TIAA Hires Tara Latini to New Role as Wealth Distribution Head

TIAA has hired Tara Latini for the new position of executive vice president and head of wealth distribution, with a mandate to expand the TIAA client-facing wealth management team.

Latini, who arrives at TIAA from her role as head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC, will begin the newly created role in late April, a TIAA spokesperson confirms via email.

TIAA created the role and hired Latini because the company wants to grow market share in wealth management services outside of retirement, according to the spokesperson.

“Wealth Management is something that complements our retirement services, where we’re the No. 1 provider in the not-for-profit sector,” the TIAA spokesperson says. “We’ll be working with clients who have additional wealth management needs, helping them with a wide range of financial planning, from buying a home to sending your kids to college to saving for retirement and to leaving a legacy.”

Latini will report to David Nason, TIAA’s chief operating officer and president of wealth management.

DCIIA Confirms 2023 Executive Committee Members

The Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association’s board has voted to confirm the 2023 DCIIA Executive Committee, with Chris Lyon of Goldman Sachs Asset Management serving as chair and Mike Raso of PineBridge Investments as vice chair.

DCIIA’s executive committee is made up of volunteers from member organizations and is the governing board and primary advisory body for the organization. It provides strategic direction, input on initiatives and leadership of DCIIA’s standing committees.

Members serving in 2023 include industry participants such as:

• Megan Yost of Segal Benz as communications committee chair;
• Michael Andeberhan of State Street Global Advisors as diversity, equity and inclusion committee chair;
• Beth Pattillo of Leidos as plan sponsor institute chair;
• Vidya Rajappa of American Century as retirement income committee chair; and
• Kevin Morris of Principal Financial Group as an at-large member.

The full list of DCIIA committee members is available at this link.

Pentegra Names Vice Presidents of Trust, IT

Retirement plan and fiduciary outsourcing firm Pentegra has added two new vice presidents: Paula C. Edmonds, vice president of trust services and Jeremy Lawson, vice president of head of infrastructure.

Edmonds will oversee two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Pentegra and a group trust for which Pentegra provides administrative and investment services. She will report to Eric Wietsma, Pentegra’s incoming president and CEO.

Edmonds most recently served as vice president and head of operations at Empower Retirement, where she oversaw and managed the sponsor services and operations department. Prior to that, she spent several years at MassMutual Financial Group.

Lawson will oversee Pentegra’s information technology infrastructure. He will report to Pentegra senior vice president of information technology and chief technology officer, Peter Sprague. Lawson previously served as director of global IT infrastructure and security at Crane Worldwide Logistics, where he directed the management of IT teams supporting more than 130 sites worldwide.

Aon Consulting Adds Personnel to PEP Sales

Chris Han recently started at Aon Consulting Inc. as director of pooled employer plan 401(k) sales, a company spokesperson confirmed.

Han will be responsible for Aon’s PEP go-to-market strategy, coordinating and directly participating in sales efforts for the Aon PEP, and will report to Rick Jones, a partner in Aon Wealth Solutions.

Prior to Han’s current role, he was a regional sales director at Empower, according to LinkedIn.

Vontobel Appoints Fixed Income Head for Americas

Vontobel Asset Management SA has promoted Sergey Goncharov to head of its fixed income division of the Americas, a new role to serve investors in the region.

Goncharov has spent seven years as a portfolio manager for Zürich, Switzerland-based Vontobel.

Goncharov enters the role with experience in emerging markets and sustainable fixed income investing, according to the firm. The move comes after Vontobel recently launched three emerging markets fixed-income strategies for U.S. and Canadian investors.

“I am excited to be here in the United States and to further engage with North American investors to help them achieve their long-term investment goals,” Goncharov said. “I look forward to continuing to work with our international team to build and manage solutions that provide yield and diversification and that address the unique needs of investors in this region.”

Northwestern Mutual Names David Gordon as CTO

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has named David Gordon to the role of chief technology officer.

Gordon will oversee all software development for the company’s customer experience, digitally enabled products and corporate solutions. He will also be responsible for software engineering for Northwestern Mutual’s business performance and customer satisfaction.

Gordon will serve on the company’s enterprise leadership team and report to Christian Mitchell, executive vice president and chief customer officer.

Gordon most recently served as chief technology and data officer with USAA Federal Savings Bank, a fully digital bank.