Deals and People March 1, 2024

Retirement Industry People Moves

Hub makes Scott head of employee benefits for national market; Hatchett-Bodle joins Hall Benefits Law; The Standard Names Maixner national accounts sales director for retirement plans; and more.

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Hub International Appoints Scott as Employee Benefits National Major Market Practice Leader

Anthony Scott

Hub International Ltd. has appointed Anthony Scott as employee benefits national major market practice leader, according to an announcement.

Scott will drive growth in the practice and its overall strategy, focused on major market clients implementing solutions that address employee reward needs.

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Scott previously led Hub’s employee benefits major market segment focusing on large, complex organizations and was responsible for identifying, developing and implementing innovative and sustainable strategies with an emphasis on change management. He joined Hub in 2021 after previously working at privately held brokerage Lockton as the director of strategic consulting.

He also brings experience from other industries, with a strong focus in health care, private equity, technology, manufacturing and higher education.

Hatchett-Bodle Joins Hall Benefits Law

Bonita Hatchett-Bodle

Bonita Hatchett-Bodle has joined the ERISA and executive compensation law firm Hall Benefits Law as a partner, according to a company newsletter.

Hatchett-Bodle has served as outside ERISA and benefits counsel to national corporations, public sector entities, growth and middle-market companies, jointly trusteed funds, as well as entrepreneurs. She served as the qualified plans vice chair of the American Bar Association’s section of real property, trust and estate law and is licensed in Texas and Illinois.

She serves HBL clients from her office in Sealy, Texas.

The Standard Names Maixner National Accounts Sales Director for Retirement Plans

Albert Maixner

The Standard has hired Albert Maixner as national accounts sales director for retirement plans, the company announced.

Maixner’s role was created to “enhance The Standard’s delivery of strategies and tools for advisory firms,” including in areas such as pooled employer plans and managed accounts.

He joins with more than 15 years of experience in the retirement plan and financial services industry; prior to The Standard, he worked in retirement plan sales roles at Principal Financial Group and Prime Pensions.

SageView Brings on Cowell as Director of Participant Education and Engagement

Erin Cowell

SageView Advisory Group has hired Erin Cowell as director of participant education and engagement, a spokesperson confirmed.

Cowell will report to Kerry Tapia, who last year was named vice president of participant education and engagement, overseeing SageView’s PersonalSAGE financial wellness program.

Cowell will support SageView’s PersonalSAGE participant education and engagement solution program; assist with owning and developing SageView’s participant engagement initiative; and contribute to the ongoing success of client relationships, according to the spokesperson.

She joins the advisory from Principal Financial Group, where she was a senior education strategist for retirement and income solutions.

Voya Promotes Pander to Senior VP

Elizabeth Pander

Voya Financial Inc. has promoted Elizabeth Pander to vice president, emerging market sales to lead the Central Southeast region, a spokesperson confirmed. In the role, she will manage 18 sales directors in the emerging markets division and report to Bill Elmslie, senior vice president, emerging market sales.

Before joining the firm, Pander was with ADP Inc. as a retirement services sales district manager.

Administration March 1, 2024

Kodak Outsources Management of Overfunded US Pension Plan

NEPC will manage the outsourced assets, as Kodak considers how to 'maximize the value of the over-funding.'

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Plan sponsor Eastman Kodak Co. has closed its defined benefit pension investment office and shifted the management of its assets to investment consultant NEPC LLC, the company confirmed in a press release Friday morning.

“The Kodak Retirement Income Plan Committee (KRIPCO) has engaged NEPC, LLC, one of the country’s largest independent, investment research-driven consulting firms with approximately $1.6 trillion of assets under advisement, to perform the Outsourced Chief Investment Officer and investment fiduciary functions with respect to Kodak’s U.S. pension plan,” the company stated in the release. NEPC, has acted as an outside financial adviser to the plan since 2004.

Kodak, also in the Friday statement, wrote that the company, in conjunction with KRIPCO, “has been exploring how it can best preserve and maximize the value of the pension over-funding” to benefit key stakeholders including current and former Kodak employees and Kodak shareholders.

Shares of Eastman Kodak surged 50% on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that NEPC would take over the Kodak Retirement Income Plan Committee. 

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Kodak’s had $6.5 billion of global retirement assets, as of June 30, 2023, and had a funded status that stood at 145%, according to information provided to PLANSPONSOR sister publication, Chief Investment Officer last year. This overfunded status was the reason for the closure of the investment office, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The investment office at Kodak has been led since 2013 by Chief Investment Officer Thomas Mucha, who won the 2023 Industry Innovation Award for corporate DB plans with less than $20 billion in assets from  CIO. When Mucha first joined the firm, the plan had a funded status of 91%. PLANSPONSOR, like CIO, is owned by is owned by ISS STOXX.

In general, excess pension assets returned to the employer would be subject to the 50% excise tax, in addition to applicable federal and state income taxes, according to information from Milliman.

The plan returned an annualized 3.0%, 9.0% and 9.2% for the past one, five and 10 years, respectively, as of June 30, 2023.

The 95-year-old plan was overfunded by $1.2 billion as of December 31, 2022, according to the release. This figure is roughly three times Kodak’s current market cap. As of December 31, 2022, plan assets were valued at $3.7 billion, while benefit obligations were $2.5 billion. 

Kodak did not respond to requests for additional comment.

A spokesperson for NEPC told CIO: the “Kodak Retirement Income Plan is a longstanding client of NEPC. NEPC will continue to support them per our fiduciary responsibility to the plan sponsor.”

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