Retirement Industry People Moves

Art by Subin Yang

Senior Consultant Joins PEI

Portfolio Evaluations, Inc. (PEI), an institutional investment and retirement plan consulting firm, has added senior consultant Duncan McNiff to the team.

“We are pleased to have Duncan join the team,” says Partner Richard Torbinski. “His extensive experience in defined contribution plan vendor relationship management will be a big asset to our firm and clients.”

Prior to joining the firm, Duncan was a relationship manager with the Vanguard Group, where he consulted with 25 plans representing over $2 billion in assets and more than 20,000 participants. He is a graduate of Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in politics and is fluent in both French and Mandarin Chinese. 

“Portfolio Evaluations has a long track record of providing objective, smart advice to plan sponsors,” says Duncan. “For me, this is a great opportunity to focus on what I enjoy most: working with clients to solve their problems by providing the honest support they need. Over the past ten years, I’ve had the benefit of working in conjunction with PEI to assist mutual clients on countless occasions, and I feel very fortunate to now be joining their team.”

Industry Consultant Moves to SageView

Brian Mahoney joined SageView Advisory Group as a retirement plan consultant in its Boston, Massachusetts office on January 14. 

Mahoney brings 20 years of retirement benefit experience, both in recordkeeping and as a plan sponsor, to the Boston team. He graduated from Saint Anselm College in 1999 and joined MFS as a retirement plan administrator. In 2011, he became the retirement plan administrator for Boston Children’s Hospital, overseeing its fund line-up consolidation among other projects, before returning to MassMutual as a consultant on its Regulatory Advisory Services team in 2015. 

“Helping plan sponsors achieve their goals while being a part of a strong team is what drew me to SageView. The resources and the way they support plan sponsors is similar to my own approach.” says Mahoney. 

Mahoney joins a team led by Stephen Popper and includes Mark Forkey, Erica Washburn, Mark Foster, Kerrie Casey and Linda Gallinaro. The Boston team supports 78 client relationships with more than $12 billion in assets under advisement in both 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit (DB) and nonqualified plans.

“Brian’s industry and regulatory knowledge is a staple of how we help our clients be more successful,” says SageView Founder and CEO Randy Long. “With HR and Benefits teams leaning on us for more consulting work, bringing on a former plan sponsor with a retirement industry background is a welcome addition. We are thrilled to have Brian on board.”

Strategic Insight Appoints Morningstar Veteran As Research Head

Strategic Insight (SI) has added 19-year veteran of Morningstar, Christopher Davis, as head of U.S Fund Research. In this new role, Davis will be responsible for shaping SI’s team of U.S. research analysts.

“Research has long been a significant pillar in the Strategic Insight ecosystem alongside our data and business intelligence operations, and I am beyond excited for the opportunity to further strengthen this pillar,” says Goshka Folda, global head of Research at Strategic Insight and president/CEO of Investor Economics. “Bringing Christopher onto the team opens many doors to better serve the unique needs of our clients and enhance our culture of curiosity, learning and service.”

Davis comes to Strategic Insight from Morningstar, where he evaluated equity, fixed income, and multi-asset investment strategies, primarily in the U.S., for nearly two decades as an analyst and research director. Over his tenure, he introduced qualitative ratings on target-risk and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and was an editor of Morningstar’s Fidelity Funds Newsletter. Davis also led Morningstar’s Canadian manager research team from 2012 to 2016.

SI Research delivers a combination of published research, online webcasts, in-person presentations, and on-demand consulting. Davis will lead the U.S. Research team alongside SI’s Canadian, Australian, and EMEA research teams.

NIRS Positions Third Executive Director

Dan Doonan has been selected to lead the National Institute on Retirement (NIRS), a non-profit, non-partisan retirement research organization located in Washington, D.C. Doonan will assume the role of executive director beginning March 11, and will serve as NIRS’ third executive director. He follows Diane Oakley, who will be retiring.

Doonan comes to NIRS after serving as a senior pension specialist with the National Education Association. He began his career at the Department of Labor (DOL), and then spent seven years performing actuarial analysis with Buck Consultants in its retirement practice. His experience also includes positions as a research director and labor economist.

“As evidenced by his diverse experience, Dan is an outstanding fit to lead NIRS’ research and education mission. He has a deep knowledge of pension and retirement issues, and he is passionate about ensuring all Americans are financially secure in retirement,” says Dick Ingram, NIRS board chair.

TRA Acquires Pensions Administration Firm

The Retirement Advantage, Inc. (TRA) has acquired Quality Pension Services, Inc., a pension administration firm, headquartered in Chico, California.

With the completion of the acquisition on February 1, this transaction increases the assets under administration (AUA) of the retirement plans to over $8 billion.

“Adding Quality Pension Services retirement services business enhances our already strong position as a leader in the retirement services industry and complements our high-touch, relationship-based service model,” says TRA President Matt Schoneman. “We’re committed to growing our business. Tapping into Quality Pension Services network will allow us to exceed expectations and develop new relationships in the region.”