AXA has hired Aaron Sarfatti as managing director and head of strategy for its Life, Retirement and Wealth Management businesses. A credentialed actuary, Sarfatti will report to Brian Winikoff, Senior Executive Director and Head of Life, Retirement and Wealth Management.
Sarfatti has 15 years of experience in financial services, life insurance, asset management and retail banking. He most recently served as a partner with global management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, in its North American Insurance Practice.
He recently played a key role in the NAIC initiative to reform its variable annuity reserve and capital regulations. Sarfatti received a Bachelor of Science in engineering degree in computer science from Princeton University where he also received certificates of proficiency in Finance and Public and International Affairs.
Jackson National Life Insurance Company appointed Scott Romine as president of Advisory Solutions for Jackson National Life Distributors LLC (JNLD), the marketing and distribution arm of Jackson. Based in the company’s Franklin, Tennessee office, Romine is responsible for building Jackson’s advisory business across the country.
Romine returns to JNLD after serving as the president and chief executive officer of National Planning Holdings, Inc., Jackson’s affiliated independent broker-dealer network that was sold to LPL Financial (LPL) in August 2017.
Prior to leading NPH, he held various sales leadership positions at JNLD since joining the firm in 1997, most recently serving as president from January 2015 – July 2016. Romine began his career in financial services as a retail investment advisor at Dean Witter Reynolds and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 66 registrations.
Romine now oversees several departments that educate financial professionals and support the company’s strategic advisory initiatives, including the National Sales Desk, National Accounts, Advisory Sales Strategy, Advisory Resource Group, and Trust/RIA teams.
The company also recently named Greg Masucci as senior vice president of National Accounts for JNLD. Masucci will oversee the National Accounts team, which serves as the liaison for the firm’s distribution partners. He joins JNLD from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he most recently served as executive director, Global Strategic Relationships.
He held various roles during his tenure there, including leadership of the National Accounts teams for both the Wealth Management and Institutional Advisor channels. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2011, Greg held various distribution and sales management roles at Genworth Financial and Merrill Lynch.
Tim Munsie also joined Romine’s team. Munsie recently joined JNLD as senior vice president of the Advisory Resource Group. He comes to JNLD from NPH, where he oversaw the broker-dealer network’s advisory and platform strategy. His group serves as a conduit between JNLD’s products and third-party fintech providers and platforms, particularly those related to the firm’s advisory initiatives.
During the last two years, Jackson has launched several fee-based versions of its annuity products. These strategies are designed to ensure advisors and the consumers they serve have access to numerous quality options as they work together to develop a comprehensive financial plan.
To support these product launches, JNLD recently formed a team of Regional Advisory Consultants (RACs), responsible for driving Jackson’s advisory business with fee-based advisors who haven’t historically utilized insurance products. The RACs work with contacts across the country by leveraging a hybrid approach of virtual wholesaling and traditional field travel to enhance advisory sales efforts.
Patrick Murphy has been named Chief Executive Officer, John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS). He is based in Boston and is JHRPS’ president, will replace Peter Gordon, who will be retiring. Murphy will be responsible for leading all facets of the firm’s US retirement record keeping business. His appointment is effective immediately.
Murphy joined Hancock, the U.S. division of Toronto-based Manulife, when the company acquired New York Life’s RPS business, where he had been CEO. The transaction increased Hancock’s RPS assets under administration by about 60%, sped its expansion into the mid-case to large-case private sector retirement plan markets, and added scale and expertise.
Murphy had been at New York Life for 11 years in a variety of roles. He previously worked at American Express Retirement Plan Services, Transamerica and Putnam Investments. Murphy graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Organizational Behavior and Management.
Lincoln Financial Group has named Chris Neczypor as senior vice president, head of Investment Risk and Strategy. He reports directly to Ellen Cooper, executive vice president and chief investment officer for Lincoln Financial.
Neczypor will be responsible for setting, implementing and providing oversight of the General Account’s investment risk and strategy, including quantitative portfolio construction and strategic asset allocation.
Prior to joining Lincoln Financial, Neczypor held senior investing and portfolio management positions at Kingdon Capital and Emrys Partners. Earlier in his career, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then Goldman Sachs, where he was the senior sell-side analyst covering the insurance sector and later the banking industry.
Neczypor has a B.S. in finance and accounting from Lehigh University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds his Series 7, 63, 86 and 87 designations.
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