Retirement Industry People Moves

Mannino, McEleney join The Standard as National Sales Directors

Sarah McEleney

Kevin Mannino

The Standard announced that Kevin Mannino and Sarah McEleney are joining its retirement plan sales division, each in a new role as national sales director. The emergence of the new roles comes about as the firm has seen increased demand for services in the $25 million-and-above asset market segment.

Mannino joins The Standard with 12 years of experience in the retirement industry. He spent most of his career generating new business for mid- to large-sized retirement plans at Prudential Retirement. Prior to joining The Standard, Mannino served as senior director of distribution at Principal Financial Group.

McEleney has more than 20 years of experience in the retirement industry, mostly with mid- and large-sized retirement plans. She has worked as a retirement plan adviser and in a variety of recordkeeping roles, including product development, sales and relationship management. Prior to joining The Standard, McEleney served as director of sales strategy at Transamerica.

“Our services are in record-high demand, so it’s an exciting time for our team,” Jason Burlie, head of retirement plan sales at The Standard, said in a statement. “The experience and expertise Kevin and Sarah bring to their roles is significant as we continually look for ways to improve how we meet the needs of advisors and clients in this market segment.”

Wescott Joins NFP’s Risk and Insurance Strategy Collective as VP

Amanda Wescott

NFP has appointed Amanda Wescott as vice president and director of U.S. captive management operations of the company’s Risk and Insurance Strategy Collective.

The RISC is a specialty practice providing a range of captive management solutions. Wescott will collaborate with Kara Tencellent and Tracy Stopford, co-leaders of RISC, along with Jonathan McKenzie, head of U.S. captive management operations. Wescott will report to McKenzie.

Wescott will assist with the advancement of risk management solutions while leading a team of insurance professionals. Wescott joins RISC with more than 15 years of captive and risk management experience. She recently served as vice president and senior client team leader at Marsh.

“Adding an industry veteran like Amanda will help us build on our momentum in the alternative risk solutions space,” said Stopford in a statement.

Index Fund Advisors Hires Higgins as SVP, Institutional Adviser

Amanda Wescott

Index Fund Advisors announced that Mark Higgins has joined the firm as a senior vice president and institutional adviser to expand its presence in the institutional market.

Higgins has more than 12 years of experience serving large institutional investors such as endowments, foundations, public pension plans and corporate plans.

A financial historian and author, Higgins’ articles appear regularly in publications such as the Museum of American Finance’s “Financial History” and the CFA Institute’s “Enterprising Investor.” He has also written a soon-to-be-released book, “Investing in U.S. Financial History.”

“I firmly believe that the best strategy for achieving long-term success is to establish a sensible and durable risk-appropriate target allocation, adhere to a disciplined rebalancing strategy, and utilize passively managed index funds,” Higgins said in a statement. “After years of searching, I am both excited and relieved to have found a firm committed to this philosophy.”