The Standard Hires Officer of Compliance and Ethics
Standard Insurance Co. announced today that Deanna
Laidler has been named The Standard’s compliance
and ethics officer.
In her new role, Laidler will oversee The Standard’s
insurance, retirement, individual annuities and broker/dealer (B/D) compliance teams
and be responsible for the corporate compliance program, which includes
business conduct, ethics and corporate policy governance.
Most recently, Laidler was senior assistant attorney general
for the Oregon Department of Justice and provided guidance to various state
agencies. Prior to this, she was associate counsel and compliance officer
at Moda Health and was responsible for the company’s corporate compliance
program and coordinating policy submissions with state regulators. She has
held other legal and compliance officer roles throughout her career.
“Deanna is a valuable addition to our team. Her expertise
and experience ensures our compliance program will continue to be an integral
part of our culture and a fundamental ingredient in our success as a company,”
says Holley Franklin, vice president, chief legal officer and corporate
secretary at The Standard.
Laidler received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from
Whitman College. She earned both her Juris Doctor and Master of Legal Letters
in health law from DePaul University College of Law.
NEXT: Willis Towers Watson Appoints Head
of Investment Solutions
Willis Towers Watson has announced the appointment of Clint Cary as head of U.S. delegated
investment solutions. Cary, based in Chicago, will have overall
responsibility for driving the growth strategy of the company’s U.S. delegated
business and managing the development and implementation of all delegated
investment solutions for clients in the U.S. He reports to Kemp Ross, global head
of delegated investment solutions
and joins the investments leadership at Willis Towers Watson.
“We are very
excited to have Clint onboard and leading our delegated investment solutions
team,” says Ross. “Clint brings a proven track record of implementation of
investments innovation through outsourced chief investment officer, or OCIO,
solutions for defined benefit [DB] and defined contribution [DC] retirement
plans, as well as for foundations, endowments and other asset owners. We look
forward to his many contributions.”
Cary joins
Willis Towers Watson after nine years at Aon Hewitt, where he most recently
served as head of U.S. delegated solutions and chief investment officer. Prior
to Aon, Cary spent three years at Northern Trust. He earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in business administration from Drake University.
NEXT: Director of Fund Administration Joins Triloma
Hill Huckman joined Triloma Energy Advisors as director
of fund administration. Huckman is responsible for the administrative, tax and
operational activities for the Triloma EIG Energy Income Funds. He also leads
the day-to-day management and oversight of certain third-party service
providers, including the sub-administrators, and manages the engagement of the
external auditor.
Huckman was
responsible for a broad range of activities including procedure development,
distribution calculations, tax return reporting, financial statement
preparation and third-party service provider management in his role as fund tax
director for Transamerica. He also served as a member of the valuation
committee, investment risk committee and trade oversight committee and was the
tax officer of the Transamerica family of funds. Besides his experience
with Transamerica, Huckman held various positions with Invesco overseeing various
aspects of financial and tax accounting for registered investment companies.
He received a B.B.A. in accounting and a Masters of Accountancy from Texas
A&M University-Corpus Christi.
“Hill brings a
tremendous wealth of operational and tax experience to Triloma,” says Elizabeth Strouse, chief financial officer (CFO) of Triloma. “We are pleased
to welcome him to the team at this time of continued growth for our
organization.”
NEXT: Mercer Hires Two Relationship
Managers in Milwaukee Office
Mercer
has appointed Nicole Martin and Thomas Coffey as relationship
managers. Their responsibilities
include creating long-term solution strategies for mid-market growth sales in
the Wisconsin area, specifically Milwaukee. Martin and Coffey will report to Mike
Bux, Midwest market sales lead.
“We’re excited to welcome Nicole and Thomas to
Mercer,” says Casey Tate-Mahoney, Milwaukee leader. “Their years of sales experience and demonstrated success will help further grow and strengthen our
business in the greater Wisconsin area.”
Martin has seven
years of experience as a senior-level sales executive, having joined Mercer from
Eastcastle Place in Milwaukee. Martin earned her Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stricth
University and received her Bachelor of Science in biology and physical therapy
from Loyola Marymount University.
Coffey
is a seasoned sales and marketing leader. Prior to joining Mercer, he served as a sales and retention executive with
Anthem where he was responsible for employee benefit sales for Southeast
Wisconsin. Coffey received his Bachelor
of Arts in marketing from Texas A&M University. He also obtained a Wisconsin
Life and Health license.
NEXT: Ascensus to Acquire Provident Trust Group
Ascensus has entered into an agreement to acquire Provident Trust Group. Completion of the acquisition is subject to
customary closing conditions including regulatory approval. Provident, a
nondiscretionary administrator and custodian of individual retirement account (IRA)
assets, will become part of Ascensus’ retirement division immediately upon
closing of the acquisition.
“Welcoming Provident and its dedicated team of associates to the Ascensus
family allows our company to participate in the large and growing self-directed
IRA markets that are focused on traditional and alternative asset
classes,” says Shannon Kelly,
Ascensuspresident of retirement. “In the end, this acquisition is about offering our clients even more ways
to save for the future; we’re delighted to add additional market and product
extensions to our technology-enabled solutions and services.”
“Provident’s stated mission has been to empower customers to self-direct
their retirement assets through innovative retirement plan solutions, ease of
access and an extraordinary customer experience,” says Theresa Fette, ProvidentCEO. “By
joining Ascensus, we’re reaffirming our commitment to a marketplace that
provides clients with greater visibility and access to alternative
assets.”
“Ascensus views Provident as an anchor business with best-of-breed
technology platforms that leverage digital, e-signature, workflow, document
management and trust accounting capabilities,” adds Raghav Nandagopal, Ascensusexecutive
vice president of corporate development and mergers and acquisition. “It also holds the potential for additional bolt-on acquisition
opportunities to create significant scale, efficiency and margin
expansion.”
NEXT: IHT Announces Affiliation Agreement With nVision
Wealth Group IHT Wealth
Management has announced a formal affiliation agreement with nVision Wealth Group, a midsize
regional super OSJ (office of supervisory jurisdiction) and hybrid registered investment adviser (RIA) group. Under the terms of this agreement, nVision
will transition its RIA assets to IHT’s platform and join the firm’s super OSJ, gaining access to a greater set of resources, more scale and
comprehensive holistic financial planning capabilities.
“We’re thrilled to team with all five of nVision’s independent
financial adviser businesses,” says Steven
Dudash, IHTfounder and president. The ongoing flight to quality among independent
advisers from smaller broker/dealers [B/Ds] to larger firms has been mirrored by a
similar trend occurring across the Super-OSJ space, and as more and more
advisers realize that clients win when firms come together to share costs,
secure preferred pricing arrangements and become more adept at tackling
compliance duties, we expect this burgeoning industry trend to continue. We’re
honored to partner with nVision, and we look forward to working together to
empower one another’s growth and to help every adviser under the IHT banner
better service their clients for many years to come.”
NEXT: PFG Joins RIA Platform at Securities America
Securities America has announced that Priority Financial Group (PFG) has joined its hybrid registered investment adviser (RIA) platform. PFG advisers
serve $1.35 billion of client brokerage and advisory assets.
The super OSJ
[office
of supervisory jurisdiction] serves 25 advisers working with 13 credit unions in Texas, Arizona and
California. PFG is dedicated to helping financial institutions and financial
advisers by leveraging personalized strategic services and state-of-the-art
technology.
The Arizona-based
firm wanted a partner that was forward-looking and committed to innovation,
says Mike Prior,CEO of PFG. It
needed a broker/dealer [B/D] that allowed it flexibility, the best technologies
available in the industry and a wide range of the highest-quality investment
solutions at competitive pricing.
“We also needed a
partner to help us grow and expand into new markets,” Prior says. “Securities
America has what we need to succeed. This is a great strategic partnership.”
“PFG is a great fit for us,” says Gregg Johnson, Securities Americaexecutive vice president of branch office development and acquisitions.
“They are a progressive group with a great reputation in the financial
institutions industry and want to grow with Securities America into the future.
We look forward to expanding our financial institutions presence and helping
them get where they want to go.”
Securities
America’s financial institutions division works with over 125 credit unions and
banks nationwide, servicing over $4.2 billion in total assets under management (AUM).
“We have more
than 30 years in the financial services industry,” says Johnson. “We’re
positioned to help PFG do what it does best—take care of its clients, its
credit unions, support its advisers and grow its business.”
NEXT: Flushing Bank Merges With Cetera Financial Institutions
Cetera Financial Group and Cetera Financial Institutions have announced
that Flushing Bank will move its
retail wealth management program to the Cetera
Financial Institutions platform.
Encompassing
nearly 20 financial professionals, Flushing Bank’s wealth management program
focuses on providing financial planning, retirement, insurance and investment
management services to a diverse retail client base, with a particular focus on
Millennial retail investors. The program, which was established 20 years ago,
today supports approximately $225 million in client brokerage assets.
“We
are delighted to welcome Flushing Bank to our platform, and we look forward to
working with its talented team to support the growth of its retail wealth
management business, with a particular emphasis on growing the wealth
management program’s share of wallet across [the bank’s] existing client base,” says LeAnn Rummel, president of Cetera Financial Institutions. “We’re particularly
excited about Flushing Bank’s enthusiasm for Cetera’s advice-centric experience
model, as we believe the bank’s embrace of this vision for the future of wealth
management, combined with our ability to fully support its technology-focused
approach to growth, make this an ideal strategic relationship.”
“We're
excited to begin working with Cetera Financial Institutions later this fall to
grow our retail wealth management program,” says John R. Buran, Flushing Bank president
and CEO. “We were attracted to Cetera because of its deep understanding
of financial institutions’ role in the wealth management space, and its
technology-driven tools. Cetera Financial Institutions offers many advantages
that will be increasingly critical to our business in the new fiduciary era our
industry has entered, and the new growth opportunities it presents.”