Deals & People November 22, 2010

Stevenson Appointed to Nationwide Retirement Sales Post

Nationwide Financial Services has tapped Eric Stevenson as senior vice president and chief sales officer for its public-sector retirement plans subsidiary, Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS).
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A Nationwide news release said Stevenson will be responsible for leading distribution teams for public-sector retirement plan sales, Participant Solutions Center, managed accounts and bundled retirement plan sales. He will also lead the management of NRS’ key customer and business partner relationships.

Stevenson joined Nationwide in 2006 and most recently served as vice president of marketing for the retirement plans business, according to the company. His background includes time with Warner-Lambert, leading a sales force of 500 as the company’s national director of retail sales. Prior to joining Nationwide, Stevenson held various leadership roles in marketing and brand management with companies such as Warner-Lambert, The Quaker Oats Company, and Xerox.

Stevenson holds a master’s in business administration from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree in business and finance from the University of Oklahoma.

Stevenson replaces Cain Hayes who recently left Nationwide for Aetna to serve as the head of its Public & Labor business, the company said.

Products November 22, 2010

Solution for NAIC Annuity Suitability Requirements Available

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and RegEd are introducing the “Industry Wide Solution” for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) annuity suitability requirements. 
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The Annuity Training Platform is now live and includes state-mandated suitability training. It will also include insurer-produced product specific training; there are currently numerous carriers in the contract writing phase.

Financial advisers can register beginning today and will be able to complete the state-mandated courses. Iowa advisers may complete their requirements by the January 1, 2011 deadline and have their completion data reported to all participating carriers. Carriers may sign up now to gain access to a comprehensive view of their advisers’ status and make carrier-specific courses available to advisers as soon as they become available.   

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According to a press release, the platform will include the following features:

  • A centralized training platform where an adviser can complete all training requirements and have completion data reported to all participating carriers and distributors;
  • A industry-wide solution where insurers can assign their product-specific training courses to specific producers and continually update those courses;
  • An e-mail notification system enabling insurers to notify advisers of new or updated product specific training requirements;
  • The most current information on new regulations and state-mandated courseware;
  • The ability to print certificates of completion online; and
  • Customized data exports and real-time search tools for insurers and broker/dealers to help meet their compliance requirements.

“This is only the beginning of our development efforts,” said Angela Pace, RegEd’s Chief Operating Officer.  “Carriers who are concerned about just-in-time training can implement our latest feature, which addresses this critical training challenge. And we have already begun work on the second major phase of our development effort, which will marry RegEd’s robust education and licensing tracking applications with the Annuities Training Platform.  The result will be an industry first–establishing a true one-stop solution for annuities carriers.”

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