Ed Murphy, president of Empower Retirement, has been appointed CEO of Great-West Life and Annuity Insurance Company, the parent company of Empower.

Murphy will replace Robert Reynolds, who will serve as chairman of Great-West Lifeco U.S., the holding company of GWL&A. Reynolds will also continue to serve as CEO of Putnam Investments, also a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco.

The announcement comes weeks after GWL&A sold off most of its life insurance and annuity business in an effort to focus on its retirement plan and investment management businesses.

In his new role, Murphy will continue as president of Empower Retirement, as well as oversee Great-West Investments. Empower was formed in 2014 and administers about 39,000 workplace retirement plans.

Great-West Lifeco U.S. is owned by Great-West Lifeco, based in Winnipeg, Canada.

Empower and Putman Investment drove growth for the U.S. arm of Lifeco in 2018. Empower reported a 6 percent increase in participant accounts, from 8.3 million to 8.8 million. In 2017, Empower's participant base grew at twice the industry average for retirement plan record keepers.

Sales of Putnam Investments mutual funds and institutional assets increased 53 percent in 2018.

Prior to his appointment as president of Empower in 2014, Murphy was the managing director of Putnam's DCIO business.

Instant Insights /

Empower's Murphy named CEO of Great-West

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