Retirement Industry People Moves

Envestnet to Acquire FolioDynamix

Envestnet, a provider of intelligence systems for wealth management and financial wellness, announced it will acquire FolioDynamix, a provider of integrated wealth management technology solutions.

FolioDynamix is an Actua company providing financial institutions, registered investment advisers, and other wealth management clients with an end-to-end technology solution paired with a suite of advisory tools including model portfolios, research, and overlay management services. The acquisition will add complementary trading tools as well as commission and brokerage support to Envestnet’s existing suite of offerings.

“Acquiring FolioDynamix advances our growth strategy and creates value for our shareholders,” says Jud Bergman, chairman and CEO of Envestnet. “This acquisition, our sixth significant transaction since 2010, expands our industry footprint, allowing us to further leverage our operating scale and data analytics capabilities as we continue to build the financial wellness network and help our clients deliver better outcomes. Together, we will have the broadest, integrated suite of products and services for enterprises and financial advisers, boosting their productivity. We are eager to welcome and continue to serve FolioDynamix’s clients.”

Joseph Mrak, chairman and CEO of FolioDynamix, adds: “We are excited to join forces with Envestnet, enabling us to expand how we serve our customers. Integrating FolioDynamix’s powerful trading tools into Envestnet’s unified wealth management, financial planning and data analytics platform offers each of our customers the best of both worlds.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions including the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and receipt of certain third-party consents.

Nuveen Expands DCIO Sales Team

James Polito has been named vice president, DCIO regional sales director by Nuveen. He is based in Charlotte and will cover the Southeastern United States.

He brings to his new role more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry including time spent specializing in the defined contribution investment only (DCIO) space. Most recently, he covered the Southeastern U.S. as part of BNY Mellon’s DCIO sales team. Previously, he served on the DCIO sales team at MFS and in national accounts at Federated Investors.

NEXT: Kovack Securities Partners With Capital Guardian

Kovack Securities Partners With Capital Guardian

Kovack Securities, a privately-owned independent broker-dealer, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, announced a strategic alliance with Capital Guardian, an independent broker-dealer and wealth management boutique based in Miami, Florida.

Under this alliance, Capital Guardian’s 35 financial advisers will affiliate with the independent broker-dealer of Kovack Securities. The firm notes that Capital Guardian has dissolved its own broker-dealer platform and become an independent branch or Super-OSJ [Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction] of Kovack Securities for all future brokerage activities.

“In this era of surging industry consolidation, our strategic alliance with Capital Guardian underscores the value proposition Kovack Securities offers to firms that seek to operate scalably, while enjoying the benefits of ownership stability and the boutique service culture that only a well-resourced, family-owned firm with a national footprint can deliver,” says Brian Kovack, Esq., president and co-founder of Kovack Securities. “These benefits include our robust technology platform, which uses industry leader Folio Dynamics as our technology solution for advisory business. For Kovack Securities, we're excited about Capital Guardian's strategic advantages, including its base of international clients, which is rare within the independent financial advice industry, and provides our firm with unique opportunities to expand our presence overseas. We're excited to collaborate with the Capital Guardian team on future growth opportunities, and we look forward to utilizing this relationship as a template for similar strategic partnerships to come."

Capital Guardian's advisers will continue to conduct all fee-based advisory services and financial planning through Capital Guardian Wealth Management, the firm's independent, SEC-registered RIA, which will remain under its current ownership structure and brand. 

Also as part of this strategic alliance, Capital Guardian Wealth Management, as an independently owned and operated RIA, will enjoy access to certain fee-based advisory wealth management solutions and platforms available exclusively through Kovack Securities.

NEXT: Advisors Asset Management Names Director of Internal Sales

Advisors Asset Management Names Director of Internal Sales

Gregory Shannahan is now the director of internal sales for Adviser Asset Management. He rises to this new position after having served as director, eastern division director and acting national sales manager at Allianz Global. His new role will see him splitting time between the San Antonio and Lisle offices of Advisors Asset Management.

Shannahan joins AAM with more than a decade of experience in national sales and relationship management at Allianz Global and Alliance Bernstein. He served in his previous role at Allianz Global since 2013, focusing on managing 13 retail sales territories from Maine to Florida. During that time, he elevated the Allianz Global Eastern Division to No. 1 national ranking in sales for three consecutive years.

"Greg's impressive track record of working in the national sales market and his extensive experience of leading sales teams makes him an ideal choice for our firm,” says Charles Sickles, managing director, and head of Wholesale Distribution. “AAM has built its sales and distribution reputation on the strength of its investment solutions and seasoned product sales professionals, who have deep and long-standing relationships with the largest financial services firms and advisers."

Shannahan received his bachelor’s degree in management from the Merrimack College. He is a Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA), a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC), and Certified Investment Management of Accounts (CIMA). He also holds the Series 6, 7, 24, 26, 51 and 63 FINRA licenses.

NEXT: NYLM Names President of MainStay Funds

NYLM Names President of MainStay Funds

Kirk Lehneis is now president of MainStay Funds, the mutual fund family of New York Life Insurance Company. Lehneis assumes this responsibility in addition to serving as chief operating officer of New York Life Management (NYLM).

“We are delighted that Kirk will be taking on the role of president of the MainStay funds as we continue to strengthen our mutual fund product offering,” says Yie-Hsin Hung, chief executive officer of NYLIM. “Over his career, Kirk has proven to be an able steward for our investing shareholders and has made significant contributions to the company’s success. We look forward to his leadership in developing and expanding MainStay’s lineup of mutual funds.”

Lehneis adds, “It’s a privilege to take on leadership of the MainStay fund family during a time of great change in our industry. Backed by our network of independent asset managers and the financial strength of our mutual insurance company parent, I’m confident in our ability to serve the needs of our distribution partners and investors, and deliver innovative investment solutions that deliver long-term value.”

FinMason Names Senior Data Scientist

Jian Liu has risen to the position of senior data scientist at FinMason, a Boston-based investment and analytics company. She will be joining their data science team and helping to bring the FinMason investment analytics offering from roughly 700 analytical endpoints to more than 1,400 in the coming months. She will also aim to generate sophisticated analysis on private securities and global, multi-asset portfolios.

“We have a sizeable technological lead over the competition, but it is really the quality of the people that make the difference,” says Kendrick Wakeman, the firm’s CEO and founder. “We don’t want to just power a client’s analytics, we want to be their analytical consultant and partner. Jian really helps to bolster our ability to serve the diverse and increasingly sophisticated needs of our clients.”

Liu joins FinMason after having worked at UBS, CICC, CIPC and State Street, where she was a quantitative risk analyst. She has a masters in Quantitative Finance from MIT and a PhD in Computational Mathematics from Peking University. She has authored 13 peer-reviewed publications and has earned both the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and the FRM (Certified Financial Risk Manager) designations. In 2011, Liu was named one of the Top 10 Scholars at Peking University.

NEXT: Bolton Partners Hires Senior Consulting Actuary

Bolton Partners Hires Senior Consulting Actuary

Ellen Kleinstuber has joined Bolton Partners as a senior consulting actuary. Kleinstuber brings more than 25 years of experience delivering comprehensive employee benefit plan consulting, actuarial and plan administration services to a wide variety of plan sponsors including publicly traded and privately held companies, multinational corporations, not-for-profit organizations and governmental entities.

She is a nationally recognized expert in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) compliance and actuarial consulting for single-employer plans.

Prior to joining Bolton Partners, Kleinstuber served as senior vice president and director of DB Plan Compliance with CBIZ Savitz and a vice president at Aon Consulting (now AonHewitt). She will work closely with Bolton’s senior leadership, client managers, and business development team to support and expand the firm’s client base, provide technical compliance and consulting support to Bolton client teams, and provide internal training and development opportunities for the firm’s professional staff.

Kleinstuber holds numerous leadership positions throughout the actuarial profession including chairperson of the Pension Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries and vice president of Continuing Education for the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. She was recently appointed to serve on the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System which provides independent advice and recommendations on actuarial matters with respect to the retirement systems covering all U.S. federal employees.

“Ellen brings with her a broad range of actuarial skills learned from her 25 years of consulting experience and leadership positions,” says Tom Lowman, vice president and chief actuary. “Her skills and experience will be valuable to Bolton Partner’s clients and we are thrilled to add her to our team of consulting actuaries.”

Kleinstuber graduated magna cum laude from Elizabethtown College with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.

NEXT: NEPC Hires Senior Research Consultant

NEPC Hires Senior Research Consultant

Full-service investment consulting firm NEPC hired Kiersten Christensen as a senior research consultant overseeing equities.

Prior to NEPC, Christensen worked at Eaton Vance Management where her roles included VP, Institutional Portfolio Manager. She focused on U.S. core equity, hedged stock, asset allocation, real estate, health care, and sub-advised China and India products. She also spent several years at Lloyd George Management as a portfolio manager overseeing global emerging markets.

Christensen earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and international business from Georgetown University.

NEXT: Alight Hires Leader for Health & Wealth Solutions

Alight Hires Leader for Health & Wealth Solutions

Michael Sigmund has joined Alight Solutions as president, Health & Wealth Solutions.

Sigmund will be responsible for Alight’s health, defined contribution, defined benefit, and consumer experience solutions. He will lead 17,000 colleagues across sales, operations and customer service. Sigmund will focus on bringing together Alight’s expertise and services across all areas of the business to help make work and life simpler for its clients and their people.

He joins Alight from Conduent, where he most recently served as the group president and general manager of the HR outsourcing and benefits administration business. Sigmund has also held a variety of commercial and business leadership roles in the benefits administration and outsourcing industries spanning client relationship management, strategy, sales, marketing and IT. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Rowan University and a master’s degree in business administration from Farleigh Dickinson University.

“This is an incredibly exciting time as we continue to build on our momentum as a new organization,” says Chris Michalak, CEO, Alight. “Michael’s 25-year career in the HR and benefits administration and financial services industries, along with his record of client service, further strengthen Alight’s leadership team and our ability to bring breakthrough solutions to our clients.”