Palisades Hudson Prepares for West Coast Expansion

Breneman most recently served with New England Financial for seven years as senior vice president. He was responsible for the company’s distribution channel, which included more than 2100 representatives in 35 sales offices across the country. Prior to that, he was regional vice president for MetLife, where he started his career in the field in 1987.

A graduate of Delaware Valley College, Breneman holds his FINRA Series 7 and 24 licenses as a registered representative of Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc. 1847Financial, formerly known as Independence Financial Associates, is The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company’s agency serving Philadelphia and the surrounding area.

James Poterba, Mitsui Professor of Economics at MIT, is to receive the award for Achievement in Applied Retirement Research, sponsored by Research Magazine / AdvisorOne.com. The award will be presented at the Retirement Income Industry Association’s Annual Fall Conference and Awards Gala to be held at the historic Omni Parker House in Boston on Oct. 4-5.

Dr. Poterba is also the president of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society. He is the past president of the National Tax Association, a former vice president of the American Economic Association, and a former director of the American Finance Association.

Poterba’s research focuses on how taxation affects the economic decisions of households and firms. His recent work has emphasized the effect of taxation on the financial behavior of households, particularly their saving and portfolio decisions. He has been interested in the analysis of tax-deferred retirement saving programs such as 401(k) plans and in the role of annuities in financing retirement consumption.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, Minneapolis, Minn., has named Janelle Walter the new director of life insurance sales in the Marketing division. Walter will be responsible for the development and execution of life insurance marketing strategies to drive life insurance sales. She will lead the collaboration among multiple divisions directing the strategic vision for all life insurance product marketing programs and will report to Doug Koenen, vice president of Distribution Marketing for Allianz Life.

Walter has spent her entire professional career with Allianz Life, starting with the company in 2002 as an internal wholesaler in Sales. Most recently, she was the life insurance marketing manager where she led the development of marketing collateral and strategic planning. In her 10 years with Allianz Life, Walter also held a role as a principal marketing analyst working with cross-functional teams to build marketing campaigns and as a marketing communications specialist.

Walter received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing at Montana State University in Billings. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in strategic communication management from Concordia University in Saint Paul, Minn. Walter holds a Minnesota Life and Health license.

Aflac Incorporated, Columbus, Ga., has promoted Eric M. Kirsch to executive vice president, Global Investments, while continuing as global chief investment officer reporting to Kenneth S. Janke Jr., executive vice president and deputy chief financial officer of Aflac Incorporated.

Kirsch joined Aflac in November 2011 as first senior vice president; global chief investment officer. In his role, he will remain responsible for management of Aflac’s $109 billion investment portfolio and its team of more than 50 investment professionals. He will continue to oversee the company’s investment efforts from the newly established Wall Street office.

Before joining Aflac, Kirsch most recently served as managing director and global head of insurance asset management, including portfolio management, insurance advisory services and distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Kirsch was recruited by GSAM to create a dedicated global insurance business. In that capacity, he managed a global team of more than 55 professionals and was instrumental in elevating GSAM’s reputation as an insurance asset manager. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, he spent 27 combined years at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) and Bankers Trust Company, most recently serving as managing director and global head of insurance asset management. At DeAM, Kirsch was responsible for a staff of more than 100 people including teams in North America, Europe and Asia and oversaw total insurance assets of more than $150 billion while a member of the Global Operating Committee of DeAM. Prior to this, Kirsch served as managing director and head of North America Fixed Income, responsible for more than $150 billion of assets across institutional and retail clients and multiple fixed income investment strategies. He also previously served as vice president and stable value portfolio manager at Bankers Trust Company. Kirsch received a bachelor of business administration in business and finance from Baruch College in 1984, and a master’s of business administration from Pace University in 1988. He earned his CFA designation in 1990.