Retirement Industry People Moves 

Jason Crane Joins Lincoln Financial to Lead Retirement Plan Services 

Jason Crane will join Lincoln Financial as senior vice president and president of the retirement plan services business, replacing Ralph Ferraro, who will retire from Lincoln at the end of September. 

Jason Crane

Crane will be a member of Lincoln’s corporate leadership group and oversee all strategy and execution for Lincoln’s RPS business. He will report to Jimmy Reid, president of workplace solutions, which includes the company’s retirement business, as well as its group benefits business. 

Crane joins Lincoln from Ascensus, where he was head of core retirement. He has 25-plus years of experience, including his work at Ascensus since 2018. Before Ascensus, he held multiple roles at Transamerica. 

Vanguard Taps Natalie Lamarque as Chief Legal Officer 

Natalie Lamarque will join Vanguard as chief legal officer, succeeding Tonya T. Robinson. Lamarque will be responsible for legal and compliance activities, public policy and investment management. She will also become managing director of Vanguard’s legal division, secretary of the Vanguard board of directors and secretary of the Vanguard funds. 

Lamarque joins Vanguard from Principal Financial Group, where she served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary since 2022. Prior to Principal, she was the senior vice president and general counsel at New York Life Insurance Co. 

Connecticut Governor Appoints TRA’s Livingston to Advisory Board 

Grant Livingston

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont appointed Grant Livingston, a regional plan consultant at the Retirement Advantage Inc., to the Connecticut Retirement Security Advisory Board, which oversees the state’s MyCTSavings program. The initiative was designed to expand access to retirement plans for private sector employees without workplace options. 

Livingston has nearly 40 years of financial services experience and 28 years in retirement planning, including leadership and consulting roles at Transamerica, MassMutual, First Mercantile Trust, and Wisdom Tree Asset Management. At TRA, he partners with financial advisers, retirement plan wholesalers and plan sponsors to create compliant and cost-efficient retirement plans. 

Pirrello to Join DCIIA as COO in 2026 

Nikki Pirrello

The Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association announced that Nikki Pirrello has joined as a strategic adviser through the end of the year and will become chief operating officer in January 2026. Pirrello, who previously served as president and publisher of Pensions & Investments, will report to DCIIA President and CEO Lew Minsky. As COO, Pirrello will oversee operations, member engagement and strategic initiatives, as well as serving as executive director of the plan sponsor institute.