Paul Budgen has left his role as business development director at Nest to take on the same role with tech-based master trust provider Smart Pension.
Budgen has nearly 25 years of experience at providers including Legal & General, Aviva, HSBC and Aegon.
He joined Nest in May 2013 and has been one of Nest’s most high profile figures in the large employer, corporate IFA and EBC sector.
He starts at Smart Pension next week based at its new Paddington headquarters. Smart Pension now runs workplace pensions for 80,000 employers and 400,000 members and says it has 1,000 members a day joining the scheme.
Budgen says: “Ten years ago, pensions were pretty dull but we were on the eve of something big and different and therefore I joined Nest in 2013 to be at the heart of auto enrolment. Nest had the potential to be the biggest player and I wanted to help make a difference. Nest is now the largest master trust in this country. But we now need to focus on building the next stage of the automatic enrolment programme.
“My latest decision to move is for similar reasons as before. Smart Pension is where the industry innovation is at, the company is not limited in its imagination and can move quickly into exciting new products and services.
“I was attracted to Smart Pension’s attitude, ambition and pace. It’s what the industry needs to see if it is going to help solve the UK’s ticking retirement time bomb once and for all. I’m looking forward to working with the team to make a difference to people’s lives.”
Smart Pension co-founder and CEO Andrew Evans says: “Everyone in the industry knows Paul for his deep working knowledge and integrity. He was one of the first to understand the potential of auto enrolment for changing people’s life experience – and it’s clear he’s recognised that Smart Pension has a major role to play in that.”