SITTING in the departure lounge at Miami airport on Thursday night, a shrill chime on Otto Thoresen's mobile phone told him there was news from the Scottish Financial Enterprise Innovation Awards, being held on the other side of The Pond in Glasgow.
The chief executive of Aegon UK and Mark Laidlaw, Thoresen's chief financial officer, were "delighted" when they read the text message telling them that they had scooped the top prize at the innovation awards for the second year running.
Thoresen
and Laidlaw were returning from the United States, where they had taken part in a three-day Aegon global management meeting, while their colleagues collected the award at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow.
The Dutch life insurance and pensions giant – which owns the Scottish Equitable brand and has its UK headquarters in Edinburgh – won the "innovation in customer services" category and then took the overall prize for its "flexible adviser remuneration" package.
Aegon UK's package aims to plug the "advice gap" that arises when customers nearing retirement have a pension pot of less than £25,000. Many customers find they cannot get competitive annuity deals to buy because the renumeration that advisers would receive for handling their case is so low.
Aegon's product allows advisers to agree an appropriate charge with the customer and then set the level of commission from the annuity to cover the amount, up to 3 per cent.
Thoresen says: "We were delighted to win this award and to win it two years in a row is remarkable. At a time when we're in a challenge industry, to be able to focus on new ideas is a very good thing.
"When you've brought an idea together and delivered it to the market, then it's great to get this kind of recognition from your peers and people looking at what's going on in the industry.
"But I think the real reward becomes when you see business developing as a result of it. I think we are seeing results coming through: when we published our new business figures, we saw growth focused on the annuity part of our business compared to the same period last year."
Owen Kelly, SFE's chief executive, adds: "Aegon is leading the way in improving financial capability, with the personal commitment of its chief executive Otto Thoreson as its driving force. Its winning innovation is customer-facing, while encouraging advisers to support the customer to get the best deal for their circumstances.
"Improving communication between the industry and its customers is key to future success."
Commenting on last week's trip to the US to meet with colleagues from around the world, Thoresen says: "It was interesting to understand how the financial storms that are raging in the economies and markets globally are affecting real customers and advisers.
"Colleagues in the United States were also asking how Barack Obama was seen in Europe and how his presidency may affect how the US is viewed abroad."
Asked if Aegon UK's award-winning package could be taken abroad, Thoresen replies: "There are big differences in the way other markets operate, but the concept of improving access to advice is one that will absolutely transfer overseas.
"Our flexible renumeration concept is very much about helping that access to professional advice."
Last year, Aegon won the competition, which is run in association with accountancy firm Ernst & Young, with its "Five for Life" retirement package.
Previous recipients of the overall prize include Royal Bank of Scotland for being the first bank in Europe to try using contact-less payment cards and Edinburgh University for its master of science in finance and investment degree.
Winners in the other three categories at the SFE's innovation awards – of which The Scotsman is the media partner – have also been celebrating over the weekend.
Standard Life took the "innovative use of technology" title for using image-recognition software to scan all of the mail entering its buildings. The company's annual post bag bulges with two million pieces of mail, amounting to about ten million pages, and the new system saved Standard Life more than £1 million a year.
In the "innovation in products and services" category, Royal Bank of Scotland emerged triumphant with its emergency cash service.
Customers who lose their bank card can make one telephone call to an emergency helpline and then have a three-hour window in which to withdraw up to £300 from a cash machine.
The imaginatively-titled "Project Thunderbird", run by BNP Paribas, took the award in the "innovative approaches to people and skills" category.
The French bank has rapidly increased the size of its Dundee and Glasgow offices and now employs 330 staff in Scotland.
BNP ran "Project Thunderbird" to measure the reaction of existing and new staff to the changes in culture brought about by the sudden increase in its Scottish business.
Standard Life also received a special award from the judges for its "Step Up In Life" programme, which won the "investment in the future" award.
The programme was designed to prepare school pupils to enter the world of work using a series of workshops on filling in application forms and going for job interviews.
Tom McGrath, managing partner for financial services in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa at Ernst & Young, says: "The Scottish market has always been innovative and punched above its weight in global financial services. This is the leadership and innovation that our institutions need to continue, in order to develop opportunities both here and across the globe."
Kelly adds: "This has been a difficult year for the industry, and we are all learning to adapt to a new environment and learn lessons from the past. But Scotland must continue to compete on the global stage, and innovation – bringing better customer services and products – is vital."
The full article contains 975 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
