Hayhoe's departure and Casey's appointment came as a result of a restructuring by Aegon of its distribution structure last year. "At this time we took the decision to merge all distribution responsibilities for Aegon Ireland in the UK under one role, distribution director," a company spokesperson said. The changes were not announced at the time. Hayhoe, who had been with Aegon for five years in total, has meantime joined Just Retirement Group, a UK-based annuities and equity release mortgages specialist, in the business development area. Just Retirement had an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in November.