Bank of America Merrill Lynch exec named to lead ING broker-dealer

ING U.S., one of the nation's largest insurers, Thursday named an executive from Bank of America Corp.'s mass-affluent brokerage business to lead its broker-dealer. Thomas Halloran, who was the managing director overseeing product strategy and acquisition for Merrill Edge, will be president of ING Financial Partners, ING spokeswoman Maggie Dietrich said in a statement. Merrill Edge is Bank of America Corp.'s self-directed online brokerage business for mass-affluent customers. (Dive Deeper: How does ING rank in annual broker payouts?) Mr. Halloran replaces Karl Lindberg, who the firm said will develop and oversee IFP's advisory practice and service model. Mr. Halloran will start Nov. 18. The broker-dealer is a unit of ING U.S., an insurance, investment and retirement-plan provider that is soon re-branding as Voya Financial after being spun off by its Dutch owners.