Pros
The North American rebranding process that Mark Mullen put in place 3 years ago has proven to be a success: customers have enjoyed the renewed engagement with a trusted brand. Sales and revenue have increased across the board at nearly every division/company operating under the Trans heading
Cons
Unfortunately, the above mentioned rebranding has come at a significant cost. The first and most obvious is the cost paid: $30+ million to an outside advertising firm to "Transform Tomorrow" for AEGON, becoming Transamerica in all N. American units. That was just the amount paid to build the initial campaign. On-going advertising costs continue. The PRIMARY cost has been born on the backs of the employees. Be wary if considering employment here. This is an INSURANCE company. They have shed non-core businesses like crazy over the past 3 years, literally reducing their N. American work force by more than 10%. Just two weeks ago the latest round of eliminations was announced from the St Petersburg location: 70 more jobs removed within the next year, all from the mutual fund unit. This latest is but one of many reductions the company continues to enjoy. The problem that faces the existing workforce is that these continuous cuts are happening while business is booming! All of the perpetually increasing workload simply gets shifted to remaining employees. The broker/dealer unit has gone through this twice in the past 5 years as well. Business is better than ever yet there is less staff to handle it all.