Deals & People

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America announced an appointment to the newly created position of field director of retirement plan sales.

Lincoln Financial Distributors (LFD), the wholesale distribution business of Lincoln Financial Group, added four specialists to its retirement plan services intermediary sales team.

Global Financial Private Capital, an independent registered investment adviser (RIA), has integrated its retirement planning services platform with those of Aspire Financial Services and DWC ERISA Consultants.

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, an independent retirement plan advisory network, announced the opening of a new office in Columbia, Missouri, and the hiring of two financial advisers.

Edmund F. Murphy III has been named president of Great-West Financial’s combined retirement organization, integrating the businesses of Great-West Financial, Putnam Investments and J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services.

John O’Leary has joined Benetech Inc., a third-party administration (TPA) firm supporting advisers in the small- and mid-size retirement plan market, as a regional pension consultant.

Peter Stephan and Jim Norman have joined QBI LLC, a provider of administration and consulting services for qualified retirement plans, to lead business development in Orange County, California.

Independent Financial Partners (IFP), a hybrid registered investment advisory (RIA), has hired Louis Hanna as its new director of recruiting.

Mercer Investments is adding four senior investment professionals to its staff to provide additional client support across the firm’s North America regions.

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Defined Contribution Advisors Inc., known as DCAdvisors.

Christopher Han, Michael Demler and Michael Palace have joined Ascensus as regional vice presidents. 

Mike DiCenso joined Mesirow Financial as managing director and head of national sales on the investment strategies team. 

Robert Straus has joined Innovest Portfolio Solutions as a vice president, tasked with supporting due diligence efforts and providing investment consulting services to Innovest clients.

William Mitchner joined the Cleveland office of Segal Rogerscasey as a vice president and senior consultant.

Brandon Budd has joined The Standard as a retirement plan consultant for the company’s south sales region. 

Great-West Financial has completed its acquisition of the J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services large-market recordkeeping business.

Benjamin Thomason has joined Securian Retirement as a divisional vice president with expertise in large plans.

MassMutual has named Aruna Hobbs as head of institutional investments for retirement plans.

John Krieg has been appointed global head of institutional distribution at Northern Trust Asset Management.

Moira Hagy has joined Assurance Financial Services’ retirement plan services team as a vice president.