Insurance provider Aviva has appointed Kay Westgarth as its head of retirement distribution.
Westgarth will report to Matt McGill, managing director of equity release at Aviva.
She brings more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to the role and joins from Key Group, where she was group manufacturing sales director for less than a year.
Westgarth also worked at Standard Life Home Finance for over two years, most recently as sales director. There, she helped the later life lender launch to the intermediary market.
She has also held roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Prudential and Towergate Group. In these roles, Westgarth has had the responsibility of setting up and leading sales teams, overseeing market launches and driving brand growth.
McGill said: “We are excited to have Kay on board. She has an important role to play as we navigate new opportunities to develop the retirement market, supporting advisers to achieve the best outcomes for customers.”
Westgarth (pictured) added: “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead the retirement distribution division, working with a team that values collaboration and innovation to deliver solutions for advisers and their clients.”
Aviva recently announced changes to its proposition and leadership team following its £460m acquisition of AIG Life in April. This resulted in Phil Willcock announcing he would step down as CEO of AIG Life, while Aviva said it was “keen” to retain some aspects of AIG Life’s business.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
