ING Direct 2007 Annual Report Download - page 9

Retirement
Accumulation phase Retirement income phase
Personal
equity
Current
accounts
Savings
accounts
Mortgages
Mutual funds
Unit-linked investments
Pension contributions
Life insurance Annuities
Time
Consumer fi nancial life cycle
developing markets. We serve our
75 million customers through distribution
channels that we adapt to the market.
We have a track record for building
innovative bank distribution models in
mature and developing markets, and
in key markets we have built strong agent
and broker distribution networks.
Thirdly, we have a leading retail fi nancial
brand (see business case on page 8) that
we will continue to build across the globe.
New strategic focus
To capitalise on changing customer
preferences and build on our solid business
capabilities, we have chosen to sharpen our
strategic focus on banking, investments, life
insurance and retirement services.
We want to provide retail customers
with the products they need to grow
savings, manage investments and
prepare for retirement with confi dence.
We will build and invest more in
bank distribution platforms.
We will increasingly invest in
high-growth markets.
•
•
•
We will focus product offerings on
certain key products and business areas,
including current accounts, savings,
mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, life
insurance, investment-linked insurance
and variable annuities.
We want to further strengthen our product
manufacturing capabilities, including in the
area of investment management. Excellent
investment management skills are crucial
to the success of our strategy. Wholesale
banking expertise is also key to delivering
retail products, as it provides asset
generation and transformation capabilities,
and many skills relevant in risk management
and fi nancial markets. Developments in
recent months have again strengthened
our belief that it is essential that we are
able to generate a good portion of our
own assets to maintain the company’s
healthy profi le.
Another key priority is to invest in bank
distribution platforms. Banking offers
opportunities for early customer acquisition
and maintaining customer relationships,
and is a fast-growing industry in developing
markets. There is also a steady but
fundamental shift towards online banking,
already one of our key differentiators on
which we continue to build.
Starting from strong footprints in Asia,
Central Europe and Latin America, we will
accelerate investments in developing
markets to capture their fundamental long-
term growth, supported by a strong home
market to fuel the expansion.
We will invest signifi cantly in organic
growth and add-on acquisitions,
while continuing to assess our portfolio
management and current businesses in
line with our sharpened strategic focus.
Business initiatives in 2007
We stepped up the pace of our investment
efforts in 2007, starting a major acquisition
programme that gives us strategic
positions in important growth markets
such as Turkey, South Korea, Thailand and
Latin America.
What
customers
want
• As customers live longer they need
to save more to enjoy a comfortable
retirement.
• As customers accumulate more
wealth, this drives strong growth in
total retail client balances, especially
in developing markets.
• Growth is driven by investment
products and customers want
strong performance to meet their
fi nancial goals.
7
ING Group Annual Review 2007