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Deals and People July 1, 2016
Retirement Industry People Moves
Nationwide Names Two Leaders for Public Sector Sales; Firms Combine to Create Pavilion Alternatives Group; and P-Solve Adds Consulting Actuary and Investment Director.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Nationwide Names Two Leaders for Public-Sector Sales
Nationwide has named two new leaders to oversee public-sector sales, relationship management and acquisition efforts in the eastern region of the United States, underscoring the company’s focus on increasing market share while helping clients build successful retirement plans.
Jeff Francis’ promotion to regional vice president expands his sales and relationship management responsibilities in the eastern United States. He now leads a team of 60 sales professionals in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Francis has held several leadership roles within Nationwide’s public-sector retirement plans business, where he has consistently exceeded client goals.
Hazel Durand is the new institutional sales executive for the eastern region, responsible for directing all client acquisition efforts. Durand joins Nationwide after more than two decades as a sales leader in the retirement plans industry. She spent the last nine years working as a senior vice president at Fidelity, where she led a team of 25 business development consultants and relationship managers. Prior to working at Fidelity, Durand was employed by CitiStreet.
“Nationwide’s public-sector retirement plans business has a great deal of sales momentum. Jeff and Hazel will enable us to double-down on our efforts to increase sales while continuing to deliver the high-level of service our clients have come to expect from Nationwide,” says Eric Stevenson, vice president of public-sector retirement plan sales for Nationwide.
Francis received a bachelor’s degree in consumer services and advocacy from Syracuse University. He holds FINRA Series 6, 63, 26 and 65 licenses. Durand has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business from Northeastern University. Additionally, she holds FINRA Series 63, 7 and 24 and licenses.
NEXT: Firms Combine to Create Pavilion Alternatives GroupInvestment services firm Pavilion Financial Corporation announced that it plans to acquire Altius Holdings Ltd., the parent company of Altius Associates Ltd. and Altius Associates (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., a global private markets advisory and separate account management firm with offices in the UK, U.S. and Singapore.
Pavilion will combine the operations of Altius Associates with LP Capital Advisors, LLC (LPCA), the alternative asset advisory subsidiary of Pavilion headquartered in Sacramento, California. The combination will be highly complementary, creating a larger global alternative asset class advisory platform with expanded depth and breadth of services and geographic footprint. At closing, the combined organization will be rebranded as Pavilion Alternatives Group and represent Pavilion’s global advisory platform specializing in alternative asset classes with total alternative assets under advisement of more than $60 billion, out of a total $570 billion.
Pavilion Alternatives Group will be comprised of approximately 70 dedicated professionals located in London, UK; Singapore; and across offices in North America (Sacramento, Richmond, Boston, Salt Lake City and Montreal). All senior management from Altius Associates and LPCA will remain in leadership positions in Pavilion Alternatives Group.
NEXT: P-Solve Adds Consulting Actuary and Investment DirectorP-Solve hired two senior consultants for its U.S. solutions business. Kevin Morrison has joined as a director and consulting actuary, while James Walton has joined as an investment director.
Morrison will consult with P-Solve's corporate retirement clients on actuarial issues, helping them to make the best possible decisions for their firms. He will also serve as one of the senior leaders of P-Solve's U.S. actuarial practice.
Walton will consult with P-Solve's institutional investment clients, with a specific focus on investment risk management. In addition, he will play a key role in developing P-Solve's investment strategies and in the development of new investment solutions.
“We are seeing increased demand from clients for innovative solutions that combine actuarial, investment and risk management thinking,” says Ryan McGlothlin, global head of Strategic Relationships. “The skills that Kevin and James bring will be very useful in helping our clients to meet their various investment and risk management objectives.”
Morrison joined P-Solve from John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, where he was a consulting actuary. He started his career at Mercer. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. He received a B.A. in math and physics from the College of the Holy Cross.
Walton joined P-Solve from Legal & General, where he most recently managed investment portfolios designed to match long-term liabilities. Previously, he worked for Aon as an asset-liability risk management specialist. He is a qualified actuary and holds a first-class Masters degree in physics from the University of Oxford.