Deals & People March 23, 2015

Chetney Sells GRP to Adviser Group

Seven retirement plan advisory firms are acquiring Global Retirement Partners (GRP).
Reported by

The initial firms participating in the acquisition, with “definitely more coming,” according to GRP CEO Bill Chetney, are:

  • EPIC Retirement Services Consulting in New York, New York; 
  • Heffernan Financial Services in San Francisco, California;
  • MRP in Denver, Colorado;
  • Oswald Financial, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio;
  • Retirement and Benefits Partners in Slingerlands, New York;
  • StoneStreet Advisor Group in Pearl River, New York; and
  • Washington Financial Group in McLean, Virginia.

Although GRP already had an opportunity for advisers and employees to share in the incremental growth of the company, through what he describes as an  “ESOP concept,” Chetney says the decision for the advisory firms to own GRP was their way to “control their destiny.” The group of advisers is buying into the existing RIA and OSJ, Chetney says. They will charge themselves a haircut like they charge anyone, but the adviser ownership will now get to share in that. 

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“Many of these advisers have been with me a long time,” he says. However, the reality, and perhaps a “nagging concern,” was the lingering question “what if Chetney wants to sell?” By taking ownership of the RIA and OSJ, Chetney says these advisers now own the core part of the business and can have control of their future.  

GRP will retain its name and GRP’s management team will continue to manage day-to-day activities, with Chetney as CEO and Jim Williams as President. 

GRP was established last year, when LPL Financial reached a partnership agreement with Financial Telesis and Bill Chetney, former LPL Retirement Partners president, to create a new retirement plan advisory firm, GRP (see “LPL and Financial Telesis Create New RIA Firm“). Chetney became CEO and partner at the new firm, while Williams Financial Telesis’s founder and CEO, was named president. The company provides retirement plan infrastructure, compliance, commissioning, and personnel to advisers who specialize in the retirement space.

Deals & People March 23, 2015

MassMutual Expands Support for Advisers and Sponsors

MassMutual added eight new sales professionals within its retirement plans business.
Reported by

Six managing directors and two business development managers have been added to increase support for MassMutual’s financial advisers and retirement plan sponsors. The appointed professionals include Rick Pardo, Don Worden, Dean Staroselskiy, Jasonn Potter, Jenny Dodson, Scott Littlewood, Kevin Rogers and Raeann Sarsfield.

The managing directors are responsible for training and educating advisers about the company’s retirement plan products and services, identifying retirement plan prospects, and making the case for the company and its products. Working alongside this group, the new business development managers support sales at benefit agencies and build relationships at payroll providers, professional employer organizations and professional associations.

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The newly appointed managing directors are as follows: 

  • Pardo will drive emerging market plan sales for Arkansas, Louisiana and the Mississippi coast. He joins from John Hancock Retirement Services where he held the position of regional vice president. He reports to Brian Robb, regional sales manager.
  • Having previously served for MassMutual’s Retirement Services in Orlando, Florida, Worden, in his new role, supports market plan sales for the greater San Diego area. He reports to Frank Bruno, regional sales manager, retirement sales.
  • Joining from John Hancock Retirement Services in Dallas, Staroselskiy reports to Robb and covers the Western Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, West Texas, and Western Oklahoma area focusing on emerging market plan sales.
  • Potter covers the emerging market plan sales for Las Vegas, Southern Idaho and Utah. He previously served as a financial adviser in Salt Lake City and also worked in retirement plan sales for Guardian and The Standard. He reports to Robb.
  • Reporting to Tanya Jones, regional sales manager, Dodson is responsible for covering institutional markets in Central and South Texas. She most recently served as a senior relationship manager for MassMutual Retirement Services in Houston, Texas.
  • Littlewood supports emerging market plan sales in upstate and Western New York, including Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. He joins from ADP where he was a retirement plan wholesaler, and currently reports to Shefali Desai, regional sales manger.

The business development managers include the following:

  • Supporting 11 managing directors in Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Rogers reports to Bill Hicks, regional sales manager. Previously, he served as a regional sales consultant for MassMutual Retirement Services.
  • Sarsfield supports nine managing directors in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. He brings seven years’ experience with MassMutual and reports to Robb.

The eight hires replace openings and bring the number of MassMutual retirement plan sales professionals to 78.

    “We continue to have strong growth in sales of retirement plans, which means we need to continue strengthening our nationwide network of sales professionals to support financial advisers, plan sponsors, and participants,” says Scott Buffington, vice president of sales for retirement services.

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