Neuberger Berman bulks up with three defined-contribution wholesalers

Seeking to enlarge its footprint in the small- and mid-market-plan space, Neuberger Berman LLC has brought on a trio of new wholesalers. The firm hired MFS Investment Management Inc. veteran Tim Guay as vice president of retirement based out of San Francisco; Jae Kim, formerly with StanCorp Financial Group Inc., has joined as a vice president covering the Southwest; and Chris Walker has joined as a vice president from Fidelity Investments and will cover the South-Central region. With the new additions, Neuberger Berman's DC sales team is up to a dozen, including six external wholesalers and three internal wholesalers. Scott Kilgallen, managing director in charge of intermediary distribution for retirement services, said the firm hoped to make a bigger splash with financial advisers. “We wanted to hire people who understand the market from the plan sponsor side as well as the adviser side,” said Mr. Kilgallen, himself a Goldman Sachs Asset Management veteran who joined Neuberger Berman last October. “Understanding the needs of plan sponsors and advisers is the first thing to having credibility.” He noted that Mr. Walker had sold plans in the small and midsize market when he was with Fidelity, while the other two are no strangers to working with plan sponsors. Mr. Kilgallen noted that it was too soon to talk about sales goals for the firm's $17 billion defined-contribution business. In the meantime, the firm's efforts are concentrated on strengthening its bench. “We're less concerned about asset gathering and more about positioning ourselves with our clients,” he said. “We want to build a world-class team.”