Retirement Industry People Moves – 12/13/24

Lincoln Financial names an industry veteran as VP of investment distribution and new hires to its retirement plan services team; The Standard names PEP sales director for retirement plans.

Lincoln Financial Adds 3 to Retirement Plan Services Team

Kara Kidney

Lincoln Financial has made three new hires in its small market retirement plan services team were also announced last week.

Kara Kidney joined Lincoln Financial as assistant vice president and divisional sales manager overseeing the West Division. Kidney has more than 20 years of industry experience and will report to Joe Mrozek, vice president and national sales manager.  

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Additionally, George Webb and David Frost joined Lincoln as regional sales directors. Frost will report to Paul Rankin, divisional sales manager, and cover Maryland, southern Delaware and Washington D.C., and Webb will report to Vince Rainforth, divisional sales manager, and cover north Texas and Oklahoma. 

Lincoln Financial Hires VP of Investment Distribution

Tom Morelli

Lincoln Financial also named industry veteran Tom Morelli as vice president of investment distribution. In this role, Morelli will focus on the distribution of Lincoln’s suite of more than 100 sub-advised variable insurance funds, mutual funds, model portfolios and other investment solutions.

He will report to John Kennedy, executive vice president, chief distribution and brand officer.

Prior to joining Lincoln, Morelli served as head of wealth management at T. Rowe Price, overseeing all aspects of home office and field sales. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the investment distribution space.

The Standard Names PEP Sales Director for Retirement Plans

Mark Christensen

The Standard announced that Mark Christensen will serve as the pooled employer plan sales director in retirement plans for the recordkeeper.

Christensen has 20 years of experience in financial services, most of which was in the retirement plan space. He previously held roles at Voya, Principal Financial Group and Sallus Retirement, a PEP startup.

“Mark’s experience will help ensure all the resources at The Standard are available to our advisers as we grow our private label PEP business,” said Steven Chappell, vice president of distribution in retirement plan sales at The Standard, in a statement.

“Shadow SEC” Group Aims to Shape Discussions on Federal Securities Laws

A group of academics created the group to seek the “wisest possible federal securities laws and policies,” and backed Trump’s pick for SEC Chair.

A new academic group named the “Shadow SEC” announced its formation this week.

The organization made up of six legal and business academics aims to provide, encourage, facilitate and distribute policy discussions related to U.S. securities laws and matters involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Shadow SEC group said in a statement.

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Our intention is to meet regularly and provide thoughtful commentary based on history, economics, market practices, and SEC law,” the group said in a statement. 

The founding members are all university professors and include John Coates, professor of law and economics at Harvard Law School, John C. Coffee, Jr., professor of law at Columbia Law School, James Cox, professor of law at Duke University School of Law, Jill Fisch, professor of business law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Merritt Fox, professor of law at Columbia Law School, and Joel Seligman, dean emeritus and professor at Washington University School of Law

“Our purpose is to provide advice on how best to improve securities markets and preserve and fortify the SEC, which throughout its 90-year history has demonstrated a remarkable ability to adjust – through statutory changes, rulemaking, and enforcement actions – to constantly evolving securities products and securities markets and broker-dealer, investment adviser, governance, and accounting practices,” the group wrote in the statement.

The organization said it plans to announce one or two more members this month; and seeks to include others in “seeking the wisest possible federal securities laws and policies.”

They also backed President-elect Donal Trump’s nomination of Paul Atkins to chair the SEC. If approved by the Senate, he is expected to have a less aggressive regulatory regime than his recent predecessors and is also notable for his push to advance cryptocurrency guidelines and use in the markets.

“As an initial statement, we congratulate Paul Atkins on his nomination to be the next SEC chair. Paul earlier served as an SEC commissioner and has worked at the SEC during both Democratic and Republican administrations,” the group wrote. “We recognize that he has the requisite experience, knowledge, and intelligence for the position. We reserve the right to disagree with policies that he may propose.”

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