Retirement Industry People Moves – 9/29/23

Thornburg Names Zinkula New CEO as Brady Exits

Thornburg Investment Management Inc., an investment firm overseeing $42 billion in client assets, named Mark Zinkula as its new president and CEO on Friday to replace Jason Brady, whose departure was announced in May.

Zinkula was chosen after “an extensive global search process” and will join Thornburg’s board of directors, according to the announcement. He was formerly CEO for Legal & General Investment Management, which has $1.4 trillion in assets under management.

“Mark has strong strategic capabilities and exceptional leadership qualities,” Thornburg Chairman Garrett Thornburg said in a statement. “He has a deep understanding of investment management and an excellent record of driving organic business growth across client channels and asset classes.”

Brady’s resignation notice came after a complaint was filed by a Thornburg employee in New Mexico District Court alleging that Brady promoted a romantic partner at the firm and fired the employee when the employee raised the issue to management. The case is Troy Statczar v. Thornburg Investment Management Inc., et al.

Benefits, Compensation Lawyer Urwitz Joins Crowell & Moring

Joe Urwitz

Joe Urwitz will join law firm Crowell & Moring LLP as a partner in its tax group, guiding clients on executive compensation and employee benefits issues in M&A, private equity and capital markets transactions.

“We are focused on expanding our transactional tax practice, and Joe’s experience is key in taking our benefits practice to the next level,” Christine Lane, co-chair of the firm’s tax group, said in a statement. “Joe deepens our bench strength to handle our increasing flow of complex corporate transactional work.”

Urwitz represents a range of Fortune 50 companies in private equity, technology and health care. Urwitz also provides counsel on ERISA fiduciary and other matters: deferred compensation arrangements, equity award and bonus plan design, employment and severance arrangements, as well as compensation and benefits issues affecting tax-exempt entities.

“I was drawn to Crowell for its strong collaborative culture,” Urwitz said in a statement. “I’m excited to use my experience to continue to expand Crowell’s compensations and benefits practice.”

Cognizant Appoints Dalal as CFP

Jatin Dalal

Cognizant announced the appointment of Jatin Dalal as chief financial officer, with the appointment effective in December 2023.

Dalal will report to Ravi Kumar S, Cognizant’s CEO. Dalal will oversee Cognizant’s worldwide financial planning and analysis; accounting and controllership; tax, treasury and internal audit; corporate development; investor relations; and enterprise risk management functions. Dalal will succeed Jan Siegmund, who intends to retire in early 2024.

Dalal joins Cognizant from Wipro, a publicly traded multinational technology services and consulting company, where he had served as CFO since April 2015 and assumed additional responsibilities as president beginning in December 2019. Previously, he was CFO of Wipro’s global IT business from 2011 to 2015 in Bangalore, India.

“Jatin is a highly experienced technology services CFO with a proven track record of financial and operational success in a complex and quickly evolving industry,” Kumar S said in a statement. “We are pleased to welcome Jatin to Cognizant.”

Advisor360 Appoints Fanning to Board of Directors

Mike Fanning

has been appointed to the board of directors of Advisor360 LLC, a provider of integrated software and technology for enterprise wealth management organizations.

“We are honored that Mike has joined our Board of Directors as Advisor360 enters into an exciting new phase of growth and expansion,” Rich Napolitano, CEO of Advisor360, said in a statement.

Fanning recently completed a 17-year stint at MassMutual, where he served as the head of its domestic insurance division. As a pioneer in the insurance sector, Fanning extended MassMutual’s offering of protection and wealth management solutions and played a key role in improving the company’s technology platform to satisfy adviser and client needs.

“I experienced first-hand how Advisor360°’s wealth solutions set up MassMutual’s advisors for success—it was game-changing,” Fanning said in a statement. “The transformative power of this company’s offering to the industry is real.”