Empower Retirement Names EVP of Operations 

Empower Retirement announced the appointment of Richard H. Linton, Jr. as executive vice president for operations. In his new role, Linton will oversee all aspects of the firm’s recordkeeping and plan administration operations, including participant and plan call centers, compliance, conversion and implementation services, client service and financial controls. He will officially join Empower on April 25.

Linton will lead a team of 2,700 operations associates in the United States, Canada and India. He will be based at Empower’s headquarters in metro Denver.

Linton brings more than 25 years of experience in retirement plan administration to Empower—including 14 years in operations management—in addition to many years in sales, product, marketing and client service. He previously served as president of large corporate markets and retail wealth management for Voya Financial. Linton will report to Empower President Edmund F. Murphy III.

Murphy cites Linton’s “vast experience in operations, proven management and leadership skills and a wealth of knowledge about what clients and participants need.”

Linton has managed all aspects of defined contribution businesses throughout his career. He spent two decades at Fidelity Investments, where he rose through the ranks to become executive vice president in the adviser retirement business. He has deep operations experience, having served as senior vice president of an operations and client services group consisting of several hundred associates supporting 800 plan sponsors and 3 million participants. He was responsible for a major part of Fidelity Investments’ operations including tax services, non-proprietary fund trading, stock trading and cash management, among other functions.

Linton joined Voya in 2012 as president of large corporate markets and retail wealth management and chief executive officer for both the company’s broker/dealer and institutional trust and recordkeeping units. In this role, he was responsible for sales and marketing, relationship management, product development, platform management, field representative service, brokerage operations and strategic planning.

Prior to Voya, Linton was a managing director at Bank of America in the retirement solutions group, delivering retirement plans and services to small businesses. During that time, he implemented a three-year strategic plan focused on technology infrastructure redesign and build-out of the online 401(k) offering.

Linton is a graduate of Boston University, where he earned degrees in economics and mathematics. Linton serves on the board of directors of the American Benefits Council and the Expect Miracles Foundation, an organization that encourages the financial services industry to invest in life-saving cancer research and advance patient care programs nationwide.

Alan Biller and Associates Announces Executive Appointments 

Alan Biller and Associates, a fiduciary investment consulting firm and outsourced CIO of institutional client assets, announced the appointments of Mark Keleher as executive director and member of the management committee and Ralph Goldsticker (formerly the firm’s director of portfolio strategy) as chief investment officer.

Both are new roles, will be based in the firm’s Menlo Park headquarters and report to Alan Biller, chief executive officer.

Keleher joins the firm with more than 20 years of investment experience. He was previously chief executive officer of BNY Mellon’s Beta and Transition Management division. Keleher was also a member of the senior management committee of Mellon Capital, and an executive vice president of MBSC Securities Corp. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco. Keleher earned a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Goldsticker has more than 30 years of investment experience, most recently as senior investment strategist in BNY Mellon’s Investment Strategies and Solutions Group, and managing director of research at Mellon Capital. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of San Francisco. He is also an active participant in the Q-Group (Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance) and the Quantitative Work Alliance for Applied Financial Education. Goldsticker earned a B.S. from Washington University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

“We are pleased to have Mark and Ralph join the firm in these important roles. They both bring high-caliber experience and thinking that will be of great benefit to our valued clients,” says Biller.

Segal Group Expands Administration & Technology Practice 

Joseph A. LoCicero, president and CEO of The Segal Group, announced that Michael Stoyanovich has joined the firm as a vice president and senior consultant in the Administration & Technology Consulting (ATC) Practice.

“Michael has deep expertise in employee benefits plan administration and technology and considerable experience working with multiemployer plans,” says LoCicero. “His leadership and talent make him a great addition to our ATC practice.”

Stoyanovich has more than 20 years of experience in the technology and benefits industry, having worked for a variety of organizations in operational, consulting and leadership roles. He most recently served as the chief information and chief operating officer at Associated Third Party Administrators (ATPA).

Stoyanovich received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration from Michigan State University. He will report to Stuart Lerner, senior vice president and Administration & Technology Consulting Practice leader and is based in Segal’s San Francisco office.

NEXT: MassMutual Combines Insurance and Retirement Operations

MassMutual Combines Insurance and Retirement Operations 

Effective May 1, MassMutual will combine its U.S. insurance and retirement operations into a single, integrated business focused on providing holistic financial solutions to individuals and institutions. This includes the company's portfolio of protection products—including life, disability income and long-term care insurance and annuities for individuals—as well as retirement plans, worksite insurance and other specialty products and solutions for institutions.                     

These offerings, sold through MassMutual's career agency system, third-party intermediaries and directly to consumers, will be supported by aligned product development, marketing and operations functions. This new business will maintain the company's strategic focus, further enhance its customers' and clients' experience, and accelerate MassMutual's sales growth. The leadership team, which has deep expertise in the individual and institutional markets, will report to Michael Fanning, executive vice president and current head of MassMutual's U.S. insurance business.  

Jim Lacey, vice president of media relations at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., tells PLANADVISER, “Sponsors will not experience any changes or disruption in service as a result of our new organizational alignment. Their client service teams remain intact, and they can expect to continue to receive the high level of service and care that we have always provided them. MassMutual remains firmly committed to the retirement business as part of our growth strategy—this new alignment is designed to accelerate our growth momentum and enhance the experience we provide to our entire customer base, including plan sponsors and participants."

NEXT: Insight Investment Names Co-Head of Consultant Relations Team

Insight Investment Names Co-Head of Consultant Relations Team 

Insight Investment, a global investment manager, has strengthened its senior distribution team with the appointment of Kyle Theodore as co-head of consultant relations, North America.

Theodore has more than 20 years’ experience in asset management and specialist knowledge of solutions for institutional investors. He joins Insight from PIMCO, where, during his 17-year tenure, he held similar senior consultant-focused roles. At Insight, he will work alongside Robert Alan, also co-head. Both are based in New York and report to Paul Hamilton, global head of consultant relations.

Hamilton says: “Kyle’s appointment further strengthens our global consultant relations team. As the global pension landscape becomes ever more complex we know that optimum investment outcomes rely on collaborative and progressive relationships with clients and their advisers. Insight’s business has been built on this knowledge, and we are well-placed to develop sophisticated and tailored investment solutions on behalf of existing and future clients.”

Insight has $603 billion in assets under management and is focused on fixed income, absolute return and unconstrained investment and risk management solutions.

NEXT: CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions Boosts Sales Team

CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions Boosts Sales Team 

CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions has filled two positions in its Eastern Division. The hiring of John Lutz and Mary Williams brings the wholesaling team to 20 regional vice presidents and the regional sales consultant count to 10.  

An 18-year financial services veteran, Lutz joined CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions as a regional vice president in February, from Principal Financial Group. Previously, he was employed at DWS Investments, Fidelity Investments, Evergreen-Keystone Funds and AmeriCorps National Service. He is a graduate of Ohio University. Reporting to Christina Gregory, his territory covers Georgia, East Tennessee and North Florida.

In addition, Williams has returned to CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions as regional sales consultant for the Eastern Division. Williams has 23 years of industry experience, including nine years with CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions. She has also worked as an internal wholesaler at The American Funds Group, Wells Fargo and MML Investor Services, giving her extensive experience supporting financial advisers.

NEXT: Lincoln Names Director of Consultant Relations

Lincoln Names Director of Consultant Relations 

Lincoln Financial Group’s Retirement Plan Services business announced that Michael McAtamney has been named director of Consultant Relations on its Institutional Retirement Distribution (IRD) team.

McAtamney will work with national and regional independent registered advisers and consulting firms in the western region of the country. In this role, he will help advisers, consultants and their respective firms optimize retirement plan outcomes and execute upon business development strategies to solidify client relationships and grow their respective retirement practices.

McAtamney reports to Jason Key, vice president and head of Consultant Relations for Lincoln’s Retirement Plan Services business. “Michael’s extensive career has shaped his reputation as a knowledgeable professional with unquestionable integrity,” says Key.

Before joining Lincoln, McAtamney spent 26 years with TIAA-CREF, where he most recently led consultant relations and sales efforts in the western region and nationally.

McAtamney received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Bernard Baruch College, in Manhattan, and an MBA in International Finance from St. Johns University in Queens. He holds series 7, 24 and 63 FINRA registrations, as well as a State Insurance License in Arizona.

NEXT: Retirement Advisors Merges with Adviser to Airline Employees

Retirement Advisors Merges with Adviser to Airline Employees  

Retirement Advisors of America (RAA), an independent registered investment adviser, and Advisor Financial Services, LLP (AFS), a provider of pre-retirement investment planning for airline employees, will merge in order to provide clients with additional resources and expanded services.

With more than $2.3 billion in assets under management, the merger will result in RAA being the largest financial services firm focused on serving the unique needs of the airline community.

RAA is the recognized expert in providing airline crew members and their families with retirement financial planning and comprehensive wealth management services. While Advisor Financial serves the same airline niche, it focuses on pre-retirement planning, 401(k) management and wealth accumulation strategies for airline employees earlier in their careers. The merger represents a strategic blend of specialized industry expertise that enhances the combined company’s ability to serve every member of the commercial airline industry whether actively employed or retired.

As a result of the merger, Advisor Financial, which is based outside of Atlanta, will operate under the Retirement Advisors of America brand. The current Advisor Financial leadership team and staff will continue driving daily business operations and providing exemplary service to existing clients, while integrating into key roles in executing RAA’s long-term growth strategy. The merger is part of a strategic growth initiative that began in 2015 when RAA announced a partnership with HBC Investments.

John Bentley, president and CEO of RAA, headquartered in Dallas, says that in addition to their mutual expertise within the airline industry, the two firms have similar cultures and a shared vision for client service. “It’s not only about service and products, but also about transparency in everything we do and an unwavering commitment to putting the clients’ interests first.”