Transamerica has picked a longtime retirement services executive and actuary to run its retirement plan business.
Transamerica — a Baltimore-based subsidiary of Aegon — announced that Jason Frain is the new head of Retirement Solutions.
Frain, who succeeded Josh Rundle, previously was head of legacy business management at Brighthouse. He reports to Jamie Ohl, president of Transamerica's Protection Solutions and Savings & Investments unit.
Frain "blends actuarial rigor with commercial instincts" and has a record of keeping "customer needs and risk discipline front and center," Ohl said.
Frain said he hopes to help Transamerica add simple, high-impact retirement savings products.
What it means: Transamerica serves as a recordkeeper for many retirement plans. The company has been working with TIAA and Nuveen to add an in-plan annuitization option for those plans.
Frain's arrival could be a sign that Transamerica wants to compete harder in the in-plan annuity market.
Frain: Frain got his start in the retirement plan business at the Hartford.
He later spent about three years as a 401(k) plan product management and product development executive at Guardian.
He moved into retail annuity and group annuity product development at the business now known as Brighthouse, which was still part of MetLife, in 2015. Brighthouse made him head of legacy business management in 2017.
While Frain was at Brighthouse, the company persuaded BlackRock to let it be one of the two annuity suppliers for the BlackRock retirement plan in-plan annuitization option program.
Frain has a bachelor's degree in actuarial science from the University of Hartford. He is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Jason Frain. Credit: Ken Beebe/Transamerica
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