Products December 15, 2014

Prudential Retirement Creates Gibraltar Ventures

The new Gibraltar Ventures organization will explore, develop and invest in new strategies to advance retirement and financial security, according to Prudential.
Reported by

Prudential Retirement, a business unit of Prudential Financial, has launched Gibraltar Ventures as a separate organization focused on developing new investment ideas and business strategies.

Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement, says Gibraltar Ventures “will build on Prudential Retirement’s significant successes over the past several years and complement our existing efforts to help more people prepare for their financial futures with confidence.”

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Asked to elaborate on the work Gibraltar will do, Marcks shared a written statement with PLANADVISER:

“Prudential Retirement has a successful track record of growing our core portfolio of businesses and developing new sources of revenue ahead of market demand, as we did with IncomeFlex and Pension Risk Transfer strategies. Gibraltar Ventures will build on that foundation to explore unique solutions that will help overcome behavioral and financial obstacles to long term savings and retirement security for our clients. It’s likely that Gibraltar Ventures will also explore ideas beyond the current scope of our three core businesses. What’s different about Gibraltar Ventures is that we are creating a stand-alone organization under the direction of a senior leader who is responsible for both incubating and investing in potentially disruptive ideas. We expect Gibraltar Ventures to both challenge and complement our current innovation efforts.”

George Castineiras, head of Prudential Retirement’s defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified executive benefits business, has been tapped to lead Gibraltar Ventures. James McInnes, a member of the Total Retirement Solutions leadership team since 2009, will be promoted to head of Total Retirement Solutions, filing Castineiras’ previous role. Both Castineiras and McInnes will begin their new roles on January 1, 2015, and report directly to Marcks.

“I am pleased to launch Gibraltar Ventures under George’s leadership,” Marcks adds. “George’s experience in this industry and passion for innovation make him a natural choice to launch this effort.”

The strategy for Total Retirement Solutions business will remain unchanged, according to Prudential.

Deals & People December 15, 2014

Blue Prairie Group Grows Plan Consulting Network

Chicago-based institutional retirement and investment consulting firm Blue Prairie Group added Jere Cowden and Mark Muto to its network of retirement specialist consultants.
Reported by

Blue Prairie Group (BPG) says the pair will lead the Pittsburgh office as part of its adviser affiliate program.

Prior to joining Blue Prairie, Cowden and Muto were principals of Cowden Financial Services, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act-focused registered investment adviser. As part of the partnership, Cowden Financial Services will adopt the Blue Prairie Group brand and will have access to Blue Prairie’s in house research team, systematic marketing efforts, and proprietary tools and reports, including the firm’s stable value database and the BPG Plan Health Report.

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“The partnership with Blue Prairie Group allows us to leverage the scale and efficiencies of a larger, nationally recognized firm, while delivering personalized local consulting services to our clients,” Cowden explains. “We are also very confident this partnership will help to propel our growth in the coming years.”

Muto says the team will continue to advise on a variety of plan types and complicated client situations related to retirement benefits. “BPG brings a great deal of depth and expertise to the table that truly separates them from the other firms we considered,” he adds.  

More information is available at www.blueprairiegroup.com.

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