Lincoln Financial Names Individual Life & Annuity Head

Ellen Cooper, Lincoln Financial’s incoming CEO, is bringing in Matthew Grove to help the company run its retail life and annuity operations.

Grove will join the Radnor, Pennsylvania-based company in July as executive vice president, head of Individual Life & Annuities and Lincoln Financial Network, the company announced earlier this week.

Cooper is preparing to succeed Dennis Glass as CEO after the company’s annual meeting, which is to take place May 27.

Lincoln Financial Network is the company’s organization for independent financial networks.

As head of the network, Grove will be responsible for expanding relationships with advisors and increasing sales of managed accounts.

Grove was previously the CEO of Resolution Life USA, a business that helps run life and annuity issuers’ unwanted blocks of business.

Earlier in his career, he was an investment banking analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and a senior vice president at Jefferson National, which helped create the market for fee-based annuities.

He then spent 11 years at New York Life. While at New York Life, he had stints as head of the annuity business and head of life product marketing and underwriting. When he left in 2021, he was co-chief operating officer.

He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in business from Columbia University.

Transamerica

Transamerica — a Baltimore-based arm of Aegon — has named Liza Tyler to be head of annuity solutions and Andrew DeMarco to be head of life solutions in the company’s individual solutions division.

Tyler was previously head of variable annuities at TIAA’s CREF arm.

She has also been an executive in the annuity distribution organizations at Genworth, New York Life and AIG.

Tyler has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. While there, she was a member of the golf team.

DeMarco has been head of life market strategy at Equitable.

Earlier, he was an executive at MetLife and then at Brighthouse.

DeMarco has a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin. He holds the chartered life underwriter and chartered financial consultant professional designations.

Nationwide

Nationwide — the Columbus, Ohio-based mutual insurer — has picked Richard Porter to succeed Rona Guymon as the leader of its brokerage annuity distribution channel.

Guymon is now the leader of Nationwide’s annuity distribution team.

Porter will oversee distribution of annuities through all broker-dealers, including banks, wirehouses and independent broker-dealers.

He was previously the regional vice president for the West Florida region in Prudential’s advisor channel.

He has a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Louisville, and a master’s degree in business from Pepperdine.

Protective

Protective Life — a Birmingham, Alabama-based subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings — says Mike Temple, its vice chairman and chief operating officer, plans to retire June 10.

Steve Walker, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will become vice chairman, finance and risk.

In related news:

Wade Harrison will become an executive vice president and chief retail officer. He has been a senior vice president and president, protection division.

Paul Wells will become an executive vice president and chief financial officer. He has been a senior vice president and chief accounting officer.

Cissy Williams will become an executive vice president and chief operations officer. She has been a senior vice president and chief customer officer.

Penn Mutual

The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co, — a Horsham, Pennsylvania-based carrier — has hired Dr. Marianne Cumming to be vice president and chief medical director.

She will report to Gretchen Dinucci, the chief underwriter for the company’s life insurance and annuities line of business.

Cumming was previously chief medical director, medical and applied research services for Securian Financial Group.

Earlier, she spent 16 years at Swiss Re. When she left Swiss Re in 2018, she was head of global life and health underwriting solutions.

She was the 2018-2019 president of the American Academy of Insurance Medicine.

Cumming has a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, a master’s degree in pharmacology and a medical degree from the University of Manitoba.

She holds the fellow of the American Academy of Insurance Medicine, fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting and fellow of the Life Management Institute professional designations.

Versant Health

Versant Health — a Baltimore-based vision health subsidiary of MetLife — has named Alan Hirschberg executive vice president of provider network, supply chain and underwriting.

Hirschberg has been the head of MetLife’s U.S. group supplemental health products business.

Earlier, he worked as a senior vice president in Aetna’s dental insurance division.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Boston University.

Ameriprise

Ameriprise Financial has named Dawn Wolfgram to be a field vice president for an area in Indiana and Illinois with 385 independent advisors and about $31 billion in client assets.

Wolfgram succeeds Trish Moll, who is now an Ameriprise regional vice president.

Wolfgram was previously a regional managing director with Principal Financial Group.

She was the 2020-2021 president of Women in Insurance and Financial Services.

Zipari

Zipari — a New York-based company that offers consumer experience services for health insurers — has hired Stan Opstad to be chief product officer.

Opstad was previously senior vice president of product management at Inovalon, a health care data company.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a master’s degree in business from the University of Minnesota.

The Standard

Standard Insurance Co. — a Portland, Oregon-based arm of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. — has named Amy Malagamba assistant vice president of marketing.

Malagamba was previously second vice president of corporate communications.

She has a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta.

Matt Grove (Photo: Lincoln Financial)