Deals & People September 4, 2012

ING Makes Retirement Business Appointments

Several personnel appointments to support the small to midsize corporate retirement plans market were announced by ING U.S.’s retirement business.
Reported by

Jeff Darnowski was hired as a client relationship manager; Thomas Fleming was promoted to regional vice president of sales; and Susan Shapiro, currently regional vice president (RVP) of service in the New Jersey region, has taken on the added responsibility of becoming the RVP of service for the expanded New York City/New Jersey area.    

Based in New York, Darnowski is responsible for ongoing plan sponsor relationship management and service delivery for ING U.S.’s existing 401(k) retirement plan sponsors located in metro New York.  He most recently managed the International Benefits area at AIG.  Prior to that, he was director of Retirement Operations at Lord Abbet & Company where he was responsible for client service delivery in the company’s small market 401(k) program.  Darnowski also held several client service positions in the Retirement Group at Merrill Lynch.

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In his role as regional vice president of sales based in New York City, Fleming is responsible for the sales and distribution of 401(k) retirement plans to the wirehouse channel in metro New York, Long Island and northern New Jersey.  Fleming has been with ING U.S. for more than 12 years, working in various sales and service roles, most recently as head of inside sales where he managed the internal sales desk for small to midsize corporate retirement plans.   

In her expanded role as regional vice president of service, Shapiro is responsible for leading the service teams for the New Jersey and New York City territories.

Shapiro and Fleming report to Patrick Bello, senior vice president of sales for the northeast, and Darnowski reports to Shapiro.

 

Products September 4, 2012

Acadian Unveils Dividend-Based Equity Strategy

An alpha-generating investment process that draws on the global dividend-paying universe was developed by Acadian Asset Management LLC.
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The Global Dividend Yield and Growth Strategy seeks to provide income that increases while still expanding real capital value over time.

After closely analyzing the characteristics of this universe for the past two years, Acadian said it constructed models to identify those companies best able to sustain and raise their dividends, and to eliminate those most likely to cut their payout. Using these models, the firm carried out portfolio simulations for the strategy for the period 1995 to 2011, which showed a total return ahead of traditional cap-weighted indices.

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The fund will have particular appeal to institutional investors that have historically required regular cash from their portfolio, according to Ross Dowd, senior vice president and head of global marketing at Acadian. “We also understand that investors have different preferences regarding the balance between capital and income, and we are able to manage portfolios tailored to particular investor requirements in that respect,” Dowd said.

Acadian Asset Management, in Boston, is an investment management firm specializing in active global and international equity strategies.

 

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