Cameron to lead combined team as Vahey and Williams leave in Aegon shake-up

20 January 2011 | By Nicole Blackmore

Aegon head of industry development Peter Williams and head of pensions development Rachel Vahey are leaving the company as a result of its restructuring programme.

It is streamlining its regulatory analysis and political affairs teams as part of the programme, announced last June, which will see it focus on at-retirement and workplace savings. Aegon hopes to reduce its operating costs by 25 per cent by the end of this year.

Aegon’s corporate affairs, business regulation and pensions development teams will become one team.

Williams joined Scottish Equitable in 1977, working in sales and training before taking on his current role. He has championed higher standards and
professionalism. He will leave Aegon at the end of March. He chairs the Chartered Insurance Institute’s qualifications, examination and assessment committee and will continue to do so.

Vahey joined Scottish Equitable in 1998. Her career at Scottish Equitable and Aegon has included working in marketing, project management and pension policy.
She took on her current role in 2006 and has led Aegon’s work in helping shape pension policy. She will leave in early April.

In September, Aegon ann-ounced that head of corporate affairs Francis McGee will leave the company this month.

Head of business regulation Steven Cameron has been appointed head of regulatory strategy, responsible for leading the new combined team.

Cameron joined Scottish Equitable in 1996 as head of pensions development and in his 15 years with Aegon he has played a key role in analysing regulatory developments, most recently leading Aegon’s analysis and lobbying on the retail distribution review. He has worked closely with industry groups, including the Association of British Insurers and Scottish Financial Enterprise.

Aegon UK finance director Clare Bousfield says: “Having the best possible understanding of the changing regulatory landscape is key to our strategy development and delivery. It is important we maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Government, the regulator and other key stakeholders within our industry. I would like to thank Francis, Rachel and Peter for their valuable contribution over the years and we wish them every success in their future careers.”

Affluent Financial Planning managing director Carl Melvin says: “From the IFA perspective, it is all about service issues, because the thing that sets an insurer apart from its competitors is the service commitment. If you cut people from the equation, how can you maintain good service levels?”

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