Richard Denning, the man tasked with developing Aegon’s platform, has quit, to "have a break from corporate life."
According to Aegon's website, which still listed Mr Denning as an employee this morning (26 September), he joined the provider in April 2013 as chief operating officer and took up the position of chief transformation and digital officer in June 2018.
Mr Denning was tasked with leading Aegon’s IT strategy and was responsible for customer services, IT and platform development.
Aegon platform users have been hit with extensive problems since the start of May.
Over the May Bank Holiday weekend more than 400,000 users of the Cofunds retail platform and £37bn of assets were moved across to the Aegon platform.
Aegon bought Cofunds in 2016 for £140m and had been planning the integration of the two platforms ever since.
Since the replatforming, FTAdviser has received feedback from advisers around the country who have experienced difficulties using the revamped platform.
Advisers have described waiting on the telephone for up to half an hour to speak to Aegon staff, while another described the service level agreements (SLAs) that state how long it will take the platform to complete a task as a "joke" due to the delays.
Mr Denning has spent his entire career in financial services for businesses such as Prudential and Old Mutual.
His focus for the last 17 years has been on platforms, where he has held a number of senior executive positions.
However a spokesman for Aegon said he is now taking a break from “corporate life.”
The spokesman said: “Richard Denning is leaving Aegon, having tendered his resignation, deciding that now is the time for him to have a break from corporate life.
"Richard has been key to our transformation journey since 2010 and we are very grateful for the key role he has played in helping us build the largest platform in the market."
Aegon recently announced that the bulk of the major problems on the platform had been resolved.
Jenny Griffiths, an adviser at CP Griffiths in Stourbridge, told FTAdviser she has not noticed any improvement, as she tries to transfer clients away from the site.
david.thorpe@ft.com
