Deals & People October 9, 2020

Retirement Industry People Moves

The Standard selects employee benefits lead and Rebalance names retirement services VP.

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Art by Subin Yang

The Standard Selects Employee Benefits Lead

Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) has named Alyssa Zabloudil assistant vice president and actuary.

Zabloudil joins The Standard with 25 years of product development, pricing and risk management experience, including valuation expertise in group long-term disability, term life and voluntary life products. She previously held roles at Mutual of Omaha and Lincoln Financial Group, where she was responsible for the pricing of group products.

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In her new role, Zabloudil will lead the Employee Benefits pricing function for The Standard’s Disability, Life and Dental blocks of business. In addition to pricing, Zabloudil will oversee reinsurance and concentration of risks for the company’s Employee Benefits products.

“Given her deep expertise and proven employee benefits leadership, I am thrilled to have Alyssa join our Actuarial team,” says Foon Lew, vice president and group actuary at The Standard.

Zabloudil is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics. Zabloudil is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Rebalance Names Retirement Services VP

Rebalance has added Amanda Thurman to the team as vice president, Retirement Services. 

In her role as vice president, Retirement Services, Thurman will be responsible for growing Rebalance’s small business retirement services programs. The company’s flagship retirement product, Better K, was designed to dramatically improve 401(k) options for small business owners and their employees, to which Thurman will work directly with.

“With nearly a decade of experience, Amanda Thurman is incredibly knowledgeable about the retirement services industry and is the ideal candidate to help Rebalance grow our Better K business,” says Rebalance Managing Director Scott Puritz. “We look forward to continuing to grow the portfolio of small businesses who rely on us for fundamentally different and better investment options.” 

Thurman brings nearly a decade of unique retirement service experience to her position at Rebalance. She comes to Rebalance from Paychex, a provider of payroll, human resources (HR), retirement, and insurance services. In her role as regional retirement sales representative, Thurman built and sustained relationships with small business owners.

“In a short time, Rebalance has developed a reputation for innovation in the small business retirement services industry” says Thurman. “I look forward to joining the team and applying my extensive industry experience to help small businesses improve their employee retirement benefits.” 

Products October 9, 2020

Advisor Group Adds Digital Marketing Tools to Platform

The new capabilities include artificial intelligence and personalized video content.

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Advisor Group has expanded its adviser marketing platform, MyCMO, with new and enhanced digital marketing and virtual brand-building tools. These new capabilities include artificial intelligence (AI), personalized video content and many other features that advisers can deliver digitally in this age of COVID-19.

The AI is delivered via Curator, which uses artificial intelligence to scour the Internet for articles from reputable sources such as Forbes, CNN, MarketWatch and Bloomberg to ensure that advisers send their clients quality content. The platform also uses GIFs [graphic interchange formats], attachments and links within emails for advisers to send personalized videos.

Also included at no charge to advisers are data-driven, consultative marketing guidance and recommendations from Advisor Group’s marketing strategists.

Advisor Group began testing these new tools among a small adviser pilot group earlier this year, and members of this group report significant business growth, the company says.

“The power of a strong marketing plan that integrates activities across all marketing channels—from web and email to social and print—cannot be overstated, especially now that virtual client engagement and acquisition has largely replaced traditional in-person touchpoints,” says Susan Theder, chief marketing officer at the company. “Our enhanced MyCMO platform leverages [our] proprietary content, the powerful technology of the FMG Suite platform and the knowledge and experience of our internal team of expert marketing strategists, making it easy for financial professionals to create and execute a sophisticated, integrated marketing plan that is customized, authentic and measurable in results.”

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