Deals and People August 25, 2023

Retirement Industry People Moves

Turning Technology hires former head of iShares; Principal selects Dessouki as chief marketing officer; and Puerto joins J.P. Morgan Private Bank as head of retirement plan solutions.

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Former BlackRock Head of iShares Hired 

Robert Nestor

Turing Technology Associates has hired Robert Nestor as senior managing director and chief commercial officer at the financial technology firm, effective August 15, a spokesperson confirmed by email.

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Nestor is responsible for driving the commercial side of the business—including product and services, sales and marketing and business administration, says the spokesperson. He reports to Vadim Fishman, co-founder, CEO and chief technology officer at Turing.

Turning provides financial technology through artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning processes focused on asset management and technology innovation, licensing its’ technology and intellectual property to investment management, insurance, brokerage, and RIA/wealth firms to support investment solutions.

Nestor was previously self-employed. Prior to that, Nestor was the president and head of financial products provider Direxion and worked at BlackRock in several roles for more than a decade, attaining the final title of managing director and head of iShares and Smart Beta.

Principal Announces Dessouki as New Chief Marketing Officer

Mona Dessouki

Mona Dessouki will join Principal Asset Management as chief marketing officer, responsible for driving global marketing efforts across key market segments.

“Mona brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and perspectives to Principal, all of which will help elevate our marketing strategy to reach and engage current and prospective clients with Principal,” said Ellen Shumway, senior executive managing director and global head of product and marketing for Principal Asset Management.

Based in New York, Mona will report to Shumway and lead an asset management marketing team of over 35 individuals across the United States, Europe, and Asia, according to Principal.  

Mona has over 20 years of marketing experience. She joins Principal from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where she served as executive director of acquisition marketing and digital experience.

Puerto Joins J.P. Morgan Private Bank as Head of Retirement Plan Solutions

Abe Puerto has started as head of retirement plan solutions at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, according to the company.

Puerto will be responsible for leading a team of retirement plan consultants and investment consulting specialists. They work with the Private Bank’s wealth advisers to provide retirement plan solutions to business owner clients. Puerto joins the firm with over two decades of experience in the retirement industry, most recently from UBS, where he was head of retirement plan provider relationship management.

Based in New York City, Puerto will report to Chris Fletcher, global head of the private bank’s outsourced chief investment office.

Innovest Bolsters West Coast Team

Investment consultant Innovest Portfolio Solutions has hired Tomas Jansson as a vice president and retirement plan consultant, expanding the West Coast retirement team, the firm announced in a press release.

Jansson joined Innovest on Monday, July 10, says a spokesperson by email.

In the role, Jansson is responsible for helping clients design, optimize and govern the retirement plan benefits offered to employees.

Jansson is a member of Innovest’s retirement plan practice group, according to the release.

Tomas Jansson

“Innovest is excited to expand our west coast team with a veteran like Tomas Jansson,” states Wendy Dominguez, Innovest President and Co-Founder, in the press release “With his significant retirement plan expertise and years of experience, Tomas will help us continue to provide our clients with the industry’s best retirement plan consulting services. Tomas is a great addition to the Innovest team.”

Jansson has more than 20 years of experience in the retirement plan industry, working at First Republic Private Wealth Management working prior to joining Innovest. Jansson also worked at the Newport Group for fourteen years and as a financial adviser with the Merrill Lynch global private client group.

Jansson also worked at the Newport Group for fourteen years and as a financial adviser with the Merrill Lynch global private client group.

Innovest is based in Denver. The firm maintains offices in Colorado, California, Florida, and Arizona.

Data and Research August 25, 2023

Pension Risk Transfers Continue to Surge in Q2

Sales reached a record-setting $16.2 billion in the second quarter, a 31% increase from 2022, LIMRA found. 

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Pension risk transfer sales in the U.S. reached a total of $16.2 billion in the second quarter, a 31% surge from Q2 2022 and a new record for the quarter, according to the U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey conducted by the financial services association LIMRA.  

For the first six months of the year, PRT sales amounted to $22.5 billion, a 28% increase when compared to the same timeframe in 2022 and a pace LIMRA forecasts to continue through the year 

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“Record sales in the first half of the year, combined with carriers signaling expectations for a busy second half of 2023, suggest the U.S. PRT market could approach record sales set in 2022,” Mark Paracer, assistant director for LIMRA annuity research, said in a statement.  

The results track with other data reported last week by Aon, the largest PRT adviser, which saw a record 289 PRT transactions totaling $22.4 billion in the first half of the year. The largest deal in the first half was AT&T’s $8 billion transfer, the third largest transaction in PRT history, according to Aon, which covered 100,000 participants. The second-largest transfer was $2 billion from an unnamed sponsor, with two others, also unnamed, at $1 billion each. 

The Department of Labor is currently reviewing and considering changes to the standards plan sponsors must use when selecting an annuity provider for a pension risk transfer. The DOL is required to issue a report to Congress by the end of the year offering recommendations for an update to the standards. 

Plan terminations, in which beneficiaries typically receive either an annuity or a lump sum, composed half of the deals, Aon reported. Lift-outs (in which a sponsor ships a portion of its plan to an insurer) was the next largest area, with buy-ins (the sponsor continues to administer the plan, but the insurer assumes longevity and investment risk) in third place.  

Single-premium buyout sales, in which the insurer takes on the financial and administrative responsibility of the plan, were 18% higher in the second quarter, at $14.6 billion, than in 2022. Year-to-date, buyout sales have experienced a 40% leap, totaling $20.9 billion. 

The second quarter saw 165 buyout contracts, marking a 16% rise from the second quarter of 2022. To date, the number of buyout contracts completed was 281, a 30% increase compared to the preceding year, according to LIMRA. 

In this year’s Q2, four single premium buy-in contracts (in which the sponsor continues to administer the plan, but the insurer assumes longevity) were sold, amounting to $1.6 billion. These figures mirror the results for the YTD period, as no buy-in contracts were finalized in the first quarter. 

Single-premium buyout assets grew by 24% from the previous year to $251 billion. Additionally, single-premium buy-in assets reached $7 billion, a 6% increase compared with the second quarter of 2023. The assets from both single-premium buyouts and buy-ins totaled $258 billion in the second quarter, growing 24% when compared with the same period in 2022. 

“The robust growth in contracts in the first half of the year is also a newer trend,” said Paracer. “In past years, much of the business occurred in the fourth quarter. More recently we are seeing the activity spread out throughout the year, as market expansion has led to more competitive pricing and increased plan sponsor interest.”   

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