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Aegon is a life insurance and long-term savings business listed in the Netherlands. It listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in the 1980s and now has mature operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and four growth markets of Brazil, China, Portugal, and Spain. Over recent years, Aegon has been moving through an extensive transformation program where management has sought to divest noncore operations and improve the risk profile of the business. Financial assets are the parts of the group that are now being run off. Aegon is looking to cycle out of capital-consumptive and volatile-earnings products and recycle funds into capital-light and more predictable strategic businesses.

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company with a wide array of subsidiaries engaged in diverse activities. The firm's core business segment is insurance, run primarily through Geico, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. Berkshire has used the excess cash thrown off from its operations to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (railroad), Berkshire Hathaway Energy (utilities and energy distributors), and the companies that make up its manufacturing, service, and retailing operations (which include Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Clayton Homes, Marmon, and IMC/ISCAR). The conglomerate is unique in that it is run on a completely decentralized basis.