This week in personnel announcements and new hires, Richard Rojeck was named chair of the CFP Board of Directors; Morgan Stanley named two co-heads for its commodities unit; Forethought Life Insurance Co. promoted Jason Bickler; Vanguard announced the upcoming retirement of Larry Keele; and the National Association of Fixed Annuities announced the retirement of Kim O’Brien.
Also, Rene Chaze was named chief operating officer of Edelman Financial Services; Nate Yohannes received a White House appointment; and Incapital has named John DesPrez III its new CEO.
Rojeck New CFP Board of Directors Chairman
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards announced that Richard P. Rojeck, CFP, is now chairman of its Board of Directors.
Rojeck, a managing director with Lincoln Financial Advisors, has maintained a financial planning practice for more than three decades. Prior to launching his practice in 1981, he served for six years as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
The Board of Directors elected Rojeck as Chair-elect at its July 2013 meeting and he served in that capacity in 2014. Rojeck began his duties as chair on Jan. 1.
“Along with my colleagues on the Board, I look forward to increasing the number of CFP professionals, building even greater awareness of the certification and its many benefits among those who would become certified and be served by CFP professionals,” Rojeck said in a statement.
In addition to his professional career, Rojeck has previously served on the national board of the International Association for Financial Planning from 1993 to 1999, and was the non-profit organization’s president and chairman. During his tenure, Rojeck laid the groundwork for the creation of what is now known as the Financial Planning Association, with which he has been a member ever since its founding. In addition, Rojeck serves on the gift planning advisory boards of the University of California, San Diego and the San Diego Foundation.
Rojeck received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from Oregon State University and an MBA from San Diego State University. He and his wife, Joji, have three children and live in San Diego.
King, Sherk to Co-Head Morgan Stanley Commodities Unit
Morgan Stanley has named Nancy King and Peter Sherk to co-head its commodities unit after the departure of Simon Greenshields and the move of Colin Bryce to a senior advisor position. The firm has been cutting back on commodities trading.
King, who joined in 1986, formerly headed the oil liquid flow business.
Sherk, who has been at Morgan Stanley for 16 years, had been head of North American power and gas.
Keele to Retire from Vanguard
Vanguard has announced that Larry Keele, manager of the Vanguard Convertible Securities Fund, will retire on June 30. Keele is a principal and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management L.P., which has provided investment advisory services to the fund since 1996. He will remain a member of Oaktree’s board of directors.
Stu Spangler will join the fund’s management team and will co-manage the U.S. portion of the portfolio along with Keele until the latter’s retirement. Spangler joined Oaktree’s convertible securities team as an analyst in 1997 after serving as a convertible securities portfolio manager for Aon Corp. In addition, two other senior Oaktree portfolio managers — Jean-Paul Nedelec and Abe Ofer — will continue to serve on the management team of the fund with specific responsibility for overseeing the non-U.S. portion of the portfolio.