Retirement Industry People Moves

USI Selects Retirement Services VP

USI Consulting Group announced that Duc Le has been named vice president of retirement services, based in St. Louis, Missouri. In this role, Le will be responsible for leading the business development activities for USI Consulting Group’s defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) practices in Kansas and Missouri. 

“Duc brings extensive experience in recordkeeping and administration,” says Mike Sullivan, senior vice president and regional sales director for USI Consulting Group. “His experience will be invaluable to the central region as we continue to grow our market share. We are excited to welcome Duc to the team.” 

Le has over six years of experience in relationship management, communications and sales. He has additional experience surrounding plan education, recordkeeping and full process implementation during plan conversions. Le has assisted clients in the corporate, not-for-profit and education markets. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in marketing from University of Missouri St. Louis. Industry education and designations include: FINRA Series 6, and 63. 

Former Actuarial Consultant Joins MassMutual as Pension Leader

As part of its growth strategy for the defined benefit (DB) pension business, MassMutual has appointed a new leader. Patrick Kendall will lead product and business development for MassMutual’s DB pension business.

“Patrick’s role is integral to MassMutual’s efforts in expanding our investment, actuarial and administrative capabilities in the defined benefit pension marketplace,” says Michael O’Connor, head of Defined Benefit, a unit of MassMutual’s Institutional Solutions business. “There is a growing appetite among pension plan sponsors for greater support and expertise in managing pension plan risks, and MassMutual is committed to building on its capabilities to meet that need.”

In the past year, MassMutual has introduced the PensionSmart Analysis tool, which provides insights into an employer’s challenges and opportunities by examining the plan’s current status, funding level, and service structure. MassMutual’s pension experts can then assess the pension plan’s health and make recommendations to the plan’s financial adviser and sponsor about appropriate options.

Earlier, MassMutual introduced customized pension yield curves to help plan sponsors measure their pension obligations in a more informed and transparent way. The yield curve provides an improved benchmark to calculate the value of pension liabilities that get reflected in a plan sponsor’s balance sheet and profit and loss statement.

Kendall, with more than 20 years’ experience in pensions and financial services, brings a unique blend of actuarial consulting expertise and business development abilities. Before coming to MassMutual, Kendall was a regional vice president for OneAmerica Retirement Services and has held leadership posts at Transamerica, Diversified and, at the start of his career, MassMutual.

Kendall has a BA from Dartmouth College, holds FCA and EA actuarial credentials and FINRA Series 6, 26 and 63 licenses.

U.S. Credit Head Joins TwentyFour Asset Management

David Norris joins TwentyFour Asset Management as head of U.S. Credit reporting to CEO, Mark Holman. Previously, he was responsible for High Yield Credit Trading at Credit Agricole and held several senior positions in credit trading and alternative investments during his 30-year career. Norris will be a key member of TwentyFour’s Multi-Sector Bond team, which manages the firm’s $ 7.0 billion Strategic Income and Dynamic Bond funds. 

“We see the U.S. as a key growth market and David’s experience and deep fixed income expertise will be integral as we continue to expand our U.S. footprint,” says Mark Holman, chief executive at TwentyFour. 

In addition to David, the firm has hired three investment professionals in London to support continued business growth: Charlene Malik joins the Multi-Sector Bonds team; Pauline Quirin joins the Asset-Backed Securities team; and Johnathan Owen joins the Outcome Driven team.