Deals & People December 6, 2019

Retirement Industry People Moves

Cetera Financial Promotes Former President to CEO; Dimensional Fund Advisors Selects COO; Transamerica Makes Sales Consultant to Retirement VP; and more.

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Art by Subin Yang

Art by Subin Yang

Cetera Financial Promotes Former President to CEO

Adam Antoniades of Cetera Financial Group has been appointed as the firm’s chief executive officer and member of the board of directors. Antoniades had served as the firm’s president since 2014.

“Adam has demonstrated a strong track record in leading transformation, serving independent financial advisers, driving results, strengthening operational risk and compliance, and innovating amid a rapidly evolving landscape,” says Ben Brigeman, chairman of the board of Cetera who has been serving as interim CEO. “With Adam’s understanding and leadership of Cetera’s culture, we are confident we have the right leader, at the right time to drive the future success of the organization.”

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“I am honored by the opportunity to lead Cetera as CEO,” says Antoniades. “I have deep respect for and belief in the work our financial advisers do every day to serve their clients and the work our employees do to support them.  I look forward to working closely with the board, management team, our employees and our community of financial professionals to continue to co-create an advice-centric future for our profession.” 

Antoniades was a founder of First Allied, now a Cetera broker/dealer, in 1994, and served as its president and CEO for the better part of two decades. He started his financial services career at Berkeley Administration Inc. in Belgium and at A.J. Bekhor and Company in the UK.

Dimensional Fund Advisors Selects COO

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has named Lisa Dallmer as its new chief operating officer. She will serve on the executive committee and partner with senior leaders of the corporate, sales and marketing, and investment teams to develop and implement operational strategies.

Dallmer has served as COO of global technology and operations for BlackRock in New York, COO of European markets for NYSE Euronext in Paris, and vice president of tech startup Archipelago, which was acquired by the New York Stock Exchange. Most recently, she has served as a strategic adviser to CEOs on fintech solutions.

“I have long admired Dimensional for its intellectual rigor, commitment to clients, and focus on innovation,” says Dallmer. “I look forward to working with leaders across the firm to improve operational standards, drive efficiencies, and enhance business capabilities for our clients.”

Dallmer holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Miami University of Ohio. She received additional training at the London School of Economics and the INSEAD Global Executive Leadership Program in France. Financial News has twice named her one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance.

“With the addition of Lisa and her deep operations experience, we are strongly positioned to build on our success as we develop strategies and solutions for clients around the world,” says co-CEO Dave Butler.

Transamerica Promotes Sales Consultant to Retirement VP

Brian Liss of Transamerica has transitioned to the role of regional vice president for the company’s large market retirement plan sales team, covering New York and Connecticut. Liss has been with Transamerica since 2002 and was previously a sales consultant on the large market retirement team. He will report to Robert Goldman, national sales director.

Liss holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He also holds the Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor designation from the College for Financial Planning.

“Transamerica continues to develop tremendous talent. It gives me great pride in seeing Brian’s success and development throughout his tenure with Transamerica,” says Goldman. “I know he will continue with this success and build strong meaningful relationships in his new role. I am confident he will continue to be a valuable resource to financial professionals and their clients in New York and Connecticut.”

Pantheon Announces Appointment of Partner and Other Hires

Pantheon has appointed Rakesh Jain as partner and global head of private debt. He is based in Pantheon’s New York office.

Pantheon plans to hire additional resources in both London and New York. Currently, Toni Vainio, principal, leads European private debt origination and investments while Francesco di Valmarana chairs the global credit committee. Jain will join the GCC together with existing members di Valmarana, Vainio, Jeff Miller, partner, and Dennis McCrary, partner.

Jain reports to McCrary, leads U.S. investment activity, coordinates global investment activity, and provides line management of the private debt team.

“We are delighted to be joined by Rick, whose deep experience in executing and managing private debt investments will add valuable investment expertise and coverage for our clients,” says di Valmarana.

Previously, Jain was a managing director and investment committee member at Star Mountain Capital, a private credit firm based in New York. Previously, he founded and managed an investment firm focusing on providing flexible private debt and structured equity solutions to middle market U.S. companies, and was a principal at a division of Stone Tower Capital, now Apollo Global Management. Prior to that, Jain worked as the director at Citigroup Alternative Investments, where he managed several funds focused on private equity and private credit direct investments, fund investments, as well as on strategic financial services investments. He started his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York in the financial institutions group.

Jain holds a bachelor of commerce degree from McGill University.

Millennium Trust Acquires Liberty Trust Assets

Millennium Trust Company has acquired assets of Liberty Trust Company

Liberty Trust, founded in Dallas, Texas, in 2005, is a leading provider of custody and administration services for specialized individual retirement accounts (IRAs). At the time of the transaction, the Liberty Trust client accounts represent approximately 10,000 IRAs and $800 million of retirement assets under custody, including self-directed IRAs holding privately held or alternative assets, as well as automatic rollover IRA accounts originating from corporate retirement plan sponsors.

“Liberty Trust’s business aligns perfectly with Millennium Trust’s, and we have a dedicated and experienced team to serve these clients through the transition and beyond,” says Gary Anetsberger, CEO of Millennium Trust. “We are excited to build and expand relationships with these clients, and provide them the outstanding service that Millennium Trust is known for in the industry.”

“It was important for us to make sure that this transaction would work well for our clients,” says Glen Martin, CEO and co-founder of Liberty Trust. “Millennium Trust is the leader in this industry, and offers clients an outstanding experience and value.”

“We are thrilled with what Millennium Trust has to offer our clients,” adds Stephen Pauley, COO and co-founder of Liberty Trust. “We know they will receive top-level service with Millennium Trust.”

This transaction represents Millennium Trust’s sixth acquisition over the past three years.

Mercer Announces Recent Hires to Global and U.S. Market

Mercer has appointed two professionals to the global leadership team of its wealth business, as well as a senior hire for the U.S. market.

Raelan Lambert has been named global alternatives leader and Barb Marder has been named global product solutions leader, both with immediate effect. Additionally, John Mohr joins the company as senior investment consultant.  

“Raelan and Barb’s appointments demonstrate the continued growth and strength of our investments business, specifically our abilities in alternatives and our capabilities in digital disruption,” says Rich Nuzum, president of Mercer’s global wealth business. “Both bring strong track records and immense industry knowledge, and we look forward to seeing our clients benefit from their expertise in 2020 and beyond.”

As global alternatives leader, Lambert leads research, advice and solutions related to alternative asset classes. In addition to her work with clients and investment managers, she has operational responsibility for Mercer’s 170 alternatives specialists. Lambert is succeeding Donn Cox, who founded and led LP Capital Advisors and Pavilion Alternatives Group prior to it being acquired by Mercer in 2018. Cox will remain at Mercer as a senior adviser until March of 2020 to assist in transition. Lambert will also work closely with Bill Muysken, who continues in his role as Mercer’s global chief investment officer for alternatives.

Lambert continues to be based in Sacramento and reports to Rich Nuzum. Previous to this appointment, Lambert was the global head of private debt at Mercer. She joined Pavilion Alternatives Group in 2004, which was acquired by Mercer in 2018. Since 2005, she has held leadership roles in the firm’s core business units, including risk management, investment research and investment advisory.

As global product solutions Leader, Marder will play a role in the firm’s efforts to expand its digital disruption capabilities, specifically in the area of investments research delivery. In this position, she assumes direct leadership of MercerInsight, an online tool which provides research, data, and analytics on investment strategies to institutional investors, and Mercer FundWatch, which provides research and ratings on funds to individual investors and financial advisors. Marder is also responsible for managing relationships with investment managers.

She is based in Baltimore and reports to Nuzum.

Marder has worked in Mercer’s business units for over 30 years, including defined contribution (DC) consulting, international consulting and global mobility. She has led Mercer’s innovation hub for the past two years, and spent her first 20 years with the company as an actuary.

Data & Research December 6, 2019

Advisers Warming Slowly to Tech-Based Communications

Well over half of advisers are not communicating with clients via video, and only 7% are utilizing video to connect with clients on a regular basis.

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Redtail Technology has published the results of its AdvisorComms 2019 Survey, spelling out retirement advisers’ and wealth managers’ preferences and strategies for communicating with clients.

To gain a better understanding of how firms budgeted for communications, respondents were asked what the majority of their communications budget was being spent on this year. According to the survey, the top five budgeted items were upgrading tools, technologies or processes (33.8%); improving the quality of existing communication assets (26.3%); engaging more on social media (13.0%); hiring dedicated communications staff (10.6%); and launching new communications campaigns (9.4%).

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Redtail’s research finds that advisers are largely relying on, or limiting their practices to using, the “traditional” methods of communication with their clients, such as in-person meetings and phone calls. Firms appear to be confident in both the value and engagement levels of in-person meetings and phone calls, though they also appear to be warming up towards tech-based communications.

The research suggests some widely used communications technologies are still underutilized or not used at all by respondents. Well over half (59%) of respondents are not communicating with clients via video, and only 7% are utilizing video to connect with clients on a regular basis. At the same time, Redtail finds, nearly 87% of respondents think their clients would like to communicate with them via text, but 29% have a “no client texting” policy within their office. Further, nearly 41% of respondents have not been approved by their broker/dealer for texting with their clients.

“Due to the nature of the industry, particularly in terms of its regulation, financial services is often significantly slower than others to embrace new communication technologies,” says Brian McLaughlin, CEO of Redtail Technology. “That said, we weren’t surprised by how much adviser offices still rely on phone calls and face-to-face meetings; what did surprise us was how little they appear to be incorporating alternate forms of communication that might be better suited for specific types of outreach while also helping them to address some of their biggest challenges.”

McLaughlin says the firm’s research indicates opportunities abound for offices in terms of scaling their practices and honoring client communication preferences.

“In many cases it may be as simple as retooling their usage of available communications technologies,” McLaughlin suggests. “Additionally, the results lead us to conclude advisers may not be taking advantage of opportunities to strengthen relationships through more precisely tailored content to clients and prospects. In a competitive market, taking advantage of either of these opportunities should produce dividends.”

Speaking earlier this year on the same topic, Mark McKenna, head of global marketing at Putnam Investments, said advisers’ use of social media platforms is increasingly important. In addition to the role of evolving client communication preferences, greater social media use is also expected to be accelerated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s ongoing overhaul of its formerly strict advertising standards into a more workable, technologically aware framework.

“I used to hear advisers who said that they didn’t have time to learn a new communication medium or technology,” McKenna said. “Now they are all asking, ‘How do I use social media in best way?’ Today, most advisers realize they can reach targeted individuals on social media far more effectively than just doing a seminar. Social media is more efficient, and it helps create a dialogue.”

As noted in the 2019 Putnam Investments Social Advisor Study, back in 2013, only 5% of advisers were using Instagram for business purposes. Today, that number has risen to 38% of financial advice professionals. LinkedIn, meanwhile, was already used by 71% in 2013, rising to 72% this year. Use of Facebook is up almost 40 percentage points (62%) compared to 22% six years ago, while Twitter use increased from 16% of advisers to 52%.

The Putnam study shows that even though 83% of U.S. advisers are applying social media communications in their practices, and six in 10 advisers label themselves as social media experts, only 15% are “demonstrating highly skilled approaches.”

McKenna doesn’t consider this finding a failure of financial professionals, as it takes time and resources to become a social media expert. For advisers looking to up their social media game, he suggests doing some benchmarking of their social media practices against other firms to understand how they score in comparison.

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