Our brand has evolved over the years

Our story started over 190 years ago, when we were founded as Scottish Equitable here in the UK. Today we’re part of the Aegon group – an international provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management.

We work with customers, financial advisers and employers to help improve people’s financial wellbeing.

It’s only natural that we’ve transformed over the years – here’s a timeline to take you through the journey we’ve been on.

A timeline of our history

1831

We've been helping people take responsibility for their financial future since Scottish Equitable was founded in Edinburgh back in 1831.

1862

Mr Christie became our first pensioner to recieve a Scottish Equitable pension. Today we have over 4 million customers in the UK (information as at Q4 2023).

1902

Our assets passed £6 million for the first time. Today we're part of a global group that looks over €825 million in assets on behalf of savers and investors world wide (information as at 01/03/2024)

1994

Scottish Equitable plc was created and Aegon N.V took a 40% stake.

1996

We moved to a new home in Edinburgh Park. The office was opened by H.R.H the Princess Royal. We now also have offices in London and Lytham St Annes, Witham, and Peeterborough.

1998

Aegon N.V. increased their stake in Scottish Equitable to 100%.

1999

Aegon UK set-up as a holding company and Guardian Life and Pension was acquired.

2009

We rebranded ourselves as Aegon in the UK. This gave our customers the reassurance of global strength and expertise on top of our proud heritage in the UK.

2009 to 2017

We were the first-ever Lead Partner of British Tennis. During this time, we supported tennis at all levels - from grass roots and junior development, through to amateur and professional events. We are proud to have left a strong legacy for both the sport and our brand.

2014

We launched retiready, giving people the opportunity to take control of their own pension planning. At the same time, we introduced the Retirement Score which allows users to find out how prepared they are for the retirement thet want.

2018

In 2016, we announced an agreement to accuire BlackRock's UK defined contibution platform and administration business. The transfer of the BlackRock's UK DC platform and administration business to Aegon, was completed in 2018, resulting in the new pension scheme - Aegon Master Trust

We signed the UK Women in Finance Charter, setting a three-year ambition to reach 33% of women in the UK senior management roles by 2021. We exceeded our target by reaching 36% and aim to reach 40% by the end of 2025.

2019

Cofunds and IPS became part of Aegon in January 2017. We saw the final stage of our Cofunds and IPS integration completed in May 2019.

2019 also brought the important introduction of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) funds. Our TargetPlan pension default fund offers this option for workplace savers.

We signed the UK Government's Race at Work Charter - a public commitment to improving equality in the workplace.

2020

We work with advisers, employers and customers to help improve the nation's financial wellbeing. We created our Financial Wellbeing hub, which features interactive tools and content to inspire our customers to consider their financial position here and now - as well as in the long term.

2021

We acquired Pension Geeks. Founded in 2014, Pension Geeks specialises in connecting people with their finances through innovative engagement techniques and events - making pensions as easy as possible to understand.

2022

We released our Climate Roadmap to show our commitment to be newt zero by 2050. We've set a goal to be one of the top 25% responsible businesses in the UK by 2025.

2023

Our new purpose launched: Helping people live their best lives. People are living linger than ever before, so this was an important evolution for us to embrace our new multi-stage lives.

We started Pension Geeks TV: a digial platform that supports financial wellbeing and education.

We pulished our 'Second 50' campaign, exploring what a vibrant, multi-stage lide means and helping you prepare for and embrace its opportunities.

2024

We welcomed over 300 new colleagues following the transfer of Nationwide Building Society's financial planning service.

We revealed our brand new look-and-feel, reflecting a new shape of living. This markes the first time our logo has changed in over 40 years.

2. Aegon Financial Supplement 2H 2023, p12. Data Source, Aegon 2024.