Auditor’s scope and level of assurance The consolidated financial statements have been audited by our external auditor, Ernst & Young Accountants LLP (EY). The audit report of EY can be found on page 260. In addition to the Financial Statements, EY has reviewed
Executive Board a.s.r.’s license to operate depends on its ability to help people. a.s.r. is convinced that meeting the terms of that license will ensure a sound future for the company. Society expects an insurer to be useful, to handle the assets it is entrusted with and deal responsibly with the environment in which it operates. a.s.r. interprets the terms of this license to operate as ‘Helping by taking action’. a.s.r. based this on the professionalism of its people. a.s.r. thus meets customer demand for: • sharing risks; • accumulating assets for the future.
1 Restated 2015 and 2014 to 150 million shares. On 13 January 2017, a.s.r. purchased 3.0 million shares in a share buyback as part of the sell down by NLFI. These shares are held as treasury stock and are not eligible for dividend.
a.s.r. is the Dutch insurance company for all types of insurance1. Via the brands a.s.r., De Amersfoortse and Ditzo and specialist brands such as Europeesche Verzekeringen and Ardanta, a.s.r. continues to provide P&C, occupational disability and health insurance (nonlife ) and pensions, individual life and funeral expenses insurance (life), as well as on distribution. a.s.r. also offers specific banking, mortgage and investment products and asset management services. a.s.r. operates exclusively in the Dutch market, except for its servicing of a small Belgian funeral insurance portfolio, which is recognized as a business line of ASR Levensverzekering N.V.
a.s.r. is confident that it can live up to its position as ‘insurer of choice’ for its customers by placing their interests at the centre of its business. This is something that our employees work towards on a daily basis. Our employees are the face of a.s.r. services and determine the quality of the services we provide.
• A financial institution a.s.r. aims to be a financially reliable and stable institution with a solvency position strong enough to fulfil its long term obligations and commitments to all its stakeholders. a.s.r. believes that a solid financial position will enable it to meet both its short- and longterm obligations to customers and shareholders. a.s.r. believes that its ‘value over volume’ philosophy will help secure long-term value creation.
All these developments especially when they are combined and work together, can be viewed as opportunities for the insurance sector and customers. Commercially speaking, more efficient processes result in lower costs for handling and logistics, customer service and sales can be geared better to customers and more options can be created for prevention. This results in a shift in insured interest. Overall this leads will lead to more transparency for customers and citizens and more ways for them to assess their own risk appetite and find ways of controlling it. As a society as a result this will increase healthcare, safety (e.g. in traffic) and significantly raise the overall level of comfort and prosperity.
Fewer employees spend their entire working life with the same employer. Jobs are continually being created and evolve or disappear over time. This process also involves many job switches, including from flexible to permanent employment, from having an employer to being selfemployed and vice versa. Over the past few years, we have seen the development of a trend towards fewer permanent employees, more employees on flexible contracts and more self-employed persons.
Level 2 transformation (horizon: 2-5 years): game changers that will transform the existing underwriting models: general pension fund, IORP, Pay how you drive.
Tax policy a.s.r.’s tax policy contributes to the achievement of its corporate strategy, in which a.s.r. presents itself as a sustainable, socially responsible insurer. This ties in with the idea of fair-sharing, by which each member of society contributes to maintaining the society they live in and helps it advance.
Tax covenant The Executive Board of a.s.r. and the Dutch Tax & Customs Administration signed the Horizontal Supervision
Aspects reviewed by a.s.r. include human rights, working conditions, corruption and environmental issues.
Society Helping people by taking action. Sustainability also includes being involved in the community. a.s.r. invests in a wide range of community initiatives, for instance by undertaking aid campaigns and projects.
In all its choices and activities, a.s.r. asks itself whether they meet its defined CSR criteria, which we have formulated as follows: What does CSR entail in insurance? • Giving high priority to sustainable financial robustness. • Offering products and services that meet customer requirements; • Regularly identifying customer requirements through market research, social media, customer-driven surveys and customer panels; • Performing internal and external review of products and services.
R el ev an ce f o r st ak eh o ld er s
published its fifth report on the sustainability policies of the Dutch insurance sector
This report assesses financial institutions for their involvement in cluster munitions. a.s.r.
a.s.r. has started a project to modernize the pay-and-benefits package in collaboration with the
• Adding a sustainability annex to contracts and achieving compliance with this annex for at least 60% of suppliers.
4. Funding via Doorgaan.nl The objectives of the Doorgaan.nl crowd-funding platform, i.e. to fund at least 10 start-ups, were also met.
Learning and improving In 2016, a.s.r. actively solicited feedback from customers on complaints handling. This led to a higher response rate. a.s.r. uses this feedback and follow up on it.
10. Publication of list of excluded companies and countries a.s.r. wants to increase the transparency of its CSR policy and its implementation. In 2016, a.s.r. started to publish lists of excluded companies (based on controversial activities) and countries on its corporate website (asrnl. com). In 2016, we started publishing a list of the companies we are engaging with, including the criteria and status.
Commitments a.s.r. has undertaken the following commitments to reduce its carbon emissions: • Signing of the Paris Pledge and the Dutch Business
Climate change a.s.r.’s opinion is that climate change will affect its customers profoundly. When risks due to climate change affect its customers, a.s.r. will help those directly affected. When climate change causes changes in the risks faced by its customers, a.s.r. will change its propositions to meet the needs of its customers as affectively as possible.
KPIs Targets Results Material aspects Mission Strategic principle Risks 16. Transparency
For details on KPIs 18 and 19, see the financial targets on page 29 of this Annual Report.
Responsibilities of management for the Sustainability Information The Executive Board is responsible for the preparation of the Sustainability Information in accordance with the Sustainability Reporting Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative and any additonal internally applied reporting criteria as disclosed in chapter 2.5, page 38 of the Report, including the identification of stakeholders and the definition of material aspects. The choices made by management regarding the scope of the Sustainability Information and the reporting policy are summarized in chapter 2.5.
Unit-linked policies a.s.r. was also in frequent contact with the AFM regarding unit-linked policies. At the end of April 2016, the AFM carried out a review of the quality of the mobilization of unit-linked insurances. a.s.r. scored 3.7 on a 5-point scale. This was higher than the average score of 2.6 for all the insurers reviewed. The AFM stated that it had been able to establish that a.s.r. applied a structured procedure with respect to how these policies are mobilized. a.s.r. is carrying out in-depth reviews to improve its understanding of customer groups and thereby improve its mobilization. a.s.r. is demonstrating that it prioritizes quality over speed with respect to customer mobilization.
The Dutch economy recovered so such an extent that it was larger than before the financial crisis of 2008. GDP came in at € 677 billion (the thirteenth largest GDP per capita globally) with a growth of 2% for the year ended 31 December 2016. S&P expects the Dutch economy to expand by 1.4% in 2017 (2016: 1.8% growth). Today, the Netherlands has an AAA rating with all three rating agencies: Moody, Fitch and S&P.
Focus on intermediary channel a.s.r. considers the intermediary channel to be resilient. Customers who choose the intermediary channel tend to be more loyal, which results in high retention rates for these portfolios. a.s.r. believes that these long-term relationships give its an advantage over competitors with less commitment to this distribution channel. The relative share of the intermediary channel versus direct channel within the P&C market has remained stable over the last five years (excluding disability and health, based on GWP). The intermediary channel is therefore a.s.r.’s primairy focus in the distribution of P&C products.
Improve service to customers and business partners a.s.r. tests and implements new service concepts for customers and business partners. Examples are the improvement of the services for intermediaries, improvement of processes, knowledge sharing and skills in our contact centres to improve the first-time-fixed service level, knowledge sharing with business partners and customers on prevention and risk management and Ditzo’s Whatsapp contact strategy. The improvements resulted in an average customer satisfaction rate of 84% in December 2016. Ditzo started with 80% customer satisfaction in early 2016.
Products a.s.r.’s Pensions range includes the following products: • Defined benefits: a.s.r.’s own DB Pension products are traditional ‘capital-heavy’ insurance products based on lifelong guaranteed pension payments with recurring premiums with or without profit-sharing. These products also provide an option for additional single premiums for indexation and past service. DB products can be divided into general account and separate account products: - For general account products, the underlying assets are invested in a.s.r.’s general account and thus not attributable to a specific policyholder or liability. Within the general account, a.s.r. bears the investment risks related to assets backing the liability obligations; and - For separate account products, a.s.r. establishes and maintains a separate investment account to which funds are allocated in line with the relevant contract. a.s.r. bears the investment risk relating to the assets backing the liability obligations. This investment account is thus separated from a.s.r.’s general account. The policyholder is entitled to the positive revenues of the separate account.
Lower the cost base and shift towards a higher percentage of variable costs To preserve the value of the individual life in force portfolio, a.s.r. aims to simplify its organization and shift its cost base from fixed costs towards variable costs. To lower costs and shift the overall cost mix in the individual life book, a.s.r. has developed two strategies. In 2013, we outsourced a portion of the back office and IT operations associated with the individual life portfolio. In 2015 and 2016, we simplified and migrated two of seven individual books of business within the individual life portfolio to an SaaS platform. We plan to migrate the remaining individual books in 2017 and 2018. a.s.r. intends to maintain this strategy, analyzing books on an individual basis to find the most appropriate and value-enhancing solution while minimizing operational costs and complexity.
Distribution Ardanta sells most of its policies via the intermediary distribution channel. Due to changing customer preferences and a ban on commissions introduced in 2013, Ardanta accelerated the implementation of new distribution channels including the direct channel. The customer contact sales team advises new and existing customers by telephone, personal visits and via Internet channels. This change in distribution strategy has resulted in an increase in direct sales by the front office and via the internet channel (2016: 30%, 2015: 26%), measured by APE, and a decrease of new business from indirect sales via intermediaries (2016: 52%, 2015: 55%).
Profile The Banking and Asset Management segment consists of all the banking activities and the activities related to asset management including investment property management. These activities are carried out by ASR Bank N.V., ASR Vastgoed Vermogensbeheer B.V., ASR Nederland Beleggingsbeheer N.V. and ASR Hypotheken B.V. (‘ASRH’).
Intro d uctio n care and educational institutions, universities, network companies, housing associations, charitable trusts and capital funds, industrial pension funds and medical insurers. a.s.r. believes that the acquisition of BNG Vermogensbeheer has taken it a step closer to its goal of becoming a key provider of asset management services in the Dutch market. BNG Vermogensbeheer has been renamed as a.s.r. Vermogensbeheer.
a.s.r. REIM a.s.r. has been investing in Dutch real estate for over 125 years and is the largest private land owner in the country. a.s.r. has a diversified real estate portfolio consisting of rural, retail, residential and office investments in the Netherlands. a.s.r. REIM’s customers include a.s.r., insurance companies, institutional and retail customers, for which it invests in commercial properties (both offices and retail), residential properties, land positions and real estate equities. Customers invest via the following funds: ASR Property Fund N.V., ASR Dutch Prime Retail Fund and ASR Dutch Core Residential Fund. ASR Property Fund N.V. mainly invests on behalf of a.s.r.’s unit-linked policy holders, whereas the other two funds are open to third parties. Since 2011, more than ten international institutional investors have invested in the two newly created real estate investment funds managed by a.s.r., with third party investments accounting for 23% and 60% of the AuM in ASR Dutch Core Residential Fund and ASR Dutch Prime Retail Fund respectively. The ASR Dutch Mobility Office Fund was established on 15 December 2016. In addition, a.s.r. REIM also manages a real estate portfolio for the account of a.s.r.’s insurance operations.
The acquisitions of the service providers VKG, Boval, Corins and SuperGarant are consistent with a.s.r.’s strategy of seeking to enhance and strengthen its relationships with intermediaries. These acquisitions offer forward integration in the insurance chain and therefore improved insights into customer needs, which a.s.r. believes will enable it to adjust its product portfolio and/or distribution mix and therefore better align its product range with customer needs. a.s.r. also believes that these acquisitions provide learning and innovation opportunities, as a.s.r. now has the ability to develop and test new product ideas with direct input from the distribution and customer sides. a.s.r. believes that these companies will enable it to accelerate the implementation and marketing of innovations and new products, due to their more flexible organizations and systems. a.s.r. expects this will give it the opportunity to innovate quickly and implement its learning in the rest of a.s.r.
Profit before tax improved to a profit of € 5 million from a loss of € 48 million. This improvement was largely due to incidentals (€ 67 million), which included € 100 million related to a.s.r.‘s own pension scheme (IAS 19) as a result of the 2014 amendment to the a.s.r. post-employment benefit plan for future inflation indexation for former employees. The contribution from incidental investment income declined by € 42 million compared with 2015.
UFR, declined as a consequence of the low level of interest rates. As a consequence of the ongoing decline of interest rates, a.s.r. partly executed its contingency plan to protect solvency ratios. Market risk budgets were reduced, resulting in a reduction of equity risk exposure. Moreover, market risk budgets in general were extensively discussed in order to address the unique nature of the low interest rate environment, resulting in evasion of economic reality.
The quarterly report at Group level and supervised entity level is presented to the a.s.r. Risk Committee, discussed with them and submitted to the Audit & Risk Committee. The report is also shared and discussed with the DNB, the AFM and the external auditor.
Corporate Governance 100 4.1.1 Supervisory Board 102 4.1.2 Executive Board 105 4.1.3 Corporate Governance Code and regulations 108
There were no reports of potential conflicts of interest by the other supervisory directors. The Supervisory Board has been able to exercise its tasks completely independently.
H.C. (Chris) Figee (CFO) Chris Figee (1972) is a Dutch national and serves as CFO. His areas of responsibility are Group Accounting, Reporting & Control, Business Finance & Risk, Group Asset Management/Financial Markets, Real Estate Investment Management, a.s.r. Real Estate Projects (as of 1 March 2017), Group Balance Sheet Management and Group Risk Management.
Articles of Association and rules of procedure The current Articles of Association (dated 9 June 2016) have been posted on a.s.r.’s corporate website: asrnl.com. The Supervisory Board Rules and the Executive Board Rules are also posted on a.s.r.’s corporate website.
The Supervisory Board was also regularly informed about developments in unit-linked policies related to collective procedures and media exposure. The Supervisory Board appreciates the enormous efforts and dedication of the team. a.s.r. has gone to great lengths for its unit-linked policyholders, having actively followed up with virtually all of them at this point.
After each quarter end, the Committee met to discuss the financial results based on detailed audit, compliance and risk reports and analyses. The full reporting year 2016 was discussed on the basis of the press release, the Annual Report, the financial statements, the board report and the actuarial report. The meeting to discuss the actuarial report was also attended by the actuarial function. The Committee issued positive opinions on the Annual Report and the financial statements to the Supervisory Board.
(in € millions) (Before profit appropriation) Note 31 December 2016 31 December 2015 (restated)
Total comprehensive income attributable to holders of equity instruments 411 736
Capital investment non-controlling interest - - - - - - - 8 8
The actuarial gains and losses (after tax) impacted equity negatively by € 288 million (2015: positive impact of € 167 million), primarily due to the decrease (€ 2015: increase) in the discount rate of the benefit obligation. For more information see chapter 5.5.11.
Equity includes prior year adjustments regarding 2013, 2014 and 2015 relating to accounting for employee benefits. Based on a qualitative and quantitative impact assessment performed the immaterial adjustments have been retrospectively adjusted in the 2016 financial statements. The 2015 opening equity was adjusted cumulatively with € 6 million negative and the profit for the year 2015 with € 19 million positive amounting to a 2015 opening equity of € 3,703 million and profit for the year 2015 of € 623 million in the 2016 consolidated financial statements.
The main following new standards, amendments to existing standards and interpretations, published prior to 1 January 2017 and effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2017, were not early adopted by a.s.r.: • Amended IFRS 4 Insurance contracts (2018).
Impact assessment a.s.r. is currently assessing the impact of the new requirements. In 2016 a.s.r. started the investigation into the classification and measurement of its financial instruments (the SPPI test). The implementation of IFRS 9 may have a significant impact on Shareholders’ equity, Net result and/or Other comprehensive income and on the consolidated financial statements of a.s.r.
When applying the DCF method for rural valuations, the significant inputs are the discount rate and market lease values. These inputs are verified with the following market observable data (that are adjusted to reflect the state and condition, location, development potential etc. of the specific property): • Market value per acre per region in accordance with the ‘rural land price monitor’; • 10 Year Dutch Government Bond Yield (%) as published by the Dutch Central Bank.
Financial assets at fair value through profit and loss Financial assets at fair value through profit and loss include: • Derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting (see accounting policy B and H); and • Financial assets, designated by a.s.r. as carried at fair value through profit and loss. This option is available whenever: - It eliminates or significantly reduces a measurement inconsistency that would otherwise arise from measuring assets or liabilities on different bases (accounting mismatch); or - a.s.r. manages a group of financial instruments (assets, liabilities or both) on the basis of fair value in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy; - The financial assets contain one or more embedded derivatives and a.s.r. does not separate the derivative from the host contract.
Fixed-income financial assets available for sale are tested for impairment if objective evidence exists that the counterparty will default. Objective evidence includes: bankruptcy, financial reorganization or delinquency in payments for more than 30 days. The assessment may also involve circumstances requiring a more detailed estimate, such as in the event of an equity deficit, recurring financial difficulties, downgrading of the credit rating or other creditors reverting to legal action. This assessment is made at each reporting date by the Level of Concern Committee, where the portfolio managers and analysts assign a level of concern from ‘Nil’ to ‘Three’ to each of the fixed-income assets. A level of concern ‘Nil’ means that there is no reason for concern, while a level of concern ‘Three’ indicates that the situation is critical and that an impairment is highly recommended. The final decision to recognize an impairment loss on a financial asset or to reverse a prior impairment loss is taken in the quarterly Impairment Committee, chaired by the Group Asset Management director.
Where applicable, the participating features of the insurance contracts, such as profit sharing, are taken into account in the future cash flows. The cash flows are discounted using the Euro swap curve including a credit risk adjustment (CRA), with Ultimate Forward Rate (UFR) and volatility adjustment (VA).
Financial Statements 2016 | 5.4 Group structure and segment information 155
Fair value gains and losses 24 896 - - 1 - 1 922
Adjustments: - Compensation capital gains (Disability) 37 18 - Interest accrual on provisions (Disability) 62 62 - Prudence margin (Health) -4 -3
Rental income is recognized as investment income. For details, see chapter 5.6.2. In 2016, rentals amounted to € 115 million (2015: € 124 million). The decrease is the result of the lower a.s.r.-exposure to DCRF. Direct operating expenses arising from investment property amounted to € 29 million (2015: € 28 million). Given the low vacancy level, virtually all direct operating expenses relate to investment properties generating rental income. Direct operating expenses of investment property are classified as operating expenses.
Investments on behalf of policyholders At fair value through profit and loss (chapter 5.5.5.2) 7,745 7,924
a.s.r. has equities and bonds that have been transferred, but do not qualify for derecognition amounting to € 5,183 million (2015: € 6,228 million). The majority of these investments are part of a securities lending program whereby the investments are lent in exchange for a fee with collateral obtained as a security. The collateral furnished as security representing a fair value of € 6,447 million (2015: € 8,191 million) consists of mortgage loans and corporate and government bonds. See accounting policy R about securities lending.
Changes in investments at fair value through profit and loss 2016 Investments
The fair value of the interest-rate contracts using the above valuation method form the basis for the amount of collateral that is exchanged between a.s.r. and its counterparties in accordance with the underlying contracts.
Ordinary shares: - Authorized capital; par value of € 0.16 (2015: € 500) 350,000,000 56 1,000,000 500
1 The 2015 earnings per share have been recalculated based on the 150 million issued ordinary shares, after the split of the ordinary shares in
The sensitivity of the above actuarial assumptions to feasible possible changes at the reporting date to one of the relevant actuarial assumptions whilst other assumption remain constant, would have affected the defined benefit obligation by the amounts shown below: Increase Decrease
Experience adjustments are actuarial gains and losses that have arisen due to differences between actuarial assumptions.
The impairments of the equities are more than off-set by the reversal of impairments on the collateralized debt obligations and bonds.
The table below shows a reconciliation of the expected income tax expense with the actual income tax expense. The expected income tax expense is determined by applying the tax rate in the Netherlands to the profit before tax. In 2016, this rate was 25.0% (2015: 25.0%). The enacted tax rate for 2017 will be 25.0%.
The property has a relatively fixed return (for vacancy levels see chapter 5.5.3.1). The property portfolio is well diversified and consists of residential, retail, offices and rural property, throughout the Netherlands. The retail portfolio focusses on high street locations with relative low vacancy levels. Investment property on behalf of policyholders primarily consist of retail property.
Provisions for impairment amounting to nil (2015: € 1 million) have been recognized on the loans and receivables.
As for other claims and legal proceedings, against a.s.r. known to management (and for which, in accordance with the defined principles, no provision has been formed), management believes, after having sought expert advice, that these claims have no chance of success, or that a.s.r. can successfully mount a defence against them, or that the outcome of the proceedings is unlikely to result in a significant loss for a.s.r.
ASR Vastgoed Ontwikkeling N.V. 5 100.00 100.00 Utrecht Real Estate Development
The principal group companies and associates are located in the Netherlands. For notes to equity interests in associates and joint ventures, see chapter 5.5.4. The list of equity interests which are required under Sections 379 and 414, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code has been filed with the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce in Utrecht.
Adequate capital buffers and financial power to facilitate future developments and continuously meet requirements of policy holders, supervisors and rating agencies. Ensuring the capital buffer is suffcient to maintain an ‘A’ rating.
Lapse risk Lapse risk is the risk of losses (or adverse changes in the best estimate of the liabilities) due to an unanticipated (higher or lower) rate of policy lapses, terminations, changes to paid-up status (cessation of premium payment) and surrenders. The effect of the lapse risk is equal to the highest result of a permanent 50% increase in lapse rates, a permanent 50% decrease in lapse rates or a mass lapse event (70% of insurance policies in collective pension funds or 40% of the remaining insurance policies). For the SLT Health portfolio, the mass lapse event is dominant.
Handling time The time required for handling and settling claims is an important factor. The settlement of claims that have a long handling time, such as liability claims, can take many years. Analyses are performed regularly and based on a.s.r.’s experience in similar cases, historical trends – such as the pattern of liabilities – increases in risk exposure, payment of damages, the scale of current and not yet settled damage claims, court rulings and economic conditions.
Solvency ratio in 2016 The solvency ratio per 31 December 2016 is 189% excluding a.s.r. Bank (after deduction of the proposed dividend) at year end.
SCR sensitivities Also for sensitivities 2015 figures are not presented here, as Solvency II replaced Solvency I as at 1 January 2016, which makes a comparison of these two years not useful.
The sensitivity to spread risk is measured as the impact of an increase of spread on loans and corporate bonds of 75 bps. At the same time, it is assumed that the Volatility Adjustment which is applied to the liabilities will increase by 21 bps.
a.s.r.’s liquidity management principle consists of three components. First, a well-diversified funding base is necessary in order to provide liquidity for cash management purposes. A portion of assets must be invested in unencumbered marketable securities that can be used for collateralized borrowing or asset sales. Second, the strategic asset allocation should reflect the expected and contingent liquidity needs of liabilities. Finally, an adequate and up-to-date contingency liquidity plan is in place to enable management to act effectively and efficiently in times of crisis.
As at 31 December 2016, a.s.r. had cash (€ 1,834 million), short-term deposits (€ 1,702 million), liquid government bonds (€ 13,302 million) and other bonds and shares.
In some areas, the risk policies prescribe specific risk analyses to be performed to identify and analyze the risks. For important IT systems, SPRINT analyses have to be performed and also for large outsourcing projects a specific risk analysis is required.
5.10.3.2 Intangible fixed assets The goodwill amounting to € 27 million as at 31 December 2016 (2015: € 23 million) relates for € 23 million to the 2015 acquisition of De Eendragt Pensioen N.V. (2015: € 23 million) and for € 4 million to the 2016 acquisition of BNG Vermogensbeheer B.V.
Discretionary interest on other equity instruments - - - - -45 -45 - -45
Other equity instruments The other equity instruments relate to three (2015: three) different hybrid Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruments classified as equity (see chapter 5.5.8.4). Of the three different equity instruments that were issued, two instrument (issue date 2009) are guaranteed by ASR Levensverzekering N.V. The third instrument (issue date 2014) does not contain guarantees from operating entities.
As part of our audit procedures, we assessed the design and operating effectiveness of the internal controls over the solvency calculations, including ASR Nederland N.V.’s methodology, model and assumption approval processes and management review controls. Also, where relevant, comparison of judgements was made to current and emerging market practice and re-performance of calculations on a sample basis.
We have exercised professional judgement and have maintained professional skepticism throughout the audit, in accordance with Dutch Standards on Auditing, ethical requirements and independence requirements. Our audit included e.g.: • Identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, designing and performing audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control; • Obtaining an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control;
Other | 6.2 Provisions of the Articles of Association regarding profit appropriation 266
The call option is continuous in nature and can be exercised repeatedly and on more than one occasion, each time that the Foundation considers, or reasonably expects, there to be an act or occurrence that is, in the opinion of the Foundation, materially contrary to the interests of a.s.r., its business and its stakeholders, which may include the following (to the extent materially contrary to the aforementioned interests), (i) the announcement of a public offer for shares in the capital of a.s.r., or the legitimate expectation that such a public offer will be announced, without agreement on the offer having been reached with a.s.r. or the offer being supported by a.s.r., (ii) an activist shareholder (or group of activist shareholders acting in concert) in a.s.r. directly or indirectly representing at least 25% of the ordinary shares forming part of a.s.r.’s issued share capital.
Business A business is a legal entity that offers one (or more) projects on the Doorgaan.nl platform. If the owner of the business is a natural person, he or she is referred to as a business owner. The business or business owner must be located, or resident, in the Netherlands. The platform is designed for business loans only. A business owner (i.e. a natural person) can basically raise funding through the platform for business purposes only.
Planet How does the organization address its environmental impact? Common issues in the Planet domain are the effects of products, processes and services for the quality of air, water, soil and biodiversity, as well as such themes as cradle-to-cradle, carbon offset, waste and recycling, sustainable transport, sustainable products and services, etc.
• Dutch Manifesto for Socially Responsible Purchasing and Business Practices (MVIO) In 2012, a.s.r. undertook to observe the Manifesto for Socially Responsible Purchasing and Business Practices (MVIO), an initiative by large businesses in the Netherlands supported by NEVI, the Dutch Association for Purchasing Management (nevi.nl/mvi).
• Ethical manifesto a.s.r. has joined a group of companies that has undertaken to proactively find solutions for customers who are in financial difficulties. This national initiative has committed itself to approaching customers who are behind on their payments promptly and with a positive mindset to help them resolve their financial issues. The companies who have joined the initiative have formalized their rules of conduct in an Ethical Manifesto, which a.s.r. has recently signed to show its commitment to this initiative.
• Dutch Sustainable Investment Code a.s.r. abides by the Sustainable Investment Code of the Dutch Association of Insurers, which came into effect on 1 January 2012. The Code stipulates that the investment policies of members of the Association must take account of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) aspects at the entities in which they invest.
NPS label and business line level All business lines are committed to treating customers fairly and being the number one in service excellence. To measure how customers feel about our services and how we can improve, a.s.r. has used the Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS is the outcome of the answer to the following question: ‘How likely is it that you would recommend [type of policy] offered by [insurer] to your family, friends or colleagues?’ And in a business-tobusiness setting: ‘to colleagues or business associates’. The scores in the cards below (concerns average over Q4 2016) are based on interactions between customers and a.s.r. after a telephone call. a.s.r. performs these measurements itself.
Organization Profile 2016 102-1 Name of the organization ASR Nederland N.V.
Ch. 2.5.2 People / a.s.r. Code of Conduct 102-17 Mechanisms for advice and concerns about ethics
Ch. 2.5.2 People / a.s.r. Code of Conduct Ch. 2.5.2 People / Unethical conduct and fraud Ch. 3.5 Risk management and Compliance / Compliance
Appendix G, Additional environmental information, Total CO2 reduction 305-4 GHG emissions intensity Appendix G, Additional environmental information, Total CO2 reduction 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions
SRI, detailed criteria for positive screening: • 1.1 Promotion of social dialogue • 3.6 Integration of social themes into the production chain • 6.2 Respect for the freedom of trade unions and right to collective bargaining.
Ch. 2.5.4 Environment / Investor: • Exclusion criteria for countries and companies • ESG Integration for best-in-class investments
Ch. 3.5 Risk management and Compliance / Risk Priorities / Impact of supervision, laws and regulations