Retirement Industry People Moves February 15 to 19

John Abunassar has joined Northern Trust Asset Management as head of sales and distribution in North America for the Institutional Group, which provides investment solutions globally to a range of clients including corporations, sovereign and government entities, foundations, endowments and family offices.

Abunassar has more than 25 years of asset management industry experience, most recently as head of North American institutional business development and consultant relations at William Blair. Based in Chicago, he oversees the institutional sales and consultant relations teams at Northern Trust Asset Management and is responsible for developing new and deeper relationships with clients.

Jason Tyler, executive vice president and head of the institutional group at Northern Trust Asset Management, calls Abunassar a results-driven executive with transformational leadership experience. He cites Abunassar’s track record of successful sales, consultant relations and client service teams in traditional and alternative strategies.

Abunassar also served as a business leader and investment committee member of the William Blair Hedge Fund Strategies team. Previously, he was a principal at Guidance Capital, president and chief executive of Allegiant Asset Management, and also held senior roles with Banc One Investment Advisors.

Abunassar holds a bachelor’s degree from Lake Forest College and a master’s degree in business administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.

John Weber, managing principal of Findley Davies, has relocated to the Columbus, Ohio, office from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Weber will add bring leadership support and expertise to the growing market in that area. He is responsible for the overall direction and strategy of the firm, including initiatives to introduce new services and expand the firm organically and through strategic acquisitions.

Kyle Pifher, principal and Columbus market leader for Findley Davies, says the move is part of the firm’s commitment to central Ohio since establishing an office in downtown Columbus in 2011.

Mike Coffey, managing consultant, has relocated to Columbus from Findley Davies’ Chicago office in response to the firm’s increasing market share in defined benefit (DB) administration. Coffey will lead the effort to manage and expand the DB administration business in Ohio and the Midwest market.

Findley Davies is an HR and benefits consulting firm with offices throughout the Midwest.

Index Fund Advisors has opened an office in Austin, Texas, and appointed Derick Kann its senior vice president to manage the operation.

Kann joins Index Fund Advisors with more than 20 years of experience in financial services. He was most recently a senior wealth manager at USAA Wealth Management Services and qualified for their top producer’s Champion’s Conference from 2013-2015. While at USAA, Derick specialized in providing financial planning to high net worth clients, with an emphasis on creating and preserving wealth and on family legacy planning.

Kann holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of the Incarnate Word. A member of the Financial Planning Association, he also holds designations as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL), Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC), Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC) and an Accredited Asset Management Specialist (AAMS).

“This expansion is an important part of our mission to educate investors about the advantages of investing in portfolios of index funds and the disadvantages of active investing,” says Mark Hebner, founder and president of Index Fund Advisors. “Derick comes to us with extraordinary experience and shares our dedication to wealth services with a fiduciary standard of care, incorporating the academic research of Nobel Laureates Harry Markowitz and Eugene Fama.”

Index Fund Advisors Inc. is a fee-only registered investment adviser in Irvine, California, that reports it has $2.74 billion in assets under management as of the end of 2015, more than double what it had in 2010.