Deals & People August 17, 2018

Retirement Industry People Moves

Litigator Rejoins Reed Smith; Cerulli Integrates MMI Advisory Platform; LCG Associates Promotes Investment Analyst to Consultant; and more.

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John Lukanski, formerly of Reed Smith, will return to the firm as a partner in its Financial Industry Group. He will be a leader in its broker/dealer practice. Lukanski rejoins Reed Smith from McGuireWoods LLP, where he was a partner. He will sit in the firm’s Princeton, New Jersey, office and will also spend time in the firm’s New York City office.

As a business litigator, Lukanski focuses his nationwide practice on representing broker/dealer and wealth management clients in internal reviews, regulatory investigations, arbitration and litigation, and compliance counseling.

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“Very few attorneys possess the versatility and experience that John has in representing broker/dealers. His track record is very impressive,” says Ed Estrada, global chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “We are happy to welcome him back to the firm, and look forward to our clients benefiting from John’s capabilities, especially those with broker/dealer operations.”

Lukanski received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and his B.S. from Seton Hall University in 1995.

MMI and Cerulli Transition Data Platform

The Money Management Institute has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Cerulli Associates to transition MMI’s investment advisory solutions data platform to Cerulli as of the third quarter of 2018.

Cerulli will integrate MMI’s historical investment advisory data set into its existing operations and continue the data collection and reporting processes that MMI has provided since 1997. The consolidated platform will be branded “MMI-Cerulli Advisory Solutions Data.”

“Combining our data activities and efforts with those of Cerulli provides natural synergies that will benefit MMI members on several fronts,” says Craig Pfeiffer, MMI President and CEO. “Through Cerulli, an acknowledged leader in research and analytics, our members will continue to receive the quarterly industry data report and insights they have come to rely on, and members providing data will have access to an online portal. This arrangement allows MMI resources to be aligned against other strategic priorities.”

“The Money Management Institute and its members are natural partners for Cerulli Associates,” says Kurt Cerulli, founder and CEO of Cerulli. “Our collaboration will enhance the resources available to the leaders of the wealth and asset management industry, providing an enhanced view and understanding of the major trends at work in the advisory solutions marketplace. Many Cerulli clients are members of MMI and vice versa. This arrangement is a win for all parties.”

MMI and Cerulli have also agreed to explore expanding the combined data set to include information about sustainable and ESG investing, deeper coverage of alternative investments, and more detailed data on specific distribution channels. The two organizations will form a council of industry leaders to drive future expansion of the data set, provide guidance on key terminology, and monitor the accuracy of the data.

LCG Associates Promotes Investment Analyst to Consultant

LCG Associates has promoted Zach Brumett to consultant. He is based out of the Atlanta office.

Brumett has six years of industry experience and joined LCG in 2014. His responsibilities include investment strategy development, manager due diligence, special research projects, and providing investment advice to clients. Brumett began his career at LCG as an investment analyst.

Previously, Brumett was an investment analyst at RVK, Inc. and was responsible for providing support in conducting asset allocation studies, structure studies, performance reports, and other projects as needed. He also led the Capital Markets Research and Alt Invest Task Forces in creating capital markets commentary and evaluating private equity managers, respectively.

Brumett is a CFA Charterholder and is a member of the CFA Society of Atlanta. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Charterholder. Brumett graduated from The University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s in finance.

Mercer Acquires Investment Consulting Brand

Mercer has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the investment consulting, alternatives consulting and wealth management operations of Pavilion Financial Corporation (together Pavilion). Pavilion is headquartered in Winnipeg with offices across North America, in London and in Singapore.

Mercer intends to use the Pavilion brand for investment consulting services provided to the institutional not-for-profit and insurance client segments. As part of Mercer, Pavilion clients will have access to Mercer’s global strategic and manager research and investment capabilities, including outsourced chief investment officer and digital delivery capabilities, while retaining access to customized, strategic advice delivered by a specialist consultant.

This transaction is subject to customary conditions to closing, including regulatory and shareholder approvals, and is expected to close in Q4. 

AndCo Acquires Public Funds Consulting Practice

AndCo Consulting has acquired Summit Strategies’ public funds consulting practice. Summit is an independent, national institutional consulting firm located in St. Louis, Missouri.  The acquisition is hoped to increase AndCo’s presence in the public plan market, and post-acquisition AndCo will provide investment consulting services to $115 billion in institutional client assets across 33 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Bermuda.

“We look forward to servicing these clients within the independent model and high-quality custom service standard to which they are accustomed. Finding the right fit for our public fund clients was of the utmost importance in our selection process,” says Steve Holmes, president/CEO of Summit Strategies Group. “We have had a long mutual respect with AndCo as competitors in the institutional consulting space and believe they are a great fit for our public funds practice.” 

The transaction will close on October 15.

LeafHouse Implements VP of Key Accounts

LeafHouse Financial has added Ben Bates as vice president of key accounts. Bates is responsible for partnering with advisers, third-party administrators (TPAs), plan sponsors, recordkeepers and broker/dealers to find solutions for the plan sponsor and plan participants.

Bates joins LeafHouse with a 17-year background in large case acquisition and relationship management. He has created relationship manager teams to support complex client needs and to improve the client experience at both public entities and private companies. At Nationwide Retirement Solutions Bates handled business management activities and drove operational efficiencies to improve outcomes for participants. As the National Client Relationship Manager, Bates was responsible for sophisticated corporate 401(k) and 403(b) plans.

OneAmerica Appoints SVP of Enterprise Operations

OneAmerica has announced the appointment of Jason Lilien as senior vice president of enterprise operations for the Indianapolis-based financial services company. Lilien brings nearly 25 years of financial and operational experience to the newly created role. 

Lilien most recently served as managing director and global co-head of operations for Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management. He was responsible for a budget of more than $150 million and 475 operations professionals across six global locations. His 22-year Goldman Sachs career also included a nine-year stint as global head of banking operations for custody, reporting and private banking operations, Private Wealth Management, where he established operations for Goldman Sachs’ Salt Lake City office. Lilien holds a FINRA Series 7 license and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from State University of New York at Buffalo’s School of Management. 

“Jason’s business acumen and operational discipline make him well-suited to lead our operating units that provide ongoing service to customers across the enterprise,” says Jeff Holley, OneAmerica executive vice president of finance, operations and institutional markets. “He and his team will help us better leverage technology and other resources to improve our efficiency and effectiveness throughout our claims, contact centers, in-force service and participant services areas.” 

Lilien is a member of the SIFMA private clients operations committee and has been active in the Salt Lake community, serving the Fourth Street Clinic as finance committee co-chair, and as senior sponsor for Goldman Sachs’ Salt Lake City Veterans Network and Disability Interest Forum. 

Lilien will begin his new role on September 10.

Relationship Manager Joins SageView’s Southeast Division

SageView Advisory Group has added Stacy Walters as a relationship manager in the Southeast region, joining the team in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Stacy’s primary focus is to help clients manage their qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and various other defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans. She began working in the financial and retirement industry in 1993, spending most of her career as a relationship manager. She has extensive experience with helping organizations meet their fiduciary responsibilities, assisting with plan design, operational issues and creating educational programs to help employees reach their retirement and financial objectives.

Her knowledge in the retirement plan space is furthered by her time serving as the 401(k) plan administrator for a large organization’s human resources department.

Stacy graduated from Bellevue University in professional banking operations and leadership. She also holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) designations.

Data & Research August 17, 2018

Employees Endorse Investments in Financial Wellness

The importance of workplace financial wellbeing programs jumped five points in the 2018 Consumer Health Mindset Study from Alight Solutions.

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In collaboration with the National Business Group on Health and Kantar Consulting, Alight Solutions has published its 2018 Consumer Health Mindset Study.

The research report is aptly subtitled “engaged and confused,” and it underscores the enormous changes workers have seen over the last decade in the way employers think and talk about employee health and wellbeing. The report also addresses the growing importance of financial wellness programming, both from the perspective of employees and employers.

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Even as they face an evolving health and wellbeing landscape, the share of employees who say they are doing everything within their power to promote and maintain good health increased by 8% over 2017, standing now at 60% of employees. In 2014, this figure was 52%. Tied to this, the confidence of moderate-volume and high-volume users of health care is also up in 2018. Fifty-three percent now say they can “understand and manage how I get services,” while 50% say they can “understand and manage how I pay for services.”

Less promising, 25% still say “the system and benefits are so difficult that I give up and just hope for the best,” but this number is down from 32% last year.

“As the years pass, more consumers are seeing value from employer wellbeing programs—both to themselves and to the organization,” the survey report states. “Consumers also indicate that the broad spectrum of wellbeing concerns is increasingly important in their personal lives. Unfortunately, there’s been almost no improvement in consumers’ understanding of where to go for the health care information they need.”

Asked if employee health and financial wellness promotion programs make their company a more attractive place to work for potential colleagues, 77% responded in the affirmative. At the same time, 59% suggested such wellness programs “are one of the reasons I stay at my job.” Asked to rate the impact of wellbeing programs on their personal lives, four in five employees said workplace mental health support, physical health support and financial wellbeing support are all directly important. Slightly less than half of employees said “social support programs” are important to their personal lives.

Notably, the importance of financial wellbeing is up five points this year, which puts it on par with emotional and mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

“Further, while emotional and mental wellbeing is still rated as very important, this category fell five percentage points from 2017,” the research explains. “These findings suggest that consumers now see physical, mental and emotional, and financial wellbeing as equally important. A new finding is tied to professional and career wellbeing. While 55% of consumers consider it important, it’s less important for Gen Xers and Boomers.”

Other notable findings show just 23% of younger Millennials rate the state of their financial wellbeing as “going well,” compared to 41% of Baby Boomers. Among the younger Millennial group, 36% say their level of debt is ruining their quality of life, and 53% say student loans significantly impact their ability to save for the long-term future.

According to the survey results, the percentage of consumers reporting “never” engaging in a specific set of savvy health care use behaviors—like comparing costs for recommended medical services to find the best value—has dropped slightly on six out of seven behaviors.

“While this decrease suggests some positive change, the large percentage of consumers that never take these actions also indicates a lot of room for improvement,” the report concludes. “Consumers with higher health care use and health literacy consistently respond with an increased likelihood of taking these actions.”

The full report is available for download here.

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