Retirement Industry People Moves – 6/7/24

CFP Board appoints managing directors; Royal Bank taps Sanya as CEO of U.S. asset management; Aon names Reese CFO; and more. 

CFP Board Appoints Zajac and Mann to Managing Director Roles

Adam Zajac

The nonprofit CFP Board, which specializes in financial training and certification of certified financial planners, appointed two new managing directors to support the organization’s code of ethics and standards of conduct.

It promoted Adam Zajac to managing director of investigations and counsel to the head of enforcement. In the position, he will lead a team of attorneys and legal staff in the enforcement department. The division oversees investigations and provides counsel on program operations, strategy, and alignment with policies and procedures.

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Since joining the board in 2009, Zajac has held various legal counsel roles and most recently served as director of investigations and counsel to the head of enforcement.

Bill Mann

The board also appointed William Mann as its managing director of adjudication.  

Mann, who has 25 years of legal experience in financial services, will oversee the adjudication process in compliance with the CFP Board’s procedural rules, code and standards, fitness standards and sanction guidelines. He will serve as the lead legal counsel to the board’s Disciplinary and Ethics Commission, managing all hearings, reviews and preparation of written orders.

Royal Bank Names Sanya as Head of US Asset-Management Unit

Donald Sanya

Royal Bank of Canada named Donald Sanya CEO of its U.S. asset management business, RBC BlueBay Asset Management.

In his new position, Sanya will work to strengthen ties with institutional clients, to grow assets via financial intermediaries, including registered investment advisers, and to raise awareness about fixed-income manager RBC BlueBay.

Sanya will replace Mike Lee, who is retiring at the end of July.

Sanya moved to the Royal Bank in 2014 from BlackRock Inc. He will report to Damon Williams, CEO of the bank’s global asset-management division, which is headquartered in Toronto and oversees $453 billion in assets.

“We’re seeing a lot of appetite for fixed income, just given that the interest-rate environment we have is such that investors are able to generate much more return on the fixed-income side,” Sanya said in a statement.

Reese to Serve as Next Aon CFO

Edmund Reese

Aon, a global professional services firm, appointed Edmund Reese as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective July 29. In this role, he will be responsible for the firm’s finance function and capital allocation strategy.

Reese will join Aon, July 1, to succeed Christa Davies; she will certify second-quarter 2024 results and then transition as a senior adviser to the firm to her retirement.

Pending CFO Reese joins from Broadridge Financial Solutions, having been CFO there since 2020. He moved to Broadridge from American Express, where he last served as senior vice president and CFO of its largest business unit, the Global Consumer Services Group.

“As our next CFO, Edmund will further enhance our focus on top- and bottom-line growth, disciplined capital allocation, and portfolio management to deliver positive outcomes for our clients, colleagues and shareholders,” Greg Case, CEO of Aon, said in a statement.

Aon recently acquired retirement, insurance and wealth advisory NFP, which continues to operate under its brand name.

American Century Promotes Brett Hall to DCIO for Midwestern States

Brett Hall

Kevin Eknaian, national sales manager, retirement, American Century Investments announced that the firm’s defined contribution investment only distribution team has promoted Vice President Brett Hall to regional retirement consultant for the central region.

Hall was previously a hybrid business development specialist at American Century. In his new position, he will cover Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan and report to Eknaian.

Before joining American Century, Brett was a retirement solutions associate at AllianceBernstein, where part of his coverage included Illinois and other parts of the Midwest. He has over 10 years’ experience in financial services and distribution in roles that span the advisory, recordkeeping and asset management industries.

Cruz Joins Ameritas as Senior Vice President, Retirement Plans

Orlando Cruz

Ameritas named Orlando Cruz as senior vice president, retirement plans, effective June 3. He replaced Jim Kais, who moved to Equitable in April to be head of group retirement.

Cruz, a 30-year retirement and wealth management executive, was most recently senior vice president and chief growth officer for MissionSquare Retirement, where he led the firm’s defined contribution business.

He also was president of broker/dealer and registered investment adviser firm MissionSquare Investment Services. Earlier, he served as president of MetLife Securities Inc. and as president of Voya Financial’s retail retirement investor channel.

What to Know About Qualified Student Loan Payment Matching

While the IRS has provided guidance on the new provision, there is still clarification needed, according to an expert.

The capability for employers to match a student loan payment with a 401(k) contribution has been one of the most discussed provisions from the SECURE 2.0 Act, and it went into effect on January 1.

While the IRS offered a framework detailing how the rule operates, questions remain as to implementation, according to an expert adviser discussing the option in a webinar, June 5,, held by third-party administrator The Retirement Advantage.

When it comes to setting up a qualified student loan match, plan advisers and sponsors should be clear on the timing of when the qualified student loan payments may be reported, said Andrew Larson, director of retirement education and advisor practice management at the Retirement Learning Center. Timing is essential, he said, because the timeline for these matching contributions is different than for a traditional 401(k) deferral match.

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“Participants may claim qualified student loan matching after the close of the plan year, so they don’t have to claim pay period by period,” he said. “They can wait until the end of the year, determine their total payments and then claim the employer match. How exactly this will work is unclear now. We’re awaiting further IRS guidance.”

The details for participant end-of-year filing and how plan sponsors should accommodate it in a timely manner is among a few areas Larson said the IRS should offer guidance on. Other areas include how the employer matches will affect plan recordkeeping and discrimination testing, he noted. When it comes to tracking qualified student loan payment matching, Larson said, the payments should be included in the plan’s actual contribution percentage test. The ACP test is a nondiscrimination test that compares the average contribution percentage made into a 401(k) plan by highly compensated employees with that made by non-highly compensated employees. 

The qualified student loan payments themselves, which are made to the loan processor, are not included in the ACP test, but the match should be, Larson noted.

Furthermore, any ACP excesses must be identified and removed, typically within two and a half months after the close of plan year, he said. ACP excess is a situation where the average contribution percentage by highly compensated employees exceeds a specific limit relative to the average contribution percentage for non-highly compensated employees.

However, ACP testing won’t be complete until the close of the 90-day claiming period. The 90-day claiming period typically refers to a time frame within which employees must take action regarding their excess contributions in a retirement plan, such as a 401(k), after the end of the plan year.

When it comes to the level of matching funds that are available, contributions that go above the 402(g) limit, which sets the maximum amount of money employees may defer to their 401(k) plan each year, may not be matched. In 2024, that limit is $23,000.

Effectively, the traditional 401(k) rule for matching, in which you may match only up to the limit, remains in effect, Larson said.

Larson gave the example of State of Maryland employees with access to a 403(b) plan with a 25% employer match. An employee could notify the employer that $23,000 in student loan payments were made in 2024; the  district would then allocate the matching contributions to accounts on February 15, 2025, and the employee’s matching would be calculated up to the 402(g) limit.

More direction on student loan matching will be a focus for the retirement industry in coming months; the ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] Industry Committee representing employer benefit interests, for instance, recently included it in its list of priority items for the IRS and Treasury Department.

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