Leston Welsh joins Prudential Group Insurance as head of Disability and Absence Management

Business Wire

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Prudential Group Insurance today announced that Leston Welsh has joined the firm as vice president, head of Disability and Absence Management. In this role he is responsible for defining and executing the strategic direction for disability and absence management products, services, and capabilities. Welsh succeeds Jake Biscoglio, who is leading a business development initiative for the Workplace Solutions Group. Prudential Group Insurance is a unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

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Leston Welsh, vice president, head of Disability and Absence Management for Prudential Group Insurance (Photo: Business Wire)

Welsh joins Prudential from Unum where most recently he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Starmount Insurance Company, accountable for IT, claims, call center, enrollment, billing, implementation, account management and compliance across the individual life and dental/vision business segments. During his tenure at Unum, as vice president of individual disability insurance operations and market development, Welsh had profit and loss accountability and oversaw the redesign of the company’s sales and operational model to address growing market emphasis on voluntary offerings. Welsh came to Unum from Sun Life Financial where, starting in 2008, he led projects that included developing and resetting the company’s voluntary product strategy and improving data analytics.

Welsh, who will report to Jim Gemus, senior vice president and head of product and business segments for Prudential Group Insurance, is responsible for successfully delivering on product portfolio vision and maximizing profitability through the creation and effective ongoing management of product offerings. In addition, he will build and mentor a team of talented leaders across the Disability and Absence Management business, and provide leadership of other areas including the Health and Productivity Analytics and Consulting Practice.

“Leston brings to Prudential broad multi-disciplinary experience, including voluntary benefits, sales and operations, risk management and actuarial,” said Gemus. “We are thrilled to have him join Prudential Group Insurance.”

Welsh, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the City University of New York’s Baruch College, is a fellow in the Society of Actuaries and speaks at industry conferences on leadership, individual and group insurance products, disability and enrollment.

About Prudential Group Insurance

Prudential Group Insurance manufactures and distributes a full range of group life, long-term and short-term disability and corporate and trust-owned life insurance in the U.S. to institutional clients primarily for use within employee and membership benefit plans. The business also sells critical illness, accidental death and dismemberment and other ancillary coverages and provides plan administrative services in connection with its insurance coverages.

About Prudential Financial, Inc.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com.

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