Deals & People July 30, 2012

Allianz Appoints Senior Director of Strategy

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America (Allianz Life) promoted Emily Reitan to senior director of strategy and business development.
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Reitan is responsible for Allianz Life’s market and business development strategy, marketing planning and the company’s retirement strategy. She reports to Nancy Jones, Allianz Life’s chief marketing officer, and will work with leaders across the company.

Before this, Reitan was director of executive projects. In this role, she managed the office of the CEO and reported to President and CEO Walter White and his predecessor, Gary C. Bhojwani. She led strategic projects on behalf of the CEO and coordinated deliverables for the parent company, Allianz SE, and other operating entities within Allianz globally. Reitan also served as the chief financial officer for Questar Capital, a subsidiary of Allianz Life, responsible for modeling, business planning, regulatory reporting and audits. Before joining Allianz Life in 2005, Reitan was a senior financial analyst for Cardinal Health, based in San Diego.

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“Emily brings a wealth of expertise to this role and will be integral in leading business development strategies for Allianz Life,” Jones said. “Her demonstrated ability to synthesize complex information, make innovative recommendations and influence others will be critically important to helping us deliver on our objectives.”

Reitan received her B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She also earned an M.A.in international economic policy from American University in Washington, D.C. Reitan is a financial and operations principal and holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 27 registrations.

Data & Research July 30, 2012

DC Participants Stay the Course in 1Q

Only 1% of defined contribution (DC) plan participants stopped contributing to their plans, and 1.2% took withdrawals in the first quarter, a report found. 
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These figures exactly matched data for the first quarter of 2011, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) report revealed. In the first quarter of 2010, slightly more people (1.1%) stopped contributing to their DC plan. “It is possible that some of these participants stopped contributing because they reached the annual contribution limit,” the ICI said.

As far as hardship withdrawals were concerned, the number also held steady, with 0.4% of plan participants taking out hardship withdrawals in the first quarter, on par with the first quarter of 2011. “The withdrawal and contribution data indicate that essentially all DC plan participants continued to save in their retirement plans at work,” the ICI said.

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Nonetheless, the Institute added, “loan activity continues to remain elevated compared with four years ago. At the end of March 2012, 17.9% of DC plan participants had loans outstanding, compared with 15.3% at year-end 2008. This pattern of activity was also observed in the wake of the bear market and recession earlier in the decade.”

The ICI also noted that few investors changed their portfolios in the first quarter, as the S&P 500 Index rose 12.6%; only 4% changed the asset allocation of their balances, and 4.2% changed the asset allocation of their contributions. “These levels of reallocation activity were similar to the reallocation activity observed in the same time frame a year earlier,” the ICI said.

The ICI data was based on recordkeeping data from 24 million accounts in a variety of DC plans.

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