Retirement Industry People Moves

Ascensus Appoints Kennedy VP of Insurance, Nonqualified Retirement Plan Sales

Clay Kennedy

Ascensus LLC announced the promotion of Clay Kennedy to vice president of insurance and nonqualified retirement plan sales.

Kennedy will lead the activities of the NQDC and insurance sales team. Under Ascensus’ institutional solutions line of business, he will grow the distribution of nonqualified recordkeeping services and institutional life insurance programs.

Kennedy joined the firm in 2020 as a regional director responsible for distribution of nonqualified retirement plan sales. In his new role, he will report to Kurt Laning, president of institutional solutions.

“Clay has extensive knowledge in nonqualified plan strategy, design, consultation, implementation, enrollment, and financing,” Laning said in a statement. “Furthermore, his experience working with retail advisors contributes to successful outcomes for our executive benefits clients and advisor partners.”

Pentegra Announces Finnegan as SVP, General Counsel

Kevin Finnegan

Pentegra Retirement Services named Kevin Finnegan as senior vice president and general counsel. He will report to Pentegra’s president and CEO, Eric Wietsma.

“Kevin’s sophisticated legal experience and knowledge of the business made him a natural addition to our team,” said Wietsma in a statement. “He is a proven leader in the retirement industry and will be a valued partner to me and to our executive team.”

Finnegan will oversee Pentegra’s legal and compliance teams. He brings a track record of strategic legal, tax and retirement experience to Pentegra. He moves from MassMutual, where he served as lead counsel for tax and ERISA and as head of workplace and institutional solutions law.

“I am excited to join Pentegra at this stage of the organization’s growth and look forward to partnering with my colleagues to further advance our strategic goals,” said Finnegan in a statement.

Greenman Named Partner at GW&K Investment Management

Gabriela Greenman

GW&K Investment Management announced Gabriela Greenman as a new partner in the firm.

Since joining the firm in 2010, Greenman has served as an equity research analyst on the firm’s domestic small cap equity team, focusing on the consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors. She is a member of GW&K’s investment, ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion committees.

“Gaby’s keen insight, commitment to our disciplined research process, and expertise have played an important role in driving the success of our domestic small cap strategies and their strong track records,” Thomas Powers, GW&K’s co-CEO, said in a statement. “There is no doubt in our minds that she will bring this same determination and commitment to the partnership team.”

Hexure Names Vaidyanathan as Chief Technology Officer

Nag Vaidyanathan

Hexure, a provider of sales and regulatory automation solutions for the life and annuity industry, announced the appointment of Nag Vaidyanathan as its chief technology officer.

Vaidyanathan will lead technology strategy and the delivery of Hexure’s digital sales process for wealth management, financial and insurance products.

“Our entire technology and development team is focused on creating solutions that power better digital sales connectivity, processes and experiences so our clients can achieve their business goals,” said Hexure’s CEO, Laird Rixford, in a statement. “With his experience, vision and technical expertise, we’re excited to have Nag lead the team to the next level for our clients.”

Vaidyanathan previously served in the same roles at Duck Creek Technologies and OneMain Financial, as CIO at Danske Bank in Denmark and spent 20 years at Allstate.

The Standard Promotes Louw in Information Security

Piet Louw

Standard Insurance Company announced that Piet Louw has been promoted to second vice president of information security and deputy chief information security officer.

Louw will be responsible for overseeing security engineering; asset and platform security; and security program management. Louw joined The Standard in 2021, serving as senior director of information security program management. He led the effort to obtain the company’s SOC2 security attestation.

Prior to joining The Standard, Louw was senior director of technology services for Trader Joe’s and director of service strategy and design at UTi Worldwide.

“Piet’s deep experience, strong leadership and organizational skills will serve him well in his new role,” said Laxman Prakash, assistant vice president and chief information security officer at The Standard, in a statement.