Deals & People May 26, 2017

Retirement Industry People Moves

Cafaro Greenleaf Expands Consultant Team; Beltz Ianni & Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser; Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange County; and more. 
Reported by

Cafaro Greenleaf Expands Consultant Team

Cafaro Greenleaf, a national advisory firm serving corporate and public retirement plans, welcomes two new consultants. Kevin Mundy, will serve as education coordinator and consultant. In addition, Amy Kinsman, will join the firm as relationship manager and consultant.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Mundy is an Accredited Retirement Plan Counselor (ARPC) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) with more than 10 years of experience in the investment advisory and financial services industry. He specializes in 401(k) plans, profit sharing, defined benefit, DC/DB combination plans and cash balance retirement plan design for employers. He has lead and conducted campaigns for direct sales of qualified plan products and services. Previously, Kevin worked at Merrill Lynch, Ascensus, and UBS, where he served as senior associate.

Kinsman brings more than five years of experience in the retirement and financial services industry. She is a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA), who has previously worked with Vanguard and Empower Retirement. There, she gained experience in plan administration, plan design, investments, and participant education among other topics critical to the management of defined contribution (DC) plans.

“I’m thrilled to have Amy and Kevin join the team,” says CG Managing Principal Wayne Greenleaf. “Their passion for helping people prepare for retirement for retirement will be a great asset to Cafaro Greenleaf and all of our clients.”

NEXT: Beltz Ianni & Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser

Beltz Ianni & Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser

Beltz Ianni & Associates announced that long-time financial adviser David G. Benedict has joined the firm’s Retirement Plan Consulting group. He brings more than 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, providing guidance to both individual and corporate clients.

He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and holds a number of designations from The American College of Financial Services including Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter, and Certified Family Business Specialist, as well as the Accredited Investment Fiduciary from Fi360.

Bob Judd, Beltz Ianni's managing partner, says "David loves what he does. With Beltz Ianni, he has the freedom to operate for the exclusive interest of his clients. We're happy to have David with us as an invaluable member of the team. We continue to look for other advisers who want to expand their reach in the retirement plan space. As fiduciary consultants, we assist employers in complying with ERISA and Department of Labor regulations, paying only fair market fees and commissions, and providing education and one-on-one guidance to employees."

NEXT: Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange County

Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange County

The fee-only registered investment advisory firm Guardian Financial Partners has opened in Orange County, California. It will be led by founders Patrick C. Guinet; Hung Nguyen, and Casey Bartels. They previously practiced as Guinet & Nguyen Wealth Advisory Group, as part of Wells Fargo Advisors.

“We did not come to this decision lightly or without extensive research,” says Guinet. “The wealth management industry has changed immensely over the years and it was becoming ever more difficult for us to serve our clients as true fiduciaries under a broker/dealer model. We realized that the best way forward was to become an independent wealth management firm. As Guardian Financial Partners, we are now able to conduct business in a way that is more authentic and true to our core values.”

Guinet and Nguyen began working together in 1999, and were joined by Bartels in 2008. They provide wealth management services to individuals and families, as well as investment consulting. In addition, they offer advisory services to institutions, non-profits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans.

NEXT: Transamerica Names Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans

Transamerica Names Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans

Transamerica has appointed Tom Geraghty as regional vice president for retirement plan sales responsible for the institutional market. Geraghty brings more than 25 years of retirement industry experience which has seen him cover corporate, not-for-profit, and nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) retirement plans. He will offer support to advisers, consultants and their retirement plan clients in the regions of Virginia, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina.

“We’re honored to add this industry-leading sales professional to the Transamerica retirement team,” says Michael Wannell, Transamerica divisional vice president for retirement. We selected Tom because of his breadth of expertise in both defined contribution and defined benefit plans. He is highly focused on the goal of helping plans provide more retirement security to employees.”

NEXT: FSR Appoints New Head of Government Affairs

FSR Appoints New Head of Government Affairs

The Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) has announced Anthony Cimino as its new head of Government Affairs. 

He will lead FSR's government affairs focusing on tasks such as FSOC reform, improving retirement security policies and repealing Durbin Amendment, the firm notes.   

Prior to joining FSR, Cimino served as senior professional staff for the House Financial Services Committee, where he oversaw the subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and helped develop the congressional response to the financial crisis. He also worked on the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). 

“Anthony is a tremendous leader with a strong vision to advance the financial industry’s priorities in Washington,” says FSR CEO Tim Pawlenty. “FSR looks forward to having him at the helm as we look to modernize the financial regulatory system in a way that helps grow the economy while better serving and protecting consumers.” 

Cimino joined FSR in 2012 and is being promoted from his current position as senior vice president of Risk Management, which allowed him to oversee FSR’s advocacy on systemic risk regulation and enterprise risk management, as well as insurance products and services. Cimino played an instrumental role in the recent reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and has been a key player in policy discussions around flood Insurance, patent reform, tax reform and other issues.

He earned master’s degree of business administration from Johns Hopkins University.

NEXT: Wilshire Hires VP of Responsible Investing

Wilshire Hires VP of Responsible Investing

Wilshire Consulting, the institutional investment advisory and outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) business unit of Wilshire Associates, has hired Daniel Ingram as its vice president of Responsible Investment Research & Consulting.

He will assist in expanding Wilshire Consulting’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and SRI (socially responsible investing) capabilities. He will also be responsible for supporting Wilshire Consulting’s traditional advisory clients in addition to its clients in the Wilshire OCIO Solutions practice.

Ingram brings to Wilshire more than a decade of global ESG experience. He previously served as head of Responsible Investment for the UK’s largest corporate retirement plan, BT Pension Scheme (BTPS). In this role, Ingram advised BTPS’ Trustee Board on its responsible investment strategy, as well as integrating ESG factors into manager selection and monitoring.

Prior to BTPS, Ingram worked at Hermes Investment Management as a senior corporate governance analyst. He also served as a policy analyst to Her Majesty’s Treasury, working on several reports including the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change as Lord Stern’s Chief of Staff.

“Daniel’s deep understanding of responsible investment best practices, particularly in Europe, will help our clients navigate this exciting and often challenging space,” said Andrew Junkin, president of Wilshire Consulting. “We are extremely fortunate to expand the team with someone who has such an excellent track record of designing and implementing creative investment-led solutions to managing ESG risks and opportunities. I look forward to working closely with Daniel in providing high quality responsible investment research and advice to our clients.”

Ingram holds a post-graduate certificate in sustainable leadership from the University of Cambridge, the UK CFA Institute’s Investment Management Certificate and a master’s degree with honors from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

NEXT: PGIM Hires Head of Institutional Defined Contribution Practice

PGIM Hires Head of Institutional Defined Contribution Practice

Josh Cohen will join PGIM as head of Institutional Defined Contribution for its Institutional Relationship Group. He will serve as an adviser to PGIM’s large defined contribution (DC) clients providing counsel and thought leadership on investment issues ranging from plan design and qualified default investment alternatives (QDIA) to implications of regulatory change and implementation. He will work closely with investment professionals in PGIM Fixed Income, Jennison Associates, QMA and PGIM Real Estate to tailor investment solutions that meet the needs of plan participants.

Cohen was most recently the head of Defined Contribution for Russell Investments. Previously, he led the DC investment consulting practice team at Hewitt Associates. He also has served a three-year term as a member of the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, and is actively involved with the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Furthermore, he is a member of the CFA Institute and the Investment Analyst Society of Chicago. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago.

“As an established counselor and expert in the field, Josh will partner with large plan sponsors and institutional consultants on how to evolve and enhance their DC programs to continue to meet their participants’ needs,” says Bas NieuweWeme, global head of PGIM’s Institutional Relationship Group. “We are committed to serving DC plan sponsors through the strength of our managers’ investment capabilities and the depth of our insights about the industry.”

PGIM is the global investment management businesses of Prudential Financial.

NEXT: CFI Names Head of Relationship Management

CFI Names Head of Relationship Management

Cetera Financial Institutions (CFI), a network of independent firms supporting the delivery of professional financial advice through advisers and financial institutions, announced that industry veteran Britt Woods has joined CFI as vice president, head of Relationship Management.

He will be tasked with overseeing adviser recruiting and business consulting activities for CFI. He will also work with the bank and credit union wealth management programs, as well as the financial advisers they support. Woods will work in conjunction with Executive Vice President and National Director of Business Development Sean Casey, who oversees CFI’s institutional recruiting efforts.

Woods most recently served as vice president and sales manager of Fifth Third Bank, where he oversaw financial advisers, licensed bankers and sales assistants across three different affiliates. He was awarded Retail Partner of the Year during every year of his service, in recognition of his effectiveness in supporting the client service success of the professionals reporting to him. Prior to that, he served at NatCity Investments as vice president, where he was named top financial adviser for seven consecutive years.

“We enthusiastically welcome Britt Woods to Cetera Financial Institutions,” says LeAnn Rummel, president of Cetera Financial Institutions. “Britt brings a well-established track record of building exceptional advisor business coaching and advisor recruiting programs in the financial institutions channel, and he shares our vision of creating a truly advice-centric experience for financial advisers and their clients. Britt's expertise will enhance our ability to provide bank and credit union-based financial advisers with highly customized support, thus enabling them to better serve their clients, while also creating new opportunities to align the institutions we serve with experienced financial advisers seeking to grow as part of a financial institution. We're looking forward to everything we can accomplish together with Britt as part of our team."

Data & Research May 26, 2017

Retirement Savings Shortfalls to Soar If Policies Do Not Change

Longevity, lower investment returns, and inadequate savings are contributing to a growing shortfall in what individuals will need for a longer retirement, a report says.
Reported by

Since the middle of the last century, life expectancy has been increasing rapidly, a report from the World Economic Forum notes. On average, it has been increasing by one year, every five years. Babies born today in 2017 can expect to live to older than 100.

To understand the scale of the retirement challenge from increasing life expectancy, the group estimated the size of the shortfall in retirement saving—the retirement savings gap. It also projected these calculations to 2050 to determine how quickly the gap will grow if measures are not taken to increase saving levels.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The calculations assume that for most individuals, their retirement needs will be met by a combination of income from three sources: Government-provided first pillar pension, employer (public or private sector) retirement plans, and individual savings.

The retirement savings gap for 2015 was estimated to be approximately $70 trillion, with the largest shortfall being in the United States ($28 trillion). Looking at the U.S. specifically, the gap is growing at a rate of $3 trillion each year, and will reach $137 trillion by 2050. This increase is the equivalent of five times the annual U.S. defense budget, according to the report.

One obvious implication of living longer is that individuals are going to have to work for a longer time, the report suggests. “The expectation that retirement will start early- to mid-60s is likely to be a thing of the past, or a privilege of the very wealthy,” researchers write.

The report also notes that absent any change to retirement ages, or expected birth rates, the global dependency ratio (the ratio of those in the workforce to those in retirement) will plummet from 8:1 today to 4:1 by 2050.

Another thing affecting the shortfall is that over the past 10 years, long-term investment returns have been significantly lower than historic averages. Equities have performed 3% to 5% below historic averages and bond returns have typically been 1% to 3% lower. This puts an increased strain on pension funds as well as on long-term investors that have commitments to fund and meet the benefits promised to current and future retirees. Individuals have also been impacted and have seen smaller growth in their retirement balances than in the past.           

Further, to support a reasonable level of income in retirement, 10% to 15% of an average annual salary needs to be saved. Today, individual savings rates in most countries are far lower. The report contends this will continue to be a challenge unless the importance of higher savings rates is better understood and communicated.

NEXT: Policy implications

“To protect against poverty in old age, we believe that retirement systems should be designed to provide a level playing field and equal opportunity for all individuals,” researchers write. “A well-designed system needs to be affordable for today’s workers and sustainable for future generations to ensure that all financial promises are met.”

The report notes that healthy retirement systems contribute positively towards creating a stable and prosperous economy. Ensuring that the public has confidence in the system, and that promised benefits will be met, allows individuals to continue to consume and spend through their working and retired years. “If this hard-earned confidence is lost, there is a significant risk that retirees will moderate their spending habits and consumption patterns. Such moderation would have a negative impact on the overall economy, particularly in countries where the size of the retired population continues to grow,” the report says.

The popularity of defined contribution (DC) retirement plans has been growing steadily over the past few decades and they now account for more than 50% of global retirement assets, the report notes. The way these plans are designed puts a high level of responsibility on individuals to manage their retirement savings. This includes deciding how much to save each year, which investments to choose, how long they are likely to live, when they should retire, and how to withdraw their savings when they do decide to retire full-time. The group contends that the information reported to individuals often does not make it easy to make informed decisions to try to meet a target level of retirement income. For example, the account balance does not help individuals understand what they would likely receive as a monthly income, and the investment return achieved does not help determine whether to increase savings rates, stay employed longer and delay retirement or take more investment risk.

To close the retirement savings gap, there are three key areas the group says governments and retirement policymakers should focus on which will have the biggest impact on the overall level of financial security:

  • Provide a “safety net” pension for all;
  • Improve ease of access to well-managed, cost-effective retirement plans; and
  • Support initiatives to increase contribution rates.
The report, “We’ll Live to 100 – How Can We Afford It?” is here.

«