data and enhance our customer experience by redesigning the end-to-end customer journey.

We will consider a range of different initiatives to improve our distribution and commercial excellence for our customers, while improving the work experience for our employees.

To achieve Impact24, we will tap into the current footprint of the Group while continuing to apply our success formula of local empowerment.

Local is an important part of the way we stay close to our customers, and it provides competitive advantage.

Ageas as a Group brings deep insurance expertise, strong capital management and discipline, extensive distribution knowledge, a culture of partnerships, human capital and importantly a long-term perspective to the local market leading companies.

Our profile as a Group with a mix between mature markets and high growth markets is unique and allows us to go further, set our sights higher, and to invest and achieve our next level of ambition taking a growing share of the market evolution within each country.

We continue to recognise the benefit of a well-diversified and well-balanced portfolio, and the resilience this brings to the Group.

Impact24 is a long-term sustainable growth strategy. The choices and investments we make are not just for the next three years but for the years that follow on through 2030 and beyond.

We will put sustainability considerations at the heart of our decision-making to innovate, understand risk, drive growth, and build a more inclusive and sustainable future.

We have a duty of care and responsibility to future generations, as we had for the past 200 years.

Solvency II ratio
175%
Holding Free Cash Flow, cumulative amount
EUR 1.7 to 2.1 billion
Progressive dividend per share, cumulative amount
EUR 1.5 to 1.8 billion
Average EPS growth
6-8%
Non-Life combined ratio
95%
Life guaranteed margin
85-95 bps
Life unit-linked margin
30-40 bps
Customers NPS
Top quartile
Employee NPS
Top quartile
Impact24 skills plan
100% achieved
Percentage of GWP from products that stimulate the transition to a more sustainable world
25%
Percentage of products that have been reviewed for transparency
100%
Investments making a positive contribution to transition towards a more sustainable world
EUR 10 billion
Level of ESG-integration of our investment decisions
100%
Carbon emissions of our investment portfolio
Net zero by 2050 at the latest
Carbon emissions of our operations (scope 1 & 2)
Neutral
GLASS CEILING INDEX (via Women in Finance):
Ratio % Women in senior management/ total % women in company
70% ratio
Balanced (M/F) Succession pipeline Top 800
50-50
GENDER DIVERSITY INDEX (via Women on Board):
Equal participation of women at decision-making level
Top quartile

We CARE by respecting and helping those around us, whilst staying true to who we are. That means listening and embracing different opinions, putting ourselves in other’s shoes, and building trust by doing the right things every time for our stakeholders.

We SHARE by learning, inspiring and sharing what we know and experience, in a culture that thrives on the concept of continuous learning. We believe in the importance of setting an example through our actions, but also on the benefit of working as a team.

We DELIVER on our promises and we make things happen by staying focused on our priorities and keeping things simple. In everything we do we strive for excellence, aiming to be the best at what matters most to our stakeholders, and holding ourselves fully accountable.

We DARE by pushing boundaries and by daring to take a chance. We learn from our experiences and remain inquisitive about what we can do differently. We create new ideas, and push ourselves beyond what we know today towards what we should know tomorrow.

Supporter of your life
Stakeholders
A top performance in balance for all stakeholders
Choices
Customers & people first
Strengthen & grow the core
Pursue new opportunities for Growth in Health, Protection, Digital platforms & Reinsurance
Partenering with Current & Future winners
Reinforcing Tech & Data capabilities
Local model with Group benefit
Leadership position in Europe & Asia
Sustainability and Long-term thinking at the heart of everything
Targets
4 Financial Targets
3 Operational Targets
3 Non-Financial Targets
9 Sustainability Targets
Values
Care
Share
Deliver
Dare
Supporter of your life