Is Aegon N.V. (AMS:AGN) Overpaying Its CEO?

In 2008 Alex Wynaendts was appointed CEO of Aegon N.V. (AMS:AGN). First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

View our latest analysis for Aegon

How Does Alex Wynaendts's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Aegon N.V. has a market capitalization of €9.1b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth €4.2m. (This is based on the year to December 2018). That's below the compensation, last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at €1.3m. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over €7.1b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be €3.7m. There aren't very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure.

So Alex Wynaendts is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. This doesn't tell us a whole lot on its own, but looking at the performance of the actual business will give us useful context.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Aegon has changed over time.

Is Aegon N.V. Growing?

On average over the last three years, Aegon N.V. has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 80% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is down -67%.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. The lack of revenue growth isn't ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Has Aegon N.V. Been A Good Investment?

Aegon N.V. has generated a total shareholder return of 2.2% over three years, so most shareholders wouldn't be too disappointed. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median.

In Summary...

Remuneration for Alex Wynaendts is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .

Shareholder returns could be better but shareholders would be pleased with the positive EPS growth. As a result of these considerations, I would suggest the CEO pay is reasonable. Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Aegon shares (free trial).

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this freelist of interesting companies.

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