Aegon UK has made changes to its protection business.

Dougy Grant (pictured), previously retail strategy director, has been appointed as Aegon UK’s new protection director. This role now takes on the responsibility for the entire protection business.

Additional distribution capacity is being created with six new roles in the distribution team, including a distribution development director and a head of protection sales.

The existing protection distribution director role is proposed redundant and John Wilkinson, who was previously responsible for the protection proposition, has now left the company

Duncan Jarrett, managing director of retail and at retirement at Aegon UK, said: “Protection remains a core part of the Aegon UK strategy. Recent investment in the proposition has driven strong results and these improvements will continue.

“Aegon’s ambition is to get the UK ready for retirement and Protection is a key part in making sure that those plans are robust enough so that when the unthinkable happens, our customers can concentrate on what matters without worrying about money.

“There is great potential in the Protection market and it’s well aligned to the rest the Aegon UK proposition. I’m confident the changes we’ve announced today will help continue our drive back into this market.”