Retirement Industry People Moves – 4/17/2026

Morgan Stanley Adds New Member to Fiduciary Consulting Group

Frederick Stewart joined Morgan Stanley as part of its Fiduciary Consulting Group team, where he will be an institutional consultant focused on partnering with large plan sponsors.

Frederick Stewart

Stewart, based in Atlanta, has more than 30 years of experience in institutional retirement plans and investments. He joins from LCG, which he joined in 2014, where he was a senior vice president.

He was a member of the risk management committee, where he served as the firm’s defined contribution practice leader. Stewart also conducted capital market and asset class research, as well as investment manager and recordkeeper due diligence.

Prior to joining LCG, he was a managing director for the Southeast region at Portfolio Evaluations Inc., vice president of the institutional consulting group with UBS, and a member of the defined contribution advisory board.

Orion Appoints New Wealth Management Sales Lead

Orion announced that Jeff Schwantz has joined the company as executive vice president of wealth management sales. Schwantz will lead Orion’s wealth management sales organization, overseeing strategic growth initiatives.

Jeff Schwantz

Schwantz brings nearly 30 years of experience across fintech, wealth management and enterprise distribution. He will help Orion deepen adviser partnerships and accelerate adoption of the firm’s wealth management capabilities, according to the announcement. Prior to joining Orion, Schwantz served as chief growth officer at Luma Financial Technologies, where he led global sales, marketing, and client support and success. Earlier in his career, he held executive leadership roles at Advisor360, Morningstar, eMoney Advisor and BNY Pershing.

Orion is a wealthtech company offering portfolio management, planning, CRM, reporting and an open-integration ecosystem. As of December 31, 2025, Orion serviced $5.8 trillion in assets under administration and $133 billion of wealth management platform assets, supported more than 8 million technology accounts, and powered thousands of independent advisory firms.

Manulife John Hancock Retirement Promotes VPs

Ray Hemstreet

Manulife John Hancock Retirement promoted Bridgette Rutter to divisional vice president of Midwest sales, filling the spot vacated by Stephen Davis when he became divisional vice president of Northeast sales following Ray Hemstreet’s retirement. Rutter will lead sales and relationship development efforts with financial representatives and plan consultants serving the firm’s core market segment.

Bridgette Rutter

Rutter brings more than 20 years of experience at Manulife John Hancock Retirement and will report to Gary Tankersley, head of core segment. She began her career with the firm as a sales associate and advanced through progressively senior roles, most recently serving as senior regional vice president in the greater Chicago area.

Tom Lyman

Tom Lyman, currently serving Manulife John Hancock Retirement in New York City, was promoted to fill Rutter’s regional vice president role.

Manulife John Hancock Retirement, the U.S. retirement business of Manulife Investment Management, serviced more than 56,000 retirement plans with more than 3.3 million participants and more than $266 billion in assets under management and advisement as of December 31, 2025.

Ninety One Welcomes New Head of Institutional

Ninety One Ltd. announced the appointment of Jeff Shields as head of institutional for the West Coast. Based in San Francisco, he will oversee all aspects of the firm’s engagements with institutional asset owners in the region.

With more than 25 years of experience, Shields joins Ninety One from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he led business development across a broad range of institutional clients, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, health care organizations, foundations, endowments and family offices.

Most recently, he was part of the firm’s public funds team, covering clients across the West Coast and leading work on portfolio construction and investment strategies for public pensions.

Retirement Advisor Council Announces 2026 Cohort

The Retirement Advisor Council approved 23 new members for 2026 terms. The group consists of 18 advisers, as well as five emerging advisers who will be eligible for adviser membership within the next three years.

The incoming advisers include Kim Cochrane of Hub International in Rockville, Maryland, a 2023 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year, and Philip Sherman of Deschutes Investment Consulting in Portland, Oregon, a 2024 Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year.

According to the announcement, the members of the Retirement Advisor Council collectively serve 7,062 plans and more than 4.3 million participants.

Trump Names Nominee for Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent announced that President Donald Trump will nominate Erin Browne as under secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Browne is a managing director and portfolio manager at PIMCO. She manages multi-asset strategies, leads the glide path leadership team and is a permanent member of the Americas portfolio committee.

Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, Browne was a managing director and head of asset allocation at UBS Asset Management. Previously, she was head of macro investments at UBS O’Connor. Browne has also held roles at Point72, Citigroup, Moore Capital Management, Neuberger Berman and Lehman Brothers.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University.

National Institute of Retirement Security Names New Director of Research

The National Institute on Retirement Security named Barbara Butrica as director of research, a role she will assume on April 27. Butrica, who brings more than two decades of experience, will lead the NIRS research agenda.

Butrica most recently served as a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, where she designed and led research and evaluation projects on retirement income, Social Security and the economic well-being of older Americans. She is also an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

WTW Appoints New Senior Director of Defined Contribution Team

Willis Towers Watson Public Ltd. Co., commonly known as WTW, appointed Simon Davidge as a senior director of its defined contribution advisory team. His role, which began on April 13, will involve leading existing DC client teams and supporting the team’s growth agenda through external and internal channels. Davidge will  report to Natasha Rogers, senior director in London.

Davidge returns to WTW after 10 years at Mercer, where he was a principal consultant, specializing in DC and financial wel-lbeing for more than four years. Prior to that, he held DC-focused consultancy roles at Isio, KPMG and WTW, where he previously worked from 2008 to 2016.

Mindset Names 2 Partners

Public policy consulting firm Mindset promoted Kendra Isaacson and Charlie Schreiber, both principals at the firm, to partners. Isaacson leads the firm’s retirement practice, while Schreiber works in financial services and housing policy.

Before joining Mindset in 2023, Isaacson worked on pensions, tax and economic issues for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and its former chair, Senator Patty Murray, D-Washington.

Schreiber joined the firm in 2021 after serving as senior counsel to the House Committee on Financial Services under then-ranking member, Representative Patrick McHenry, R-North Carolina.

“I am beyond excited about being promoted to Partner at Mindset,” Isaacson wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Leaving the Senate and the best job/team on the Hill a couple years ago, I could not have imagined that I would get so lucky twice, but I did.”