Retirement Industry People Moves

Nationwide Expands Asset Strategies Team

Nationwide has named Keith Robinette and Andrew Urban as co-portfolio managers of Nationwide Funds. They will join the Nationwide Funds Chief Investment Officer Chris Graham.

The announcement comes following the retirement of co-portfolio manager Tom Hickey who left the firm this June.

The current team will oversee the Nationwide Funds which manages $30 billion across 39 distinct multi-asset portfolios including the Nationwide Investor Destinations Funds, Nationwide Target Destination Funds and NVIT Investor Destinations Funds.

Robinette has spent five years with Nationwide. He’s managed a hedge fund portfolio, led manager due diligence reviews and enhanced Nationwide’s market views across equities and alternatives. He joined Nationwide Funds last month as senior director of asset strategies.

Urban joined Nationwide Funds in August 2016 as senior director of asset strategies. He has worked with Graham and Hickey on Nationwide Funds’ multi-asset portfolios. Prior to joining Nationwide, Urban led hedge fund manager selection and due diligence. He also developed multi-asset portfolio solutions for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Urban and Robinette are CFA charter holders.

“As we continue to align talent on our Asset Strategies team in support of our commitment to investment management excellence, making these changes strengthens our portfolio management efforts and prepared us for Tom’s retirement,” says Graham.

NEXT: Northern Trust Collaborates with GuideStone Funds

Northern Trust Collaborates with GuideStone Funds

Northern Trust will now provide fund accounting, fund administration and global custody services for GuideStone Funds, a fund complex with more than $11 billion in assets under management.

The fund servicing mandate covers the GuideStone Funds family including 26 registered mutual funds with $11.6 billion in AUM as of June 30, 2017.

GuideStone Funds, a Christian-screened mutual fund family, is part of GuideStone Financial Resources. This financial services firm provides retirement, investment and executive benefit services, as well as life and health plans to Southern Baptist and evangelical Christian churches, educational institutions and ministry organizations.

“Northern Trust’s mutual fund expertise and dedicated client service, combined with an industry-leading global technology platform, will provide strong support for our investment strategies as well as our objectives,” says John Jones, president of GuideStone Funds. “We’re happy to build on our relationship with Northern Trust, which allows us to pursue excellence in active, multi-manager investment strategies while maintaining the highest level of service to our investors.”

Dan Houlihan, head of Northern Trust Global Fund Services in North America adds, “We are pleased by this appointment and eager to provide a full suite of mutual fund services to the GuideStone family. GuideStone is a large, complex and mission-driven asset manager, and their selection of Northern Trust validates our efforts to develop new technologies and recruit top talent to deliver a more automated, client-centered service model to the U.S. mutual fund market.” 

NEXT: Mercer Names Head of Mercer Digital

Mercer Names Head of Mercer Digital

Mercer has appointed Rohit Mehrotra as CEO of Mercer Digital. In his new role, Mehrotra will be tasked with building a portfolio of digital organization and workforce-change solutions in an effort to enable businesses to adapt their technology to compete more effectively.

Mehrotra founded CPSG along with several firms in the software, systems, and networking space.

“Rohit’s background, leadership, and knowledge of technology and business insight make him perfectly suited to lead Mercer Digital,” says Julio Portalatin, president and CEO of Mercer. “He understands clients’ needs to be digitally enabled throughout their organization and will ensure we offer a comprehensive, fully integrated set of capabilities that can be delivered to clients globally.”

The firm says the appointment of Mehrotra will enable Mercer to combine human capital and technologies in ways that will distinctly change the way organizations connect with their employees, transition to a digital workforce, and transform for the future workplace.

“Businesses are going through rapid transformation driven by the way we as consumers and individuals, engage with digital,” says Mehrotra. “Employees today expect a level of digital interaction that companies have yet to deliver. That intersection is exactly where Mercer Digital sits, bringing the combination of the digital mindset and the deep expertise of Mercer. We intend to create an environment that attracts top talent that has a passion for charting new frontiers in the digital world. We will bring Mercer IP and digital assets to well-established cloud platforms.”

NEXT: Transamerica Names Head of Workplace Solutions

Transamerica Names Head of Workplace Solutions

Transamerica has promoted Scott Ramey to senior vice president, head of Workplace Solutions. In this role, Ramey oversees Transamerica's workplace service model integrating worksite, voluntary benefits and retirement plans.

"The employer-based market, also known as the Workplace, has been and will continue to be a crucial component of Transamerica's mission to help people achieve financial security," says Ramey. "I'm honored to work with financial professionals and agents to create more opportunities for individuals to grow and protect their wealth and health."

Ramey directs the consistency and ease of business solutions across multiple services and products offered to employers on behalf of their employees. Through Workplace Solutions, employers can offer their employees voluntary opt-in benefits including supplemental health policies, hospital indemnity insurance, long-term care insurance, and retirement plans.

Beforehand, Ramey served as head of Transamerica's institutional distribution channel.

"Scott brings a wealth of knowledge to this new opportunity, having served in several leadership roles since he joined Transamerica eight years ago," says Blake Bostwick, executive vice president and chief operations officer for Transamerica. "Scott's ability to think strategically, understand customer needs, and coordinate between teams will enable us to accelerate our progress in helping more employees gain more control over their financial future."

NEXT: Lockton Dunning Benefits Names Executive VP 

Lockton Dunning Benefits Names Executive VP

Lockton Dunning Benefits has hired Brett Haugh as its executive vice president in the Houston office.

He joins the firm from Ascende-EPIC and was formerly with Willis Towers Watson as a senior consultant. He has also worked for Coopers & Lybrand in the Actuarial, Benefit and Compensation Practice. Furthermore, he currently serves on several boards and is a member of the Louisiana Health Care Association's advisory commission on managed care health plans. He holds a bachelor’s degree of business administration in entrepreneurship from Baylor University.

"Brett is a powerful new addition to the Lockton Dunning Benefits Houston team," says Bruce Sammis, chief executive officer for Lockton Dunning Benefits. "Not often do we have the opportunity to onboard the very best in the business, and with Brett, we've succeeded."

NEXT: Northern Trust Names Vice Chairman

Northern Trust Names Vice Chairman

The Northern Trust Corporation has promoted President of Asset Management Stephen N. Potter to the role of vice chairman. In this role, his responsibilities will include oversight of key strategic initiatives, as well as the development of select clients and prospects around the globe.

Potter currently oversees the development, management and distribution of Northern Funds, Northern Institutional Funds and FlexShares Exchange Traded Funds. He also leads the Managed Accounts practice, which provides investment advisory solutions to existing clients and financial intermediaries. Previously, he served as president and chief executive of Northern Trust Securities and head of Corporate Strategy for Northern Trust Corporation.

Before coming aboard Northern Trust, Potter served as a vice president for Goldman Sachs and held positions in sales, trading and research with Morgan Stanley. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida A&M University and a master’s degree from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business. He currently holds FINRA series 7, 63 and 24 securities licenses.

“Steve’s vast experience working with key clients across all of our businesses and his ability to build enduring relationships are invaluable to us," says Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick H. Waddell. “We will benefit from his focused efforts around growing our client relationships.”

Succeeding Potter as the president of Asset Management is Shundrawn A. Thomas, currently head of Funds and Managed Accounts Group. Both changes are effective October 1.  

NEXT: USI Appoints VP of Retirement Services 

USI Appoints VP of Retirement Services

Dwain Little has joined USI Consulting Group as the firm’s vice president of Retirement Services.

He brings more than 15 years of retirement knowledge and expertise working with both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans. Previously, Dwain spent 14 years with a large financial company as part the Institutional & Retirement Services team. His primary responsibilities included business development, relationship management, and strategic planning with other internal groups.