Aegon, the Dutch insurance group, plans to reduce its dependency on income from its US businesses by allocating more capital to markets where it sees quicker growth, according to plans outlined by Alex Wynaendts, its new chief executive, on Monday.

Mr Wynaendts, a former board member who succeeded Don Shepard as chief executive in April, also unveiled new financial targets including a return on equity target of 14 per cent by 2010 compared to 12 per cent last year and further moves to manage the group as a single business across borders.