Retirement Industry People Moves

Wagner Law Group Appoints ERISA Attorney to ‘of Counsel’

The Wagner Law Group has announced that attorney Jordan D. Mamorsky has been elevated to of Counsel. 

Since joining The Wagner Law Group in March 2019, Mamorsky has participated in the litigation of a wide array of complex Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) issues and employee benefit issues. He regularly represents plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, financial advisers, plan participants, company executives, third-party administrators (TPAs), employers and others in a broad range of ERISA disputes, including breach of fiduciary duty, denial of benefits, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and deferred compensation matters.  

He also works closely with the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring group on employee benefit issues arising in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) counseling, disputes and litigation.

Mamorsky received his Juris Doctor from New York Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in corporate governance and business ethics at Yale University.  

Financial Fitness Promotes Former Executive VP

Financial Fitness for Life has promoted Christian Mango to president of its national retirement plan solutions business. He formerly held the title of executive vice president.

Mango has 21 years of investment industry experience. He was previously a defined contribution (DC) consultant at BlackRock, and he has held senior sales roles at Pioneer Investments, Touchstone Investments, Natixis Global Associates and Citigroup Global Asset Management. 

“Christian’s promotion demonstrates our confidence in his ability to lead this business moving forward,” says Glenn Spencer, CEO of Financial Fitness for Life’s parent company, Prime Capital Investment Advisors. “We are very optimistic about Financial Fitness for Life’s opportunities under Christian’s leadership.”

ProManage Adds Senior VP and Consultant

Dan Cassidy has joined the leadership team at ProManage in the newly created role of senior vice president and senior consultant, based in Boston.

Cassidy has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He founded and helmed the investment and actuarial consulting firm Cassidy Retirement Group, eventually merging the business with P-Solve (now River and Mercantile Solutions) in 2012. He remained with River and Mercantile Solutions as managing director, guiding multinational pension and 401(k) plans, corporate 401(k) plans and U.S.-focused 403(b) plans. 

“Dan has shown himself to be the right fit for our people-driven culture and I’m confident that his leadership and rich experience in the retirement industry will play a vital role as we continue to expand our offerings,” says Tony Sabos, CEO of ProManage.

Club Vita Appoints Team Leaders to Top Roles

Jennifer Haid has joined Club Vita’s international team as chief executive officer. 

Haid will oversee all facets of Club Vita’s international business, including supporting the U.S., Canada and UK teams, working from New York City. Club Vita has also named Dan Ryan and Brian Okupski to its board. Ryan and Okupski will provide strategic direction and guidance to Club Vita’s executive leadership team. 

Previously, Haid was vice president of Strategic Marketing and Product Development at American International Group (AIG) in New York City, where she established a new international pension reinsurance capability. Prior to AIG, she worked for EY in New York consulting to the insurance community, and in Toronto at Willis Towers Watson. Haid serves on the Society of Actuaries’ Board of Directors, was a founding member of its Longevity Advisory Group and acts as a leader and advocate for diversity and inclusion (D&I).  

Nationwide Enters PRT Market, Selecting Industry Veteran to Lead Team

Nationwide announced it has recently entered the pension risk transfer (PRT) market.

“Plan sponsors that keep those defined benefit [DB] plans ‘on the books’ face increasing administrative costs and earnings impacts associated with those plans,” says  Joe Sprague, president of the Nationwide Corporate Solutions team. “Combine those aspects with interest rate and equity market risks, and it’s not surprising that plan sponsors are looking to ‘de-risk’ within the next five years.”

Sprague also announced that Paula Cole has joined Nationwide to lead the Pension Transfer Risk team. Cole joins Nationwide from Legal & General Retirement America, a United Kingdom-based market leader in pensions de-risking, where she supported the entrance, scaling and transformation of the U.S. pension risk transfer business. Her experience in pension risk transfer and defined benefit administration spans more than 18 years. 

“Paula’s extensive experience in the pension transfer and defined benefits plan space will be key in supporting our entrance and longevity in the PRT market,” Sprague says.  

Cole earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and business administration from North Central College and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in operational excellence from the Ohio State University.

OneAmerica Announces New Relationship Management Team Members 

OneAmerica has added new team members to its relationship management team.

Manny Villagomez was previously with Precept Advisory Group and has close to 14 years of experience. Based in Sherman Oaks, California, he will work as a relationship manager with territory is Southern California and Los Angeles.

Tim Weishaar came to OneAmerica from Empower and, before that, OppenheimerFunds, working with retirement plan advisers and plan sponsors for 14 years on their retirement plans. He is serving the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions as a relationship manager and is based in Denver.

Chris Whittaker had previously worked for Empower Retirement as a retirement education counselor, and now serves the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Utah as a relationship manager. He is also based in Denver.