Retirement Industry People Moves

Art by Subin Yang

Ascensus Acquires Retirement and Benefits Solution Adviser

Ascensus has acquired Beneco from Alpine Investors. The firm, which offers a full suite of recordkeeping, third-party administration (TPA), and benefit plan consulting services, will immediately become part of the FuturePlan by Ascensus line of business.

“At FuturePlan, we understand that contractors face unique challenges when it comes to creating and managing an employee benefits plan while keeping the cost of their bids down,” states Jerry Bramlett, head of FuturePlan. “Beneco is one of the largest prevailing wage specialists in the country—adding their significant scale and unrivaled expertise to the FuturePlan team will allow us to help prevailing wage businesses to build a better future for their employees while giving them the ability to be more competitive with their contract bids.”

“For more than 30 years, Beneco has partnered with prevailing wage businesses all over the country to help them provide their employees with comprehensive benefits and valuable retirement plans,” states Kristy Bryson, Beneco’s chief executive officer. “We have invested time and resources to successfully position our business for the future and are excited to execute on new growth opportunities as part of FuturePlan.”

AndCo Names New Senior Consultant

AndCo has hired Gwelda Swilley as a senior consultant. Swilley joins the firm with over 25 years of investment consulting and leadership experience. 

Swilley viously served as a senior vice president and senior consultant with Callan Associates.  Prior to joining Callan, she served as a managing consultant with Gray & Co. and held early career development consulting positions at both LCG and Watson Wyatt. Swilley will be based in Atlanta and will work to expand the company’s presence across the country. She will service all plan types within the institutional space.

Swilley received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in international relations and affairs from Florida State University.

Private Equity Director Joins Hirtle Callaghan

Hirtle Callaghan announced that Stephen Vaccaro has joined the firm as director of Private Equity. Vaccaro is an investment professional with more than 15 years of experience in endowment management and consulting, including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and BCG.

Vaccaro is working closely with Hirtle Callaghan’s investment team to oversee private equity investment efforts on behalf of the firm’s family, endowment, foundation, health care and pension clients. He reports to Dan McCollum, deputy chief investment officer, who leads the firm’s manager selection and is himself an endowment veteran, having joined Hirtle Callaghan from Brown University. Vaccaro also serves as a member of Hirtle Callaghan’s Investment Policy Committee and Investment Strategy Committee.

“We are excited to welcome a professional of Stephen’s caliber to the investment team at a time when private equity is an increasingly important component of our clients’ portfolios,” says McCollum. “Stephen brings an impressive track record leading private equity investments and a robust relationship network of talented fund managers. We are certain that his extensive experience at two of the world’s most prestigious university endowments will further enhance our ability to identify and access top performing private equity managers.” 

Vaccaro joins Hirtle Callaghan from the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Investments. As a senior team member, he played an active role in investment committee discussions across public equity, private equity, real assets and absolute return strategies.

Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania, Vaccaro was a senior team member at Princeton University’s $26 billion endowment, where he worked in private investments across buyouts, venture capital, natural resources and real estate. Before Princeton, he served as a principal in BCG’s New York and Moscow offices, where he led numerous projects for private equity firms, investment banks, global corporations, and start-up ventures. Vaccaro holds a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree from Yale University. He is also a CFA charterholder. 

Empower Retirement Selects Chief Product Officer

Empower Retirement appointed Tina Wilson as senior vice president chief product officer, where she will lead the product strategy and delivery of retirement plan and retail products.

The appointment will be effective on September 9, and she will report to Empower President and CEO Edmund Murphy.

In her role, Wilson will lead a team of 35 professionals responsible for product development while collaborating with teams across the organization, including technology, marketing and client experience.

“Tina will drive product vision, lead and collaborate with teams across our organization to ensure that we are a leader in providing our customers the best experience,” says Murphy. “We are in an exciting time in our company and in our industry. Our customers’ expectations are evolving and changing rapidly and we continue to innovate, bringing them a personalized customer experience.”

Wilson joins Empower Retirement from MassMutual Financial Group having led both retirement and investment product teams at MassMutual. 

She has more than 25 years of industry experience in numerous leadership roles. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, has a CFA credential and is an accredited investment fiduciary.