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Kivett Appointed 1st Head of Defined Contribution at KKR
The veteran of TIAA and Prudential started in the new role in December.
Alternative investment manager KKR & Co. has appointed Melissa Kivett as the firm’s first head of defined contribution, a spokesperson for KKR said.
“We are thrilled to welcome Melissa to the firm. Across KKR we have nearly 50 years of private markets investing expertise and tremendous experience in annuities within Global Atlantic,” said Daniel Celeghin, KKR’s chief operating officer for global client solutions, in a statement. “Melissa brings deep knowledge and experience building partnerships with stakeholders across the DC ecosystem. She will help us to bring all the pieces together and lead our long-term focus on serving this segment of the market.”
Kivett joined the firm last December from TIAA, where she oversaw corporate retirement solutions and business development. Her appointment comes at a time when many large alternative investment managers are seeking to enter the defined contribution market. While private equity has long been a piece of the portfolios of traditional defined benefit pension funds, these assets are relatively uncommon in DC plans.
At his firm’s investor day in October 2024, Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan said there were opportunities for the firm in the $45 trillion retirement industry, especially in the defined contribution market. The firm is a large provider of annuities through its Athene subsidiary.
“Whether it is stable value, tax-advantaged products, going after 401(k) or guaranteed lifetime income, there is no shortage of opportunities in retirement, and we truly have not even gotten started. We need to imagine this business not as an annuity business, not as a pension buyout business, but as a retirement solutions business,” Rowan said.
In January 2024, KKR completed its acquisition of the remaining 37% stake in insurer Global Atlantic Financial Group, of which KKR already owned the majority, as a push into the retirement market. Global Atlantic had $management as of the end of 2023.
“The population of folks [age] 65 and older continues to grow meaningfully, and in the next five years, the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation will retire,” said Allan Levine, Global Atlantic’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, at KKR’s investor day in April 2024. “Here’s what we know about that cohort: No. 1, they are not prepared for retirement. No. 2, they can rely less and less on defined benefit plans. Our industry is uniquely positioned to be able to provide the products that this demographic needs.”
In KKR’s Q3 2024 earnings call, the firm’s head of investor relations, Craig Larson, noted that KKR would likely deploy its first alternative investment strategies in target-date funds as its first entry in the DC space.
“At the same time, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that we think there’s a lot of industrial logic to introducing alternative strategies into target-date strategies, as individuals invest behind their continued retirement,” Larson said. “We expect that’s where you’ll see alternative strategies first introduced. It’s a massive market. It’s one that we do view as being a really interesting long-term opportunity for KKR in the industry.”
Kivett was previously executive vice president of corporate retirement solutions and business development at TIAA, where she was responsible for identifying, managing and growing the firm’s distribution channels and sales pipelines in the 401(k) market. She had previous roles at Prudential and Assurant.
Kivett earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from Columbia Business School.