Aegon Asset Management and Lakemore Partners Announce Strategic Partnership

Agreement Supports Aegon AM's US CLO Platform Growth While Expanding Lakemore's Global Institutional Client Base

CHICAGO, April 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegon Asset Management today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Lakemore Partners Ltd. and its group entities ("Lakemore"), a leading private credit investment firm primarily investing in super-majority control collateralized loan obligation (CLO) equity. The agreement aims to expand Aegon AM's leading credit capabilities through the growth of its US CLO platform. Simultaneously, the partnership grows Lakemore's repertoire of top-tier institutional clients.

"With assets under management of $311 billion, we will continue to grow our US CLO business and offer our clients attractive alternative fixed income products through our partnership with Lakemore," said Bas NieuweWeme, global CEO of Aegon AM.

"In a highly volatile and challenging macroeconomic environment, CLOs can provide uncorrelated, transparent, and relatively high current cash flow distributions," said Mohamed Seif, co-founder & managing partner of Lakemore. "Through our strategic partnership and focus on cycle aligned portfolio construction Aegon AM will be able to leverage our proven experience and further strengthen their CLO platform."

Under the terms of the agreement, Lakemore will make multiple investments in Aegon AM's CLO capability, providing equity for the issuance of multiple CLOs in the coming years. In return, Lakemore will gain preferred access to Aegon AM's pipeline of new issue CLO transactions, allowing for enhanced certainty of execution and a path toward significant growth.

"We have experience managing leveraged loans since the late 1990s and know that unexpected changes in business cycles can create the biggest market dislocations," said Jim Schaeffer, global head of leveraged finance at Aegon AM. "Our cycle-based approach to navigating inflection points is a key aspect of our philosophy, and we have chosen to partner with Lakemore given the firm's commitment to methodical, defensive and cycle-aligned risk allocation discipline."

As a leading global investor and employer, Aegon AM has 380 investment professionals that manage and advise on assets of over $311 billion for a global client-base of pension plans, public funds, insurance companies, banks, wealth managers, family offices and foundations. The parent company Aegon N.V., headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, offers products and services in the life insurance, pension, retirement, and asset management fields. Aegon N.V. has businesses across Europe, Asia and the Americas with its main brands being Aegon and Transamerica.

"At Aegon AM, we are big believers that a defensive credit style and broad diversification helps mitigate portfolio risk," said Jason Felderman, head of leveraged loans and portfolio manager at Aegon AM. "To that end, we look forward to working with an experienced partner like Lakemore, which will offer us enhanced market access and further solidify our ability to take full advantage of new issue CLO opportunities."

With offices in Phoenix, London, Dubai and Zurich, Lakemore has established a strong presence globally, working with a growing number of institutional clients in the US and globally. Lakemore primarily invests in super-majority control equity positions of new issue US CLOs. Lakemore has invested in various CLO tranches through all market cycles to provide its investors with stable and predictable cash flow distributions and attractive investment returns.

"Lakemore is committed to serving our global clientele of institutional investors through providing CLO solutions that foster relative stability, high uncorrelated current cash distributions, and risk dispersion," said Dan Norman, senior partner, head of US business operations at Lakemore. "Today's partnership with Aegon AM enhances our roster of global top-tier clients, and we look forward to growing our strategic partnership over the coming years."

About Aegon Asset Management

Aegon Asset Management is comprised of active global investors. Our 380 investment professionals manage and advise on assets of over $311 billion for a global client-base of pension plans, public funds, insurance companies, banks, wealth managers, family offices and foundations (as of December 31, 2022).

We organize our investment capabilities around four focused investment platforms where we have extensive asset-class expertise: Fixed Income, Real Assets, Equities and Multi-Asset & Solutions. Each platform has dedicated teams and is committed to maximizing their specialist areas. 

By organizing our fixed income teams globally, we work to harness our expertise and research resources across regional boundaries. We believe this enhances our performance potential and helps provide better investment outcomes for clients.

Across platforms, we share a common belief in fundamental, research-driven active management, underpinned by effective risk management. Our investment platforms have the flexibility to organize their resources and processes to best suit their area of focus.

We are a global business: Our 1,200 employees work across Europe, the Americas and Asia. We invest globally and serve clients locally. For more information about Aegon Asset Management, visit www.aegonam.com.

About Lakemore Partners

Lakemore is a leading private credit investment firm primarily investing in super-majority control CLO equity positions of new issue US CLOs. Serving as a partner of choice for global top-tier loan managers who are aligned with the firm's portfolio management style and risk appetite, Lakemore aims to deliver attractive returns by leveraging the extensive expertise of its dedicated team and by investing within its well-defined framework of cycle-aligned risk allocation. Founded in 2016, Lakemore has offices in Phoenix, London, Dubai and Zurich. Lakemore's mission focuses on providing sustainable and reliable income, working closely with institutional clients in the US, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.lakemore.com.

Lakemore Partners Ltd. is the group parent and is domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Lakemore Partners Management US LLC and Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd. are registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as investment advisers (RIA). Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd. (FRN: 837603) is also an appointed representative of Kroll Securities Ltd. (FRN: 466588), which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Lakemore Partners (DIFC) Ltd. is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Lakemore Partners (Switzerland) GmbH is registered and domiciled in Zurich, Switzerland. Lakemore Partners Management US LLC, Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd., Lakemore Partners (DIFC) Ltd., and Lakemore Partners (Switzerland) GmbH are wholly owned subsidiaries of Lakemore Partners Ltd.

This material is provided by Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM) as general information and is intended exclusively for institutional and wholesale investors, as well as professional clients (as defined by local laws and regulation) and other Aegon AM stakeholders. This document is for informational purposes only in connection with the marketing and advertising of products and services, and is not investment research, advice or a recommendation. It shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any investment nor shall any offer of products or services be made to any person in any jurisdiction where unlawful or unauthorized. All investments contain risk and may lose value. Any opinions, estimates, or forecasts expressed are the current views of the author(s) at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. This document may contain "forward-looking statements" which are based on Aegon AM's beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events, based on information currently available. These statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. No guarantee is being made that stated outcomes will be achieved.

The following Aegon affiliates are collectively referred to herein as Aegon Asset Management: Aegon USA Investment Management, LLC (Aegon AM US), Aegon USA Realty Advisors, LLC (Aegon RA), Aegon Asset Management UK plc (Aegon AM UK), and Aegon Investment Management B.V. (Aegon AM NL). Each of these Aegon Asset Management entities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon N.V. 

Aegon AM UK is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 144267) and is additionally a registered investment adviser with the United States (US) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Aegon AM US and Aegon RA are both US SEC registered investment advisers. Aegon AM NL is registered with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets as a licensed fund management company and on the basis of its fund management license is also authorized to provide individual portfolio management and advisory services in certain jurisdictions. Aegon AM NL has also entered into a participating affiliate arrangement with Aegon AM US.

©2023 Aegon Asset Management or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Aegon Asset Management