NEW YORK — ING Advisors Network Inc. has reshuffled key spots in its top management ranks, with its president, Valerie Brown, leaving to become executive vice president of wealth management and annuities for ING U.S. Financial Services.
Both companies are units of ING Groep NV of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Atlanta-based ING Advisors Network, the largest independent-contractor-broker-dealer network in terms of head count, with 8,880 affiliated advisers and representatives, tapped network veteran Randall Ciccati to take over Ms. Brown’s position.
Mr. Ciccati is president of PrimeVest Financial Services Inc. of St. Cloud. Minn., one of four broker-dealers in the network.
The other three are Financial Network Investment Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., ING Financial Partners Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa, and Multi-Financial Securities Corp. of Denver.
John Simmers remains chief executive of the network.
Pacific Life Insurance Co. of Newport Beach, Calif., this month agreed to sell three of its broker-dealers to
LPL Financial Services of Boston and San Diego. That move has led some in the industry to question other insurance companies’ dedication to independent-contractor broker-dealers.
“I think ING is very committed to distribution through its broker-dealers and the vision broker-dealers bring,” said Mr. Ciccati, who also was head of advisory services for ING Advisors Network.
He stressed that advisory assets, now at more than $13 billion, have doubled over the past two years and that ING will focus on training advisers who want to build their advisory business, as well as enter that business.
ING Advisors Network is “looking to be aggressive,” said one recruiter, Mitch Vigeveno, president and chief executive of Turning Point Inc. of Safety Harbor, Fla. The firm is “very committed to managers and helping them build their businesses,” he said, adding that a couple of the network’s firms potentially could look to make acquisitions.
During Mr. Ciccati’s tenure, PrimeVest completed three acquisitions and designed a brokerage platform, SmartWorks, which later was used by the entire network.
He said that one of his first priorities will be to talk to advisers.
“I’m going to hit the field and see what [advisers’] needs are,” Mr. Ciccati said, adding that the firms have several conferences in the next two to three months.
Catherine Bonneau, chief operating officer at PrimeVest, was promoted to president, while Kevin Laraia, the chief operating officer at ING Financial Partners, was promoted to that same position at ING Advisors Network.
