Deals & People February 14, 2013

Pentegra Names BOLI Regional Director

Matt Wilcox joined Pentegra Retirement Services as a regional director for the supplemental benefits and bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) business.
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Wilcox has worked in the industry for nearly 10 years and brings extensive community bank benefits knowledge to his new role. Most recently at Bank Financial Services Group, Wilcox developed executive benefit plan and BOLI solutions for community banks, as well as built strong relationships with numerous bank trade associations throughout the Midwest, particularly in securing endorsement agreements.

“We could not be more pleased to have Matt join our organization,” said Kevin Killian, Pentegra’s director of BOLI. “He is an accomplished client relations professional with an excellent track record of success. His deep knowledge of nonqualified retirement plan solutions and BOLI will be instrumental in expanding our business development efforts and marketing Pentegra’s supplemental benefit and BOLI programs.”

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Wilcox holds his insurance license, as well as Series 6 and 63 registrations.

Products February 14, 2013

Retirement Expert Wants to Spark Savings Movement

The recently published book, “Transform Tomorrow: Awakening the Super Saver in Pursuit of Retirement Readiness,” focuses on the need for Americans to save more for retirement.
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Author Stig Nybo, retirement industry expert and president of pension sales and distribution for Transamerica Retirement Solutions, told PLANADVISER it is “a book that tries to tap the collective knowledge of our industry.” He added that the basic premise behind the book is trying to change social behavior around savings.   

Nybo advocates a national retirement savings campaign similar to successful Public Service Announcements. “I looked for examples where we achieved significant social change, and one of the best examples I found—and discuss in the book—was the Keep America Beautiful campaign about littering in the U.S.,” he said. People who can remember the 70s know there was a lot of trash on highways and beaches, and a campaign was started featuring a commercial with an American Indian crying as litter was thrown at his feet along a highway.  

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“That is not the experience today; there are trash cans every 100 feet along beaches,” Nybo noted. “What changed to make that happen is we collectively as a society changed the context around littering—i.e., it is wrong—and people’s beliefs changed—i.e., ‘I don’t have to litter; I should use trash containers.'”

Nybo added: “We have to change the context around retirement savings. How easy is it to save versus not save, and what contextual factors within companies will help or lead people to save? We have to change beliefs, getting influencers of our industry thinking about how we create a crying-Indian campaign or Smoky the Bear campaign to change beliefs widespread.” He said a process to affect behavior is laid out in the book.  

 

 

Nybo emphasizes that the retirement industry, policymakers, employers and individuals can work together to create a nation of “Super Savers”—people who save more in order to retire comfortably whenever they choose. “We all need to set a goal of saving at least 10% of current pay every year for retirement. What if we all saved 10%? Think of the impact this would have on the futures of so many people.”   

Nybo said his commitment is shared by Transamerica, and the proceeds of the book will go toward this retirement readiness campaign. “This is purely about establishing awareness and furthering this effort,” he said.

“Transform Tomorrow” is available on Amazon.com.

 

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