Reader Responses April 8, 2019

SURVEY SAYS: 2019 NCAA Tournament Winner

The 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament champion will be determined today.

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Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, “Which of the final four would you like to see win the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament?”

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University of Virginia was the favored winner, with 32% of responding readers choosing it. This was followed by Michigan State University, selected by 24% of respondents. Texas Tech was chosen by 13.3% and Auburn University by 9.3%. “Any team but Michigan State” was selected by 2.7% of respondents, and 18.7% said they don’t care who wins.

Among the few respondents who chose to leave verbatim comments, some gave reasons for their selections, including rooting for underdogs. A couple expressed pleasure that teams that have never won were in the final four. Several expressed their views that sports should not be a focus of educational institutions and can lead to, as respondent put it, “questionable ethical decisions.” There is no Editor’s Choice this week, but a big thank you to all who responded.

Verbatim

I have a dream that colleges and universities actually focus on education rather than serving as a minor league for professional sports.

I don’t care at all for basketball — bring on the Stanley Cup playoffs!!

Michigan State to win my bracket!

It would be great to see Virginia rebound from the biggest upset in tourney history as #1 losing to a #16 last year to being the champion the following year.

It’s my favorite time of the year!

Since we (Villanova) could not be back, glad to see some ‘newbies.’

I’m disgusted by the corrupting effects of the massive dollar flows in and out of these programs. These are supposed to be universities, i.e., educational institutions. With athletics, they stray far from their mission, which leads them to make questionable ethical decisions.

I’m so happy that there are three teams in that have never won a National Championship!

Tom Izzo deserves a win, what a fantastic coach. I don’t even live in Michigan and I think that!

I have been paying tuition for the last 5 years, it seems fitting my youngest graduates with his Masters and the Auburn Tigers win it all! WAR EAGLE!!!!!!

Don’t watch basketball, but would want Texas Tech to win.

Corruption at its highest level.

I enjoy doing a bracket each year, less about being in the top of my pool, and more about just being able to say I beat my husband! 🙂

As long as Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky are out it really doesn’t much matter! I’ve already won!

Why not?

While my response is “don’t care” it is not because I don’t care about the sport. I love the sport and I enjoy seeing these four institutions make it to the Final Four as they are not the typical powerhouse institutions that usually make it. As such, I will be watching but don’t care when team wins it all.

As NCAA tournaments go, this one was a tad disappointing. No big upsets in the early rounds, and while there were some great overtime games in cutting the sweet 16 down to the elite 8, I find myself looking at the Final 4, and thinking – so what? Thank goodness, it’s time for baseball!

I choose Texas Tech because that is where the best NFL quarterback (Patrick Mahomes in case you didn’t know) is from!

UVA has never won the tournament and my niece went there so I have to route for them.

I’m not sure I will have the opportunity to watch, but if I do, I just hope they are good games!

How great would it be for UVA to go from losing in the first round to winning it all the next? You win some, you learn from some.

I’d be happy with any of them winning. I enjoy rooting for the underdog and glad to see some of them made it to the final four.

I have been a fan of MSU since Magic Johnson and Jay Vincent committed to attend there. Our youngest daughter almost had all four teams correctly picked. She has MSU, Virginia, Texas Tech and Kentucky. Go Green!

It’s been one of the best tournaments in recent history.

NOTE: Responses reflect the opinions of individual readers and not necessarily the stance of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) or its affiliates.
Deals and People April 5, 2019

Retirement Industry People Moves

BlackRock confirms leadership shift in retirement business; Buck selects wealth practice leader for Central region; and more.

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BlackRock Confirms Leadership Shift in Retirement Business

BlackRock’s U.S defined contribution chief Anne Ackerley has taken on additional responsibilities and will lead all retirement-focused businesses in a newly created Retirement Solutions group.

As suggested in media reports and confirmed for PLANADVISER by BlackRock, Ackerley’s purview also includes retail-oriented clients within BlackRock’s Financial Institutions Group.

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As part of the leadership shuffle, Zach Buchwald will now oversee the group serving all institutional clients in the United States and Canada.

The firm also confirmed that, in January of this year, Salim Ramji succeeded Mark Wiedman as global head of iShares. Wiedman, for his part, was promoted to head of international and of corporate strategy.

According to the most recent PLANADVISER DCIO Survey, BlackRock’s DCIO product portfolio covers more than 170 funds, including the LifePath TDF series. The firm works with nearly 70 recordkeepers and is the largest DCIO asset manager by client investment volume. According to the survey, the LifePath TDF series is the second largest in the industry, trailing only T. Rowe Price’s TDFs. The firm ranked seventh in terms of the largest increase in DCIO assets in 2017 versus 2016.

MMA Acquires Pennsylvania-Based Retirement Consulting Firm 

Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA) has acquired Centurion, the Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania-based retirement consulting, asset management, and benefit-plan advisory firm. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019. 

Established in 2006, Centurion provides institutional retirement plan consulting and fiduciary services to clients with combined plan assets in excess of $16 billion and more than 400,000 participants. Additionally, the company provides private wealth management, financial planning services, and institutional pension consulting as well as employee group benefit consulting.

Upon closing, Centurion will become part of Trion Group, a Marsh & McLennan agency. Jim Hageney, who has served as a managing partner of Centurion since its formation, will continue to lead the group.

“We are delighted to welcome Centurion’s talented and experienced retirement consulting services, investment and health professionals to MMA,” says Chris Veno, co-CEO of Trion. “The addition of Centurion will enhance our offerings and expand our expertise, especially in retirement planning, and enable us to provide even greater support to our clients.”

D.A. Davidson & Co. Add Capital Markets President

D.A. Davidson & Co. announced that Marc Dispense, an experienced capital markets leader, has joined the firm as its president of Fixed Income Capital Markets.

Dispense joins D.A. Davidson with experience in fixed income capital markets, most recently with George K. Baum & Co. in Denver, where he served as co-head of capital markets. During his 16 years in the fixed income securities industry, he has led underwriting, trading and sales teams and has provided market access for municipal bond issuers from a wide range of industries and regions. 

Dispense was hired to lead D.A. Davidson’s Fixed Income Capital Markets group with the retirement of longtime President Sam Doyle, who will remain with the firm during the leadership transition before stepping down later this year. Dispense will work from the firm’s Denver office and report directly to the CEO.

Buck Selects Wealth Practice Leader for Central Region

Buck, an integrated human resources (HR) and benefits consulting, administration, and technology services firm, announced that Arthur Noonan has been appointed wealth practice leader, Central Region. He will oversee the delivery of wealth services to Buck’s clients in the Central region.   

“Buck is known for its industry expertise and outstanding culture of client service,” says Noonan. “I view myself as a true extension of my clients’ internal team and take pride in developing a deep understanding of their business, priorities, strategy, and workforce so I can proactively bring opportunities that are relevant, timely, and results-oriented.”

“Arthur delivers timely and valuable advice to his clients, generating significant savings and improved outcomes for their workforce,” says Tonya Manning, U.S. wealth practice leader and chief actuary of Buck. “He’ll have an immediate impact on the clients he serves.”

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