Employee benefits newsmakersADP, SmartDollar, Wellbeats, Wagner Law Group, NTSA, Pentegra,Paladina Health, OneAmerica, and more. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Good news about employee benefits new hires, mergers, awardwinners, promotions, and more. Here's what crossed our desk:

Wellbeatsannounced Mark Kingsriter as company fitnessdirector. Kingsriter, an instructor with the virtual, on-demandfitness company since 2013, will guide its overall fitnessphilosophy.

TheWagner Law Group announced that attorney Israel (Izzy)Goldowitz has joined its Washington, D.C. office as aPartner. While Chief Counsel for the Pension BenefitGuaranty Corporation (PBGC), Goldowitz led the legal teamsthat helped save the pensions of such companies as Chrysler andAmerican Airlines.

The City of Santa Ana (California) and theOhio Association of Professional Fire Fightershave both selected Prudential Retirement, a business unit ofPrudential Financial, as recordkeeper for their public sectorretirement plans.  For the City of Santa Ana, Prudentialwill oversee $110.4 million in assets under management, covering1,171 participants as of October 1, 2018. For the Ohio Associationof Professional Fire Fighters, Prudential will oversee $100 millionin retirement assets, covering 2,633 participants as of December31, 2018. Ron Palanca of LPL Financial is the advisor of the plan,which transitioned in December 2018.

Pentegraannounced that Vishi Jones has been promoted toVice President, Defined Contribution Client Services. Jones willoversee the management of Pentegra's defined contributionrelationship management team, participant call center, complianceand client transition teams, responsible for the day-to-day serviceand administration of Pentegra's defined contribution clients,participants and advisor-partners.

PaladinaHealth has acquired Activate Healthcare,creating one of the largest providers of value-based primary careacross the United States serving more than 170,000 patients in 18states. In 2018, Paladina Health announced its acquisition by NewEnterprise Associates (NEA), as well as a follow-on financing roundfrom NEA, Oak HC/FT, Alta Partners, Greenspring Associates andother strategic investors.

OneAmericaRetirement Services has named Lynne Smith to anew role leading Strategy and Business Development for the RSdivision. Smith will be responsible for business and plandevelopment, product development and execution, growth and servicemodel strategies, participant services (including education) andenrollment functions. Smith will report directly to OneAmericaRetirement Services president Sandy McCarthy.

The NationalTax-Deferred Savings Association announced the 2019 finalistsfor its Elite Advisor Award. It recognizes thecontributions of advisors who have advanced best practice standardsin the 403(b) and/or 457(b) retirement industry. Chosen from thegroup of 17 semifinalists, these are the 2019NTSA Elite Advisor Award finalists:

• Tana Barker, Inspire Financial Group, McKinney, TX;Broker-Dealer, PlanMember Securities
• Leasa Huffman, ChFC, CLU, FLMI, OFG Financial Services,Wakarusa, KS; Broker-Dealer, OFG Financial Services, Inc.
• Gary Immink, Williams & Co. Financial Solutions,Grandville, MI; Broker-Dealer, PlanMember Securities
• Walter Keys, CFP, CRPS, CAPTRUST, Raleigh, NC; Broker-Dealer,CAPFINANCIAL SECURITIES, LLC
• Thomas Kopsie, ChFC, CLU, Kades-Margolis Corporation, PlymouthMeeting, PA; Broker-Dealer, GWN Securities, Inc.
• Randal Lupi, RPS, AXA Advisors, Novelty, OH; Broker-Dealer, AXAAdvisors
• Kenneth McInerney, CPFA, Lincoln Investment, Clay, NY;Broker-Dealer, Lincoln Investment
• Erik Peterson, Financial Alternatives, Wanatchee, WA;Broker-Dealer, PlanMember Securities Corporation
• Michelle Tomei, CRC, M3 Investment Services, Royal Oak, MI;Broker-Dealer, Lincoln Investment
• Don Wade, CFP, Lincoln Investment, Downers Grove, IL;Broker-Dealer, Lincoln Investment
• David Wolfe, EFS Advisors, Coon Rapids, MN; Broker-Dealer,Advanced Advisor Group
• Robert Young, One2One Wealth Strategies, Glendale, AZ;Broker-Dealer, PlanMember Securities

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance(MassMutual), has appointed three new managing directorsto support sales of 401(k)s and other defined contributionretirement plans in the emerging or small-business market:

• Brandon Campbell is responsible for retirement plan sales inTennessee.
• Tony Robke supports sales of retirement plans in in Cincinnati,Ohio and Kentucky.
• Daniel Tobin supports sales of retirement plans in New YorkCity, covering Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx.

Hodges-Mace announced the SmartBen Bridge program forbenefit partners and vendors where they can connect to provide asuperior benefits delivery experience for their mutual clients. TheSmartBen Bridge program information resides on Hodges-Mace'swebsite, where multiple pages have been created for eachstakeholder with individual pages into each vendor partnership.

Hand Benefits& Trust (HB&T), a BPAS company, announced the additionof Chris Hewitt as its Sales Consultant,Institutional Trust. Hewitt will deliver the full suite of theHB&T Collective Investment Fund (CIF) solutions to assetmanagers, retirement plan advisors and recordkeepers across thenation.

FourTwenty Seven announced that Founder & CEO, EmilieMazzacurati, has been named to The Top 100 Magazine's, Top100 in Finance for 2019. Emilie founded Four Twenty Seven in 2012,just after Hurricane Sandy, to provide market intelligence on theimpacts of climate change for financial markets.

Corporate Insight announced the winners of its annualMonitor Awards, recognizing digital innovation and best practiceswithin the financial services and health care industries. Firmshonored included the following, which won gold medals:

• Asset Management – Advisor Monitor: J.P. Morgan, for itsimproved navigation and content organization and thecomprehensiveness of fund details.
• Asset Management – Investor Monitor: Fidelity, for its estateplanning resources, including a tool for registered investors thatorganizes family and financial documents to generate an actionplan.
• Retirement Plan Monitor — Fidelity, for adding a personalizedsection to its participant homepage that encourages action items toimprove financial wellness.
• Healthcare Monitor — Cigna, for its member site experience,which lets users conduct health assessments and use providerlocator tools in Spanish.
• Life Insurance Monitor — MassMutual, for its advisor siteapplication education that includes product-specific guides withkey application elements for each policy, and dedicated resourcesfor client medical interviews, policy changes and termconversions.
• Annuity Monitor — Vanguard, for its predictive public sitesearch, which features popular term definitions, helpfulsuggestions when a query yields no results or is misspelled, andthe only result filters in the coverage group.

In partnership with CommonBond, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles(FCA) US announced that it added a student loanrefinancing program to its package of benefits offered to salariedemployees. FCA US salaried employees with student loan debt, aswell as employees with federal government-backed Parent PLUS loans,are now eligible to refinance these loans through the program withpreferred terms.

The Center forWorkforce Health and Performance announced that DebraLerner, MSc, PhD has been named Chairperson ofthe organization's Board of Directors. Dr. Lerner, a member of theseven-person CWHP Board since November 2017, replaces Thomas Parry,PhD, President of the Integrated Benefits Institute.

HR software platform provider BerniePortalhas partnered with the jobs website, Indeed. Jobscreated in BerniePortal will be delivered to Indeed via a feed.Candidates can apply to open positions within Indeed'smobile-optimized interface, and applications and responses appeardirectly in BerniePortal. After the recruitment process iscomplete, BerniePortal facilitates onboarding and benefitsenrollment for successful applicants.

AM Best released the rankings of the world's largestglobal insurance companies. Here are the top 10 global insurersranked by 2017 NPW: 1. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedStates 2. AXA S.A., France 3. China Life Insurance (Group) Company,China 4. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd., China 5.Allianz SE, Germany 6. Anthem, Inc., United States 7. KaiserFoundation Group of Health Plans, United States 8. AssicurazioniGenerali S.p.A., Italy 9. State Farm Group, United States 10.People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Ltd

ADP and its online storefront, ADP Marketplace,and SmartDollar are working together to bring financialwellness to thousands of employees and their families. SmartDollaris an online, mobile-friendly financial wellness program accessiblethrough ADP Marketplace.

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