Aegon is creating 16 new roles in its corporate business in a strategic restructure that will see 106 redundancies across the organisation.
The provider is also cutting the number of regional sales centres from 12 to six as it implements the review of its UK business announced in June.
The review will see Aegon focus on two core markets of ’at retirement’ and ’workplace savings’, while reducing operating costs by 25 per cent by end of 2011. Further strategic announcements as to how Aegon will restructure the rest of the organisation are expected towards the end of the month.
Aegon’s Daresbury-based Trustee Solutions business, which provides third party pension administration services to trustees will also be wound down. Aegon says it has taken this decision because the third party administration market is dominated by a number of large providers, putting pressure on margins.
But its Edinburgh-based Aegon Trustee Solutions business, which offers final salary and actuarial consultancy to pension scheme trustees, is unaffected by this decision.
The life office’s ’Corporate Solutions’ arm will benefit from half of the 32 new posts being created under the restructure.
It says centralised new business processing will reduce turnaround times for advisers. The new regional sales centres will be Scotland, based in Glasgow; Northern, based in Manchester; Midlands, based in Birmingham, London, based in Kingsway; South West and Wales, based in Bristol and South Central, based in Guildford. The Edinburgh, Leeds, East Midlands, South East, Watford and East Anglia sales centres will close.
New business processing, previously managed from within regional sales centres, will be centralised to Edinburgh’s customer service centre.
Aegon UK sales director Duncan Jarrett says: “The financial advisory market is changing rapidly, as advisers prepare their business models for the changes brought about by the retail distribution review, and make greater use of technology in running their business.
“We have invested in training and developing one of the most knowledgeable and highly qualified sales forces in the industry so that we can provide advisers with the support they need as they adapt their businesses for the future. The changes we are announcing will ensure our sales force remains at the leading edge in the years ahead.”