Retirement Industry People Moves

Art by Subin Yang

HighTower Adds Leadership Hires to Corporate Team

HighTower has announced the firm’s expansion in its corporate team with three new hires: Abby Salameh as chief marketing officer (CMO), Greg Fink as head of Advisor Success and Catherine Davies as chief of staff and head of Business Management.

“Abby, Greg and Cat are accomplished industry veterans who believe that elite advisory businesses need a bespoke set of services, including capital, business and operational support, to fuel their growth. They each bring a range of knowledge, ideas and deep adviser relationships that will help HighTower drive organic growth and attract exceptional advisory businesses to our nationwide community,” says HighTower CEO Bob Oros.

As CMO, Salameh will lead HighTower’s corporate and field marketing teams. Her most recent role was CMO of Private Advisor Group. Prior to that, she served as senior vice president and CMO of Fusion Advisor Network.

Head of Advisor Success Gregory Fink specializes in working with large registered investment advisers (RIAs) on practice management and growth strategies. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, most recently as president and CEO of ACG Wealth. Prior to that, he was vice president at Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions and held senior positions at Northern Trust, Direxion Funds and Bank of America Securities. At HighTower, Fink will be leading a team focused on deepening relationships with HighTower advisory firms, developing joint strategy, creating annual business plans and executing a framework to drive both organic and inorganic growth.

Davies will be responsible for running a number of cross-enterprise initiatives in addition to supporting the day-to-day functioning of the executive leadership team. She brings more than 20 years of strategic experience from firms such as Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab. Most recently, Davies served at Fidelity in the National Accounts segment as both a senior relationship manager, where she was accountable for the HighTower relationship and as a vice president responsible for the National Account’s operations and strategy. Prior to joining Fidelity, Davies spent a total of 16 years at Schwab in a range of roles. Earlier in her career, she was director of Marketing and Business Development at RGT Advisors, a large Dallas-based RIA. 

Morgan Stanley Makes Series of New Hires

Stephanie Glashow has joined Morgan Stanley as a managing director and head of marketing for corporate and institutional solutions, reporting to Jed Finn, head of corporate and institutional solutions.

Marcos Lopez, former CEO of Solium, has been named head of Shareworks by Morgan Stanley, reporting to Brian McDonald, head of Morgan Stanley at Work and digital solutions. This role will include oversight of global stock plan service delivery across the combined organization, executive financial services, product management and development, Shareworks platform technology, private markets and ancillary businesses. Recently, following its acquisition of Solium, Morgan Stanley announced the company would be rebranded as Shareworks by Morgan Stanley.

Moving forward, Morgan Stanley veteran Joe Vaccarino will report to Lopez and help lead the client migration effort. In addition, Vaccarino has assumed responsibility for all relationship management and executive financial services across both the U.S. and Canada.

Marc McDonough, former senior vice president of workplace financial solutions at Charles Schwab, is joining the firm as head of workplace experience and sales enablement, reporting to McDonald. In this role, McDonough will oversee financial wellness, education and content, field sales support, digital experience, field training and corporate participant experience. Christine McCasland (head of field sales support), Sal Tardi (head of field training), Jacqueline Hash (head of corporate and participant experience), and Sharad Ganesh (head of corporate solutions digital experience) will all report to McDonough.

Maura Coolican and Paul Vienick will continue serving in their respective roles as head of retirement and head of digital client platforms, both reporting to McDonald.

Morneau Shepell Acquires Mercer DB Administration Business

Morneau Shepell, a technology-enabled human resources (HR) services provider, has acquired Mercer’s stand-alone health and defined benefit (DB) pension plan administration business for its U.S. clients.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.

“This planned acquisition is in line with our strategy to grow our business profitably in the U.S. market and further solidify Morneau Shepell as a leading provider of health and DB plan administration across the United States,” says Stephen Liptrap, president and chief executive officer, Morneau Shepell. “I am looking forward to welcoming our new employees to Morneau Shepell. With their support and the support of our current staff, we will have the capacity and expertise to deliver exceptional services to our newly acquired clients.”

“We expect the transition to Morneau Shepell to be seamless,” says Louis Gagnon, Mercer’s president, U.S. and Canada. “We will work collaboratively with Morneau Shepell to ensure the ongoing delivery of quality service to our clients and their employees.”

Mercer will continue to provide market health and benefits administration as well as mid-market DB pension administration services when they are bundled with the company’s consulting and brokerage services, including Mercer Marketplace 365 and 365+.  Mercer will continue to provide large market health and benefit administration services for Mercer’s global clients who have employees in the United States.   

SageView Advisory Group Hires Consultant in Florida

SageView Advisory Group has added Lisa Garcia, AIF, CPFA, as a retirement plan consultant in West Palm Beach, Florida. Lisa joins a team led by Jeffrey Petrone, AIF, QPFC, and includes Justin Bogart, QPFC, Stacy Walters, AIF, and Maressa Etzig, QPFC.

Garcia has worked in institutional financial services for over 15 years, beginning her career at Charles Schwab. She previously worked as a financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial Services and later transitioned to a relationship manager role with CBIZ before moving on to FiduciaryFirst.

“I am excited to join SageView, such a well-respected firm in the retirement plan industry. SageView’s culture, values and commitment to clients, as well as how they foster the spirit of giving throughout the organization, are very much aligned with my own. I look forward to working with the Florida team, delivering best-in-class tools, resources and service to help our clients succeed,” says Garcia.

“Lisa’s strong background in both plan and investment consulting will be an asset to our team. We’re thrilled to have her as a part of SageView,” adds Petrone. 

She earned her bachelor’s degree in international business and world trade from the University of Buffalo and her master’s degree with a specialization in human resource management from the University of Phoenix. She is an accredited investment fiduciary (AIF) and has earned her certified plan fiduciary advisor (CPFA) credential from NAPA.

PIMCO Promotes Former Managing Director to Retirement Head

PIMCO has named Rene Martel, a managing director at the firm based in Newport Beach, as its head of Retirement. He will report to Emmanuel Roman, PIMCO’s chief executive officer.

In this new role, Martel will expand his current role as head of Pension Solutions to oversee the development and implementation of solutions across the broad retirement market. He will collaborate closely with PIMCO teams, which play a key role in retirement strategies and services, including client solutions and analytics, defined contribution, product strategy group and global wealth management.

Martel joined PIMCO in 2006, and, in his most recent role as head of Pension Solutions focused on liability-driven investments, asset allocation and asset-liability management strategies for pension funds and insurance companies. Prior to joining PIMCO, Martel was responsible for conducting asset-liability modeling and recommending risk management strategies for pension plan sponsors at Mercer Investment Consulting. He earned a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Laval University and holds a fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) designation.

Manulife Rebrands and Moves U.S. Business Side to John Hancock

Manulife has renamed its institutional, retail and retirement wealth and asset management businesses around the world under a single, new brand: Manulife Investment Management. 

The retail business will use the Manulife Investment Management brand around the globe except in the U.S., where it will use John Hancock Investment Management. This is said to replace Manulife Asset Management in Asia and Europe, Manulife Investments in Canada, and John Hancock Investments in the United States.

As part of Manulife Investment Management, the retirement business will use the Manulife brand around the globe except in the U.S. as well, where it will also use the John Hancock brand. Manulife says this change will ensure a more consistent and holistic approach to plan participants and plan members in each of the regions.

The new Manulife Investment Management brand will also replace global legacy branding supporting the public markets’ institutional business, including Manulife Asset Management and John Hancock Asset Management brands.

These businesses formerly operated under multiple brands and as separate units in different markets. The company believes this new brand will extend Manulife’s “strengths deeper into existing channels and markets and strategically position products and solutions to both current and future investors, [and] also bring additional capabilities to customers and drive efficiencies by leveraging the scale of the global wealth and asset management business.”

“Manulife Investment Management brings the absolute best of Manulife and John Hancock’s wealth and asset management offerings to our customers through a strong, unified, structure and global brand,” says Paul Lorentz, president & CEO, Global Wealth & Asset Management. “Our value proposition is dependent on our commitment to our customers’ success and on our investment and wealth management expertise across both public and private asset classes, coupled with a global model that can be delivered regionally.”

Janus Henderson Names Global Head of Distribution

Janus Henderson Investors has appointed Suzanne Cain as global head of Distribution. She will join Janus Henderson effective May 20. She will be responsible for the firm’s global sales and product strategy for both institutional and retail channels and will oversee global marketing and lead client service across the firm’s business worldwide.

Cain will be a member of the executive committee at Janus Henderson and will be based in Denver.

She brings over 30 years’ extensive global industry experience, and was most recently at BlackRock, where she served as U.S. and Global Head of Institutional Clients, iShares. Prior to joining BlackRock, Suzanne was head of the Institutional Client Group and head of Structured Credit and Structured Finance Sales at Deutsche Bank for EMEA from 2010 to 2017.

From 2004, Cain spent six years based in London with Morgan Stanley where her last position was managing director and head of Credit Sales, Europe and Middle East. Cain also had an earlier role at Deutsche Bank, where she was managing director and head of Relative Value Group from 1996 to 2002.

“Suzanne’s appointment follows an extensive review of high-calibre industry professionals,” says Dick Weil, chief executive officer of Janus Henderson Investors. “She brings deep global leadership experience, an ability to operate strategically and an excellent track record of success in product innovation, building product capabilities and leading global sales initiatives.”

Scout Investments Hires Senior Analyst to Small Cap Team

Scout Investments has announced that Timothy Burger, CFA, has joined Scout Investments as a senior analyst on the Small Cap team. Based in Scout’s Kansas City headquarters, Burger joins the team led by James McBride, lead portfolio manager of the Scout Small Cap Equity Strategy, and will work with the team to conduct bottom-up fundamental analysis and valuation modeling to identify opportunities within the small-cap market.

“Tim is an important addition to the Small Cap team and brings almost two decades of investment analysis experience across a spectrum of sectors and asset classes,” says Michael Edwards, president of Scout Investments. “High-quality research and analysis is at the core of Scout’s investment philosophy and processes, and we’re confident that Tim will work seamlessly with the team to help deliver consistent results for our clients.”

Burger joins Scout following an 11-year tenure at asset manager Waddell & Reed, where he most recently served as an investment analyst and assistant portfolio manager on Ivy Asset Strategy since 2011. In this role, he provided broad research coverage and fundamental security analysis for a multi-asset flexible global portfolio, covering several sectors including media, telecom, asset managers, and financial exchanges. He joined Waddell & Reed in 2008 as a client portfolio strategist, and prior to that he served as an equity analyst with UMB covering industrials, including machinery, conglomerates, transportation and aerospace and defense. He started his career with UBS Wealth Management as a financial adviser. Burger earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas and a master’s from the University of Kansas Graduate School of Business.

Foresters Financial Sells U.S. Asset Management Business

Foresters Financial has entered into definitive agreements to sell assets related to its U.S. asset management business, including First Investors mutual funds, to Macquarie Investment Management (Macquarie), the investment manager of the Delaware Funds by Macquarie family of funds, and its U.S. broker dealer and advisory business to Cetera Financial Group (Cetera).

Foresters expects to have ongoing relationships with both Macquarie and Cetera– with Macquarie managing segments of Foresters’ general account and a distribution relationship with Cetera.

“With the announcement of today’s transactions, we will focus on innovation, new product development and the growth of our brand and market share in our core life insurance business,” says Jim Boyle, president and chief executive officer of Foresters Financial. “These transactions will allow Foresters to continue to deliver on its purpose of enriching the lives of its members and their communities. Macquarie and Cetera are aligned with our mission to provide world-class services to clients and will leverage their extensive platforms and commitment to investment excellence to continue supporting those clients.”

“We are pleased to enter into this agreement to serve the Foresters advisers and the First Investors mutual fund shareholders,” says Shawn Lytle, global head of Macquarie Investment Management and president of Delaware Funds by Macquarie. “Our investment expertise, global platform, and the rich history of the Delaware Funds by Macquarie mutual fund family, position us well to be strong stewards of these assets.”

These transactions, subject to regulatory and First Investors fund shareholder approvals, are expected to close by the end of 2019.