DOL Obtains $10M for Retirement Plans from Invesco
The agency contended Invesco Trust Company failed to inform retirement plan investors of efforts to bolster the value of its Short-Term Investment Fund.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has reached a settlement agreement with a subsidiary of Invesco Ltd., an Atlanta-based investment management firm.
Invesco Trust Company agreed to pay a total of $10.27 million to settle the department’s claims that Invesco Trust Company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
Invesco operated the Invesco Short-Term Investment Fund (ISTIF), a multi-billion dollar collective fund composed of ERISA plan assets. The DOL contended that Invesco violated ERISA when it undertook a series of measures to ensure that the ISTIF continued to trade at $1 although the fund’s net asset value had fallen below $1 due to losses in the value of the fund’s securities holdings.
One measure Invesco took was having an affiliate enter into a series of support agreements to provide contingent financial support to the ISTIF without adequately informing the fund’s investors. Invesco also retained a portion of the income earned by the ISTIF to increase the fund’s net asset value instead of distributing that income to investors. Retaining a portion of the ISTIF’s income in the fund not only reduced the distributions to plan investors in the ISTIF, but also reduced the obligations of Invesco’s affiliate under the support agreements.
The DOL concluded that Invesco did not adequately disclose these measures to ERISA plan investors, and that Invesco’s actions resulted in losses to ERISA plan clients.
The settlement agreement addresses both of these findings by requiring Invesco to regularly disclose to ERISA plan investors the ISTIF’s holdings, its actual market value, and the existence of any supporting measures used to bolster the ISTIF’s net asset value. Additionally, Invesco must restore client losses that resulted from the ISTIF’s retention of income.
Invesco has not responded to a request for comment.
Lincoln Retirement Plan Services Expands Product Team; TIAA Global Asset Management Unifies DCIO Team; Eng Rejoins AB in Custom DC Solutions, and more.
Prior
to joining RPS, Ferraro held the position of senior vice president, head of
Product, with Voya Financial, Inc., where he was responsible for the
profitability and product management of small/mid corporate and institutional
markets. Earlier in his career, Ferraro held executive positions with
CitiStreet, LLC. Ferraro earned a Master of Business Administration degree in
Finance from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History
from Princeton University. He holds series 6, 7, 24 and 26 FINRA registrations.
Another
addition to the Product and Solutions Management Team is Aziz Syed, who has been named vice
president, Stable Value Leader, and will report directly to Ferraro. Syed
joins Lincoln with more than 20 years of experience in financial leadership
roles. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Bentley
University and a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering and
economics from the University of Wisconsin.
“As
we continue to grow the RPS business at Lincoln, having industry veterans like
Ralph and Aziz will help us build and offer products designed to ensure that
all of the participants we serve will be able to have the retirement they
envision” says Ohl.
NEXT: Oppenheimer Names Head of Beta Solutions
Sharon French joined Oppenheimer
Funds as head of Beta Solutions.
In
this role, French will be responsible for growing the firm's smart beta
business by building on the success of Oppenheimer Factor Weighted ETFs as well
as developing new multi-factor products to help meet client demand. French will
be based in New York and will join the firm's Senior Leadership Team, reporting
directly to Art Steinmetz, chairman and
CEO of OppenheimerFunds.
French
joins OppenheimerFunds from BNY Mellon, where she was senior strategic advisor
to the CEO and president of Investment Management, focusing on ETF and multi
asset business growth. Previously, she served as president of F-Squared
Capital. Before that, she was head of Private Client & Institutions at
BlackRock for its iShares business. French spent nearly a decade at
AllianceBernstein, and held prior roles at mPower, Smith Barney, and Chase
Manhattan Bank.
Vince Lowry, lead portfolio
manager for the Oppenheimer Revenue Factor Team, and his team will
report to French.
NEXT: TIAA Global Asset Management Unifies DCIO
Team
TIAA
Global Asset Management announced that Erin
Donnelly has been appointed managing
director and head of Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO).
In
this role, Donnelly leads a unified DCIO business that combines the teams of
both Nuveen Investments and TIAA Investments. The combined DCIO team will
deliver a wide range of investment capabilities from TIAA Global Asset
Management, including the full array of strategies and products from TIAA
Investments and Nuveen.
"TIAA
Investments and Nuveen have a long history of serving the retirement needs of
investors with high-quality investment solutions and innovative products,"
says Rob Leary, CEO of TIAA Global Asset
Management. "Bringing our teams together under Erin's leadership will
provide a single point of access for advisers, consultants and plan sponsors
who seek our high-performing mutual funds to help meet the investment goals of
their clients."
Prior
to this newly created role, Donnelly served as managing director of Business
Development in Nuveen Wealth Management. Previously she spent nearly 15 years
at Merrill Lynch, where she was managing director and head of Global Funds and
Insured Solutions.
She
will lead a recently expanded team of more than 20 dedicated DCIO professionals
focused on meeting the growing adviser, consultant, and plan sponsor demand for
TIAA Global Asset Management investment solutions in the 401(k), 403(b) and 457
marketplaces. The organization intends to add additional resources to support
the retirement adviser and consultant needs in the middle and larger segments
of the market.
“Through
a unified business and dedicated DCIO resources, we can now offer—as never
before—a complete suite of high-quality, high-performing investment strategies
that meets the unique needs of the DCIO clients,” says Donnelly.
NEXT: Segal Adds Associate Actuary
David A. Berger has joined The Segal Group as a vice president and associate actuary.
Berger
has more than 25 years of experience helping clients with their retiree health
and retirement plans. Most recently, he was at Aon Hewitt where he served as
the primary retirement consultant to several large organizations. His projects
included asset/liability modeling and total retirement studies.
Berger
is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA), an enrolled actuary (EA) and
a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries (FCA). He received a
Bachelor of Science, Economics and Management and Applied Mathematics from
Centre College of Kentucky and a Master of Arts, Economics from the University
of South Florida.
He
reports to Deborah Brigham, vice president
and actuary, and is based in Segal’s Atlanta office.
NEXT: Wilshire Names Head of OCIO Solutions
Wilshire
Consulting, the institutional investment advisory business unit of Wilshire
Associates Incorporated, has named veteran consultant Mark Brubaker, CFA, as head
of Wilshire OCIO Solutions practice.
Brubaker
is a managing director of Wilshire Associates. He joined Wilshire in 1997 and
has served as investment consultant to large corporate, endowment and public
fund clients out of Wilshire’s Pittsburgh office. He is head of Wilshire’s OCIO
Solutions practice and is a member of the Wilshire Consulting Investment
Committee and Manager Research Oversight Committee.
Prior
to joining Wilshire, Brubaker worked at Westinghouse Electric Corporation,
where he was responsible for more than $9 billion in defined benefit, defined
contribution and foundation assets. He also worked in the Investment Management
and Trust Division of PNC Financial.
Brubaker
earned a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Carnegie
Mellon University. He also holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and
is active in the CFA Society of Pittsburgh.
NEXT: TRA Adds Regional Sales Consultant
The
Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA) announced the addition of Josh Henry as regional sales consultant.
Henry's
main focus is educating advisers and clients, large and small, on the best plan
design for their retirement plan. He
will be covering the Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky territory. Henry will report to Craig Mazzini, National Sales Manager of TRA.
Henry
began his career as a plan administrator. According to TRA, over the past 16
years of being active in both a sales and support role, he has become
exceptionally skilled at designing and implementing retirement plans. Additionally,
Henry will work to effect immediate and sustained growth and market TRA's
services.
Henry
received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Franklin University in Columbus,
Ohio. He has his FINRA Series 6 License, FINRA Series 63 License and is
currently working toward his Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) designation
through ASPPA.
NEXT: Eng Rejoins AB in Custom DC Solutions
Jeff Eng has rejoined Alliance Bernstein (AB) as managing director
of custom defined contribution solutions.
He
will be responsible for driving the growth of AB's existing custom target-date
offerings and Lifetime Income Strategy solution, while supporting the firm's
broader initiative in digital delivery of retirement planning advice.
Jeff
originally joined AB in 2001 as a product director in defined contribution (DC),
where he was involved in the development and launch of Lifetime Income
Strategy, a multi-insurer target-date fund with a guaranteed lifetime
withdrawal benefit. The age-based, asset allocation program is designed to help
employees convert their savings over time into a stream of guaranteed income
that lasts throughout retirement. Prior to rejoining the firm, Jeff was director
of Retirement Income Solutions at Russell Investments.
"Our
defined contribution business continues to grow and we are excited to have Jeff
back on our team. He has an outstanding track record of developing and
implementing innovative customized retirement solutions and was intimately
involved in launching our Lifetime Income Strategy," says Richard Davies, Global Head of Defined
Contribution at AB.
NEXT: Wagner Law Group Adds Two ERISA Attorneys
Livia Quan Aber and
Ellen Stone,
both distinguished Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA) and employee benefits attorneys, will join The
Wagner Law Group, effective May 2, 2016.
Aber,
who joins The Wagner Law Group as of counsel, has previously held positions
specializing in ERISA and employee benefits at law firms, a financial
institution and a consulting company, as well as in the U.S. Department of
Labor (DOL). She has vast experience advising employers on a wide variety of
employee benefit matters, including the design, drafting and implementation of
qualified retirement plans and employee health and welfare benefit plans. She
also has significant experience representing employers before the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), DOL and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in
the resolution of complex compliance and audit issues.
Aber
has experience structuring plan terminations and obtaining rulings from
government agencies. She has also advised employers on benefit plan matters
arising in acquisitions and divestitures.
Stone
joins The Wagner Law Group as a senior associate with broad ERISA experience.
She has advised clients on a wide variety of issues, including statutory,
regulatory, fiduciary, administrative and operational issues with respect to
qualified retirement plans, tax-sheltered annuities, nonqualified deferred
compensation, and welfare plans. Stone has experience representing clients
during IRS audits of employee benefit plans, drafting plan documents and
amendments for qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, preparing private
letter ruling requests, participating as a court-appointed independent
fiduciary and advising on ERISA issues arising from mergers and acquisitions. She
also has a robust Estate Planning practice.
NEXT: Voya Hires Two for Large Corporate Market
Voya
Financial’s Retirement business has recently made two strategic hires to
support its Large Corporate Market sales team.
Bob Hord joins Voya
as the director of consultant relations, and Sally Bradley-Golding will serve
as an account executive in the Large Corporate Market business. Combined they bring
more than 40 years of experience serving clients in the institutional
retirement industry and will focus on growing Voya’s presence in the large and
mega market arena.
Hord
and Bradley-Golding joined Voya in early April. Hord is based in North Carolina
and Bradley-Golding in Massachusetts. Each of them reports to Steve Keating, head of sales for the Large
Corporate Market.
Hord
previously worked at Wells Fargo for more than 12 years, most recently as the
vice president, senior consultant relations director. In that role he served as
the single point of contact for national consulting firms, broker dealers and
niche advisers firms who specialize in institutional retirement consulting. In
his new position at Voya, Hord will leverage his expertise and strong
relationships to expand the company’s presence in the mega and large market
space, specifically working to gain market awareness and secure opportunities
with the consultant community focused on this segment.
Bradley-Golding
previously spent more than a decade with Financial Engines, where she held
leadership positions that included overseeing a relationship management team as
well as developing successful partnerships with the top 401(k) providers who
offer Financial Engines’ investment advisory service to their plan sponsors.
Prior to Financial Engines, Bradley-Golding was with Fidelity Investments and
Bankers Trust Company. In her new role at Voya, Bradley-Golding is responsible
for bringing retirement solutions to plan sponsors—especially those whose plan
assets exceed $1 billion.