Aegon Hunts for New CFO to Replace Button Who Will Return to U.S.

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Aegon NV is seeking a new chief financial officer to replace Darryl Button, who is leaving the insurer after three years in the post.

A thorough process is underway to select a successor, Aegon said in a statement on Tuesday. Button will return to the U.S. and pursue opportunities outside the company.

The Hague-based insurer, which gets two-thirds of its income from Transamerica in the U.S., is in the midst of several strategic changes, including buying back stock and lowering expenses. Cost savings will help cover expenses incurred in changing its Solvency II risk model, a measure of an insurer’s ability to absorb losses under rules introduced in Europe in 2016.

“The timing could raise questions just ahead of the annual actuarial assumption review and the upcoming investor day in the U.S. in December,” Albert Ploegh, an analyst at ING Groep NV, wrote in a note to clients. “However, we understand there is no connection whatsoever, his decision is for personal reasons.”

Aegon shares fell 1.4 percent at 3.63 euros as of 9:40 a.m. The stock is down 30.6 percent this year, compared with a 16.2 percent decline in Bloomberg Europe 500 Insurance Index.

Button “played an instrumental role in ensuring that Aegon was fully prepared for the introduction of Solvency II,” Aegon Chief Executive Officer Alex Wynaendts said in the statement.

Before becoming CFO, Button was head of Aegon’s corporate financial center, which manages risk, tax, finance and investor relations.

“This has been a difficult decision, but it is in the best interest of my family,” Button said.