Deals and People August 7, 2020

Retirement Industry People Moves

NFP acquires multidisciplinary insurance broker; Principal Financial Group announces new customer experience lead; NWPS announces rebranding after numerous acquisitions; and more. 

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Art by Subin Yang
Art by Subin Yang
Art by Subin Yang

NFP Acquires Multidisciplinary Insurance Broker

NFP has acquired Rose & Kiernan Inc., in a transaction that closed effective as of August 1.

Rose & Kiernan, based in Albany, New York, is a multidisciplinary insurance broker with capabilities in property and casualty (P&C) insurance, surety and employee benefits. The firm provides a variety of solutions—including insurance, employee benefits and risk management—to businesses, individuals and public and private organizations primarily in New York state and New England. John Murray, president, chairman and CEO of the firm, will continue to lead the team and operations in Albany and report to Bill Austin, president of the Northeast region.

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“Adding an organization like Rose & Kiernan elevates the depth and breadth of our capabilities, while providing resources that will maximize their growth,” Austin says. “They have a long history of helping organizations thrive by effectively managing risk and attracting and retaining talented professionals and we’re proud they see the value we provide in helping them be an even better partner for their clients.”

“Expanding our middle market capabilities is a key element of our P&C strategy,” adds Henry Lombardi, executive vice president and head of NFP Property and Casualty. “Being able to add a firm that has achieved so much and is positioned for significant growth is an important step as we add scale and expertise that will enhance our business.”

Principal Financial Group Announces New Customer Experience Lead

Jennifer Oyler has joined the global marketing team at Principal Financial Group as head of customer experience.

“Jenn brings demonstrated expertise and leadership to Principal, which will help transform the way we interact with our customers externally and employees internally,” says Beth Wood, chief marketing officer for Principal. “Her demonstrated ability to bridge research and analytics with systems and processes will be instrumental to our vision of creating superior connectivity and relationships with the users of our products and services.”

Oyler comes to Principal with more than 20 years of experience. She most recently worked at Decooda as chief experience executive and strategist, leading data scientists, developers, linguists and customer experience consultants to help create artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and natural language understanding products to define a real-time voice of the customer. Prior to working at Decooda, Oyler held customer experience roles with FLEETCOR Technologies and State Farm.

Oyler earned a doctorate in organizational behavior and statistics from Virginia Tech and a master’s in marketing from the University of Arkansas.

NWPS Announces Rebranding After Numerous Acquisitions

Northwest Plan Services Inc. has announced its rebranding to NWPS after several acquisitions across the country in the retirement plan services industry over the past five years.

Tim Wulfekuhle, president and CEO, explains, “It was time to remove the regional reference in our name to reflect our national presence without erasing our history. The acquisition of multiple firms and new clients across time zones has truly made us a national firm. We intend to take advantage of this to keep evolving our services to meet plan sponsor needs.”

Headquartered in Seattle, NWPS began expanding in the spring of 2015 with Maryland-based CDM Retirement Consultants Inc.; Trautman, Maher & Associates in the Seattle area was acquired in the summer of 2016. Kaufmann and Goble Associates, an industry leader in multi-employer trusts in San Jose, California, came aboard in August 2018. Venuti and Associates was the latest acquisition in March, further adding to the firm’s actuarial and consulting expertise.

Mercer Appoints Global Head of Private Debt

Mercer has appointed David Scopelliti as global head of Private Debt.

In his new role, Scopelliti will oversee Mercer’s research, advice on and implementation of private debt strategies globally. Reporting to Mercer’s global chief investment officer (CIO) for Alternatives, Bill Muysken, Scopelliti joins as partner and will be based in Mercer’s Norwalk, Connecticut, office. 

Scopelliti has over 30 years of experience in a variety of senior private debt and private equity roles, including serving as CEO of Alcentra Capital Corp. Prior to this, he was a partner at GarMark Partners, a middle market debt and equity firm. He was also head of private equity and principal investment officer at the state of Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and group head of Principal Investments at ING Capital. Scopelliti is also a FINRA registered representative and member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. 

Commenting on his appointment Scopelliti says, “Mercer has continued to grow and innovate in the private debt and alternative investing market, providing differentiated advice and investment solutions to meet client and market challenges. Many professional investors are now recognizing the potential offered by alternative investments, and Mercer has the ability to provide a tailored approach whilst keeping clients informed along the way. I’m thrilled to be joining the team and look forward to driving its continued growth.”

Muysken comments, “We are delighted to have David join us at such an exciting time for our private debt business. We continue to see increased demand from investors to help them reduce complexity in the current climate and improve their outcomes. David brings a wealth of experience in alternative investing, ESG [environmental, social and governance] and stewardship of institutional capital to role. Under his leadership, we feel we are even more strongly positioned to be a leading global partner to clients seeking specialized alternatives expertise and advice. Our ultimate aim is to help our clients by delivering insightful research, customized advice and implemented solutions that help them achieve their desired outcomes.”

Compliance August 7, 2020

Stimulus Bill Projections May Impact Long-Term Savings

As both Senate and House proposals would pump trillions of dollars into the economy to aid staggering unemployment figures, concerns of possible inflation years down the line have increased.

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As industries across the U.S. anticipate the next round of pandemic relief aid, discussions are being held on Capitol Hill on potential changes that could affect long-term savings, including retirement.

As of this writing, negotiations among Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain aloof, even as their self-imposed August 7 deadline approaches. Lawmakers already have delayed their scheduled congressional August recess until a bill is passed, and negotiations could continue next week. President Donald Trump has also threatened to take executive action should Congress fail to deliver a proposal by the deadline. He has said his executive order would include payroll tax cuts, unemployment extensions and student loan repayment options.

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Under the Democratic-backed Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which passed through the House in May, the federal $600 boost in unemployment compensation would extend until January 31. Additionally, individuals who receive state-administered aid by this date—and not federal assistance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act—would be eligible for the payment until March 31. The proposal also includes union pension partition relief and a waiver for the reinvestment of 2019 and 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs).

The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act introduced by the Senate in July decreases the weekly unemployment benefits to start at $200 per week. By October, this boost would be replaced with federal payments that, when combined with state aid, would reinstate 70% of a worker’s past wages, with a maximum cap of $500 per week.

As both proposals would pump trillions of dollars into the economy to aid staggering unemployment figures, concerns of possible inflation years down the line have surfaced.

“We don’t know what the impact will be of all this stimulus and what the federal government is doing with liquidity in the market, but it is unprecedented,” says Jason Field, a financial adviser with Van Leeuwen & Company.

The general consensus is that continued weekly enhancements would push inflation up some, but because the U.S. has seen low inflation levels in recent years, there is no immediate concern. Inflation levels have fallen in the past year alone, from 1.6% in June 2019 to 0.6% in June this year, according to the Department of Labor (DOL).

While the proposed second round of $1,200 stimulus checks that would go to many Americans is anticipated to increase spending—and thus boost the economy some—Chad Parks, founder and CEO of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, urges individuals to use the additional cash in two ways: to pay down credit card or student loan debt, or to add to a savings vehicle, such as an emergency savings account or toward retirement. As most individuals struggled to accumulate savings prior to the pandemic, using these dollars could add a leg up for many. “This has heightened the need for at least short-term savings, and especially a long-term savings plan in place,” Parks notes.

Another important factor in the discussions is the salary cutoff for individuals who receive a second stimulus check. While the previous threshold stood at $75,000 and phased out for those making up to $99,000, several lawmakers have said they want to reduce the cap to individuals making less than $40,000 a year. The significant reduction could place a limit on those expecting to shrink down debt or add the incoming aid to a savings option.

The answer on whether a payroll tax cut will be implemented in the new stimulus package is undetermined, but both Field and Parks say they believe it is unlikely to be included in the updated proposal. Excluding unemployed individuals, current employees would see a 6% to 7% reduction in payroll taxes under the proposals that have been floated in the negotiations, and that money would go toward their income instead, Parks explains. However, this can negatively affect Social Security, which receives these funds to process claims for retirees, he explains. “What you’re really doing is putting more problems onto Social Security, because those dollars are supposed to fund it,” Parks says. 

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