Art by Subin Yang

Voya Retirement Adds Sales VP to Atlanta and South Carolina Region

Voya Retirement recently hired Kyle Lenard as a regional vice president of Sales, Atlanta and South Carolina territories, for the company’s Small-Mid Corporate Market business.

In this role, Lenard is responsible for generating new 401(k) plan business and building key distribution relationships within Georgia and South Carolina. He will be working through all channels including wire houses, banks, independents and third-party administrators (TPAs) that serve employers with small-to-mid asset size plans.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with a truly talented team alongside some of the industry’s greatest leaders,” Lenard says. “Voya’s commitment to excellence is unfounded in today’s marketplace. It’s my belief that Voya holds the key to the industry’s future and I’m excited about the times ahead.”

Lenard has been an external wholesaler in the retirement and benefits industry for more than 15 years. Most recently, he held the position of regional sales director at Empower Retirement.

“In our new hire search, we were really looking for someone with high energy and who did things in the right way, and we found that in Kyle,” adds George Lessner, senior vice president, worksite markets for Voya’s Small-Mid Corporate Market. “We’re thrilled for Kyle to join our powerful and talented wholesaling team in Atlanta. His experienced background and proven sales record make him a great asset to Voya, and we look forward for him to hit the ground running.”

Lenard attended the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising. He is based in Atlanta and reports directly to Lessner.

Thompson Hine LLP Hires Attorney to EBEC Practice

Thompson Hine LLP has added Dominic DeMatties to the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation (EBEC) practice, based in Washington D.C.

In addition to private practice experience, he previously worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel.

“Dominic was at the center of significant rulemaking and policy discussions related to retirement plans, employee stock ownership plans [ESOPs] and executive compensation at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel,” says Washington D.C. Partner in Charge David Wilson. “He has a unique expertise in ESOPs and multiemployer plans, which complements the firm’s industry leading EBEC practice. Our clients will benefit from his deep knowledge of policy, legislation and regulation for practical advice on crucial benefits and compensation issues.”

DeMatties focuses on providing legal consultation regarding the design, implementation and administration of a wide range of employee benefit programs, with an emphasis on tax-qualified and nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) arrangements. As an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Treasury’s Office of the Benefits Tax Counsel, he has helped develop and implement retirement plan policy and guidance. His work concentrated on ESOPs, hybrid pension plans, governmental plans, 409A, 457(f), nondiscrimination, multiemployer plans and defined benefit (DB) plans generally. His work included close collaboration with attorneys from the Office of Chief Counsel at the IRS and IRS actuaries, as well as professionals at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Department of Labor (DOL).

“Joining Thompson Hine allows me the opportunity be a part of a strong cohesive, well-respected employee benefits practice group with a leading ESOP practice,” says DeMatties of his decision to move to the firm. “Another major attraction was the firm’s culture and its focus on innovation in changing the delivery of the legal services model, particularly the focus on efficiency, transparency and predictability. My clients will benefit greatly from this platform.”

This announcement falls on the heels of other recent additions to the Washington office who also have significant government experience. Thompson Hine recently announced the additions of White-Collar partner Joan Meyer, a former federal prosecutor; and a transportation safety team made of Timothy H. Goodman, former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) assistant chief counsel for litigation and enforcement; and  William L. Godfrey, former NHTSA division chief.

DeMatties received his juris doctor degree from Georgetown University, his master’s from Rochester Institute of Technology and his bachelor’s from State University of New York at Geneseo.

HealthSavings Appoints Senior Sales VP

HealthSavings Administrators (HealthSavings) has appointed Britt Trumbower as senior vice president of sales. His appointment comes as the company continues to expand its customer base, reaching a critical milestone of more than $900 million in assets under management.

“With account balances that are five times higher than the industry average, HealthSavings has an unmatched offering for accountholders at every stage of their health savings journey,” Trumbower says. “Education is a critical factor in helping brokers, consultants and employer groups take a more nuanced view of how an HSA can be put to work for people at all ages, stages and income levels.”  

As senior vice president of sales, he will be responsible for cultivating deeper relationships with strategic partners and growing the company’s market reach.  

Prior to joining HealthSavings, Trumbower served as a regional sales director at HealthEquity, where he established and grew health savings account (HSA) adoption with brokers, partners and large employers in the New York region.

“The market is ready for a more nuanced approach to HSAs that will help all Americans realize the advantage of using HSA tax breaks to pay for health care needs both now and in the future,” says E. Craig Keohan, chief revenue officer at HealthSavings. “Britt Trumbower will fuel growth momentum at HealthSavings through his intrinsic knowledge of the overall benefits landscape and his tenacity for cultivating sales territories, leading sales teams and delivering effective educational tools will help cement our market leadership for years to come.”

Trumbower resides in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania, and earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bloomsburg University. 

AllianceBernstein Appoints Senior Officials to Responsible Investing

AllianceBernstein L.P. (AB) has announced two senior appointments to the firm’s Responsible Investing platform.  

Michelle Dunstan has been appointed global head of Responsible Investing and Sharon Fay will assume the role of chief responsibility officer. The appointments of the two established senior investors further demonstrate AB’s commitment to building the firm’s capabilities in this important area and will help to drive its responsible investing efforts forward.

As global head of Responsible Investing, Dunstan will partner with Fay, overseeing AB’s responsible investing strategy, including driving the firm’s research and stewardship activities. Dunstan joined AB in 2004 and has nearly 25 years of industry experience. She is currently a portfolio manager for the Global ESG Improvers portfolio, as well as a senior research analyst for the Value portfolios.

As chief responsibility officer, Fay will lead and oversee the firm’s responsible investing strategy, while working closely with senior leadership to ingrain responsible investing into the everyday global activities of the firm. She has spent three decades at AB and has served in a number of leadership roles, including CIO of Equities and her current role as co-head of Equities.

Both leaders have served the firm as established senior investors for decades and will transition into their new roles in mid-2020.

”Responsible investing is key to our long-term strategy, both as a corporation and as an investor. Being a responsible corporation and a responsible investor go hand in hand. Under Sharon’s and Michelle’s leadership, I am confident we will continue our efforts in identifying new and better ways to respond to the evolving needs of our clients, colleagues and communities,” says Seth Bernstein, president and CEO of AB.

Top ERISA Attorney Joins Jackson Lewis P.C.

Jackson Lewis P.C. has announced that Howard Shapiro has joined the firm’s New Orleans office as a principal.

Shapiro has almost 40 years of experience in the employee benefits litigation space. He joins the firm from Proskauer, where he was co-leader of the firm’s national ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] Litigation practice and the office managing partner in New Orleans. Shapiro will serve as co-leader of Jackson Lewis’ ERISA Complex Litigation Group alongside René E. Thorne.

“Howard is a first-rate, nationally acclaimed ERISA litigator and we are excited that he has joined Jackson Lewis,” say Firm Co-Chairs William J. Anthony and Kevin G. Lauri in a joint statement. “His arrival at the firm elevates the firm’s national ERISA litigation capabilities and was the key factor in our decision to augment our existing ERISA litigation team by creating the ERISA Complex Litigation Group. René and Howard worked together closely in other firms for more than a decade, honing their complex ERISA litigation skills. The firm is dedicating significant resources to the newly formed ERISA Complex Litigation Group.”

The ERISA Complex Litigation Group has immediate and ready access to the firm’s entire Employee Benefits Practice Group and the Class Actions and Complex Litigation Practice Group to address comprehensive client needs in the ERISA litigation space.

Shapiro’s practice focuses on the defense of large, sophisticated ERISA class actions. He defends “bet-the-company” litigation where damages are potentially material. His cases involve the defense of defined benefit (DB) plans, 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans, and also he has also defended litigation involving health and welfare plan issues. He has defended cases involving:  breach of fiduciary duty; breach of the duty of loyalty; prohibited transactions; 401(k) plan asset performance, fees and expense issues; 403(b) plan asset performance, fees and expense issues; defined benefit plan asset issues, accrual issues and cut-back issues; cash balance plan issues; ESOP [employee stock ownership plan] litigation; fiduciary misrepresentation claims; preemption issues; executive compensation litigation, both pension and welfare claims; directed trustee claims; retiree rights litigation; severance plan class actions;  Section 510 cases; and complex benefit claim cases. 

“When I retired from Proskauer, I considered a wide range of options and quickly decided that Jackson Lewis was the right firm to continue my national ERISA litigation practice,” Shapiro says. “I have worked with René, Office Managing Principal Charles Seemann and several other attorneys in the New Orleans office, at various law firms since the 1990s. The opportunity to ‘put the band back together’ was outcome determinative as the firm now has among the finest collection of ERISA litigation talent in the country. I am delighted to reunite with my former colleagues as we launch Jackson Lewis’ ERISA Complex Litigation Group.”

Shapiro received his juris doctor degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, his master’s from McGill University and his bachelor’s from Tulane University.