Retirement Industry People Moves

Art by Subin Yang

Rea & Associates Adds New Plan Audit Services Director

Rea & Associates has hired Pamela Dunlap, a principal at Rea who joined the firm in March as a strategic addition, as the new director of employee benefit plan audit services and will lead the firm’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plan audit services practice.

Darlene Finzer, CPA, CSA, QKA, principal overseeing the ERISA plan audit services for the past nine years, will continue to lead Rea’s newly formed Eldercare Services segment. Together they will collaborate while building up the two practices.

In her new role, Dunlap will oversee the firm’s ERISA plan audit practice, will provide services designed for each of Rea’s employee benefit plan sponsor’s needs, and will continue to manage and train the firm’s ERISA audit team.

“I am happy to hand the reins over to Pam. With over 20 years of experience in the employee benefit plan audit space, she was a strategic hire” said Finzer. “With her experience and expertise in the industry, she is more than ready for this role and will be a great leader at Rea. In the meantime, I’m excited to transition into my new role as the leader of the firm’s Eldercare Services practice. This move will allow me to help accelerate the growth of our firm’s wealth management services.”

Ascensus Acquires TPA Firm for FuturePlan Platform

Ascensus has acquired United Retirement Plan Consultants (URPC). The third-party administration (TPA) firm will immediately become part of FuturePlan by Ascensus.   

Based in Dublin, Ohio, URPC is a leader in retirement plan design, consulting, and administration services. The firm delivers tax‐efficient retirement plans—including 401(k), traditional defined benefit (DB), cash balance, and employee stock ownership plans—and serves clients from sales and service centers in office locations throughout the country.

“Like FuturePlan, URPC is structured as a national network of local experts,” says Jerry Bramlett, head of FuturePlan. “Our leadership group is looking forward to working with the 200+ URPC associates to continue to provide their clients with great support while building an enhanced service experience.”

“With the addition of URPC, FuturePlan now has more than 48,000 plans under administration,” continues Bramlett. “We see an opportunity to use their scale to further the expansion of our national TPA service model. Along with our continued investment in technology, infrastructure, sales, plan services, and solutions delivery capabilities, this will further strengthen our geographic focus and help to deepen our platform, channel partner, and financial advisor relationships.”

Ameritas Adds Series of Vice President Positions

Ameritas has hired several officer elections, effective as of June 1.

The following new hires are:

Scott Renard, who was elected vice president of actuarial for retirement plans. His previous position was second vice president of actuarial. Renard earned a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds the professional designation of FSA (Fellow, Society of Actuaries) and MAAA (Member, American Academy of Actuaries).

Scott Farmen, who was elected vice president of compliance. His previous position was second vice president – corporate compliance. Farmen earned a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a juris doctorate from the University of Nebraska College of Law. He holds the professional designations of CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist), among other designations. 

Larry Keiter was elected second vice president of talent development in human resources. His previous position was director of talent development. Keiter earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from the University of Nebraska Kearney and a master’s degree in strategic management from Regis University, Denver, Colo. He holds the professional designations of Gallup certified strengths coach, a Bates executive presence (ExPI) certification, ACTP certified executive coach and is certified in the KornFerry’s 360 assessment and assessment of leadership potential.

John Webb was elected second vice president of compliance in retirement plans. His previous position was director of compliance. Webb earned a bachelor’s degree in music and one in business administration from Berea College, and a master’s degree from Montreat College. He holds the American Retirement Association professional designations of QPA (Qualified Pension Administrator), TGPC (Tax and Governmental Plan Consultant) among others. Webb serves as president of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) Benefits Council (ABC) of Greater Cincinnati. 

Jon DeLaCastro was elected second vice president of information security. He recently joined Ameritas after a career with CVS Health in Colorado, where he led security and merger and acquisition activities. Prior to CVS, he served as chief information officer and chief security officer for several organizations.  DeLaCastro attended the University of Nebraska Omaha. He is a member of LOMA and FS-ISAC (Financial Services – Information Sharing and Analysis Center) and holds multiple certifications from Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft and SANS, among others. DeLaCastro currently volunteers for the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation.