Wells Fargo, Manulife John Hancock, Savant announce leadership appointments

Industry players continue to bolster their leadership teams as competition and economic challenges intensify the need to drive growth.

Among the appointments announced in the last week are veteran names joining Wells Fargo, Manulife John Hancock, and Savant.

At Wells Fargo, Tim Froehlich will become head of Investment Products within the firm’s Wealth & Investment Management business from January 1, 2026. He has been with the firm for 23 years, most recently leading Insurance, Annuities, and Market-Linked Investments within WIM. He previously co-led the Alternative Investments Group. 

“As we grow the investment products business, Tim’s vision and expertise will strengthen our ability to deliver innovative solutions for advisors and clients,” said Darrell Cronk, WIM chief investment officer. “His focus on client-centricity, leadership in product origination and portfolio improvement, and more than 20 years in alternative investments make him an ideal choice to sustain WIM’s leadership in this space.”

Froehlich’s brief will be to lead strategy and manage the product platform across products including advisory, structured notes, retirement services, packaged products, alternative investments, insurance, and annuities. 

He will take on the role as Patty Loepker retires from the firm in March next year after more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, Manulife John Hancock Retirement has also announced a new head of product. Anne Thibeault joins the firm from Empower and will lead Product Strategy and Transformation, Product Delivery, and the Benefits Consulting Group.

Thibeault has 20 years of industry experience and at Empower she held roles including senior vice president, head of Empower Advisory Group and vice president, head of Product Delivery.

At Savant Wealth Management, there’s a new chief people officer as Matt Lane moves across from the private equity industry where he was interim chief people office for several portfolio companies in the wealth management space. Lane has more than 25 years in human capital management.

“Matt’s experience in building high-performing cultures and driving strategic talent initiatives makes him the right choice to help us strengthen our talent initiatives and achieve our strategic goals,” said Brent Brodeski, founder and CEO of Savant Wealth Management. “Moving to the next level of success will require that we maintain our excellent culture and high employee engagement, while recruiting, developing, and retaining top talent.”