Retirement Industry People Moves – 11/17/23

Joelson joins Savvy Advisors as founding principal wealth manager; Matos made CFO for workplace and retirement solutions at Principal; Northern Trust Asset Management names international head of quantitative strategies; and more.

 

Joelson Joins Savvy Advisors as Founding Principal Wealth Manager, Global Investment Strategist

Marisa (Maya) Joelson

Savvy Advisors Inc., a registered investment adviser affiliated with Savvy Wealth Inc., announced that Marisa (Maya) Joelson has joined the firm as a founding principal wealth manager and global investment strategist.

Joelson joins Savvy after having worked as an adviser at Perigon Wealth Management and Merrill Lynch. In 2017, Joelson founded Meta Point Advisors as her platform to share thought leadership content related to current events and their impacts on the global market.

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Prior to Merrill Lynch, Joelson was based in London, where she served as a macroeconomic and financial adviser to the CEO and senior leadership at Rio Tinto, then the world’s second-largest mining company.

“As we continue our efforts to reshape the wealth management industry, it is imperative that we recruit professionals who can offer in-depth analysis and informed recommendations,” Ritik Malhotra, co-founder and CEO of Savvy Wealth, said in a statement. “What Maya brings to the table is truly unique. With her deep understanding of economic affairs and her knack for simplifying complex concepts, we are confident that she will help us build a future where advice is seamlessly integrated, personalized, and centered on delivering extraordinary client experiences.”

Matos Promoted by Principal

Principal Asset Management promoted Andrew Matos to chief financial officer for workplace savings and retirement solutions to take on additional responsibilities to his previous role, as head of stock plan services overseeing employee stock ownership plan and equity compensation plan capabilities.

Andrew Matos

In the CFO role, Matos replaced Michael Garvin, who has transitioned roles to chief financial officer of the life insurance business for benefits and protection at Principal, says a spokesperson.  

Matos reports to Lou Flori, chief financial officer for retirement & income solutions at Principal and Teresa Hassara, senior vice president of workplace savings and retirement solutions at Principal.

Principal hired Matos, in May 2023.

Northern Trust Asset Management Names International Head of Quantitative Strategies

Guido Baltussen

Northern Trust Asset Management, a leading global investment management firm with $1.09 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, announced Guido Baltussen as its international head of quantitative strategies.

In this newly created role, Baltussen will lead NTAM’s international quantitative strategies investments to support growth, including quantitative research and innovation, thought leadership and investment strategy. Baltussen will report to Michael Hunstad, Northern Trust Asset Management’s deputy CIO and CIO of global equities.

“Guido’s wealth of experience in factor investing in equity, fixed income, and multi-asset strategies is a tremendous addition to NTAM’s global quantitative strategies business,” Hunstad said in a statement. “With decades of demonstrated ability to deliver value to clients through our quantitative investment strategies, NTAM is reinvesting in this important area of the business and growing our international client capabilities.”

Based in Amsterdam, Baltussen will oversee the firm’s expanding international quantitative teams in the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. Baltussen’s appointment seeks to strengthen NTAM’s investment capabilities and innovative solutions for clients around the world. NTAM has $31.7 billion in assets under management in quantitative strategies, as of September 30.

Pirondini Promoted to CIO at Amundi US

Marco Pirondini

Amundi Asset Management has promoted Marco Pirondini to executive vice president and CIO of Amundi US, the firm announced in a press release. Pirondini will succeed Ken Taubes, who was Amundi US’s CIO for the past 15 years and worked at the firm for 25 years.

Pirondini’s appointment is effective January 1, 2024. Taubes will stop down from his role as CIO to focus on his existing portfolio manager responsibilities, the press release stated. Pirondini, who currently serves as head of equities, will assume oversight of investment operations at Amundi US, overseeing equity, fixed income and trading. He will also serve as chairman of the US investment committee and will serve on Amundi’s global investment committee. 

Pirondini was previously global CIO at Pioneer Investments between 2004 and 2010, a firm acquired by Amundi. He was also head of global equity research and European equity research at Pioneer. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. 

Amundi US is the U.S. arm of French investment manager Amundi, the largest asset manager in Europe by AUM, currently managing $2.13 trillion in assets. The firm offers investment solutions across a broad range of asset classes to institutional investors, wealth management firms and distribution platforms across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. 

Mirova Hires Detobel, Verpoucke as US Business Executives

Stéphane Detobel

Francis Verpoucke

Mirova, a Paris-based sustainable investment manager, announced the hiring of Stéphane Detobel and Francis Verpoucke as part of the company’s U.S. team, Mirova US LLC, serving North America.

Detobel and Verpoucke will initially promote Mirova’s global equity, global fixed income, energy transition infrastructure and private equity strategies. In the future, Mirova intends to open its natural capital expertise to North American investors as well.

The pair has worked together for more than two decades, first at Amundi in Europe and North America and then at TOBAM as North American managing directors. The duo will now be based in New York and report to Zineb Bennani, who was appointed as CEO of Mirova US earlier this year.

Mirova is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, one of the world’s largest asset managers, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Mirova US was established in 2017 and currently manages $9.4 billion, most notably through the development of its global sustainable equity strategy. 

First Eagle Builds Out New High-Yield Municipal Credit Team With Pickering

First Eagle Investment Management LLC announced the hiring of Bryce Pickering as head of high-yield municipal credit trading. Pickering will be responsible for the trading activity across the high-yield municipal credit team’s strategies.

Pickering is the newest hire for the team, joining CIO John Miller, who starts on January 2, 2024, and COO Carl Katerndahl.

“We are building a superb high yield muni capability at First Eagle, and I am thrilled that someone of Bryce’s exceptional caliber has elected to join us,” Mehdi Mahmud, First Eagle president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are excited to begin offering the team’s strategies in the marketplace early next year. The unique risk/return characteristics of municipal bonds are an important part of the investment toolkit for all types of retail and institutional investors, and particularly for the financial advisers we serve.”

Established in October 2023, the high-yield municipal credit team broadens the range of differentiated investment solutions First Eagle provides clients alongside the offerings of its global value, small cap, First Eagle Alternative Credit and Napier Park teams.

PLANADVISER Practice Progress Series: Participants

Top plan advisers stressed the importance of working with participants beyond just the retirement plan.

Plan sponsors are increasingly looking to their plan advisers to offer holistic services and options for their participants—likely the best way to help people truly meet their retirement goals—according to a PLANADVISER Practice Progress webinar held on November 16.

The shift, in many ways, means more work for plan advisers. But developments in technology and know-how can help advisers provide assistance beyond the plan.

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“I definitely think, [in] the last three to five years, that plan sponsors are even more open than ever to us doing a variety of education,” said Jessica Ballin, a principal in and investment adviser representative at 401(k) Plan Professionals. “What’s top of mind to these plan sponsor clients is attracting and retaining top talent. … I think we’re going to be seeing more clients improve their benefits, especially in the retirement plan, to be more competitive.”

Ballin noted how the technology and accepted practices of communication that became more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic remain helpful options now.

“We’re able to communicate with participants almost more than before through all the variety of channels,” she said.

Sean Bjork, president of Bjork Asset Management, noted that his firm shifted from only working with retirement plan committees to offering financial wellness services to their participant pools. Part of that was a shift in his thinking, but it also stemmed from the acceptance of and desire for it from plan sponsors.

“If I went out six or seven years ago to a [retirement plan committee] and said that we’d like to do a budgeting workshop with your team, they’d say, ‘Hey, Sean, stay in your lane. We’re going to talk about the 401(k), and that’s as far as this goes,’” Bjork said.

Now, committees are far more open to discussions and are “actively looking for” his advisory to bring in financial wellness and education.

Justin Bogart, a retirement plan consultant with SageView Advisory Group, says his firm has been putting forward holistic participant support to clients since its start. Like Bjork, however, he has seen more clients who are looking for help beyond retirement savings.

“Really what it comes down to is that most participants don’t have $1,000 if there’s an emergency, most of them have credit card debt, most of them have student loans,” Bogart said. “They are in a lot of pain financially … and they honestly, really can’t afford to save the amount they need to save to meet their retirement goals.”

Bogart said those “core” issues must be addressed so participants can prepare for retirement in the right way.

“If you can’t have honest conversations about that, then just teaching somebody to put 10% in their retirement plan and put it into a target-date fund is really just a waste of everybody’s time,” he said.

Ballin noted that when an adviser becomes a “trusted resource,” it is more likely they will reach out when they have problems or need advice. That holds true not just for low-income earners, she said, but those same questions can come from C-suite executives.

Tools & Resources

Adviser Bjork says his firm has tried many different tools and offerings to engage and provide education for participants. A key challenge remains finding “one-to-many” outreach that does not stress already overworked HR teams.

One helpful tool is video that can be accessed by many people and watched on demand. Another is an email system that will track engagement and uptake, along with a calendar booking system via which participants can easily schedule a one-on-one session with an adviser.

“That’s been really powerful to help scale some of this,” Bjork says. “It is a little daunting [for an adviser] to think, ‘Hey, I want to now begin educating and having a more direct and meaningful relationship with 10,000 people. Having the technology to do that in a scalable way is certainly something that helps.”

Ballin agreed that HR departments are often pressed for time. Her firm looks to alleviate that by providing all the materials participants need in one easily transmittable format.

“We try to make it as easy as possible,” she said. “Everything is done—they just forward it. It’s not like the past, where you used to have to book a conference room or have a sign-up sheet or all of those things that could be difficult to set up.”

Product Solutions

Beyond participant outreach, the retirement industry has been conceiving product offerings to get more “personal” advice and investment to large groups of participants.

When it comes to options such as managed accounts or embedded retirement income solutions, the advisers expressed a general sense of interest, but not an impending likelihood of implementation.

“I said we’re early-innings in terms of participant services; we’re still in batting practice in managed accounts,” Bjork said. “I think, intuitively, the ability to further customize a participant’s glide slope based on a handful of additional data points that are readily available from payroll and recordkeeper platforms is a no-brainer … but the devil is in the details in terms of the fee structures, who is capturing what and whether it’s a differentiated experience.”

Bjork says his firm is not “there yet” in terms of implementation, but it is getting more comfortable with the idea. He said he feels similarly about in-plan retirement income options, which make sense in terms of solving for the “decumulation” phase but are not yet at the point where he is ready to suggest them to clients.

Bogart said that at SageView, advisers will consider a managed account if it is right for the client. That will depend on the situation and participant pool, as while managed accounts have advanced, “they are not right for every situation.”

When it comes to retirement income, Bogart said he sees momentum building for new solutions.

“I think what you are really going to start to see is income, managed accounts and target-date funds coming together over the next year, where it comes together as a kind of package deal,” he says. “There will be the right ones and wrong ones for clients, but I think that’s going to be pretty common if we look back 10 years from now.”

You can watch the full webinar, including discussion of the wealth management connection to participant advice, on PLANADVISER’s website: PLANADVISER Webinar – Zoom.

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