Aegon CEO Alex Wynaendts has received two prestigious awards in Washington D.C. to mark the group's role in enriching business links between the US and the Netherlands.
The Dutch Ambassador to the US, Henne Schuwer, awarded Mr Wynaendts the Holland on the Hill Heineken Award and an Netherland-America Foundation award at two separate events on May 22.
"Aegon exemplifies the longstanding tradition of transatlantic cooperation," Ambassador Schuwer said. "Over two decades ago, Aegon expanded its Dutch roots to the United States by acquiring US life insurance companies and ultimately acquiring Transamerica in 1999, which currently accounts for almost two-thirds of Aegon's underlying earnings."
Holland on the Hill Heineken Award
Mr Wynaendts received the Holland on the Hill Heineken Award at a luncheon held by the ambassador at the famous Library of Congress. Named after the late Freddy Heineken, the Holland on the Hill Heineken Award is presented annually to a captain of industry who has contributed to the enrichment of the business relationship between the US and the Netherlands.
The award is a part of the Holland on the Hill program, which is a collaborative project between the US Congressional Caucus on the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch Embassy and their nine partners in the business community, and the Netherland-America Foundation.
Mr Wynaendts said he had accepted the invitation to the Holland on the Hill Heineken Award with great pleasure. "Freddy Heineken is an example of success for many and his entrepreneurship was without parallel. His entrepreneurship is one of the things that bonds the Netherlands and the US," he added.
Aegon CEO Alex Wynaendts receives his 2019 Heineken Award from His Excellency Henne Schuwer, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United States of America (All photos: © Stephen Voss and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the US license)
John William Middendorf II Award
In the evening, Ambassador Schuwer presented Mr Wynaendts the John William Middendorf II Award at the annual Netherland-America Foundation Ambassadors' Dinner. This award was one of three named after former US ambassadors to the Netherlands that were presented at the dinner.
These awards recognize a person's outstanding professional accomplishments in either the commercial, cultural or political field in the US and the Netherlands, and individuals who have markedly served to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Others honored
The other recipients of Ambassador Awards were Rachel Brand, Executive Vice President Global Governance at Walmart Inc., and writer, historian and journalist Russell Shorto. Mr. Shorto is the author of the book Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City and is a former director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam, of which Aegon is a sponsor.