Ian Smart has been recognised with the Outstanding Contribution Award at the UK Health & Protection Awards 2022.
Smart was nominated for his long-term commitment and dedication to growing and supporting the UK protection market.
He worked in the protection insurance world for the better part of 40 years, including more than a quarter of a century at Royal London.
After breaking into the industry in the early 1980s he spent a decade learning the ropes across a wide variety of specialisms before moving to Royal London.
He has since played a key role in the evolution and development of the UK protection industry for the last 27 years.
This includes creating a step-change in the market with the launch of specialist protection insurer Bright Grey in the early 2000s.
He was also one half of the team that formulated the first relevant life plan and kicked off much of the modern business protection market.
More recently he has been leading the charge to introduce the beneficiary nomination process and has been passionate about cross-industry work to benefit everyone involved in the sector.
His support to advisers with detailed technical questions has become indispensable and having retired in the summer he will be sorely missed.
Pictured: Ian Smart (centre) receives the Outstanding Contribution Award from Allianz Partners chief sales officer David Myers (left) and comedian Chris Ramsey (right).