Retirement Industry People Moves

Northwestern Mutual Announces Senior Leadership Changes

Jeb Bentley

Northwestern Mutual announced new senior leadership changes.

Jeb Bentley, current vice president of wealth and investment management, will succeed Jeff Lueken as executive vice president and chief investment officer on January 1, 2025. In the near term, Bentley will be vice president and co-CIO. He will also join the company’s senior leadership team following Lueken’s retirement at the end of the year. Bentley will be responsible for leading the teams managing the company’s general account investment portfolio.

Kelly Culler, currently vice president of talent and a senior human resources business partner, will succeed Don Robertson as executive vice

Kelly Culler

president and chief HR officer and join the senior leadership team on January 1, 2025. She will be responsible for the company’s HR strategy and operations, talent management, employee experience, diversity and inclusion, and compensation and benefits.

The company’s succession planning began with the January announcement that Chairman and CEO John Schlifske will retire on December 31 and that President Tim Gerend will succeed Schlifske.

Micruity Appoints Head of Client Success

Micruity Inc., a provider of retirement technology solutions, announced the appointment of Mike Westhoven as head of client success and strategy.

Mike Westhoven

Westhoven brings more than two decades of experience in the retirement industry, having held leadership roles at TIAA, SS&C and Genworth, where he oversaw product and client implementations and developed scalable processes for retirement income solutions.

With a track record in product development and client implementations, Westhoven will lead Micruity’s client success efforts, overseeing the entire client life cycle. He will also play a role in shaping the company’s product roadmap to meet the industry’s evolving needs.

Northern Trust Announces New Head of Global Institutional Client Group

Lyenda Simpson Delp

Northern Trust Asset Management has named Lyenda Simpson Delp as head of its global institutional client group, effective December 3.

Delp will lead the strategic direction and commercial success of NTAM’s institutional businesses in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. Delp will join NTAM’s leadership team and report to president Daniel Gamba.

With more than 30 years of experience in asset management and the financial industry, Delp spent the last 15 years at BlackRock, where she was most recently head of the financial institutions group for the Americas. Earlier in her career, Delp was a client portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management on the outsourced chief investment officer team covering portfolios of global institutions.

NTAM had more than $900 billion of institutional assets under management as of June 30, 2024, serving pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, nonprofits, family offices, corporations and consultants.

O’Connor to Serve as OneDigital Senior Benefits Consultant in Florida

Kevin O’Connor

OneDigital announced that Kevin O’Connor will serve as a senior benefits consultant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He will relocate from the OneDigital office in Boston, where he is currently a senior benefits consultant.

O’Connor has 27 years of experience working in health insurance. Prior to joining OneDigital, he served as president of Strategic Employee Benefit Services, specializing in medical, dental, disability, life and voluntary products.

“Kevin has maintained a strong presence in the Boston market and is known for his innovative and fresh-thinking solutions,” OneDigital announced on LinkedIn. “He is passionate about building strong client relationships based on trust, integrity, and immediate service.”