First, United Technologies will transfer approximately $775 million of its outstanding pension benefit obligations under the UTC Employee Retirement Plan and the UTC Represented Employee Retirement Plan to The Prudential Insurance Company of America. This transaction is expected to close on October 12 with the purchase of a group annuity contract from Prudential.
Prudential was selected in consultation with independent experts after a competitive bidding process. Prudential will assume the obligation and administrative responsibility for retirement benefits owed to approximately 36,000 United Technologies retirees and surviving beneficiaries who currently receive a benefit of $300 per month or less from the plans.
“This transaction is an important part of United Technologies’ long-term strategy to reduce future pension risk and expense. It will not affect participants remaining in the plans and entrusts the assets leaving the plans to a highly rated insurance company whose core business is retirement security and administration of pension benefits,” says Robin Diamonte, United Technologies’ Chief Investment Officer.
Second, United Technologies has also implemented a program offering certain former U.S. employees or beneficiaries with a vested pension benefit an option to take a one-time, lump sum distribution rather than future monthly pension payments. Upon completion of this program, United Technologies expects approximately 10,000 participants to take the lump-sum offer. Payments will be paid from the retirement plans during late 2016. This action is expected to reduce United Technologies’ pension benefit obligations by approximately $995 million by year-end 2016.
Together, these related actions are part of United Technologies’ overall plan to de-risk its pension plans and are expected to reduce the overall size of the company’s pension plans by approximately $1.77 billion. The transactions will not diminish the plans’ funded status and are not expected to materially impact future pension expense or to require additional contributions to the plans.
Because these actions accelerate the satisfaction of future pension obligations, United Technologies expects to recognize a one-time pre-tax pension settlement charge in the range of $400 million to $530 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Willis Towers Watson served as the strategic adviser to United Technologies in these transactions.
The Standard hires VP for retirement business; PSCA's executive director stepping down; USI Consulting Group Hires assistant vice president for Retirement Services; and more.
Bank of America Announces New Head of Merrill Lynch
Wealth Management
Andy Sieg, current head of the Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions (GWRS)
division at Merrill Lynch, will take over as the company’s head of Wealth Management, effective January 1, 2017, Bank of
America announced.
He will be
succeeding John Thiel, who will take
on the role of vice chairman of Global
Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) on the same date.
For the past five
years, Sieg has led the firm’s retirement investment unit, which is comprised of the GWIM
division’s product organization and retirement business. During that time, he
worked with Thiel in the implementation of goals-based wealth management. Sieg
was also instrumental in the firm’s development of a unified investment
platform. He also currently manages the GWIM Chief Investment Office team
together with Keith Banks, president of U.S. Trust.
“Andy Sieg has
more than 20 years of experience at Merrill Lynch and has proven to be both a
dynamic leader and accomplished at strategy execution,” says Bank of America Vice Chairman Terry
Laughlin. “Under Andy’s leadership, we’ll continue to implement our
goals-based advice model. He is ideally suited to lead Merrill Lynch on the
next phase of its journey.”
As vice chairman
of GWIM, Thiel will advise Laughlin, as well as the GWIM and Bank of America
leadership teams on business integration, goals-based wealth management, and
regulatory matters.
Thiel took on the
role in 2011 when he was named as Lyle LaMothe’s replacement.
“Since 2011,
under John Thiel’s leadership, Merrill Lynch has made tremendous progress by
developing and beginning to implement goals-based wealth management,” said
Laughlin.
He added,
“Recognizing that our strategy has been proven and is now being implemented,
John came to me and indicated he was thinking about his future and his desire
to connect to the other passions in his life, particularly his commitment to
working with organizations that help people who are less fortunate. As he
considers how he can make his next important contribution, I’m very happy that
he’ll be an important adviser to me, the Bank of America and GWIM management
teams, and our advisers.”
Sieg first joined
Merrill Lynch as an analyst in the Global Wealth Management business. He served
in senior strategy and field leadership roles during the next 13 years,
including as a market executive in San Diego and New York City. Sieg also led
the Emerging Affluent Client Segment within Citigroup Global Wealth Management
from 2005 to 2009.
NEXT: The Standard Hires VP for
Retirement Business
The Standard Hires VP for
Retirement Business
Standard Insurance Company has hired Todd Statczar as its new vice
president of Retirement Plans Actuarial and Finance.
In his
new role, Statczar will lead the Retirement Plans actuarial, finance and
defined benefit (DB) teams. He’ll also be responsible for product development,
planning, and risk management across the Retirement Plans business line.
Statczar comes to the firm from Nationwide, where he spent the last 25 years assuming
numerous leadership positions in the retirement plans business.
“The
addition of Todd to our Retirement Plans leadership team is a reflection of the
growth of the Retirement Plans business line at The Standard,” says Scott Hibbs, vice president and CIO at
Standard Insurance Company. “His considerable experience working in a
variety of actuarial leadership roles for more than two decades makes him very
well suited to help us continue growing our business and providing the exceptional
products and services we’re known for.”
Statczar
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Miami University. He is
a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of
Actuaries.
Standard
Insurance Company is a provider of various financial products and services
including group and individual disability insurance, retirement plan products,
and individual annuities.
NEXT: PSCA’s
Executive Director Stepping Down
PSCA’s Executive Director
Stepping Down
The Plan Sponsor Council of
America (PSCA) has announced that Executive Director
Tony Verheyen will be stepping down from his role in the coming months and
return to the private sector. A committee comprising PSCA board members has
been established to recruit a new, full-time executive director. Verheyen will
remain with the organization during the transition.
“We are
grateful for Tony’s leadership and passion,” says Stephen McCaffrey, board chairman of the PSCA. “Tony accepted the
position of executive director in December, 2014, expecting it to be a two-year
commitment. His dedication to PSCA has helped our organization make significant
strides, and we look forward to identifying a leader who can continue to expand
our efforts with plan sponsors and policy makers.”
Verheyen
joined the PSCA as a board member before climbing to the role of executive
director. He led efforts to reorganize the PSCA, expand its outreach, and focus
the organization’s mission on better serving the plan sponsor
community, the
firm said.
“I am
proud of the work we’ve done as the leading voice representing America’s plan
sponsors,” says Verheyen. “Our staff and board have made terrific progress over
the last two years, and it is now time for me to return to my career in the
private sector. I will remain on the staff to ensure an orderly transition and
expect to be involved in the organization on an ongoing basis.”
NEXT:
USI Consulting Group Hires Assistant VPfor Retirement Services
USI Consulting Group Hires Assistant VP for Retirement Services
Ryan Savage has joined USI Consulting Group as the firm’s new assistant vice president for Retirement Services. Savage brings
with him 15 years of experience in the industry working with employer sponsored
retirement plans in the private and public sectors. His specialties include
consulting on fiduciary coverage, vendor selection, plan design,
investments and employee education. Recently, he spent eight years with Voya
Financial.
Savage
is also a representative with registered broker-dealer USI Securities and a
member of FINRA/SIPC.
USI
Consulting Group is a provider of defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit
(DB) plan consulting and administration services, as well as health and welfare
administration. It is the parent company of both USI Securities and USI
Advisors, a federally-registered investment adviser.
NEXT: IFM Investors Appoints Executive Director
IFM Investors Appoints
Executive Director
Matthew Wade has joined IFM Investors as the firm’s new executive director of Debt Investments
for North America. He will be tasked with growing debt
origination capabilities from the firm’s New York office.
“Our long and successful
track record in infrastructure debt for our institutional investors gives us a
strong foundation to attract high caliber specialists, such as Matthew Wade,
who will continue to build the business and focus on attractive opportunities
in North America,” says Rich Randall,
global head of Debt Investments. “Matthew will further enhance our ability
to serve our existing investment partners and attract new similarly aligned
investors in the region.”
Earlier this year, IFM
announced the appointment of Randall to global head of Debt Investments and Joseph Braun to associate director of Debt Investments in North America.
Wade brings more than 15
years of experience to the firm. His most recent position was director of
project finance at the Royal Bank of Canada in New York. This role saw him structure
and execute finance and advisery solutions in the energy and infrastructure
sectors. Previously, he held positions with Royal Bank of Scotland in both New
York and London, where he worked in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
IFM Investors is a global
fund manager with $52 billion under management. It was established more than 20
years ago and is owned by 29 Australian non-profit pension funds. Its investors
include three of the six largest U.S. public-sector pension funds.
NEXT: DiMeo Schneider
Expands to Austin
DiMeo Schneider Expands
to Austin
DiMeo Schneider & Associates, a nationwide investment-consulting
firm, announced it will be opening a new office in Austin, Texas.
Scheduled to open in December 2016, the new office will be the firm’s second
branch in the United States.
Headquartered in Chicago, DiMeo Schneider advises
hundreds of retirement plans, financial institutions, private clients, and
non-profit organizations in more than 35 states.
“We’ve been thoughtful and deliberate about our growth since
our founding more than twenty years ago,” says the firm’s Managing Director Bob
DiMeo. “Establishing this new office in Austin will enable us to better serve
and add clients in Texas and throughout the region, and allows us the
opportunity to expand our team of professionals while continuing our current
growth trajectory into the near future.”
DiMeo Schneider advises on more than $60 billion in assets
as of June 30, 2016.