Lincoln Expands Intermediary Sales Force

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

Wholesale financial services distributor Lincoln Financial Distributors (LFD) has hired three new regional sales directors to expand its intermediary retirement plan sales force and offer more service to retirement plan advisors, the company said.

The new hires are Brian Lighty, Todd Engman and Andrea Donaldson, each of whom have nearly 10 years or more of experience in the industry, the company said. The three new managers report to Drew Disher, LFD’s western divisional manager.

Peter Sims, head of Lincoln’s Intermediary Retirement Plan Sales, said the new managers would help LFD provide “even more personalized attention to advisors.”

“This expansion reinforces our commitment to providing our partners and advisors with superior quality solutions and services,” he said in a news release. LFD distributes financial products and services for Lincoln Financial Group.

Lighty will cover northern Illinois. Engman will be responsible for western Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Donaldson has oversight of Arizona, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, the company also said.

Lighty, a former Marine Corps corporal, has more than 18 years of experience. He held previous sales positions for ING Corporate Markets in Chicago, and Columbia Management and Putnam Investments, both in Boston.

Engman has nearly 10 years of experience, and served as a business development manager for Ameriprise Financial in Minneapolis, and for Baker Tilly Investment Advisors in Madison, Wis.

Donaldson has more than a decade of experience working with qualified retirement plans. She previously worked as vice president of business development for Boyce & Associates in Scottsdale, Ariz., and held a variety of roles at Anheuser-Busch in Chicago and Phoenix.

LFD is the wholesale distribution arm for Lincoln Financial Group, one of the largest financial services companies in the country. The three new managers will be responsible for wholesaling financial products to financial advisors and representatives.

With more than $5.3 trillion socked away in defined contribution retirement plans, and an additional $5.7 trillion in individual retirement accounts, selling products and services into this huge market is big business.

And it’s about to get bigger as Congress and employers decide how best to buttress the private defined contribution plan system.

An analysis released earlier this month by the Investment Company Institute, the American Council of Life Insurers and the American Benefits Council underscores the importance of the defined contribution system as a mainstay of retirement savings for tens of millions of workers and managers.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at [email protected].

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Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at [email protected].