NYLM Names President of MainStay Funds

Kirk Lehneis is now president of MainStay Funds, the mutual fund family of New York Life Insurance Company. Lehneis assumes this responsibility in addition to serving as chief operating officer of New York Life Management (NYLM).

“We are delighted that Kirk will be taking on the role of president of the MainStay funds as we continue to strengthen our mutual fund product offering,” says Yie-Hsin Hung, chief executive officer of NYLIM. “Over his career, Kirk has proven to be an able steward for our investing shareholders and has made significant contributions to the company’s success. We look forward to his leadership in developing and expanding MainStay’s lineup of mutual funds.”

Lehneis adds, “It’s a privilege to take on leadership of the MainStay fund family during a time of great change in our industry. Backed by our network of independent asset managers and the financial strength of our mutual insurance company parent, I’m confident in our ability to serve the needs of our distribution partners and investors, and deliver innovative investment solutions that deliver long-term value.”

Bolton Partners Hires Senior Consulting Actuary

Ellen Kleinstuber has joined Bolton Partners as a senior consulting actuary. Kleinstuber brings more than 25 years of experience delivering comprehensive employee benefit plan consulting, actuarial and plan administration services to a wide variety of plan sponsors including publicly traded and privately held companies, multinational corporations, not-for-profit organizations and governmental entities.

She is a nationally recognized expert in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) compliance and actuarial consulting for single-employer plans.

Prior to joining Bolton Partners, Kleinstuber served as senior vice president and director of DB Plan Compliance with CBIZ Savitz and a vice president at Aon Consulting (now AonHewitt). She will work closely with Bolton’s senior leadership, client managers, and business development team to support and expand the firm’s client base, provide technical compliance and consulting support to Bolton client teams, and provide internal training and development opportunities for the firm’s professional staff.

Kleinstuber holds numerous leadership positions throughout the actuarial profession including chairperson of the Pension Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries and vice president of Continuing Education for the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. She was recently appointed to serve on the Board of Actuaries of the Civil Service Retirement System which provides independent advice and recommendations on actuarial matters with respect to the retirement systems covering all U.S. federal employees.

“Ellen brings with her a broad range of actuarial skills learned from her 25 years of consulting experience and leadership positions,” says Tom Lowman, vice president and chief actuary. “Her skills and experience will be valuable to Bolton Partner’s clients and we are thrilled to add her to our team of consulting actuaries.”

Kleinstuber graduated magna cum laude from Elizabethtown College with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.

Mercer Names Principal for Minneapolis Health Business

Global consultant Mercer has appointed Janis Koltun as principal for Mercer’s Health Business in its Minneapolis office. In this role, she will help clients assess their current benefit offerings as well as future strategy and plan design considerations.

Prior to joining Mercer, Koltun was with Aon where she served as an account executive in its Health and Benefits practice. She received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa. In addition, she has served as the former president of the Twin Cities Chapter of The International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS) and is a 2018 nominee for the ISCEBS governing council.

“It’s my pleasure to welcome Janis to Mercer,” says Rey Balcazar, office business leader, Health in the central U.S. “Her experience and strategic insights will help us further strengthen the support we provide for our greater Minneapolis-area clients.”

NEPC Hires Senior Research Consultant

Full-service investment consulting firm NEPC hired Kiersten Christensen as a senior research consultant overseeing equities.

Prior to NEPC, Christensen worked at Eaton Vance Management where her roles included VP, Institutional Portfolio Manager. She focused on U.S. core equity, hedged stock, asset allocation, real estate, health care, and sub-advised China and India products. She also spent several years at Lloyd George Management as a portfolio manager overseeing global emerging markets.

Christensen earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and international business from Georgetown University.