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Deals and People May 26, 2017
Retirement Industry People Moves
Guardian Financial Partners opens in Orange
County; Transamerica names regional vice president for Retirement Plans; Josh Cohen will
join PGIM as head of Institutional Defined Contribution; and more.
Reported by Javier Simon
Cafaro Greenleaf Expands Consultant Team
Cafaro Greenleaf, a national advisory firm serving corporate and public retirement plans, welcomes two new consultants. Kevin Mundy, will serve as education coordinator and consultant. In addition, Amy Kinsman, will join the firm as relationship manager and consultant.
Mundy is an Accredited Retirement Plan Counselor (ARPC) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) with more than 10 years of experience in the investment advisory and financial services industry. He specializes in 401(k) plans, profit sharing, defined benefit, DC/DB combination plans and cash balance retirement plan design for employers. He has lead and conducted campaigns for direct sales of qualified plan products and services. Previously, Kevin worked at Merrill Lynch, Ascensus, and UBS, where he served as senior associate.
Kinsman brings more than five years of experience in the retirement and financial services industry. She is a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA), who has previously worked with Vanguard and Empower Retirement. There, she gained experience in plan administration, plan design, investments, and participant education among other topics critical to the management of defined contribution (DC) plans.
“I’m thrilled to have Amy and Kevin join the team,” says CG Managing Principal Wayne Greenleaf. “Their passion for helping people prepare for retirement for retirement will be a great asset to Cafaro Greenleaf and all of our clients.”
NEXT: Beltz Ianni & Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser
Beltz Ianni & Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser
Beltz Ianni & Associates announced that long-time financial adviser David G. Benedict has joined the firm’s Retirement Plan Consulting group. He brings more than 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, providing guidance to both individual and corporate clients.
He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and holds a number of designations from The American College of Financial Services including Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter, and Certified Family Business Specialist, as well as the Accredited Investment Fiduciary from Fi360.
Bob Judd, Beltz Ianni's managing partner, says "David loves what he does. With Beltz Ianni, he has the freedom to operate for the exclusive interest of his clients. We're happy to have David with us as an invaluable member of the team. We continue to look for other advisers who want to expand their reach in the retirement plan space. As fiduciary consultants, we assist employers in complying with ERISA and Department of Labor regulations, paying only fair market fees and commissions, and providing education and one-on-one guidance to employees."
NEXT: Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange County
Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange County
The fee-only registered investment advisory firm Guardian Financial Partners has opened in Orange County, California. It will be led by founders Patrick C. Guinet; Hung Nguyen, and Casey Bartels. They previously practiced as Guinet & Nguyen Wealth Advisory Group, as part of Wells Fargo Advisors.
“We did not come to this decision lightly or without extensive research,” says Guinet. “The wealth management industry has changed immensely over the years and it was becoming ever more difficult for us to serve our clients as true fiduciaries under a broker/dealer model. We realized that the best way forward was to become an independent wealth management firm. As Guardian Financial Partners, we are now able to conduct business in a way that is more authentic and true to our core values.”
Guinet and Nguyen began working together in 1999, and were joined by Bartels in 2008. They provide wealth management services to individuals and families, as well as investment consulting. In addition, they offer advisory services to institutions, non-profits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans.
NEXT: Transamerica Names Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans
Transamerica Names Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans
Transamerica has appointed Tom Geraghty as regional vice president for retirement plan sales responsible for the institutional market. Geraghty brings more than 25 years of retirement industry experience which has seen him cover corporate, not-for-profit, and nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) retirement plans. He will offer support to advisers, consultants and their retirement plan clients in the regions of Virginia, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina.
“We’re honored to add this industry-leading sales professional to the Transamerica retirement team,” says Michael Wannell, Transamerica divisional vice president for retirement. We selected Tom because of his breadth of expertise in both defined contribution and defined benefit plans. He is highly focused on the goal of helping plans provide more retirement security to employees.”
NEXT: Wilshire Hires VP of Responsible Investing
Wilshire Hires VP of Responsible Investing
Wilshire Consulting, the institutional investment advisory and outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) business unit of Wilshire Associates, has hired Daniel Ingram as its vice president of Responsible Investment Research & Consulting.
He will assist in expanding Wilshire Consulting’s ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and SRI (socially responsible investing) capabilities. He will also be responsible for supporting Wilshire Consulting’s traditional advisory clients in addition to its clients in the Wilshire OCIO Solutions practice.
Ingram brings to Wilshire more than a decade of global ESG experience. He previously served as head of Responsible Investment for the UK’s largest corporate retirement plan, BT Pension Scheme (BTPS). In this role, Ingram advised BTPS’ Trustee Board on its responsible investment strategy, as well as integrating ESG factors into manager selection and monitoring.
Prior to BTPS, Ingram worked at Hermes Investment Management as a senior corporate governance analyst. He also served as a policy analyst to Her Majesty’s Treasury, working on several reports including the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change as Lord Stern’s Chief of Staff.
“Daniel’s deep understanding of responsible investment best practices, particularly in Europe, will help our clients navigate this exciting and often challenging space,” said Andrew Junkin, president of Wilshire Consulting. “We are extremely fortunate to expand the team with someone who has such an excellent track record of designing and implementing creative investment-led solutions to managing ESG risks and opportunities. I look forward to working closely with Daniel in providing high quality responsible investment research and advice to our clients.”
Ingram holds a post-graduate certificate in sustainable leadership from the University of Cambridge, the UK CFA Institute’s Investment Management Certificate and a master’s degree with honors from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
NEXT: PGIM Hires Head of Institutional Defined Contribution Practice
PGIM Hires Head of Institutional Defined Contribution Practice
Josh Cohen will join PGIM as head of Institutional Defined Contribution for its Institutional Relationship Group. He will serve as an adviser to PGIM’s large defined contribution (DC) clients providing counsel and thought leadership on investment issues ranging from plan design and qualified default investment alternatives (QDIA) to implications of regulatory change and implementation. He will work closely with investment professionals in PGIM Fixed Income, Jennison Associates, QMA and PGIM Real Estate to tailor investment solutions that meet the needs of plan participants.
Cohen was most recently the head of Defined Contribution for Russell Investments. Previously, he led the DC investment consulting practice team at Hewitt Associates. He also has served a three-year term as a member of the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, and is actively involved with the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Furthermore, he is a member of the CFA Institute and the Investment Analyst Society of Chicago. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago.
“As an established counselor and expert in the field, Josh will partner with large plan sponsors and institutional consultants on how to evolve and enhance their DC programs to continue to meet their participants’ needs,” says Bas NieuweWeme, global head of PGIM’s Institutional Relationship Group. “We are committed to serving DC plan sponsors through the strength of our managers’ investment capabilities and the depth of our insights about the industry.”
PGIM is the global investment management businesses of Prudential Financial.
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