Deals & People March 23, 2015

MassMutual Expands Support for Advisers and Sponsors

MassMutual added eight new sales professionals within its retirement plans business.
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Six managing directors and two business development managers have been added to increase support for MassMutual’s financial advisers and retirement plan sponsors. The appointed professionals include Rick Pardo, Don Worden, Dean Staroselskiy, Jasonn Potter, Jenny Dodson, Scott Littlewood, Kevin Rogers and Raeann Sarsfield.

The managing directors are responsible for training and educating advisers about the company’s retirement plan products and services, identifying retirement plan prospects, and making the case for the company and its products. Working alongside this group, the new business development managers support sales at benefit agencies and build relationships at payroll providers, professional employer organizations and professional associations.

The newly appointed managing directors are as follows: 

  • Pardo will drive emerging market plan sales for Arkansas, Louisiana and the Mississippi coast. He joins from John Hancock Retirement Services where he held the position of regional vice president. He reports to Brian Robb, regional sales manager.
  • Having previously served for MassMutual’s Retirement Services in Orlando, Florida, Worden, in his new role, supports market plan sales for the greater San Diego area. He reports to Frank Bruno, regional sales manager, retirement sales.
  • Joining from John Hancock Retirement Services in Dallas, Staroselskiy reports to Robb and covers the Western Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, West Texas, and Western Oklahoma area focusing on emerging market plan sales.
  • Potter covers the emerging market plan sales for Las Vegas, Southern Idaho and Utah. He previously served as a financial adviser in Salt Lake City and also worked in retirement plan sales for Guardian and The Standard. He reports to Robb.
  • Reporting to Tanya Jones, regional sales manager, Dodson is responsible for covering institutional markets in Central and South Texas. She most recently served as a senior relationship manager for MassMutual Retirement Services in Houston, Texas.
  • Littlewood supports emerging market plan sales in upstate and Western New York, including Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse. He joins from ADP where he was a retirement plan wholesaler, and currently reports to Shefali Desai, regional sales manger.

The business development managers include the following:

  • Supporting 11 managing directors in Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Rogers reports to Bill Hicks, regional sales manager. Previously, he served as a regional sales consultant for MassMutual Retirement Services.
  • Sarsfield supports nine managing directors in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Idaho, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. He brings seven years’ experience with MassMutual and reports to Robb.

The eight hires replace openings and bring the number of MassMutual retirement plan sales professionals to 78.

    “We continue to have strong growth in sales of retirement plans, which means we need to continue strengthening our nationwide network of sales professionals to support financial advisers, plan sponsors, and participants,” says Scott Buffington, vice president of sales for retirement services.

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