Lincoln Adds Four Retirement Distribution Specialists

Lincoln Financial Distributors (LFD), the wholesale distribution business of Lincoln Financial Group, added four specialists to its retirement plan services intermediary sales team.

The intermediary sales team is now comprised of 34 representatives stationed throughout the United States. The four new specialists are Gina Balducci, covering the western San Francisco Bay Area and northwest California; Ashlee Vingle, responsible for San Diego; Timothy Yarbrough, focused on southwest Texas; and Patricia Norton, helping clients throughout southeast Florida.

As part of their responsibilities, Balducci, Vingle, Yarbrough and Norton will provide Lincoln’s retirement plan solutions to financial representatives and retirement plan advisers as they strive to deliver better outcomes for their clients through Lincoln’s wealth protection expertise and asset-management solutions. The firm says these new additions represent a continued expansion of Lincoln’s intermediary retirement plan services sales team, which was established in January 2014.

John Kennedy, head of LFD’s retirement solutions distribution, says the firm has plans to keep growing its sales force to provide better service and increase awareness of Lincoln retirement plan services offerings.

Balducci has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining LFD, she served as a district manager of retirement services for ADP in San Francisco, where she was responsible for developing and implementing sales strategies around ADP’s defined contribution (DC) business. Balducci has served in a variety of sales capacities throughout her career, including as an external wholesaler at Zacks Investment Management and a hybrid wholesaler for Russell Investment Group. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies and economics from the University of South Florida, and holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations.

Vingle has nearly six years of financial services and marketing experience. Prior to joining LFD, she was a regional sales consultant for CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions, where she served advisers in the wire and independent planner channels in Los Angeles. Previously, she served in a number of financial advisory roles at Merrill Lynch. Vingle received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations.

Yarbrough has close to two decades of financial services experience. Prior to joining LFD, Yarbrough was an external wholesaler with Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, where he focused on supporting advisers from Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo throughout north Texas. He has held a variety of positions during his career, including serving as a financial consultant for Charles Schwab & Co. and holding sales roles with John Hancock, Fixed Income Securities LLC, American Funds Distributors and USAA Investment Management Co. Yarbrough received a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in psychology from the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio. He is a chartered retirement planning counselor (CRPC), and holds FINRA Series 7, 63, 65 and 24 registrations.

Norton has nearly three decades of financial services experience. Prior to joining LFD, she was a district manager for sales of ADP in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In that role, she was responsible for selling bundled mutual funds through the bank, wire and independent planner channels. Earlier in her career, she held a range of sales leadership positions with Transamerica, CitiStreet LLC, First Union National Bank, Prudential Retirement Services, and Merrill Lynch. Norton received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations.

More on the firm is available at www.LincolnFinancial.com.

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