Financial Engines Announces CEO Succession

Managed account and investment services provider Financial Engines announced Lawrence Raffone will succeed Jeffrey Maggioncalda as chief executive officer of the firm, effective January 1, 2015.

Maggioncalda has served as Financial Engines CEO since the company’s founding in 1996. He will step down from the Financial Engines board of directors on December 31, 2014, but will continue to serve as an adviser to the company under Raffone’s direction during 2015. Raffone, currently the firm’s president, will join the board at the start of next year upon his appointment as CEO, the firm says.

In a statement announcing the decision, Paul Koontz, chairman of the Financial Engines board, thanks Maggioncalda for 18 years of service to the company.

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“Jeff’s intellect, dedication and passionate leadership have made Financial Engines what it is today,” Koontz notes, adding that Raffone is “an accomplished executive with proven strategic and operational expertise [who] has been the architect of the distribution strategy that has led to our impressive growth.”

In reflecting on his experiences at Financial Engines, Maggioncalda says it was “a rare opportunity to work with one of my heroes, Bill Sharpe, to build a company that has helped change the lives of millions of people.” He also notes that the firm has gained $100 billion in assets as an independent registered investment adviser (RIA), adding that he has “complete confidence that the company is poised for the next stage of growth.”

“It is a privilege to succeed Jeff as CEO of Financial Engines,” Raffone says. “I strongly believe in our purpose to provide our customers with the retirement help they deserve and as CEO will see that we continue to fulfill it for many years to come.”

Raffone was appointed president of Financial Engines in 2012. He joined Financial Engines in 2001 as executive vice president for distribution and institutional services. Prior to joining Financial Engines, Raffone served as the executive vice president of Fidelity Investments’ Institutional Brokerage Group, a division of Fidelity Investments, from January 1988 to January 2001. He received a master’s in business administration from Babson College and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Bryant University.

Sharpe and Maggioncalda together received the 2008 PLANSPONSOR Legends Award for innovation in the retirement plan services industry.

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