Retirement Industry People Moves – 11/13/2026

Allison Dembeck Joins IAA to Lead Federal Legislative Affairs

The Investment Adviser Association named Allison Dembeck as head of federal legislative affairs.

Dembeck will lead IAA’s day-to-day congressional advocacy to advance legislative priorities affecting fiduciary investment advisers and their clients. She will also oversee the IAA Political Action Committee.

Dembeck brings more than 20 years of experience in government relations and legislative advocacy, most recently serving as head of government relations at Save the Children U.S. Previously, she spent 12 years at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, most recently as vice president of government relationships, working on issues including retirement security, employee benefits and tax. Earlier in her career, she held several positions on Capitol Hill.

Michelle Ostermann Joins Standard Life

Michelle Ostermann

Standard Life PLC appointed Michelle Ostermann as CEO of retirement solutions and group CIO.

Ostermann brings more than 30 years of global experience across pensions, insurance and investment management in the U.K. and Canada. Her career includes 18 years with three major Canadian life insurers, followed by 15 years in pension and institutional investment leadership.

Most recently, Ostermann served as CEO of the U.K.’s Pension Protection Fund, where she led the organization that oversees approximately £32 billion in assets.

She previously served as managing director of Britain’s Railpen Investments and global head of capital markets at Canada’s PSP Investments, where she was responsible for C$120 billion across public equities, fixed income and liquid alternatives.

Aboon Hires 2 Executives to Lead Partner Sales, Product

Priya Patel

Paul Newmann

Aboon, a provider of tools for third-party administrators, named Paul Newmann as head of partner sales and Priya Patel as head of product.

Newmann will lead the expansion of Aboon’s relationships with advisory firms. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the retirement, wealth and fintech industries, most recently leading Apex Fintech Solutions’ global SaaS [software as a service] platform business. Earlier in his career, Newmann held positions at BlackRock, Vestwell and Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc.

Patel will lead Aboon’s product strategy across the adviser, employer and platform experiences. Before Aboon, she founded Wellen, a digital health company focused on healthy aging, and served as the chief product officer of the company once it was acquired by Bone Health Technologies, now Osteoboost Health. Patel was also the first employee at Sesame Care, where she helped build and launch a nationwide healthcare marketplace.

American Benefits Council Names New Health Policy Lead

Mitch Relfe

The American Benefits Council named Mitch Relfe as senior vice president of health policy.

Relfe will direct ABC’s legislative health policy advocacy and work closely with Matt Muma, senior counsel of health policy.

Relfe has experience in legislative advocacy and employer-sponsored health coverage. He most recently served as a federal government affairs senior principal at the Cigna Group. Earlier in his career, he led federal health policy and advocacy for the National Federation of Independent Business, served as the legislative director and counsel for Representative Bradley Byrne, R-Alabama, held other congressional staff positions and worked as an attorney in private practice.