Retirement Industry People Moves

Private equity firms acquire Wells Fargo Asset Management; Voya Retirement expands small-mid market corporate team; and more.

Art by Subin Yang

Voya Retirement Expands Small-Mid Corporate Team

Voya Financial’s retirement business has named Kris Masias as a regional vice president of sales for the company’s small-mid corporate market business. 

In this role, Masias is responsible for generating new business and building key distribution relationships in both Oregon and Idaho. He will be working through all channels within the corporate 401(k) market that serve employers with plans ranging from start-ups to $75 million in assets.

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Masias holds Series 6, 7, 22, 63 licenses as well as variable life and health licenses. He attended the University of Connecticut, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. Based in Portland, he started at Voya on February 16 and reports directly to Nick Wilson, senior vice president of sales for the small-mid corporate market’s West division.

T. Rowe Price Makes Key Hires

T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services has hired Lynn Roy as head of third-party administrator (TPA) distribution. The role will involve directing and overseeing all aspects of the firm’s national strategy for TPA distribution.

Roy joins T. Rowe Price from Mass Mutual and has 24 years of experience dedicated to the TPA distribution model. She is a mentor in the Women in Pension Network (WIPN) organization and is an active contributor to the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA), having served as both president and board member.

The firm has also recently hired Lindsay Moody as a retirement sales consultant. Moody is responsible for the sale of T. Rowe Price core market recordingkeeping solutions and will focus on partnering with financial advisers and TPA’s in the Great Lakes territory.

Moody brings more than nine years of experience in the defined contribution (DC) industry.

GTCR and Reverance Capital Partners to Acquire Wells Fargo AM

Private equity (PE) firms GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners will acquire Wells Fargo Asset Management (WFAM) in a multifaceted deal valued at $2.1 billion. 

Technically speaking, GTCR and Reverence Capital have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wells Fargo Asset Management from the broader Wells Fargo & Co. business. The deal means that GTCR and Reverence Capital will also acquire Wells Fargo Bank’s North American-based business of serving as trustee to its collective investment trusts (CITs) and all related WFAM legal entities.

According to announcements by the PE firms and Wells Fargo & Co., the transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. As part of the transaction, Wells Fargo & Co. will own a 9.9% equity interest and will continue to serve as “an important client and distribution partner.”

For its part, GTCR is a private equity firm mainly focused on leveraged buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations, growth capital and roll-up transactions. Since 1980, GTCR has invested more than $15 billion in over 200 companies. On its website, Reverence Capital Partners says its focus is on “a broad spectrum of middle-market financial services companies.” Its current portfolio already includes Russell Investments and Advisor Group.

According to various statements issued by the parties in this latest deal, Nico Marais, WFAM’s CEO since June 2019, will remain in his position. He and his leadership team will continue to oversee the daily business operations, while Joseph Sullivan, former chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, will be appointed as executive chairman of the board of the new company operating under GTCR and Reverence Capital.

Marais adds that, following the transaction, the WFAM business “will be even better positioned to execute our strategy and provide our clients with innovative products and solutions to help them reach their investment goals.”

Read PLANADVISER’s full coverage here.

Pandemic Forcing Many to Retire Earlier Than Anticipated

Nearly 70% of retirees say they retired earlier than they had expected, up from 50% in 2020.

Allianz Life’s 2021 “Retirement Risk Readiness Study” finds that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a detrimental impact on people’s retirement, with 68% of those who have retired in 2021 saying they retired earlier than they had wanted to, up from 50% in 2020. Exactly one third, 33%, said health care issues were the reason for their early retirement, up from 25% in 2020. However, only 22% said it was due to unexpected job loss, down from 34% in 2020.

There appears to be a disconnect between people’s retirement plans and what actually occurs, as 70% of non-retirees say they expect to work at least part-time in retirement, up from 65% in 2020. In reality, a scant 6% of retirees are working, virtually on par with the 7% of retirees who were working last year.

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Sixty-nine percent of Americans say they believe the COVID-19 pandemic will have a greater overall impact on them than the Great Recession. This jumps to 86% among retirees.

Forty-three percent say they are unable to save anything for retirement right now, up from 37% in 2020. Forty-two percent say they are too far behind on their retirement goals to catch up, up from 31% in 2020. Forty-nine percent say they are just trying to get by day-to-day and cannot even think of saving for retirement, and 56% say stock market swings are making them nervous about their retirement savings.

Americans are responding with much more fear about their finances following the outbreak of the pandemic than they did during the Great Recession, with 61% now saying they are nervous about their day-to-day finances, compared with 39% following the Great Recession. They are also more nervous about their retirement savings (66% versus 34%), their professional career (58% versus 42%), saving and spending money (61% versus 39%) and managing market risk when saving for retirement (60% versus 40%).

“Although the full story of this pandemic won’t be known for some time, it’s clear that the financial security of many Americans has been severely compromised,” says Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life. “It is notable that so many people are concerned about both the short-term and long-term financial effects of this crisis. It’s crucial that Americans use this opportunity to consider any new risks that could affect their retirement planning and develop strategies to help mitigate those risks and future unexpected events.”

Allianz says the survey does show some signs of hope that Americans might be willing to be proactive about repairing their savings, as 65% say they are now paying more attention to what they are saving and spending, and 58% have cut back on their spending.

Near-retirees, those within 10 years of retiring, are taking action, in particular by making sure they are saving enough in their retirement accounts (29% versus 23% in 2020), diversifying their portfolios (42% versus 27%), researching expenses and risks associated with retirement (43% versus 35%), creating a formal retirement plan with a financial professional (37% versus 29%) and purchasing a product that provides a guaranteed source of retirement income (38% versus 30%).

Likewise, recordkeeper LT Trust found that between 2019 and 2020, the average account balance increased by 30.8%, and in that time, the average 401(k) contribution increased by 6.12%.

“Black swan events like this global pandemic are often the trigger that convinces people to take a more proactive approach to managing risks that may come in retirement,” LaVigne adds. “In that respect, it is encouraging to see that many Americans are taking this as a wake-up all and adding more risk management measures, including sources of guaranteed and supplemental retirement income, into their retirement planning process.”

Allianz’s findings are based on an online survey conducted in December among 1,000 people with an annual household income of $50,000 or greater if single, or $75,000 or more if married or living with a partner, or investable assets of $150,000 or more.

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