Jurgen Willemsen

AEGON-IM is an active, long-term, fixed-income and asset allocation specialist manager which follows a value-oriented investment approach. Their investment philosophy emphasizes flexibility and pragmatism and they invest in large- to mega-cap equity, fixed-income and alternative investments in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm follows a research-driven process which blends top-down analysis with bottom-up stock picking. They seek to identify stocks that are undervalued relative to earnings, cash flow, or book value and share research with other asset management subsidiaries within the AEGON group, particularly in Great Britain, the US and Canada. Their in-house research combines fundamental and quantitative analysis with company visits and is supplemented by outsourced research. AEGON-IM manages risks by applying the "three lines of defense" model. The first line of defense consists of Portfolio Risk Control and Portfolio Risk Management. Finance, Compliance and Operational Risk Management departments are the second line of defense and the third line of defense consists of the independent Group Internal Audit, which periodically checks the first two lines of defense to determine whether activities are carried out according to previously agreed standards.