Retirement Industry Deals and People Moves – 5/22/2026

Nationwide Retirement Solutions Names New Product Development Leader

Nationwide Retirement Solutions announced Adam Lacks’ appointment as associate vice president of product development for government markets, effective April 27. Lacks will report to Vice President of Business

Adam Lacks

Development Hutch Schafer and lead product strategy, design and development for the Retirement Solutions business supported on the direct recordkeeping platform.

Lacks will oversee the development of new products, features and capabilities. He will also work closely with sales, operations, legal, finance, marketing and technology to help deliver solutions, advance key initiatives and drive consistent execution and adoption, the company stated.

Before stepping into this role, Lacks was an associate vice president of retirement solutions finance, where he led pricing strategy across retentions, acquisitions, plan enhancements for Stable Value Wrap and Nationwide Trust Co. Prior to that, he led the government solutions center.

Lacks earned a master of science degree in management from the American College of Financial Services and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ohio University.

Nationwide Retirement Solutions supports 3 million participants in 30,000 retirement plans with $250 billion in assets across full-service recordkeeping, investment solutions and pension risk transfer.

Jackson Lewis Names Leader for ERISA Complex Litigation Group

Employment law firm Jackson Lewis P.C. announced Principal Stacey Cerrone will lead the firm’s group focused on complex litigation matters related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Cerrone joined the firm in 2020 and was previously the office litigation manager in New Orleans. She has more than 20 years of experience in ERISA litigation.

Stacey Cerrone

Cerrone’s practice focuses on defending complex class actions involving public and private single-employer and multiemployer plans, as well as defending plan sponsors and fiduciaries. She has experience in litigating 401(k) fee and investment loss claims, stock drop claims, forfeiture claims and health and welfare plan claims.

As leader of the ERISA complex litigation group, Cerrone will guide the national team in advising clients across aspects of benefits, plan design and high-stakes litigation.

Cerrone earned a law degree from Tulane University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Ascensus Adds 2 New Members to Retirement Leadership Team

Ascensus announced that Ryan Franken and Tim Lastivka will join the company’s retirement leadership team. Franken joins Ascensus as head of core retirement, and Lastivka joins as vice president and national sales leader.

Franken will report to President of Retirement Dan Morrison. Franken brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, distribution, and relationship management. Most recently, Franken served as national sales manager of institutional markets at Transamerica Retirement Solutions. Franken earned an MBA from Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson School of Management and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.

Lastivka will report to Franken. Lastivka has more than 20 years of sales leadership experience in defined contribution and retirement plan distribution. Lastivka earned a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from Otterbein University in Ohio.

Ascensus supported more than 16 million plan participants, oversaw $913 billion dollars in assets under administration and employed more than 5,000 associates as of March 31.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to Step Down

Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission since her 2018 appointment by President Donald Trump, will leave the commission in Novemberto become an associate professor at the Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, according to a university announcement.

Hester Peirce

The private Christian university also appointed Gregory Jacob, who had been counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence and deputy assistant to Trump, as senior associate dean of the law school.

Peirce, leader of the SEC’s cryptocurrency task force in February 2025, was widely seen as an advocate for digital assets, often referred to as “crypto mom” by the cryptocurrency community for her advocacy for a clear regulatory environment for digital assets, rather than regulating through enforcement. Although her SEC term expired in June 2025, commissioners are allowed to continue for an additional18 months.

Earlier in her career, Peirce was senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. After leaving the Banking Committee staff, Peirce was a financial markets regulation research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also was counsel to SEC Chair Paul Atkins during his first term as SEC chair and was a staff member in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.

Peirce earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Case Western Reserve University and a law degree from Yale Law School. 

The five-commissioner SEC currently has just three members, all Republicans: Atkins, Peirce and Mark Uyeda. Trump has not nominated replacements for the two spots vacated by Democrats. An SEC rule, adopted in 1995, allows the commission to conduct business with fewer than three commissioners.

Insured Retirement Institute Announces Retirement of Paul Richman

The Insured Retirement Institute announced that Paul Richman, chief government and political affairs officer, will retire on December 31, following more than 11 years at the organization.

The IRI is actively seeking Richman’s successor and plans to hire the new executive by the fourth quarter of 2026.

While at the IRI, Richman led the organization’s efforts in supporting the enactment of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. He also helped spearhead the IRI’s challenges to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rules introduced during President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden’s administrations.

Manulife Wealth & Asset Management Names Global Investments Head

Manulife Wealth & Asset Management announced the appointment of Jeffrey M. Kellogg as head of global investment products. Kellogg will report directly to Paul Lorentz, president and CEO of Manulife WAM.

Kellogg will lead Manulife WAM’s global investment products organization, overseeing strategy, innovation and execution across the firm’s retail, institutional, retirement and wealth distribution channels.

Kellogg joins Manulife WAM from Franklin Templeton, where he most recently served as senior vice president and head of corporate investment strategies, managing seed capital and investments. He also served as chair of Franklin Templeton’s global product committee, overseeing global product governance. Previously, he led Franklin Templeton’s Global Investment Services and Global Product Management organizations, with responsibility for product specialists, portfolio solutions services, and global investment marketing.