Retirement Industry People Moves

Professional Capital Services, LLC (PCS) promoted Matt McGarry as the vice president of Sales, New England Region, and Max Halberstadt as vice president of Sales, Ohio Valley Region, and hired four internal sales consultants.

“We’re very fortunate to promote Matt and Max from within to cover the newly created territories,” says Reno Regalbuto, executive vice president of Institutional Sales. “We believe the work they’ve done as internal consultants will successfully translate to the field as they partner with advisers and TPAs. The newly created territories at PCS will allow us to provide more in-person support to the advisers and TPA’s in the states they cover.”

Samuel Weiss will fill McGarry’s position as the internal sales consultant for the Northeast and New England territories. Weiss has been with PCS since August 2017 after transitioning from a financial consultant position at national investment advisory firm.  

PCS also welcomes Sam Fierson, Nick Moore, Beza Ayele and Richard Sweeney as internal sales consultants. Fierson has three years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently at New York Life. Moore has five years of retirement plan services experience coming over from Ascensus, Ayele has three years of retirement plan experience coming over from Willis Towers Watson and Sweeney spent four years at Expertplan/Ascensus and has 12 years of financial services experience in total.

“Our internal sales consultants play a significant role in helping advisers work with plan sponsors to ensure a start to finish process that’s as seamless as possible,” says Chad Azara, national sales director. “The experience of working with PCS is one of the things that sets us apart, and our internals are a big part of that experience.”

CUNA Mutual Grows Sales Force with Addition of Regional VP

CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions hired Will Blackall as regional vice president in the Northeast Region.

Reporting to Christina Gregory, divisional vice president of intermediary sales, Blackall is responsible for assisting financial intermediaries in building their retirement plan business and streamlining practice management. He works with third party administrators (TPAs), defined contribution investment-only (DCIO) partners and other partners to support advisers in developing customized retirement plan solutions.

“Will is another addition who boosts the experience of our team,” Gregory says. “His background in working with plan sponsors and solid adviser relationships will play a key role in his success.”

Blackall has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions, he served as a retirement plan investment consultant for BNY Mellon.

USI Selects Retirement Services VP

USI Consulting Group announced that Duc Le has been named vice president of retirement services, based in St. Louis, Missouri. In this role, Le will be responsible for leading the business development activities for USI Consulting Group’s defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) practices in Kansas and Missouri. 

“Duc brings extensive experience in recordkeeping and administration,” says Mike Sullivan, senior vice president and regional sales director for USI Consulting Group. “His experience will be invaluable to the central region as we continue to grow our market share. We are excited to welcome Duc to the team.” 

Le has over six years of experience in relationship management, communications and sales. He has additional experience surrounding plan education, recordkeeping and full process implementation during plan conversions. Le has assisted clients in the corporate, not-for-profit and education markets. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in marketing from University of Missouri St. Louis. Industry education and designations include: FINRA Series 6, and 63. 

Former Actuarial Consultant Joins MassMutual as Pension Leader

As part of its growth strategy for the defined benefit (DB) pension business, MassMutual has appointed a new leader. Patrick Kendall will lead product and business development for MassMutual’s DB pension business.

“Patrick’s role is integral to MassMutual’s efforts in expanding our investment, actuarial and administrative capabilities in the defined benefit pension marketplace,” says Michael O’Connor, head of Defined Benefit, a unit of MassMutual’s Institutional Solutions business. “There is a growing appetite among pension plan sponsors for greater support and expertise in managing pension plan risks, and MassMutual is committed to building on its capabilities to meet that need.”

In the past year, MassMutual has introduced the PensionSmart Analysis tool, which provides insights into an employer’s challenges and opportunities by examining the plan’s current status, funding level, and service structure. MassMutual’s pension experts can then assess the pension plan’s health and make recommendations to the plan’s financial adviser and sponsor about appropriate options.

Earlier, MassMutual introduced customized pension yield curves to help plan sponsors measure their pension obligations in a more informed and transparent way. The yield curve provides an improved benchmark to calculate the value of pension liabilities that get reflected in a plan sponsor’s balance sheet and profit and loss statement.

Kendall, with more than 20 years’ experience in pensions and financial services, brings a unique blend of actuarial consulting expertise and business development abilities. Before coming to MassMutual, Kendall was a regional vice president for OneAmerica Retirement Services and has held leadership posts at Transamerica, Diversified and, at the start of his career, MassMutual.

Kendall has a BA from Dartmouth College, holds FCA and EA actuarial credentials and FINRA Series 6, 26 and 63 licenses.

U.S. Credit Head Joins TwentyFour Asset Management

David Norris joins TwentyFour Asset Management as head of U.S. Credit reporting to CEO, Mark Holman. Previously, he was responsible for High Yield Credit Trading at Credit Agricole and held several senior positions in credit trading and alternative investments during his 30-year career. Norris will be a key member of TwentyFour’s Multi-Sector Bond team, which manages the firm’s $ 7.0 billion Strategic Income and Dynamic Bond funds. 

“We see the U.S. as a key growth market and David’s experience and deep fixed income expertise will be integral as we continue to expand our U.S. footprint,” says Mark Holman, chief executive at TwentyFour. 

In addition to David, the firm has hired three investment professionals in London to support continued business growth: Charlene Malik joins the Multi-Sector Bonds team; Pauline Quirin joins the Asset-Backed Securities team; and Johnathan Owen joins the Outcome Driven team.