Symetra Expands Sales Team Nationwide

Richter will be responsible for managing the distributor relationships with bank partners, national brokerages and large general agencies, all of which carry Symetra’s life insurance and annuity products.

Richter joins Symetra from MassMutual Financial Group, where he was head of key accounts for the retirement-income business. Before MassMutual, he worked at ING, where he brought the ING annuity distribution to the bank channel.  Richter earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Charleston Southern University and received enterprise management credentials from Columbia University Business School.

Symetra is also increasing the size of its field wholesaling force and creating smaller territories for better coverage of key markets, the company reported. Five regional vice presidents will join the company this month.  They are:   

Jeremy Alyea (Territory: Michigan) — Alyea joins Symetra from RiverSource Annuities, where he served as a regional vice president in the bank, wirehouse and broker/dealer division. He also has held sales positions with Allstate Financial Distributors, Harris Bank and Scudder Kemper Investments. His background includes wholesaling experience with annuities, life insurance, and mutual funds.

David Frey (Territory: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire) — Frey comes to Symetra from Northstar Financial Companies, Inc., where he was a partner and financial adviser. He previously held regional sales roles at MassMutual Financial Group and Hartford Life, focusing on variable and fixed annuity sales through independent, bank and regional wirehouse registered representatives.

Michael Hickey (Territory: Delaware, Pennsylvania) — Hickey has held external wholesaling positions at American General Life Companies, MassMutual Financial Group, Inc., and Phoenix Life Insurance. He also was a wealth management financial consultant at National Penn Investment Services.

Stephanie Schuler (Territory: Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah) — Schuler brings 10 years of experience as a successful external and internal wholesaler at RiverSource Distributors, Inc., Wood Logan (John Hancock) and Janus International. In addition, she served as a portfolio manager at Centrix Financial.

Scott Talley (Territory: New Jersey) — Talley joins Symetra from ING, where he has been responsible for sales of ING’s annuity product line to advisers in the bank channel. Tally previously held sales positions at Wilmington Trust Company, Delaware Office Equipment, and Xerox.