Deals & People June 4, 2024

Ascensus Restructures Sales Team

The tax-advantaged savings provider continues retirement division restructurings.

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Ascensus has continued with retirement-related restructuring with an announcement Monday of various leadership team moves in its retirement sales team that took effect May 25.

The moves are all internal promotions and reshuffling with an eye toward enabling “long-term growth,” according to the announcement. In February, Ascensus restructured its retirement division into four units, including a core retirement division led by Jason Crane.

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“Our ability to make these changes from within recognizes both the talent and leadership strength inherent in our organization,” Crane said in a statement with the most recent sales changes.

The moves include:

  • Anthony Bologna

    Anthony Bologna has been promoted to a newly created role of national sales director. Bologna has been with Ascensus for over 25 years and will oversee leadership of retirement sales across field-based and internal operations. He was most recently division vice president, Eastern region. Jeff Simes, meanwhile, will be promoted to Bologna’s former role. He joined Ascensus in 2018 as regional vice president, Northeast.

  • Mickie Morley

    Mickie Morley will in turn take Simes’ place, assuming responsibility for Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. She joined the firm in 2019 in internal sales.

  • Jim Walker, previously director, internal sales, has taken a newly formed role as head of enablement in core retirement. Walker joined the firm in 2019 and will report to core retirement head Crane. He will be focused on “accelerated delivery of data and analytics-driven insights used to optimize deployment of resources” along with governance and organizational readiness.

  • Russ Winchester

    Finally, Russ Winchester will take Walker’s prior role overseeing the internal sales consultant team. He joined Ascensus in 2020 after leading sales teams at Newport, Transamerica and LPL Financial.

The moves come under the leadership of Nick Good, who assumed the role of president in July 2023, and CEO David Musto, who previously held the role of president. The company was acquired by private equity firm Stone Point Capital in 2021.

Ascensus oversees more than $808 billion in assets under administration and provides services for qualified and nonqualified plans, third-party retirement administration through its FuturePlan by Ascensus, 529 education and ABLE savings program administration, corporate and bank-owned life insurance solutions and fiduciary and total rewards services.

Deals & People June 4, 2024

Empower Names Marta Norton Chief Investment Strategist

Separately, J.P. Morgan appoints Shayan Hussain as head of US Investment Specialists.

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Marta Norton

Empower has appointed Marta Norton as its chief investment strategist, a newly established position, the firm announced Monday.

Norton will be leaving Morningstar Inc. to join Empower’s asset management division, Empower Investments, where she will offer macroeconomic and investment insights, thought leadership and market analysis.

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The chief strategist will collaborate with business teams to share insights with the company’s clients, financial advisers, as well as investment and client teams, according to the announcement. She will also offer public commentary on general trends and economic factors affecting the markets.

Norton will join Empower on June 17 and will report to Jonathan Kreider, executive vice president and head of Empower Investments.

“Part of the value we can provide is to offer expertise on the forces that drive the equity and fixed income markets and help investors make informed decisions that are advantageous to them,” Kreider said in a statement. “I am thrilled that Marta is coming to Empower to lead that effort.”

Marta joins Empower from Morningstar, where she most recently held the position of chief investment officer for the Americas. In that role, she oversaw strategies designed to achieve various investment goals, including income generation and capital appreciation.

Before her 18-year tenure at Morningstar, where she held various senior leadership positions, Norton served as a research analyst at LECG LLC. She also has experience working for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC, where she contributed to the agency’s work on the monthly Producer Price Index, among other projects.

JPMorgan Hires Shayan Hussain From BlackRock

Shayan Hussain

In a separate announcement on Monday, J.P. Morgan Asset Management announced that Shayan Hussain will join the firm as head of U.S. investment specialists within the its Global Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities team.

Hussain will oversee a team specializing in investment products and strategies within GFICC, according to the announcement. He will work with investors to help implement their fixed-income investment plans out of the firm’s New York office. He will report to Kay Herr, U.S. CIO of GFICC.

“Shayan will provide a critical link to clients in our fixed income business, ensuring optimal access to the platform and helping refine our product offering across asset classes,” Herr said in a statement. “His expert client lens and deep knowledge in fixed income investing will be additive to our team and the overall client experience.”

He joins J.P. Morgan from BlackRock, where he led the Americas fundamental fixed income product strategy.

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