Retirement Industry People Moves – 4/18/24

Ascensus Names Torgerson to Lead Small Business Segment

Mary Torgerson

Ascensus announced that Mary Torgerson will join the company as its new head of small business retirement on April 29. Torgerson will report to Ascensus President Nick Good and join the Ascensus retirement line of business leadership team.

The Small Business Retirement segment serves sponsors and employers seeking savings solutions for businesses with smaller employee populations and supports Ascensus’ existing CoPilot business, Individual 401(k), Multi-SEP, SIMPLE IRA and similar plans.

“Mary Torgerson is a proven leader with a strong track record driving revenue growth, product, and business development,” Good said in a statement. “She has an enviable track record of success and deep understanding of small business clients’ needs, and is a tremendous addition to both the business and the broader leadership team.”

Good added, “Mary arrives at a very opportune time, given news of our exciting acquisition of the Vanguard business serving Individual 401(k), Multi-SEP, and SIMPLE IRA plans. Like our own CoPilot bundled retirement solutions, these plans are at the heart of the small business retirement segment, and the acquisition dramatically enhances both our market share and momentum in this vital space.”

New York Life Hires Nixon as Head of Group Benefit Solutions Claim Operations

Orla Nixon

New York Life Group Benefit Solutions announced the appointment of Orla Nixon as vice president, head of claim operations. She will report to Scott Berlin, senior vice president of New York Life’s Group Insurance Businesses.

In this role, Nixon will lead GBS claim operations, responsible for overseeing claims strategy, optimizing operations and delivery for group disability, life, waiver and voluntary benefit claims.

“We are excited to welcome Orla to New York Life Group Benefit Solutions,” Berlin said in a statement. “Her experience strengthening claim operations through a customer-focused lens makes her the ideal candidate to lead the team as we continually drive to elevate our customers’ experience.”

Throughout her career, Nixon has overseen short-term disability, long-term disability, absence management, life and waiver claim operations. She has also led clinical, vocational, quality and compliance teams. Her most recent role was assistant vice president, group benefits claims, long-term disability at The Hartford. Prior, she served as senior director of claims at Aetna before its acquisition by The Hartford.

Pettman Joins TIFIN as Chief Revenue Officer and President

Rob Pettman

TIFIN, an AI and innovation platform for wealth, announced the appointment of Rob Pettman as its chief revenue officer and president. He will report directly to TIFIN’s founder and CEO, Dr. Vinay Nair.

In his new role, Pettman will oversee revenue generation strategies, strategic partnerships and drive the company’s growth initiatives across TIFIN’s companies. Pettman joins the company from LPL Financial. In his 19 years at LPL, he worked in various roles across product management and wealth management strategy.

Most recently Pettman was executive vice president of wealth management solutions at LPL. In this role, he was responsible for managing LPL’s wealth management platform, including overseeing investment product distribution, advisory platforms, research, retirement plan business and relationships with product and technology companies.

“Rob’s extensive experience and deep understanding of the financial advisory landscape make him the perfect fit to help TIFIN’s growth as we enter a phase of scaling and deployment,” Nair said in a statement. “At the same time, his familiarity with adviser, asset manager and insurance provider frustrations will help us with relevant ongoing innovation.”

Axos Clearing Hires New Business Development Head

Gil Addeo

Axos Clearing, the clearing and custody arm of Axos Financial, has brought on Gil Addeo as senior vice president of business development, a newly created position. He reports to David Crow, executive vice president and head of Axos Clearing.

Addeo will be responsible for expanding Axos Clearing’s reach within the U.S. and Latin America. The addition is key to the company’s goal of expanding its services to independent brokers/dealers and RIAs. Axos Clearing currently has $33 billion in assets under management across 65 IBDs and 233 RIA clients.

Addeo joins Axos from FIS, a banking and payments technology provider, where he served as a managing director in FIS’s commercial lending division. Prior to FIS, Addeo was an executive vice president of global business development at Atlas FinTech Holdings, a financial services firm that provides specialized banking services.

Sithens Hired as a Retirement Plan Consultant at SageView

Ben Sithens

Ben Sithens has been hired as a retirement plan consultant at SageView Advisory Group‘s Atlanta office. He will work with 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit and non-qualified deferred compensation plan sponsors.

Sithens has more than 20 years of financial services industry experience and recently worked as an investment and retirement plan consultant at Alliant Retirement Services.