Products April 15, 2016

New Holiday Honors Financial Advisers

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services has created a national day of recognition for financial advisers, celebrated this year on April 18.
Reported by

The first National Financial Advisor Day will be held April 18 in recognition of the contributions financial advisers make to the retirement plan market.

To promote National FA Day, John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS) created a trade advertising and marketing campaign, and will host additional activities and programs.

“Today we want to recognize the unique value and expertise that financial advisers deliver to the industry, plan sponsors and plan participants every day,” says Patrick Murphy, president at JHRPS. “Because we consider FAs to be our partners in the business, we are dedicating a day to thank them for all they do.”

In its 2015 Financial Stress Survey, John Hancock found that people who work with a financial adviser double their retirement preparedness and are less stressed by finances. Participants with an adviser are more than twice as likely to say they’re on track for retirement, have contributed to an IRA or saved for emergencies.

Deals & People April 15, 2016

Musto to Lead Great-West's New Investment Business

Great-West Investments is a newly created organization within Great-West Financial.
Reported by

Great-West Financial announced the appointment of David L. Musto as the president of Great-West Investments, a newly created organization within Great-West Financial that will be the primary driver of investment and retirement income solutions for retirement savers, plan sponsors and their advisers.

In this role, Musto will report to Great-West Financial President and CEO Robert L. Reynolds and have responsibility for Great-West Financial subsidiaries including: Great-West Funds, Inc., Great-West Capital Management, LLC and Advised Assets Group, LLC—the latter two are registered investment advisers. He will also assume business leadership of the company’s general account, stable value and the retirement income solutions that are offered into the retirement market.

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Reynolds explained to PLANSPONSOR, “There were pieces throughout the organization, and the thought was to get someone of David’s caliber, background and experience to pull together all the pieces to create world-class solutions for customers. Looking outward, we can provide solutions to other providers, like individual markets, life insurance products, annuity products and retirement income products, while also servicing the plan sponsors community through Empower Retirement.” Empower is a division of Great-West Financial.

Musto adds, “We see a big opportunity to take our strong product sets and bring them in the marketplace to help institutions and individuals not directly served by our businesses.”

Musto says there will be four areas of focus:

  • Traditional mutual funds and packaged fund solutions, such as target-date funds. “That market is evolving as customers show interest in passive versus active management and multi manager solutions,” he adds; 
  • Stable value or general account products;
  • Decumulation and retirement income solutions. “These still haven’t become mainstream within retirement plans; it calls for more innovation and creativity in developing products;” and
  • Managed accounts. “We are seeing an increased interest, and we have a strong foundation to build from.”
NEXT: Bolstering distribution capabilities/Musto’s background

With more than $85 billion under management or supervision in mutual funds, managed accounts, capital preservation products and retirement income solutions today, Reynolds says that Great-West is in a position to enhance its offerings to the marketplace by bolstering its distribution capabilities, further delivering solutions through its sub-advised investment platform and creating an assortment of value-added products for clients.

Plan sponsors currently served will see no change to existing relationships, Reynolds tells PLANSPONSOR. “The point is to further develop products for them and be innovative in the space."

Musto takes the reins of Great-West Investments after leading the large, mega and not-for-profit unit for Empower Retirement as executive vice president. He previously served as CEO of J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services. Musto was also formerly a senior vice president at Prudential Retirement, where he was responsible for the full-service retirement offering in the emerging corporate market, including product development, distribution and service models. He has also held senior management positions in CIGNA’s retirement business, at Prudential Financial and at Kamoon, a startup financial software company.

Musto holds an undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and an MBA from New York University. He will be based at Great-West’s headquarters in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Musto serves on the executive committee of the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers (SPARK) and as vice chair of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA).

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