Deals & People October 3, 2012

Symetra Adds Three Wholesalers to Sales Team

Bob Carlson, Richard Shearer and Paul Villanova have joined the registered investments external wholesaling team at Symetra Life Insurance Co. in the Midwest and Southeast.
Reported by

Carlson is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Carlson joins Symetra from Willis North America in Chicago, where he served as a personal risk adviser for high-net-worth clients. Previously, he spent 11 years at Northern Trust Company, with responsibility for wholesaling mutual funds and separately managed accounts to registered investment advisers and independent advisers. He has held sales roles at Harris Bank, AON, Marsh & McLennan and Kemper Financial Services. Carlson earned a bachelor’s degree at Texas Christian University. He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter and holds FINRA Series 6, 7 and 63 licenses.

Shearer is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. Shearer comes to Symetra from Sun Life Financial, where he was responsible for sales and marketing of Sun Life financial products in several southeastern states. He previously held regional sales leadership roles at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, AIM Investments and AIM Funds. A graduate of the University of Texas, Austin, Shearer holds FINRA Series 7, 26, 63 and 65 licenses. He has earned CIMC and CIMA certifications, and is enrolled in a Certified Financial Planner program.

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Villanova is Symetra’s senior investment specialist for Florida and is a variable annuity sales expert, most recently serving as senior vice president and divisional sales manager for Sun Life Financial Distributors in Boston. Before Sun Life, he held sales positions at Conseco Fund Group, ING Funds and Liberty Funds Distributors. Villanova has a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and a master’s in business administration from Regis University. He holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 26 and 63 licenses.

“Bob, Rick and Paul bring years of experience and valuable market knowledge to our registered investments team. They complement the deep talent we already have on board and will represent Symetra well in their respective territories,” said Dan Guilbert, executive vice president of Symetra’s retirement division.

 

Compliance October 2, 2012

DOL Says Overvaluing Stock Led to ESOP Losses

The Department of Labor (DOL) filed a lawsuit against GreatBanc Trust Co. and Sierra Aluminum Co., alleging that stock overvaluations led to losses for Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) participants.
Reported by

Based on an investigation by the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the suit alleges that GreatBanc breached its fiduciary duties to the Sierra Aluminum ESOP when it allowed the plan to pay more than fair market value for employer stock in June 2006.

Sierra Aluminum, the ESOP’s sponsor, was named a defendant for entering into an indemnification agreement with GreatBanc that violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The plan currently has 322 participants.

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EBSA claims that GreatBanc failed to adequately inquire into an appraiser’s report that presented unrealistic and aggressively optimistic projections of Sierra Aluminum’s future earnings and profitability. GreatBanc allegedly failed to investigate the credibility of the assumptions, factual bases and adjustments to financial statements that the appraiser relied on in preparing its report. The suit also alleges that GreatBanc asked the appraiser to revise its valuation opinion in order to reconcile the ESOP’s higher purchase price with the lower fair market value of the company stock.

Sierra Aluminum’s indemnification agreement with GreatBanc violated ERISA to the extent that it would permit them to pay GreatBanc’s losses, costs, expenses and damages unless and until a court enters an unappealable judgment that GreatBanc did not violate ERISA.

The complaint seeks to restore losses plus interest to the plan and to enjoin Sierra Aluminum from indemnifying GreatBanc.

 

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