Deals & People February 10, 2023

Retirement Industry People Moves

Lincoln Financial Group names Vince Garzarella VP; Northern Trust Asset Management names new presidents; Empower promotes Noble to general counsel; and more.

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Lincoln Financial Adds Vince Garzarella as VP

Lincoln Financial Group promoted Vince Garzarella to senior vice president for retirement plan services operations. He has worked at Lincoln Financial since 2017 as a vice president.

Garazella will lead strategy development and execution for front-line customer service and plan administration as part of the firm’s retirement plan services operations. He will be responsible for growing new administrative capabilities to meet the demands of plan sponsors and participants.

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Prior to Lincoln, Garzarella held a 19-year tenure at Vanguard, where he worked in senior leadership positions within both operations and administration.

Lincoln Financial Group is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The firm offers services in retirement, insurance and wealth protection.

Northern Trust Asset Management Announces New President

Daniel Gamba has been named Northern Trust Corporation’s president of asset management. Gamba will assume the role on April 3 report directly to CEO Michael O’Grady.

“I am confident that under Daniel’s leadership, working in close collaboration with NTAM’s executive team and his partners on Northern Trust’s Management Group, our business will continue to grow and deliver best-in-class investment solutions and services to our clients,” O’Grady said in a statement.

Gamba will arrive at Northern Trust Asset Management after 22 years at BlackRock, serving as co-head of fundamental equities and as a member of BlackRock’s global operating, portfolio management group executive and human capital committees.

Empower Promotes Noble to General Counsel

Empower announced the promotion of Kelly Noble to general counsel and chief legal officer, starting March 2.

During her 25-year tenure at Empower, Noble has worked as a deputy general counsel at the firm. In her role, she oversaw acquisitions, commercial transactions, cybersecurity, litigation, privacy and other legal matters. She also serves as the executive sponsor of the PRIDE business resource group.

“Kelly brings a proven track record of strategic thinking and significant, valuable legal experience, which is important for Empower’s continued success,” Empower’s president and CEO, Edmund F. Murphy III, said in a statement. “As we continue to advance our strategic vision and focus on the needs of consumers, Kelly’s leadership will help move us forward.”

Greenwood Village, Colorado-based Empower provides financial services including advising, wealth management, investing and retirement services.

Kornitzer Capital Management Announces Two New Presidents

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. named Joe Neuberger president of KCM, succeeding John Kornitzer, the founder of the firm, who will remain with the company. Laura Symon Browne was appointed president of Buffalo Funds, succeeding Kent Gasaway, who will also remain with the firm. Both joined in October 2022 to allow for a transition period.

As president, Neuberger will be responsible for everyday management and long-term growth strategy of the company. He served as president at U.S. Bank Global Fund Services from 2017 to 2022, part of a 28-year career there.

Symon Browne has more than 30 years of experience in financial services and arrived in October 2022 from Vanguard, where she was a principal, among several other senior leadership roles.

“Joe and Laura are the right leaders for KCM and Buffalo Funds,” Kornitzer said in a statement. “Their extensive financial services and leadership experience will help KCM carry on its long-term mission of helping private clients and institutions achieve their long-term financial goals.”

A fee-based investment adviser based in Mission, Kansas, KCM manages customized portfolios for private clients and institutions. KCM’s mutual fund group, Buffalo Funds includes a family of 10 actively managed, no-load mutual funds providing long-term investment options for clients.

Epic Retirement Names Joe Corona Director of Sales & Strategic Partnerships

Epic Retirement Plan Services has promoted Joe Corona to director of sales and strategic partnerships.

Corona will manage the Epic RPS sales team, which is comprised of six regional sales consultants from around the country. In addition, he will oversee the firm’s marketing team and represent sales on the Epic executive committee.

Based in Rochester, New York, Epic RPS is a national provider of retirement consultation services for third-party organizations.

Ascensus Promotes 2 to Pooled Plan Specialists

Ascensus has appointed Dale Essenmacher and Matt Petralia to the newly created position of pooled plan specialists. They will work with advisers and partners to grow the adoption of pooled employer plans.

Pooled employer plans are designed to allow unrelated employers to participate in a single 401(k) defined contribution plan.

Both move from the Newport Group, which Ascensus purchased in 2021 and where Essenmacher was a regional vice president for sales, while Petralia was a regional director.

“This is one of the next natural steps in unifying resources across Ascensus and Newport to lean into designated areas of growth,” an Ascensus spokesperson said in an email. “We believe strongly in the potential pooled plans have to help solve the coverage crisis, and we’re committed to helping promote our solutions alongside partners and advisers.”

Zusel Named Regional VP at Nationwide Retirement Solutions

Nationwide Financial announced that Matt Zusel will join the firm as a regional vice president at Nationwide Retirement Solutions.

Zusel will concentrate on 401(k) plan sales in Michigan and Toledo, Ohio. He will report to Rob Kissler, Nationwide’s central region divisional vice president.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company comprises insurance and financial services companies.

Voya Hires Hayes to Lead Government Markets, Wealth Solutions

Voya Financial’s Workplace Solutions business announced that Deltra Hayes was promoted to lead the firm’s government markets and wealth solutions efforts. Hayes has been with Voya since 2013, most recently as a senior vice president for strategic relationship management.

Hayes is set to manage client satisfaction, retention and profitable growth of the mid-to-mega market book of Voya’s Wealth Solutions business. She will also lead a team of relationships managers, who oversee the relationships between advisers and clients across a suite of multi-product solutions.

“I’m very proud to have been chosen as the government market leader, allowing me to continue to collaborate with our client partners, bringing the Voya multi-product solutions to life,” Hayes said in a statement. “I believe it’s important, as the government market leader, to support our clients in helping their employees in creating the lives they desire in retirement.”

Hayes was responsible for the retention of more than $32 billion in retirement plan assets at Voya. Before joining the firm, she served in new business and relationship management roles at AIG VALIC (now Corebridge Financial) and Bankers Trust.

 

Compliance February 10, 2023

Will RMD Age Increases Cause ‘Abandoned’ Property Problems?

SECURE 2.0 increased the RMD age to 73 and will increase it again to 75 in 2033. Some states’ laws could cause IRAs to be unfairly seized by state governments.

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The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, passed in December 2022, increased the required minimum distribution age for withdrawals from individual retirement accounts to 73 this year. In 2033, the RMD age will increase to 75, per the same section of the law. However, due to the escheatment, or unclaimed property, laws in certain states, some IRAs could be considered abandoned if they are left untouched until age 75.

In Kentucky, Maine, Colorado and Nevada, individual retirement accounts are considered abandoned if they are unclaimed three years after the participant turns age 70.5, which was the RMD age prior to the first SECURE Act, passed in 2019. After 2033, therefore, if participants wait until age 75 before taking the RMD, their IRAs could be considered abandoned when they hit age 73.5, absent any legislative change from their respective states.

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IRAs, unlike employer-sponsored retirement plans, are subject to an RMD even if the participant is still working.

Michael Giovannini, a partner at the Alston & Bird law firm, explains that IRAs must be escheated to the state government if they are unclaimed within the time period established in state law. The owners, or their beneficiaries, can still claim that property at any point in the future, but many people do not know they can claim it or how to do so. As one example, Kentucky’s treasury department says its unclaimed property fund has a value of nearly $800 million.

State-by-state information on unclaimed property, maintained by the National Association of State Treasurers, is available here.

Giovannini says this is only an issue for IRAs, since ERISA pre-empts state laws for employer-sponsored plans, which are therefore not escheatable to state governments.

Many states have set their abandonment age for IRAs to a specific age, rather than tying it to the IRS’ RMD age, Giovannini explains. Other states, such as Illinois, Washington, Vermont and North Dakota, have laws which also say that an IRA is considered abandoned after three years, but those states start the clock at age 72, instead of 70.5. This could still create a problem if there is a delay in collection after age 75 or if the RMD age is increased again. Giovannini recommends that states simply tie their escheatment laws to the federal RMD age, so it need not be changed.

When IRA funds are escheated, they are typically liquidated and taxed before being transferred to the state treasury. This means they will also cease accruing any interest, as assets do while still in an IRA. States also often set aside an estimate of unclaimed property in their budgeting, knowing that some unclaimed property will remain unclaimed indefinitely, according to Giovannini. He adds that, “Some states are better at returning property than others.”

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