Retirement Industry People Moves

Art by Subin Yang

Integrated Pension Services Names New Managing Director

Integrated Partners’ retirement planning and pension services arm, Integrated Pension Services, has hired Jason Grantz as institutional retirement sales and marketing managing director. 

In this role, Grantz is responsible for educating financial advisers and their clients about topics relating to retirement plans and third-party administrator (TPA) services. Grantz’s hiring comes after Integrated Pension Services recently acquired Benefits 21.  

Passionate about clarifying misconceptions about retirement planning, Grantz is the co-creator and primary author of The 401(k) Plan Blog. He has also been published in several industry journals, including the Journal of Pension Benefits, the Journal of Compensation and Benefits, and the ASPPA Journal.  

Grantz is focused on working to expand retirement security nationally and helping defeat elder poverty by creating well-designed plans. 

“Retirement coverage is among the biggest societal problems we have in this country,” Grantz says. “Less than two-thirds of working Americans have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, and of the group with access, only 20% to 40% are on track to successfully retire and replace their paycheck in a way that is sustainable for the rest of their life. That is why we are facing elder poverty issues in this country.” 

Grantz was previously the director of institutional retirement consulting at Unified Trust Co., where he worked for more than a dozen years. Before that, he was assistant vice president of retirement plans at AllianceBernstein.  

WIPN Announces 2022 Board Members

WE Inspire Promote Network (WIPN) has announced its 2022 board members. Lisa Smith, senior vice president and head of national accounts at Fidelity Investments Workplace Investing, is the incoming president, assuming the role from past president, Jennifer Norr, vice president at CUNA Mutual Group.

“Over the past year under Jennifer’s leadership, WIPN rose to the challenge of expanding our support and resources to meet the unique needs of women in our industry and met a tremendous growth milestone of over 1,500 members. I’m excited to take over a thriving organization at a societal inflection point regarding the advancement of diversity, equality and inclusion [DE&I] initiatives for women in the retirement industry,” Smith says. “WIPN’s proprietary research findings, which focused on the value of networking and mentoring, the significance of a clear career path and culture of inclusion, and clarity around compensation and work-life balance, will be expanded upon in 2022 to give us a platform to further the conversation of positive, accelerated progress for women in the retirement industry.”

Additional board members for 2022 include:

• Vice president: Jennifer Mulrooney, American Century Investments vice president and regional retirement consultant
• Treasurer: Lauren Hill, national accounts at John Hancock Retirement
• Board secretary: Lisa Allen, Advisor2X chief revenue officer
• National events: Sheri Fitts, Sheri Fitts & Co. CEO
• Programming and research: Theresa Conti, Sunwest Pensions president
• Membership: Tina Schackman, BFSG LLC principal
• Diversity, equity and inclusion: Rosalyn Brown, PNC senior business development officer
• Mentorship: Jean Martone, T. Rowe Price executive relationship manager
• Strategic Marketing: Christina Tunison, financial adviser at LPL Financial
• Sponsorship: Mindy O’Connor, Ascensus head of business development
• Eastern regional chapters: Pam Brooks, Oswald Financial Inc. senior client manager
• Western regional chapters: Ivana Polonijo, Fiduciary Decisions chief client officer

Relational Gravity Hires Principal Consultant

Jeff Hutson has returned to Relational Gravity as a principal consultant after 15 years as chief communication officer at the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS). At the retirement system, he led communication, retirement financial education and voice-of-the-customer research. He will provide similar services for clients of Relational Gravity.

Hutson is a Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC) with more than 30 years of research, communication, public relations and marketing experience. He is an Accredited Business Communicator and holds an Insights Professional Certification in market research. A graduate of Butler University and Ball State University, he holds a certificate in market research from the University of Georgia.

Aviva Investors Adds to Global High-Yield Team

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, announced it has strengthened its global high-yield team with the appointment of Sau Mui as a fund manager.

Mui has joined as a fund manager on the global high-yield, short-duration global high-yield, and U.S. high-yield strategies. Based in Chicago, Mui reports to Brent Finck and Sunita Kara, global co-heads of high-yield funds at Aviva Investors.

Prior to joining Aviva Investors, Mui was a portfolio manager for PPM America in Chicago, where she managed the firm’s core-plus and credit-plus strategies. Before assuming that role in 2019, Mui was a senior credit research analyst with the same firm, responsible for researching global investment grade and high-yield corporates in the financials sector.

Her prior experience includes positions as a credit research analyst with Harris Associates and as a high-yield research associate with Putnam Investments.