Deals & People October 16, 2014

LGIMA Announces Series of Senior Hires

Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (LGIMA) announced that it has hired four executives to support its expanding liability-driven investing (LDI) business.
Reported by

Matthew Cohen, Shawn Fan, Ciaran Carr, and Jeff Eberhardt are joining the Chicago-based registered investment adviser’s LDI business. LGIMA specializes in fixed-income strategies with an emphasis on LDI and de-risking solutions. 

“Our LDI business in the U.S. continues to grow, both in number of clients and in range of solutions offered,” says Jodan Ledford, head of U.S. solutions for LGIMA. “To support this demand from our expanding roster of defined benefit pension plan clients, we are committed to recruiting the most talented executives in the industry.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Cohen joins as an LDI portfolio manager and is responsible for the day-to-day management and risk oversight of the firm’s LDI portfolios. Previously, Cohen was with Barclays Capital, serving as an associate vice president on the fixed-income interest rate options trading desk.

Fan will fulfill the position of senior quantitative analyst, working closely with the portfolio management team to deliver proprietary risk management tools for use in LDI portfolios. Before accepting the new position he was a director at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group and led a team that developed and enhanced quantitative analytics and architecture design for margin production systems.

Carr will be joining LGIMA as a solutions strategist in February 2015. His responsibilities include developing and structuring pension risk management solutions. He is currently with LGIMA’s London-based affiliate, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).

Eberhardt will serve as senior client relationship manager, with a focus on customized mandates. He was previously a vice president at Ansley Capital Group, a healthcare-focused boutique investment bank. Eberhardt also worked at Deutsche Bank and Wachovia Securities earlier in his career. He has an extensive background in originating, structuring, and trading credit derivatives, LGIMA says.

Cohen, Fan, and Carr will report directly to Ledford, and Eberhardt will report to Nancy Johnson, head of client relationships for LGIMA. “Each brings with them the experience to help continue to drive this business forward and fortify our position as a leading provider of LDI solutions for the U.S. market,” Ledford says.

Products October 16, 2014

The Principal Unveils Retirement Wellness Scores

The Principal Financial Group has introduced a personalized, at-a-glance retirement wellness scoring system for retirement plan participants.
Reported by

The Principal says the personalized Retirement Wellness Score is one feature of a broad new participant digital experience it is bringing to retirement plan clients. As explained by the firm, the score represents the percentage of a participant’s pre-retirement income that they will likely be able to maintain in retirement, ranging from 0% to 100% or higher. The score is based on account balances; contribution levels in defined contribution, defined benefit and nonqualified plans; an estimate of income from Social Security; outside savings entered by the participant; and other assumptions and data.

“It’s important to begin the retirement-planning process with a goal in mind—a desired outcome,” explains Jerry Patterson, senior vice president of retirement and investor services at The Principal. “We believe the Retirement Wellness Score is a great place to begin. This one number, displayed front and center on every participant’s account home page, allows them to know in real time whether they’re on track for a secure retirement.”

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The score is embedded in an intuitive color-coded display system that represents different ranges of income replacement. Participants with a score of 70% and above fit into the green group, while those with a 50% to 69% percent income replacement score are placed in the yellow category. The red group is for those with less than a 49% projected income replacement ratio. The Principal says the color-coding system helps motivate participants to take positive action to improve their retirement outlook.

Other features of the improved participant digital experience include expanded account management and educational resources and services. Mobile-friendly functionality and streamlined designs have also been introduced based on feedback from participants, plan sponsors, advisers and experts in behavioral finance and digital design. The new platform will be fully launched by the end of the year, according to The Principal.

Patterson says the digital enhancements are part of a new approach to workplace retirement readiness called Principal PlanWorks, a platform of capabilities and services designed to make retirement plans work better for both participants and plan sponsors through plan design, participant experience and strategic measures.

«