Retirement Industry People Moves

Neuberger Berman names CIO to help with foundations and endowments; Creative Planning hires leader of 401(k) division; adviser to non-profits affiliates with PlanMember; and Mercer hires PRT consultant.

Richard Gardiner has joined Neuberger Berman Trust Company as chief investment officer. He will also lead the firm’s investment strategy group and join the firm’s asset-allocation committee.

Gardiner will work with Neuberger Berman’s wealth advisers and trust officers on high-net-worth individual, foundation and endowment clients. With oversight of asset allocation, manager selection, and portfolio construction, Gardiner and the investment strategy group will identify the most appropriate managers and investment strategies across multiple regions.

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Previously, Gardiner was a consultant at the Reservoir Capital Group, and chief investment officer and co-founder of an independent wealth management firm. Earlier, he was head of arbitrage and credit at Man Investments, as well as a member of the firm’s investment committee. Before joining Man, he was responsible for convertible sales and trading at J.P. Morgan and at Goldman Sachs.

Erik Knutzen, chief investment officer of multi-asset class portfolios at Neuberger Berman, lauds Gardiner’s diverse background in wealth management and alternative investment strategies.

Gardiner calls diversification and asset allocation critically important to clients’ goals, and notes that global financial market volatility and changing economic conditions have caused dramatic shifts in the risk/reward characteristics of various asset classes. However, he says, “these obstacles can be overcome by pairing investment goals with the right set of portfolio managers who can execute on specific strategies utilizing a range of asset classes.”

Gardiner holds a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Yale University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Neuberger Berman Trust Company is an affiliate of Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager.

NEXT: Creative Planning names industry pro to lead 401(k) unit.

Mike Rogers has joined Creative Planning to help lead its 401(k) division of Creative Planning.

Rogers, who has 27 years’ experience in retirement planning, has served in a range of capacities: for a registered investment advisory, a third-party administrator and a recordkeeping firm specializing in retirement plans. Previously, he was partner and head of pension services at Burr Pilger Mayer. His expertise includes plan design, vendor optimization and solutions for addressing fiduciary liability concerns. He also has extensive experience in pension services, retirement plan consulting, 401(k) advisory work, investment committee activities, retirement plan committee charters, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) audits and Internal Revenue Service/Department of Labor correction programs.

Peter Mallouk, president and chief investment officer of Creative Planning, cites Rogers for his extensive background in the 401(k) industry.

Rogers is an active member of the Western Pension Benefit Conference's Silicon Valley Committee and the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), as well as an instructor for the ASPPA, San Jose State University and University of California Extension benefit classes.

Rogers holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics with a concentration in managerial economics from the University of California at Davis. He holds a number of designations, including Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA), Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and Tax Exempt and Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC).

Creative Planning is a financial adviser headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.

NEXT: Haven Financial Group opens PlanMember Financial Center in Salem, Oregon.

Michael E. Martindale of Haven Financial Group in Salem, Oregon, has affiliated with PlanMember Securities Corporation as a PlanMember Financial Center, expanding retirement investment planning and financial education opportunities for educators and employees of nonprofits in Salem, Bend, Corvallis and Eugene.

Combined with its satellite office in Bend, Oregon, Haven Financial Group has more than $115 million of assets under management. Martindale began his financial services career in 1980 and has been a PlanMember representative since 2011.

Jon Ziehl, founder and chief executive of PlanMember, says the affiliation supports the firm’s expansion plans.

PlanMember, headquartered in Carpinteria, California, is a broker/dealer and investment adviser that provides retirement planning to the public education and non-profit sectors.

NEXT: ERISApedia adds attorney author for qualified plan info.

Ilene H. Ferenczy will take over writing the Qualified Plan eSource published on ERISApedia.com.

Ferenczy is the managing partner of Ferenczy Benefits Law Center LLP, an employee benefits law firm in Atlanta. The Qualified Plan eSource is a treatise for Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) professionals working with defined contribution (DC) plans.

Ferenczy advises clients on all types of employee benefit plan issues, with a particular focus on qualified retirement plans, benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions, and advising third-party administrators of employee benefit programs on technical and practice issues. Ferenczy is a frequent national presenter and has written two books, three textbooks, and more than 90 articles on various aspects of employee benefits. She is a member of ASPPA’s leadership council, a former co-chair of the organization’s government affairs committee, and the 2007 recipient of ASPPA’s Educator of the Year Award. Ferenczy is also a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, the highest honor awarded to ERISA lawyers.

Timothy McCutcheon, publisher of ERISApedia.com, says Ferenczy’s unique insight and practical examples will be valuable additions to the Qualified Plan eSource.  

ERISApedia.com provides retirement plan sponsors, administrators with easy access to compliance information and important retirement industry materials. 

NEXT: Mercer adds senior pension risk transfer consultant.

Lynn Esenwine will join Mercer as a senior pension risk transfer (PRT) consultant in the financial strategy group (FSG) in April.

Esenwine will focus on facilitating large buyout transactions, coordinated with broader risk management and investment strategies, and on driving Mercer’s continued innovation and solutions in this space.

As the firm says it expects substantial growth in this area, Mercer calls Esenwine a key addition at a pivotal time for the PRT market.

Esenwine has 15 years’ experience in retirement services and has provided strategic leadership in the PRT market. She joins Mercer from MassMutual, where she was vice president in pension buyout, leading a cross-functional team focused on the growth of MassMutual’s market presence. Previously, she was vice president in a market-facing role serving the institutional PRT space at Prudential Retirement.

Esenwine will report to Richard McEvoy, head of the division, who cites Esenwine’s knowledge and transaction experience. “Lynn has had industry-level impact in helping drive the PRT business forward in recent years with her focus, energy and creativity,” he says.

All Employees Have Financial Wellness Needs

There are diverse needs among different employee groups, but emotions about financial wellness are consistent among all, a Fidelity survey finds.

Research from Fidelity Investments reveals how retirement plan participants define financial wellness and what they need to feel financial stability.

Based on a focus group of 65 participants in Fidelity administered plans and a survey of 483 retirement plan participants, Fidelity found one-third had not heard the term “financial wellness” before participating in the research. Only 12% have heard of financial wellness at their workplace, while most heard of it through the media or elsewhere.

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Asked for definitions of “financial wellness,” key themes emerged from participants’ responses, including “being not stressed out about money issues,” “having savings/emergency funds,” and “saving for the future.”

While “not being stressed” and “being on track for retirement” were key conditions of being financially well, being free of debt, having enough income to cover expenses and having an emergency fund all were secondary.

Brian Murphy, SVP of employee insights for Fidelity in Boston, tells PLANSPONSOR the biggest takeaway from the survey is the combination of the diversity of needs among participants with the consistency of emotions.

Financial wellness needs can be age-based, income-based, or based a number of other factors, so any financial wellness solution needs to address the broad spectrum of needs, he says. Murphy gave a few examples:

  • A worker living paycheck to paycheck wants to be able to pay bills and have a little left over to save or enjoy; having a budget and emergency savings is important;
  • Millennials may also be living paycheck to paycheck, balancing a desire to live in the moment with the need to look forward to expenses such as buying a home; they need to learn how to balance living today with saving for the future; and
  • Some employees make good basic financial decisions, but they have trouble with trade-offs between paying down debt, saving for children’s college and saving for the future.

The key emotion for all is feeling a lack of control over near-term decisions, a lack of confidence and a lack of stability. Fidelity says this is true across all demographics and income levels.

NEXT: Managing emotions and driving engagement

The overwhelming majority (83%) of participants in the study agree that being financially well helps them feel physically well.

Murphy explains that emotions employees feel about finances turn into stress, and if they are not brought under control, this leads to distress, “which really becomes a problem.” The study revealed that employees do not leave stress at door when they come to work; it remains a distraction on the job and impacts productivity. Some employees have to use work time to handle financial issues and some even miss days of work to deal with them. “In addition, financial distress can lead to physical issues as well, that turns into another impact for both individuals and employers, so managing emotions becomes critical,” he says.

“So financial wellness is about providing content, tools and support to help employees make better near-term decisions. This will help their emotional state,” Murphy adds. “Managing behavior and emotions are equally important.”

According to the study results, most participants are aware of financial wellness programs or resources offered at their workplace; however, in most cases, being aware of the programs doesn’t necessarily lead to usage.   

“Engagement is one of toughest challenges across all benefits,” Murphy notes. “We’re seeing employers putting more emphasis on financial wellness and working with providers to help drive engagement.”

Murphy offer four areas of best practices to drive engagement in financial wellness programs:

  • Personalization – Given the breadth of employees, the financial wellness solution has to include a broad range of needs, but participants will only engage if they feel it is personalized to them. Murphy suggests using provider data to make financial wellness programs relevant to each need.
  • Be at right place at right time – Employees go to different places for information. Financial wellness topics and solutions should be found on websites and blogs, for example, so employers do not miss an opportunity to engage employees. In addition, Murphy says, employees are more receptive to financial education at key life moments, for example, after having a baby or getting divorced. These are good times to engage employees.
  • Simple and engaging content – most employees aren’t financial knowledge seekers, so employers need to present content in a way that is simple, interactive and personalized or employees won’t engage.
  • Employer advocacy – if the employer is really behind the program, employees know the employer cares and thinks financial wellness is important for them, so engagement increases.

Fidelity anticipates a full release of study results next month.

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