Retirement Industry People Moves

Mercer Promotes Ben Kibbe to U.S. West Zone Leader 

Ben Kibbe

Mercer, a business of Marsh McLennan, has promoted Ben Kibbe to be U.S. West Zone leader, based in San Francisco while maintaining a role as Mercer’s Northern California market leader.

Kibbe will report to Mercer’s U.S. and Canada Region President Susan Potter and will oversee commercial business in the region, including offices in the Pacific Northwest, Southern California and the mountain states.

“Ben joined Mercer nearly a decade ago and since then has done a terrific job working with clients in Northern California,” said Potter in a statement. “His experience at Mercer, pedigree in HR consulting and deep industry expertise in high tech, as well as healthcare, retail and insurance, make him the ideal leader for this region.” 

Kibbe joined Mercer in 2015. Before that, he worked in client engagement for the Western U.S. at Willis Towers Watson.

The Standard Hires Daniel Kretz as Regional Retirement Plan VP

Daniel Kretz

The Standard has hired Daniel Kretz as a regional vice president in retirement plans to collaborate with advisers, plan sponsors and third-party administrators in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Kretz brings 21 years of experience in the retirement plan and financial services industry, most recently with Voya Financial as a regional sales vice president; he has held previous roles in sales and business development as a senior benefit plan consultant, director and regional vice president.

“Dan is a proven sales leader with deep relationships in his territory,” said Derek Fuller, divisional vice president of retirement plan sales at The Standard, in a statement.

World Investment Advisors Names Kevin Ryan CFO

Ryan Kelly

World Investment Advisors, a division of World Insurance Associates LLC formerly known as Pensionmark, named Kevin Ryan as chief financial officer.

Ryan will oversee financial management and partner with its businesses to manage capital allocation, support growth initiatives and manage and mitigate risk. He will report to World Investment CEO Troy Hammond and be a member of the firm’s executive team. He is replacing Diana Pereira, who had been in the role for more than two years.

He becomes CFO of a firm supporting more than $55 billion in assets across institutional and wealth management segments. In the last two years, the wealth management division has grown from $1 billion in assets under management to $11.5 billion.

Ryan joins from Xactus, a verification firm for the mortgage industry. He has 24 years of experience in financial management, including a background in mergers and acquisitions, and will help “support World Investment Advisors’ aggressive organic and acquisition growth goals.”

Vontobel Hires Johnson to Lead RIA Sales

Elizabeth Johnson

Investment manager Vontobel has named Elizabeth Johnson as executive director of national RIA sales to work with the firm’s direct distribution to registered investment advisers.

Johnson has been working with investment advisers and managers for more than 25 years in the Western region of the United States, including most recently with Hartford Funds and, before that, with Morgan Stanley and Eaton Vance.

Johnson will “focus on building and strengthening relationships with clients and advancing Vontobel’s distribution of various investment offerings, including mutual funds and SMAs, to the RIA market,” according to the announcement.