Retirement Industry People Moves

Morgan Stanley at Work to Acquire American Financial Systems

Morgan Stanley at Work has announced the acquisition of American Financial Systems, a provider of nonqualified executive benefit plan solutions and services to employers of all sizes. 

The business’s full-service deferred compensation plan offerings include plan design consulting; plan implementation and online enrollment; funding analysis and optimization; and client management and plan recordkeeping.

Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in autumn, were not disclosed.

The Standard Hires Stable Value Sales Director

The Standard has announced the hiring of Mike Shamon as stable value sales director. He is responsible for growth through new investment-only stable value sales in the eastern region and is based in the greater Boston area.

Shamon has almost 30 years of experience in the retirement plans and benefits industry. He previously held roles as relationship manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and national 401(k) sales desk manager at Putnam Investments and Empower Retirement.

Shamon holds a master’s degree in business administration and management from Nichols College. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Shamon holds FINRA Series 6, 7 and 63 licenses.

Lincoln Financial Group Unites Investments, Risk and Sustainability Teams

Lincoln Financial Group has announced it has appointed Amber Williams, senior vice president and head of client investment strategies, to lead corporate sustainability as the firm’s chief sustainability officer.

Williams’ elevated responsibilities come as the investments and risk organization welcomes sustainability within its purview—a move that aligns Lincoln’s structure with its long-term strategic business plan being driven by newly appointed CEO Ellen Cooper.

Since joining Lincoln in 2019, Williams has grown the client investment strategies team, expanding its reach across Lincoln’s distribution channels and among client-facing professionals in support of Lincoln’s business lines. She and her team are responsible for establishing a differentiated thought leadership program that maximizes the value of Lincoln’s multi-manager platform.

Prior to Lincoln, Williams spent much of her career at Nationwide Investment Management Group in a variety of investment product management and investment consulting roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, she served as head of product management, where she was responsible for building and leading a team dedicated to strengthening the quality of investment support to internal partners and financial advisers across Nationwide’s investment products.

Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Phoenix and is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia. She holds Series 6, 7 and 24 securities licenses.

PGIM Fixed Income Hires Former Deputy National Security Adviser as Chief Global Economist

PGIM Fixed Income has named Daleep Singh as chief global economist and head of global macroeconomic research, effective June 21.

Singh joins PGIM Fixed Income from the White House, where he was U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. In this capacity, he served as President Joe Biden’s top international economics adviser, driving policy formulation at the intersection of economics and national security. His work has included the development of fiscal and tax policy; shaping the U.S. economic strategy with China; leading efforts to promote supply chain resilience; promoting the development of a digital asset strategy; and building an economic governance toolkit that includes tariffs, sanctions, export controls, energy security, debt relief, bilateral assistance and infrastructure finance.

Singh also served as the U.S. representative to the G7, G20 and APEC. Prior to joining the Biden administration, Singh was executive vice president and head of the markets group at the New York Federal Reserve, where he led a team of nearly 600 employees overseeing the group’s full portfolio during the most intense phase of the pandemic.

From 2011 to 2017, Singh worked at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as acting assistant secretary for financial markets and deputy assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasia. Preceding his tenure at the Treasury Department, Singh worked for Goldman Sachs, with a focus on U.S. interest rates and currency markets.

Singh will report to Gregory Peters, co-CIO for PGIM Fixed Income, and will be responsible for oversight of PGIM Fixed Income’s global macroeconomic research team, which includes senior economists with extensive experience in the public and private sectors.