Deals & People May 31, 2024

Retirement Industry People Moves – 5/31/24

3(38) Investment Fiduciaries adds director of investments; Freedom Fiduciaries hires retirement plan consultant; Miller to lead AssuredPartners retirement services practice; and more.

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3(38) Investment Fiduciaries Names Ramirez as Investment Director

Adrian Ramirez

3(38) Investment Fiduciaries, a firm specializing in 401(k) back-office work for advisers, has hired Adrian Ramirez as director of investments.

Ramirez joins from Endeavor Retirement, where he was director of retirement plans, and had prior retirement and investing-related roles at SWBC Retirement Plan Services and LeafHouse Financial.

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Ramirez will bring experience in “plan lineup design, fee analysis, and vendor searches,” according to a post by the firm on LinkedIn. “As a fiduciary, Adrian is unwavering in his commitment to acting in the best interests of plan participants and to avoiding conflicts of interest.”

3(38) Investment Fiduciaries was founded by Managing Director Steve Wilkinson, who is also CEO of (k)quote, a fee benchmarking service for plan advisers.

Freedom Fiduciaries Hires New Retirement Plan Consultant

Ashley Butz

Retirement plan specialist Ashley Butz will be joining Shane Hanson’s Freedom Fiduciaries as a retirement plan consultant.

Butz joins from Fisher Investments, where she was a retirement counselor, and brings experience in fiduciary processes, participant education and client experience enhancement. She started her career in 2016 in banking and then transitioned into the retirement plan focus.

Butz’s “experience and client-focused approach arrive at a pivotal time as we navigate through a period of significant demand and expansion,” CEO and President Hanson said in a statement. “Ashley’s role as a client-facing specialist will further enable us to enhance our client services and continue meeting their needs effectively. Her fresh insights are also invaluable as we innovate and develop new technologies to better support our clients.”

AssuredPartners Adds 401(k) and Insurance Adviser Miller and Group

David Miller

David Miller, president and CEO of First Harbor, will be bringing his team to AssuredPartners Investment Advisors to lead its retirement services department out of the Houston office.

Miller takes the role after nearly 25 years as head of First Harbor, where he started as partner and then led the firm to work with individuals and businesses in insurance, investment and retirement planning.

Joining AssuredPartners “give my team an advantage in Houston’s marketplace to continue to offer excellent customer service to our clients while fully integrating with AssuredPartners’ holistic client service model and leveraging APIA’s tools and resources,” Miller said in a statement.

APIA is the retirement services division of AssuredPartners.

New York Life Group Benefit Solutions Names Shea, Welke to Leadership Roles

Meghan Shea

New York Life Group Benefit Solutions has promoted two executives to senior leadership positions.

Meghan Shea has been promoted to head of distribution, where she will lead distribution strategy with the goal of driving business growth. She has been with the group benefits solutions team since 2005, where she has held leadership roles in distribution, marketing and strategy.

Kristina Welke

Kristina Welke will now be stepping into Shea’s prior role of head of strategy, solutions and marketing, where she will focus on delivering products and experiences for the firm’s clients, customers and brokers. She joined the group benefits solutions team in 2018 and has over 15 years of insurance industry experience.

Both will report to Scott Berlin, head of New York Life’s Group Benefit Solutions.

Ocorian Names Buick CFO

Craig Buick

Ocorian, a provider of fund administration, capital markets, corporate, trust and regulatory and compliance services, has named Craig Buick as chief financial officer.

Buick joins from Cabot Credit Management, where he was group CEO and group CFO; overall he has more than 30 years of experience in financial services leadership positions.

As CFO, Buick will be responsible for controllership, finance business partnership, business intelligence, group legal and mergers and acquisitions.

“Craig brings extensive global experience and expertise in building successful businesses, as Ocorian continues its organic and inorganic growth journey,” CEO Chantal Free said in a statement. “His style and approach is an excellent fit for our client centric and collaborative culture.” 

Georgetown Retirement Center Names Rao Nonresident Scholar

Manita Rao

The Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives has brought on Manita Rao as a nonresident scholar.

Rao takes the position alongside her position as senior policy advisor for the AARP, a role she took after completing her Ph.D. in public policy at the University of Southern California.

“We look forward to continuing our collaboration with you as well as our longstanding partner AARP,” Angela Antonelli, research professor and executive director of CRI, wrote on LinkedIn.

 

Products & Services May 31, 2024

Product & Service Launches – 5/30/24

MassMutual offers CAIS alternative investment platform to advisers; Pontera and Stifel help 401(k) participants pursue retirement goals; member-based financial planning firm Facet adds estate planning.

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MassMutual Offers CAIS Alternative Investment Platform to Advisers

To expand access to alternative offerings and make investment processes “even more robust and streamlined,” MassMutual has made the CAIS alternative investment platform available to advisers affiliated with MML Investors Services—an independent broker/dealer and investment adviser subsidiary of MassMutual.

“Alternative investment offerings are more important than ever for advisors and their clients,” said Vaughn Bowman, head of wealth management with MassMutual. “By teaming up with industry leaders like CAIS, we are providing more options for advisors to offer clients differentiated investments to complement their traditional portfolios.”

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The CAIS platform provides a broad selection of alternative investment strategies spanning hedge funds, private equity, private debt, real estate, infrastructure and structured notes. Integrations with leading custodians and reporting providers will also be available, which help automate and streamline the reporting and document workflow process.

Pontera Partners with Stifel to Help 401(k) Participants Achieve Retirement Goals

Fintech company Pontera, which helps savers receive professional 401(k) management from a trusted financial adviser, announced a partnership with Stifel Financial Corp., a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm operating across the U.S. and abroad.

With this collaboration, more than 2,400 Stifel advisers will be able to securely manage 401(k)s for more than 200,000 clients through the Pontera platform as part of a personalized, comprehensive wealth management plan, according to a press release.

“When clients turn to their advisor for investment advice, they’re looking for help managing all of their assets — not just some,” stated Ron Kruszewski, chairman and chief executive of Stifel. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Pontera and help our advisors answer this call for help by giving them tools to securely and efficiently manage their clients’ workplace retirement accounts.”

Kruszewski noted that the platform will be integrated with the adviser-driven tech stack, Addepar, that Stifel uses, for holistic performance reporting, as well as Salesforce CRM for streamlined client-account visibility and Stifel’s WealthTracker solution.

Subscription-based Financial Planning Firm Facet Adds Estate Planning Tools

Facet, a consumer subscription-based financial planning firm, has partnered with Wealth.com to add estating planning to its platform.

The partnership comes with Facet noting in an annual wellness report that 67% of respondents do not have estating planning documents and 78% lack estate planning or may have outdated estate documents.

The Wealth.com services include reviews and updates to client’s estate planning; meanwhile, Facet advisers can get guidance from Wealth.com’s team or connect with an attorney from the platform’s partner network, according to firms.

“We are making estate planning more accessible and ensuring plans are continually up-to-date,” Shruti Joshi, president and chief operating officer of Facet, said in a statement. “Our members rely on us not just for financial advice, but for the actionable tools to receive the full benefits of financial planning, including their legacies.”

The service will be offered as part of Facet’s “complete” membership option, or as a standalone service within membership options. The firm charges members a flat fee and provides access to certified financial professionals; it currently has a member base of over 23,000 people and manages over $3.11 billion in investments.

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