Symetra Aligns Retirement Distribution Under Two Channel Leaders
BELLEVUE, Wash.—(Oct. 19, 2022)—Signaling a continued commitment to investing in its retirement distribution channels to meet the needs of a changing market landscape, Symetra Life Insurance Company announced the promotion of Dayna Cerrone to vice president, channel head for the bank and wirehouse channels, a new role. Ms. Cerrone joins Kevin McGarry, vice president, independent broker-dealer (IBD) channel, in leading Symetra’s core distribution channels. The executives report to Andrew Farrell, senior vice president, Retirement Sales, Distribution and Marketing.
“Symetra’s story for Retirement Distribution this year has been one of transformation and growth. We are focused on empowering our partners through a strong product portfolio, competitive pricing and outstanding support. Central to that commitment is our continued investment in our sales and distribution,” said Andrew Farrell. “Dayna Cerrone is a highly regarded leader with long-established connections with our bank and wirehouse distribution partners and is widely respected for her industry knowledge, sales acumen and integrity. Kevin McGarry’s deep industry experience has been critical to our ongoing expansion in the independent broker-dealer channel, where we have already doubled the number of territories in this space. Together, Dayna and Kevin’s roles provide a more focused leadership structure to guide our retirement sales and distribution strategy.”
Most recently vice president, Western Division, Ms. Cerrone joined Symetra in 2013 and is a veteran financial professional whose 30-year career encompasses roles as financial advisor, external wholesaler and corporate sales trainer at multiple financial institutions including Transamerica, AIG and American Express. In her new role, Ms. Cerrone assumes leadership for the Retirement Division’s field sales teams and relationship management in the bank and wire distribution channel.
Mr. McGarry joined Symetra in November 2021 following 10 years at Nationwide Financial where his most recent role was vice president and national sales manager for mutual fund distribution. Prior to Nationwide, he worked for MFS Investment Service Groups, Alliance Bernstein, and Travelers Insurance in roles that include divisional vice president, mutual fund wholesaler, and annuity wholesaler. Responsible for establishing the vision and strategy for growing Symetra's annuity brand and sales across the independent broker-dealer channel, Mr. McGarry has been building a team of wholesalers to provide valuable solutions for retirement planning with RILA, FIA and SPIA product offerings.
Expanding marketing & sales support
To help support growth and set Symetra’s retirement sales and marketing teams up for sustained, long-term success, the company also announced that Courtney Ellis, formerly vice president, Internal Sales, will take on an expanded role that now includes retirement product marketing, as VP, Retirement Marketing, Internal Sales and Sales Effectiveness.
Ms. Ellis joined Symetra in 2012 as a product specialist in the Retirement Division before moving into internal wholesaling. She was promoted to assistant director, Internal Sales & Distribution in 2016, when she took on additional responsibilities for the internal relationship management and suitability teams, as well as broker-dealer operations. Ms. Ellis was named AVP, Internal Sales & Distribution in 2019, and her leadership of the internal sales desk played a major part in the pivot to virtual wholesaling during the pandemic. She was promoted to vice president in 2022.
About Symetra
Symetra Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation, a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Washington. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent financial professionals and insurance producers. For more information, visit www.symetra.com.
