Financial Services Roundup: Market Talk

The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.

1046 ET – Strong growth in Aegon’s U.S. operations seems to have prompted management to consider moving the company’s headquarters from the Netherlands to the U.S., Berenberg says in a research note. The Dutch insurer and asset manager reported a 19% jump in operating profit for the first half,mainly driven by its Aegon Americas division, analyst Michael Huttner writes. The group also raised its six-month operating capital generation guidance for the unit by $50 million to the $650 million-$750 million range, while keeping its outlook at group level unchanged. “The main reason why the uplift in the Americas guidance is not translating to an uplift at the group level is due to the relative weakness of the USD-EUR exchange rate,” he adds. Shares slip 1.2%, giving back some of Thursday’s gains. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)