New hires

ING Groep NV of Amsterdam, Netherlands, has appointed X. Rick Niu, 35, as executive vice president and chief…

ING Groep NV of Amsterdam, Netherlands, has appointed X. Rick Niu, 35, as executive vice president and chief growth officer of its U.S. insurance group. In this newly created role, he will lead growth marketing efforts for the business, and report to Catherine Smith, chief executive of ING’s U.S. insurance group.
In addition, Atlanta-based ING U.S. Financial Services has named Daniel P. Mulheran president of its life insurance distribution organization. He will be responsible for the daily sales of life insurance policies. Mr. Mulheran, 57, previously served as executive vice president and head of the independent-general-agency distribution channel.

Stanford Financial Group Co. of Houston has hired Richard Hardy as senior vice president, research sales, in its Atlanta office. Mr. Hardy, 62, has spent the majority of his career with the global investment banking and brokerage division of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York, most recently as director and equity coordinator.
Stanford also has hired Alejandro Reyes as a financial adviser in its private-client-group office in Miami. He will focus on the firm’s Latin American client base. Mr. Reyes, 43, was a premier international relationship manager at Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp.

Fixed Income Securities LP of Monument, Colo., has named Michael Segal to head its new capital markets group. Mr. Segal, 43, will be responsible for all primary and secondary trading activity, as well as managing the day-to-day affairs of the risked-based-trading offices located throughout the country. Previously, he served as vice president, director of fixed income, at Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., where he managed the retail-taxable-trading desk for middle-market accounts.

Jackson National Life Insurance Co. in Lansing, Mich., has promoted Jim Binder to senior vice president and treasurer, from vice president of finance and corporate strategy. In his new role, Mr. Binder, 44, is responsible primarily for overseeing the cash management and long-term financial planning processes across the U.S. operations of
London-based Prudential PLC, Jackson’s corporate parent.

New York Life Insurance Co. has promoted Gary Scofield to senior vice president and chief actuary, from deputy chief actuary. Mr. Scofield, 48, is now responsible for the office of the chief actuary, overseeing companywide actuarial activities, including certifying company reserves, establishing appropriate capital requirements and overseeing business unit product pricing. He also is responsible for all actuarial staffing and talent development, and for ensuring high standards of actuarial practice.

KBW Asset Management Inc., a subsidiary of New York-based investment bank KBW Inc., has named John B. Wimsatt managing director and portfolio manager for the KBW Financial Services Fund and the KBW Small Cap Services Fund. Mr. Wimsatt, 33, was a portfolio manager and analyst focusing on financial stocks at Levin Capital Strategies LLC in New York.

Pacific West Financial Group Inc. in Renton, Wash., has promoted Ryan Hixon, 35, to chief operations officer, from manager of operations.

The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., has named Jeffrey Daniels, 47, director of training and sales. He will be responsible for marketing all of the company’s non-designation/ degree and customized programs to existing and new corporate clients in an effort to assist organizations with their corporate training and employee development needs. The American College provides seminars and training for employees in the financial services sector.

Trust Company of America in Englewood, Colo., has appointed David Runberg, 54, chief financial officer.
He held senior-level finance officer positions at Big O Tires Inc. in Englewood, where he led the finance, credit and information technology teams, and at Invesco Private Capital in New York.

MarketCounsel LLC, an Englewood, N.J.-based compliance consulting firm, has hired Tammy Patel, 42, as its national audit manager. She will be responsible for managing the compliance training, due diligence, compliance reviews and audits for members of MarketCounsel’s RIA Institute for Compliance Management and Custom Consulting platforms.

Nationwide Financial Services Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, has named Eric Henderson, 44, head of its
individual-investments group, which includes fixed and variable annuities.
He will be responsible for all aspects of the segment, including managing profitability, executing strategic initiatives, driving strategic positioning and product development, and overseeing operational efficiencies.

Genworth Financial Inc. in Richmond, Va., has named Chris Grady, 50, president of its retirement income business. He spent the last 12 years at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., beginning as an estate and business insurance specialist, and eventually becoming managing director in charge of distribution for all of the New York firm’s retail-banking businesses.

Sentinel Asset Management in Montpelier, Vt., has hired Ken Johnson, 48, as an assistant vice president and equity analyst for its mid-cap team. He will focus on the cyclical industries of energy, materials and processing, industrials and business services. Mr. Johnson comes to Sentinel after six years at ClearBridge Advisors LLC in New York, where he was a senior research analyst and assistant portfolio manager on the small-cap-growth fund.

State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of Boston-based State Street Corp., has added Gregory Zipoli and Christopher Logue to its intermediary-business group.
Mr. Zipoli, 37, has been appointed regional consultant, focusing on supporting the RIA and family office channels in the Midwest. Most recently, he served as a vice president at Pershing LLC in Jersey City, N.J.
Mr. Logue, 37, has been appointed regional consultant, focusing on supporting national, regional and independent-broker-dealer firms in the Northeast. Most recently, he served as an investment solutions consultant for UBS Financial Services Inc. of New York, providing sales, marketing and educational support to financial advisers.

Northern Trust Corp. of Chicago has named executive vice president Gregg D. Behrens, 54, head of Asia-Pacific for its corporate- and-institutional-services business unit. Mr. Behrens, who will move to Singapore from Chicago, will be responsible for all of Northern Trust’s businesses and operations in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia; Bangalore, India; China; Hong Kong; Japan; New Zealand; and Singapore.

VSR Financial Services Inc. in Overland Park, Kan., has hired Christopher B. Radford, 48, as its president.
He was executive vice president of national sales at AIG Financial Advisors Inc. in Phoenix.