Nationwide has named Craig Hawley to succeed John Carter as the president and chief operating officer in charge of its Nationwide Financial business.
Nationwide Financial sells life insurance, annuities, retirement plans, investment services and employee benefits.
Carter announced in January that he would retire Sept. 1.
Hawley, who began working for a Nationwide predecessor company in 2000, has been president of Nationwide Annuity for about a year.
Nationwide Annuity is a large individual annuity issuer, with about $130 billion in annuity assets.
Kirt Walker, Nationwide's CEO, said Carter has helped make Nationwide Financial a top financial services firm. He described Hawley as a "results-driven leader and innovator."
Hawley's "proven track record at Nationwide makes him a strong fit to lead our financial services business," Walker said.
What it means: The guard is changing at one of the companies that backs many clients' annuities.
John Carter: Nationwide recruited Carter away from Prudential to serve as head of its Nationwide Financial Distributors unit in 2005. Carter later ran the company's retirement plans business.
He became the president and COO of Nationwide Financial in October 2019.
Carter was active in building Nationwide's efforts to support clients in areas such as establishing health savings accounts and knowing how and when to begin claiming Social Security benefits. Plus, he led the financial services business through the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Craig Hawley: Hawley started off as a deputy general counsel at Jefferson National Life, a pioneer in efforts to develop fee-based annuities.
Beginning in 2017, after Nationwide acquired Jefferson National, Hawley rose up through Nationwide's advisory solutions, annuity distribution and retirement solutions distribution businesses.
Hawley earned a bachelor's degree and a law degree from the University of Louisville, where he played as a guard for four years on the Louisville basketball team.
While at Nationwide, he has been active at LIMRA and the Insured Retirement Institute.
Craig Hawley. Credit: Nationwide
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