NAFA Annuity Distribution Summit Speakers

Andrew Sykes grew up in South Africa where he built one of the country’s largest healthcare consulting businesses starting at the tender age of 22. He has lived, worked and run businesses on six continents, has been a salesperson for 25 years, and is a recovering actuary! Andrew is the author of The 11th Habit, a Tedx and Talks at Google speaker, and a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Andrew is the founder of Habits at Work, where he and his team help customer-facing teams become Magnetic Trusted Advisors.

Deirdre Van Nest is a top-rated, international keynoter, trainer and story strategist. In 2011, she founded a company called Crazy Good Talks® which exists to teach mission-driven entrepreneurs and financial professionals how to fast-track their KNOW, LIKE & TRUST factor, so they can get to the “YES!” quicker. She is a Certified World Class Speaking Coach, Certified Fearless Living Coach, author of the book Fire Your Fear: How to Grow Your Business by Changing the Way You Think and host of the Crazy Good Talks® podcast.

Dan Acker is president and chief marketing officer of SILAC Insurance Company (“SILAC”) and Sterling Investors Life Insurance Company. Before joining SILAC, he served as chief financial officer and later president of Sentinel Security Life Insurance Company (“Sentinel”). While at Sentinel, Dan was responsible for creating several new products for the senior market including Medicare supplement, fixed and index annuities, and hospital indemnity plans. He also expanded the agent distribution network to more than 16,000 appointed agents. During this time, he also successfully started a third-party administrator and an independent marketing organization.

Chris Bailey is vice president of the IMO annuity distribution at Nationwide Financial and has been with Nationwide for 18 years. He is currently responsible for developing and executing on a strategic sales plan to drive annuity sales at IMOs across the United States. Chris began his career at Nationwide as a life insurance internal wholesaler covering financial advisors in the metro-NY territory. For the last 16 years, Chris has been in IMO distribution as both an internal and external wholesaler covering life insurance, long-term care and annuity products. He currently holds his Series 6, 63 and Ohio Life and Health licenses, as well as a CLTC designation.

Zennière Bowry-Thomas is associate vice president of sales development and training for the Nationwide Retirement Institute, overseeing the vision, strategy, design and delivery of future-focused sales skills training for Nationwide Financial sales teams. She brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record for execution and delivery in multiple disciplines, including finance, audit, education and talent management. She previously served as the chief of staff for the Nationwide Retirement Institute, led Nationwide’s Finance Leadership Rotation Program in Talent Acquisition, and spent 10 years in Nationwide’s Office of Internal Audit.

Jamie Branyan leads product management and operations for CANNEX annuity services in the U.S., which includes fixed, indexed and variable annuities, in his role as vice president of product management. He also manages relationships with the various insurance companies that list and illustrate their products on the CANNEX platform. Prior to joining CANNEX, Jamie held a variety of managerial roles supporting annuity product development and management with Prudential Financial and Lincoln Financial.

Phillip Brzenk is head of multi-asset indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). His team is responsible for the product management of multi-asset and option indices, which cover a variety of outcome-oriented index solutions including managed volatility, retirement, dynamic allocation, inflation hedging, sustainability, and absolute return. Prior to his current role, Phillip was a Senior Director in the Strategy Indices team, where he was responsible for product coverage of alternate beta strategies, including factor-based indices, dividends, and volatility, as well as quantitative, thematic, and asset-allocation strategies.

Jay Charles leads Luma’s annuity business as director of annuity products. He joined Luma in August of 2020 from Prudential Financial, where he led teams focused on developing and commercializing new strategic solutions for Prudential Annuities, including helping launch the carrier’s annuities on multiple fintech platforms. Previously, Jay served as vice president, commercial banking strategy at JP Morgan Chase & Co., where he managed projects focused on developing commercial banking growth strategies and improving operational efficiency and effectiveness, and as an associate for McKinsey & Co.

Kevin Cloud is chief actuary for Product One, the product development division of Creative One. He’s spent 25+ years in the insurance industry working at several insurance companies and as a consultant in the design, development, implementation, distribution and marketing of insurance products, with a particular emphasis on fixed indexed annuities. At Product One, Kevin and his team partner with insurance carriers on the design and distribution of unique insurance products and offer advanced underwriting, case design and product expertise to Creative One’s life insurance and annuity wholesaling consultants.

Tony Compton started his career at a small insurance brokerage and eventually left to become founder and president of a startup IMO. While there, he helped build out the sales team and processes, manage product wholesaling and large advisor recruiting teams, and eventually take on roles as CMO and CTO helping develop the software and technology platform used by the firm and its financial professionals. At Great American/MassMutual Ascend, he oversaw the broker-dealer and RIA channel where helped design the first fee-based fixed index annuity. Most recently, he joined Advisors Excel as the president of annuity marketing, working with its sales teams and carrier partners to promote fixed and indexed annuities to drive sales.

Vincent Cuevas is vice president of product management at Annexus, and a leading authority in annuity and life insurance product development for third-party distribution. He is driven by a passion for developing innovative products that empower distribution channels to better serve their clients’ needs. Vincent started his financial services career as an analyst and later operations manager for M&T Bank. He earned a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and currently holds Series 7, Series 63 and life licenses.

Charles DiVencenzo, President & CEO, National Association of Fixed Annuities Charles “Chuck” J. DiVencenzo, Jr. is the President & CEO of The National Association of Fixed Annuities (NAFA). He oversees NAFA’s efforts to promote and expand the utilization of Fixed and Fixed Index Annuity products through independent distribution. His work on advocacy at the state and federal levels, thought leadership, consumer education efforts and working on industry best practices have aided product acceptance and industry growth. Prior to joining NAFA, DiVencenzo was vice president at Allianz Life of North America. In this role, he served as a national spokesperson on topics including taxation, retirement, social security, asset protection and other relevant issues. He also worked closely with the actuarial, sales and legal departments to develop content and product, and to deliver thought leadership to wholesalers and distribution partners. Previously, DiVencenzo was the COO/CMO of Paradigm Capital Management leading P&L, marketing, sales, client services, administration, regulatory and other operating issues for the small cap. value hedge fund and money management firm. He also served as senior vice president in Hartford Life’s Investment Products Division, where he oversaw a team of 28 that contributed significantly to industry leadership in the VA, mutual fund, 401(k) and 529 plan sales. DiVencenzo has also held positions in academia, practiced Tax & ERISA law and began his career as a consultant with Ernst & Young. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Canisius College and earned his JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He completed the Securities Industry Institute® at The Wharton School in addition to Executive Management Programs at Columbia University and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. In addition, DiVencenzo is a member of the New York State Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Karen Essary has built her career on a firm belief that success is rooted in lifting others up and giving back to those less fortunate. As the COO and co-founder of Ideal Producers Group, she is responsible for building and maintaining carrier relationships, managing the annuity sales and new business teams, overseeing implementation of the firm’s marketing, and coordinating programming designed to help producers build and sustain thriving practices. Previously, Karen managed a team of annuity advisors responsible for $300 million+ in annual premium at a large IMO. Amid traveling and building her business, she is a busy mother to five children and Coco to four adorable grandbabies.

Jill Esser is chief actuary at Magellan Financial where she primarily works with insurance carriers providing insights into all aspects of product development, including product design, market research, competitive positioning, filing, and pricing. In this role, she works with banks and asset managers to design and build solutions for insurance and investment products. Jill also provides ongoing training and personalized support for Magellan’s distribution. She has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Carrie Freeburg is SVP of product and marketing at SILAC® where she is responsible for innovative product development, inforce management and edgy marketing that sets SILAC apart from its peers.  She takes pride in turning an intangible insurance product into something that the policyholder can understand. Prior to joining SILAC, Carrie worked as a consultant in annuity and life insurance product development. She has developed over 60 products at 10 different insurance carriers, many of which have been top industry sellers and are still on the market today. Much of her success is tied to her understanding of distribution.

Sarah Garrity is the national sales manager of BlackRock’s Retirement Insurance Group (R.I. Group), a role in which she is responsible for maintaining relationships with insurance clients and supporting annuity wholesalers. Sarah joined BlackRock in 2017 as a market leader for Retirement Insurance. Prior to BlackRock, Sarah was an external wholesaler at Oppenheimer and began her career at Jackson National. She is a regular speaker at industry conferences, national sales meetings, retirement income symposiums and end client seminars.

Roy Goodart leads the product management team at iPipeline for life and data. In this role, he plays a critical role in product management, pricing and strategy to advance iPipeline’s integrated end-to-end solutions. Roy was instrumental in bringing to market the industry’s first web-based agency management system and the first commercially available multi-carrier e-delivery platform, of which he is the co-inventor of a software patent that is currently owned by iPipeline. Previously, he held was the chief of product and customer success for Paperless Solutions Group, Inc. and held positions at several companies that were acquired by iPipeline.

Patti Hausherr serves as vice president, sales strategy at Athene, where she is responsible for creating and executing a multicultural business development and marketing strategy to help drive business in underserved markets by partnering with key distribution firms. Previously, Patti served as a speaker and consultant for Global Atlantic, and managed the retail investment program and private bank for Fleet Financial Group. This experience led her to create private wealth management at The Hartford, which brought planning resources and exclusive services utilizing life insurance strategies to financial professionals serving ultra-high net worth clients. Additionally, Patti was an independent speaker and spent nine years as a divisional manager at MetLife and Protective Life.

Patrick Kelly is co-founder and CEO of Signal Advisors. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of RepPro, where he built software to streamline the sale of annuities and life insurance for financial advisors. RepPro was acquired in 2018 by Annexus, a Blackstone-backed distributor of insurance products. Prior to this, Patrick co-managed an independent financial advisory firm, Kelly Capital Partners, and started his career as a financial representative at Northwestern Mutual. Patrick holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

Jason Krohnke began his home office experience in the financial services industry in 1993. He started his career with a large Fortune 500 company in the field of underwriting/account management, working with life, disability, medical, dental, vision, prescription drug and 401(k) plans. He enjoys getting out in the field and working with distribution partners face to face. He has completed his Retirement Income Certified Professional® (RICP®). Jason also served on the board of directors for the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA).

Tony Lengeling joined American Equity in January 2019 as vice president and chief compliance officer, where he leads enterprise wide compliance functions. Following his graduation from Drake University with J.D. and M.B.A. degrees, Tony worked for Merrill Lynch, spent 10 years at Aviva Life and Annuity in legal and operational roles, and then four years at Principal Financial Group where he led life insurance product development and implementation. He is a member of the Iowa Bar Association, Board of the Iowa Federation of Insurers, ACLI Annuities Committee, multiple industry working groups and the board of a local non-profit.

Rich Macari is the head of insurance and structured products at Nasdaq Global Indexes, focused on broadening Nasdaq’s insurance and banking solutions portfolio. His background is rooted in the asset management world. Prior to joining Nasdaq, Rich began his career at Legg Mason, holding various roles across their sales organization, and furthered his expertise at Franklin Templeton by contributing to the expansion of their index solutions business.

Doug Massey is the executive vice president of sales for Insurance Technologies. Doug helps define and manage product and go-to-market strategies for Insurance Technologies. Doug is a 30-year veteran of the insurance and financial services technology space, helping streamline and automate the marketing and sales of insurance products. He has helped develop three successful startups, InsurQuote, Blue Frog Solutions, and CapitalRock, and worked with firms across the industry to automate the sale and processing of annuities and life insurance. Doug participated in defining the IRI standards and helped design and bring to market annuity and life order entry solutions.

Stephane Mattatia is managing director, global head of index client solutions at MSCI and part of MSCI’s Coverage leadership team. In this role, he works with research and coverage to refine, create, and grow innovative indexes for both thematic and structured products, driving leadership in the industry. He joined MSCI in July 2018 as head of index for EMEA and global head of thematic index. Previously, he held a number of positions throughout a 12-year stint with Societe Generale CIB, including head of product strategy, equity derivatives. Earlier in his career, Stephane spent seven years at the French Ministry of Industry.

Kevin Mechtley serves as vice president, business development and chief innovation officer for North American, where he is dually focused on new product innovation and strategic relationship building. He leverages nearly 20 years of annuity industry experience to lead new product ideation processes, oversee competitive intelligence and work with annuity group leadership to prioritize business development opportunities. Previously, Kevin was part of North American’s legal team where he led the government affairs unit. He is also the current vice chairman of NAFA’s board of directors.

Pete Miller is an insurance research strategist with the Invesco Global Investment Solutions team. Prior to joining Invesco, he served as a senior vice president with PIMCO’s financial institutions group, where he focused on general account investments and risk-managed fund solutions for insurance clients. He previously spent nine years in variable annuity hedging and risk management, as well as insurance portfolio management and pension liability-driven investing, with The Hartford. Pete is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA).

Pratik Pareek is head of insurance coverage and sales within the Goldman Sachs equities business in FICC and equities. He was previously head of the Financial Institutions Group strats team in the Investment Banking Division, and was responsible for cross-asset financing and derivative solutions for insurance companies and banks. Pratik joined Goldman Sachs as an associate in 2012 and was named managing director in 2019. Pratik previously worked at Citigroup as an ABS research analyst. He earned a BTech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2008 and a master’s degree in Financial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012.

Andrew Payne is vice president and general counsel of CreativeOne, where he works closely with compliance and in-house actuaries to protect and further the company’s business interests. He is frequently featured on webinars and podcast episodes providing updates on regulatory and legislative issues impacting the industry, including the ongoing evolution of the DOL fiduciary rule. Andrew concurrently serves as the treasurer of NAFA’s Board of Directors and is a former chair of NAFA’s Government and Legal Affairs Committee. Prior to joining CreativeOne, Andrew worked in private practice and clerked for the Kansas Supreme Court. He is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law.

Dave Peters is an experienced financial services technology leader with over 36 years combined experience with a large insurance company, brokerage general agency and industry leading technology platform provider.

Chris Ratkovsky is a senior member of the Asset Allocation Research Team for Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions. In his role as head of cross asset research, Chris is responsible for leading the team’s research in systematic asset allocation and portfolio construction strategies, including discretionary asset allocation research. Relatedly, as a senior member of the Macro research team, he is responsible for constructing the team’s proprietary leading indicators and currency research and shares responsibility for its global macro forecasts and thematic macro research. Previously, he was co-head of equity research.

Lori Seaton is director of strategic business development for North American. She’s been in the insurance and financial services industry since 2005, where she has held positions within insurance organizations and a registered investment advisory firm. She also has a background in publishing, previously holding both sales and editor positions within a fortune 500 company. In her current role, she’s focused on uncovering new strategic opportunities, leads the annuity competitive intelligence team, presents at conferences and industry events, and contributes regularly to Advisor Magazine and InsuranceNewsNet. Lori also serves as chair of the NAFA Women’s Annuity Network.

Sarah Williams leverages nearly 25 years of marketing and communications experience to consistently develop and implement strategies that support insurance agents and financial advisors in building their brands, generating leads and enhancing their credibility. She joined CreativeOne in 2011, where her role is three-fold: she currently serves as vice president of marketing communication, leads the education division, recruiting potential agents and advisors, and serves as CreativeOne’s chief ambassador in communicating the value of marketing and practice management. She also serves on the national board of directors for Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS).

Jason Zahn is a director on the Global Equities – Insurance Solutions team at Bank of America. Jason has been instrumental to the growth of the bank’s QIS indices in the annuity marketplace. He has built strategic relationships with some of the firm’s largest insurance clients through his innovative ideas and ability to solve client needs. In 2021, Jason was awarded a U.S. patent on Fast Convergence technology, an innovative form of volatility control that has become a cornerstone of BofA’s indices. The technology is deployed in four BofA indices with over $10 Billion AUM. Jason joined Merrill Lynch in 2006.