Retirement Industry People Moves

Nationwide Retirement Solutions Names Head of Annuity Business

Rich Porter was named leader of Nationwide Retirement Solutions Distribution, replacing Craig Hawley, effective October 28. Hawley recently transitioned to lead Nationwide’s annuity business.

Porter led the company’s annuity distribution brokerage team for the past two years. In his new role, he will oversee teams responsible for driving new plan acquisition, retention and relationship management. He will report to Eric Stevenson, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions.

Before joining Nationwide, Porter served as vice president and divisional sales manager for the advisor channel at Prudential Financial where he led an external wholesaler team and served as a thought leader throughout the organization, with responsibility for sales management, team building and compliance. 

OneAmerica Financial Names New President of Employee Benefits

Joe Ingream, previously the senior vice president of employee benefits at OneAmerica Financial, was promoted to president of the business.

Ingream has been with the companies of OneAmerica Financial since April of 2022 and has a career that spans over 20 years in the insurance business. Prior to joining in 2022, Ingream was the COO, head of group insurance operations with Prudential Financial, responsible for the strategic direction and execution of group insurance operations. He also spent over a decade at Aetna, leading teams in disability and absence management benefits.

“Joe has skillfully led the employee benefits team through a series of strategic changes, enhancing the teams focus on segmentation and operational efficiency, re-defining the business’ value proposition and advancing market expansion,” said Scott Davison, chairman, president and CEO of OneAmerica Financial, in a statement.

Pentegra Announces Addition to Executive Team

M. Palmer Whitney, vice president and head of client relations, has joined Pentegra’s executive team.

In his new role, Whitney will lead Pentegra’s client engagement efforts to “enrich the client experience,” build retention and drive results as Pentegra continues to expand. Whitney will report to Paula Edmonds, senior vice president of client services.

Prior to joining Pentegra, Whitney served as senior vice president, head of client engagement, account management and participant education for Transamerica’s retirement business, where he led a national team responsible for managing and expanding client and advisor relationships. He also previously held a number of client management roles at MassMutual and Principal.

“We are thrilled to welcome Palmer to our team,” Edmonds said. “He joins us at a time when we are building fiduciary partnerships with the industry’s leading distribution and recordkeeping organizations. It’s an exciting time for the organization and Palmer’s talents and experience will be instrumental in facilitating growing relationships with clients, advisors and enterprise partners.”

Lincoln Financial Appoints Chief Information Officer

Jennifer Charters will join Lincoln Financial as executive vice president and chief information officer effective November 18.

Charters, a veteran financial services technology executive with 30 years of experience, will oversee all aspects of the firm’s enterprise-wide technology and digital strategy and execution. She will report directly to chairman, president and CEO Ellen Cooper and will be a member of the company’s senior management committee.

Since 2018, Charters served as executive vice president and chief information officer at Flagstar Bank, leading its IT organization. Prior to that, she was chief information officer of corporate technology at Ally Financial.

Charters will replace current executive vice president and chief information officer Ken Solon, whose planned retirement is scheduled for early 2025, following a complete transition of responsibilities.