Retirement Industry People Moves

Mercer has appointed Macaire Pace as West Market CEO, based in its Seattle office. Pace is responsible for driving client value and delivering client solutions in the West Market, as well as building and growing Mercer’s local brand and market presence. Pace joins Mercer’s North America leadership team, where she will serve alongside Greg Martens, Central Market CEO, and Pat Tomlinson, East Market CEO. She will report to Ken Haderer, president of Mercer’s North America Region.

“Macaire is a dynamic leader with extensive consulting and leadership experience and we are thrilled to welcome her to Mercer,” says Haderer, “Macaire’s strong track record of serving clients, driving business success and developing talent will enable us to further grow and strengthen our West Market and bolster Mercer’s position as the employer of choice.”

Prior to joining Mercer, Pace spent more than ten years at Willis Towers Watson, most recently as the managing director and market leader for Metro New York. In addition, she spent several years in various leadership roles at Hewitt Associates (now Aon Hewitt) in San Francisco and New York. Pace earned her Bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies from the University of Washington and her Master’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of New Mexico.

New Custodia Executive VP to Lead Retirement Loan Eraser Sales  

Custodia Financial announced that Rennie Worsfold has joined the organization as executive vice president to lead Retirement Loan Eraser (RLE) sales. RLE is an automated loan insurance program that prevents 401(k) loan defaults, protecting plan assets and immediately improving retirement outcomes.  

Worsfold comes to Custodia from Financial Engines, where he spent the last 18 years helping build the defined contribution (DC) investment advisory and managed account service for more than 700 companies and nine million retirement plan participants. As vice president, national sales manager, Worsfold led the institutional sales, consulting and adviser relations functions and served on the management team, helping to shape overall product, distribution and service strategy for Financial Engines. 

“I am honored to be joining Custodia Financial to help in this critical work,” says Worsfold. “Preventing leakage has become a major area of focus for both plan sponsors and the retirement industry. There has been a significant increase in leakage from loan defaults over the past several years. Retirement Loan Eraser is an innovative solution that prevents this leakage and improves participant outcomes with certainty, particularly for those who can least afford the consequences of a default.”  

Worsfold joins a team of retirement experts at Custodia Financial that includes former senior executives from Fidelity Investments, Voya Financial, Wells Fargo and SunGard.

Voya Promotes Plan Administrator to Client Relations VP

Voya Retirement promoted Sean Cameron to vice president of Client Relations, in the Northeast, for the company’s Small-Mid Corporate Market business. 

In this role, Cameron will oversee a team of Client Relations managers responsible for building and maintaining relationships with distribution partners and plan sponsor clients across the Northeast for retirement plans up to $75 million in assets.  

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to lead such a strong team of retirement industry veterans,” says Cameron.

Most recently, Cameron held the position of 401(k) and Pension Plan Administrator at Voya. In this role, he became one of the founding members of the “Inside Client Relations Team,” where he helped establish and grow Voya’s service model.  

“Sean’s varied professional work and experiences over his career, including his five years with Voya, make him well suited for this leadership role on our service team,” adds Amy Vaillancourt, senior vice president of Small-Mid Corporation Markets.

Cameron graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a degree in Marketing and obtained his Masters of Business Administration from Albertus Magnus College.

Hirtle Callaghan Hires CIO

Hirtle Callaghan announced that Mark Hamilton has joined the firm as chief investment officer, reporting to CEO Ranji Nagaswami.

In this newly created position, Hamilton, who most recently served as chief investment officer (CIO) of Asset Allocation for OppenheimerFunds, will have responsibility for Hirtle Callaghan’s entire investment program and will chair the Investment Policy Committee.

The addition of Hamilton follows the appointment in January 2018 of Daniel McCollum, who joined Hirtle Callaghan from Brown University, as deputy chief investment officer with responsibility for Alternative Investments. The investment team leadership also includes Brad Conger, deputy chief investment officer for Public Markets, and Scott Jacobson, director and senior strategist responsible for Risk Management. 

“Hirtle Callaghan has been providing clients with complete investment solutions and advice for thirty years. The addition of an industry veteran of Mark’s caliber further deepens and complements our talent bench; we are thrilled to have him lead our investment team,” says Nagaswami. “In markets that are more complex than ever before, we have assembled an incredibly talented team to serve our clients with the strongest investment capabilities in the industry.”

Hamilton comes to Hirtle Callaghan with nearly 25 years of investment experience and a foundation in capital allocation globally, across diverse asset classes and alternative strategies.

Before joining OppenheimerFunds in 2013, Hamilton spent nearly two decades at AllianceBernstein, where in his last role he was investment director of the Dynamic Asset Allocation portfolio management team. His responsibilities previously included managing investments across global equities, bonds, credit, currencies and real assets for institutional and private clients. He began his investment career as a global fixed income portfolio manager specializing in interest rates, currencies and macroeconomics. 

Hamilton holds a master’s degree in finance and applied economics from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in international relations from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Ohio-Based Firm Formalizes Retirement Plan Services Offering

Columbus, Ohio-based Budros, Ruhlin & Roe, Inc. announced the formalization of their Retirement Plan Services offering after serving retirement plan sponsors and participants for over 35 years.

“Retirement plans are the bedrock of America’s retirement savings,” says Eric Shisler, vice president, director of research. “Our goal is to serve both plan participants and plan sponsors by offering our experience and knowledge to our corporate retirement plan clients.”

Budros, Ruhlin & Roe’s Retirement Plan Services team is comprised of individuals including Shisler, Greg Apple, CRPS, business development specialist and Emily Zeller, CRPS, retirement plan services associate. The team serves as a co-fiduciary with plan sponsors to evaluate plan design, select and monitor investment options, and educate plan participants—while minimizing conflicts of interest.

“Given the current regulatory climate, our independent, fee-only, fiduciary approach to managing qualified retirement plans makes the most sense for our corporate clients and their employees,” says Peggy Ruhlin, chief executive officer.

Investment Manager Rises to Director of Sustainable Program

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced that Beth Richtman has been selected as managing investment director of the Sustainable Investment Program.

Richtman, currently an investment manager in the CalPERS Real Assets program, will be transitioning into the new position over the next month.

A new position at CalPERS, the managing investment director of the Sustainable Investment Program leads the team that provides centralized leadership and strategy related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues for the entire CalPERS Investment Office. Richtman will manage the integration of ESG factors into investment decision-making across the total fund, and will oversee collaboration efforts with external partners, including other investors, related to corporate engagement efforts.

“Beth’s diverse background, exceptional quantitative skills, and practical experience with sustainable investing make her a perfect fit to serve as the Investment Office’s leader for sustainability and ESG,” says Ted Eliopoulos, CalPERS chief investment officer. “She also understands how sustainable investing mitigates risk and improves long-term returns.  I’m excited for her to get started and welcome her to the senior management team.”

Richtman has more than a decade of experience with sustainability and sustainable investing. She started with the CalPERS Investment Office in 2012, and has been responsible for managing a portfolio of more than $7 billion of domestic infrastructure and real estate assets. She was an architect of the Sustainable Investment Practice Guidelines for Real Assets, and the lead for the Energy Optimization Initiative, which seeks to economically optimize energy use and sourcing across the CalPERS Real Estate portfolio.

Prior to her work at CalPERS, Richtman was a director for Business Development at Enel Green Power North America, an owner and operator of renewable energy plants in North America.

Richtman holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.

The Standard Hires National Accounts Relationship Manager

The Standard hired Michael Cohen as national accounts relationship manager. He is based in The Standard’s Denver, Colorado, Retirement Plans Sales and Service Office.

Cohen has 12 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in retirement plans and partnering with advisers, RIA firms and plan providers. Prior to joining The Standard, he worked as a relationship manager for Charles Schwab & Co.

“Mike comes to us with a deep understanding of the financial services industry and a special focus on retirement plan products and services,” says Ken Waineo, director of Business Development for The Standard. “He brings expertise, collaboration and insights to our adviser and channel partners.”

Cohen received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses and is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary with fi360.

EPIC Advisors Acquires Retirement Plan Services

EPIC Advisors, Inc., a subsidiary of NBT Bancorp Inc., has acquired Retirement Plan Services, LLC (RPS), a retirement plan services company located near St. Louis, Missouri, that provides full-service recordkeeping, administration and plan design solutions to employers nationwide.

“The of the RPS team with EPIC’s well-established retirement services business presents an exciting opportunity for us to continue the growth of our national franchise while expanding the services we provide to our clients,” says EPIC President Manny Marques. “It also allows us to deepen the reach of our national presence, providing a strong base in the Midwest.”

RPS President David Davidson adds, “We are moving forward seamlessly with the delivery of the same customized high-touch service that our clients rely on. We are excited to have the benefit of additional EPIC and NBT resources to help us provide even more tools to the advisers, sponsors and participants we serve.” 

RPS will adopt the “EPIC Retirement Plan Services” brand later this year. EPIC will also transition to this brand, providing a unified banner to support the expanded national footprint of the combined entity. Marques further stated that, “RPS Principals David Davidson and Kimberly Beal will both immediately join the EPIC leadership team.”