Lori Lucas to lead EBRI
Lori Lucas has been appointed president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), the non-profit source of data on corporate retirement and health plans. The former Callan Associates executive, who had been an EBRI board member, succeeds Harry Conaway.
In a release, EBRI said Lucas has 32 years of experience in the investment and benefits industry, most recently as an executive vice president at Callan, where she managed the Defined Contribution Consulting Team.
Lucas “will be joining the organization at a pivotal time in our country’s economic history, including unprecedented challenges to American workers’ financial security” and “making EBRI’s research more widely accessible and relevant.”
Prior to working at Callan, Lucas was director of Retirement Research at Hewitt Associates, vice president at Ibbotson Associates, a consultant at the pension fund J.H. Ellwood & Associates, and an analyst and product head at Morningstar, Inc. She holds a B.A. from Indiana University and a masters degree from the University of Illinois.
A CFA Charterholder, Lucas is the immediate past chair of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. She is on the editorial advisory board of Benefits Quarterly and is a former columnist for Workforce Management magazine.
Prudential in $1.8 billion pension risk transfer deal with Scottish Widows Ltd
The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a Prudential Financial, Inc. company, has assumed the longevity risk for approximately $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion) of annuity liabilities held by Scottish Widows Limited, a unit of Lloyds Banking Group plc.
It was the first longevity risk transfer agreement between the two firms. The announcement was made by Michael Downie, the finance director, Annuities and Investment Strategy at Scottish Widows, and Amy Kessler, Prudential’s head of longevity reinsurance.
Prudential has executed more than $45 billion in international reinsurance transactions since 2011, including the largest longevity risk transfer transaction on record, a $27.7 billion transaction involving the BT Pension Scheme. Scottish Widows was founded in 1815 as Scotland’s first mutual life office.
DPL aims to bring no-commission insurance products to RIAs
DPL Financial Partners said a “growth capital investment” from Eldridge Industries and the addition of a half-dozen insurance consultants will further its effort “to bring low-cost, commission-free insurance products to registered investment advisors (RIAs) and their clients.”
DPL, which describes itself as an RIA insurance network that brings a full suite of low-cost, commission-free life and annuity products to RIA practices, will “bridge the gap” between registered investment advisors and insurance carriers, said CEO David Lau in a release.
“The idea for DPL Financial Partners was born from decades of observing a total disconnect between insurance carriers and RIAs,” he said DPL CEO David Lau. “RIA clients need insurance…, yet their advisor cannot provide the products… because the overwhelming majority of insurance products are commission-driven.”
Lau, formerly with Jefferson National and Telebank, added that the newly hired team, including six professionals to consult directly with advisors and their clients on insurance planning, along with senior support staff in technology and marketing, will expand DPL’s ability to serve RIAs across the U.S.
DPL aims to reinvent how insurance is delivered in the fee-only space. “DPL is an insurance network for RIAs. RIAs access our consultants to help find and implement low-cost, commission-free insurance products for their clients,” Mr. Lau explained. “At the same time, we create an effective way for carriers to reach this important market.”
The release said DPL will do this by serving RIAs as an agnostic consultant, consulting with insurance carriers to support and develop commission-free products, and bringing to market quality, low-cost, commission-free products that fit the RIA model.
Nuveen expands DCIO team
Nuveen, TIAA’s global asset management unit, said it has appointed several executives to positions supporting its expanding Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO) enterprise. Nuveen re-positioned its DCIO business in 2015.
“Our active and index target date strategies [are] seeing particularly high levels of inflows,” said Erin Donnelly, executive vice president and head of Nuveen’s DCIO business, in a release. “Our DCIO business grew nearly 40% in 2017.”
Additions to Nuveen’s DCIO team include:
Peter Whitman joined the firm as managing director for DCIO Strategic Accounts, reporting to Ms. Donnelly. He will oversee the firm’s retirement presence across recordkeeping, retirement intermediary and other third-party retirement platforms and relationships. Whitman will also focus on building Nuveen’s retirement sub-advisory business.
Greg Koleno joined the DCIO sales team reporting to Brendan McCarthy, DCIO National Sales Director. Based in Portland, Oregon, Koleno is responsible for DCIO sales in the Northwest. Previously, he was held a similar position at American Century Investments.
James Polito joined the DCIO sales team, also reporting to McCarthy. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Polito is responsible for DCIO sales in the Southeast. Most recently, he held a similar position at BNY Mellon.
Nuveen also hired Jeff Eng as managing director responsible for retirement solutions, reporting to Martin Kremenstein, senior managing director and head of Nuveen’s retirement and ETF solutions business. Eng will lead new product initiatives. Previously, he was head of the custom defined contribution solutions business at AB.
Nuveen describes itself as the fourth largest investment manager of defined contribution assets in the United States and the sixth largest manager of target date fund assets. Its DCIO team works in consultation with plan sponsors, consultants and retirement plan advisors.
The DCIO team offers fixed income and equity mutual funds as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) equity and fixed income funds, including the TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund (TSBIX). The team also offers active and passive target date funds such as TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2040 (TCIOX) and TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index 2040 (TIZLX), asset allocation strategies that can act as the qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) of defined contribution plans.
Anthem adds $58 million to employees’ retirement accounts
Anthem, Inc., whose health plans serve some 40 million Americans, said this week that it will contribute $1,000 to the 401(k) accounts for each of its more than 58,000 associates and recent retirees, or about $58 million, as a response to the recent revisions to the U.S. tax code.
In total, Anthem will contribute more than $58 million to the program which helps Anthem associates plan for their retirement and the needs of their families in the future. In addition to the Anthem 401(k) program, the company is investing savings from the changes in the tax code in other efforts to reduce the cost of healthcare and benefit customers and shareholders.
Anthem’s full-time, part-time, temporary associates and recent retirees are eligible to receive the 401(k) contributions. For eligible associates who have not previously participated in Anthem’s 401(k), the company will automatically establish a 401(k) account and make the $1,000 investment.
Associates will receive the contribution on March 29 and have the ability to select how the money is invested by choosing from the 15 investment options that are offered through Anthem’s 401(k) program.
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