ING insurer and asset manager to become NN

Dutch bank ING has announced that its insurance and asset management businesses are to continue under the name NN.

The rebranding will start once ING's European insurance and investment management's activities have been brought to the market. ING Insurance International and ING Investment Management are currently preparing a flotation which will see them separated from the parent company.

All business units are active in structured products. Between 2003 and 2006, ING Insurance launched 12 life-wrapped structured products in Belgium of which three are still live. SRP's US database lists six continuously available equity-indexed annuities from the insurer.

Nationale Nederlanden (the ING owned insurance company to which the new name NN refers) has issued a number of open-ended partially-protected life insurance products including NN Continu Click Fonds, which was launched in 1998 and as of 31 May had €39m assets under management; and NN Protected Mix Fonds 70 (€20m).

ING Investment Management, which will be rebranded as NN Investment Partners, has 18 products across SRP's Austrian, Czech, German, South Korean and Swiss databases.

ING is the latest in a long list of financial institutions which had to adjust their commercial strategy as part of a reorganisation agreed with the European Commission, in return for the government support received during the credit crisis.

The pending flotation on the stock market is expected during the course of next year but is subject to market conditions, said ING. In the meantime, ING Insurance, ING Investment Management and Nationale-Nederlanden will continue to operate under their current brands.