Industry Heavyweights Join Global Retirement Technology Leader Smart to Form Inaugural US Executive Team

Team to Launch US Recordkeeping Solution for Pooled Employer Plans in Time for SECURE Act 2.0 Roll-Out

NASHVILLE, TN / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2020 / On the heels of its US entrance, Smart, a leading retirement technology business and one of the largest global recordkeepers with strategic investors J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Legal & General, Link Group, and Natixis, today announced its US executive team. The newly appointed Executive Team will work to launch Smart's modern recordkeeping and retirement income solutions to the US market. Smart's recordkeeping solution for pooled employer plans ("PEPs") will launch in 2021, aligning with the SECURE Act's roll-out.

"We have built a team with a breadth of experience across retirement and financial services to ensure we can make the largest possible impact on closing the US retirement coverage gap," said Jodan Ledford, CEO of Smart. "I am honored to work alongside these impressive industry leaders."

Smart's US Executive Team includes:

Catherine Reilly, Director of Retirement Solutions: Most recently, Catherine was Global Head of Research for the Defined Contribution team at State Street, responsible for thought leadership and strategic development. In this role, Catherine oversaw the $70bn SSGA target-date suite. Prior, she was Chief Economist of Pohjola Asset Management ($40bn AuM) in Finland and a Management Consultant at McKinsey & Co., Inc in the Helsinki office. Catherine is a CFA charter holder.

Grant Chamberlain, Director of Corporate Strategy: Most recently, Grant was the Head of Corporate Development at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIMA). Joining LGIMA shortly after its inception, Grant also held positions leading Data Management and Technology. Prior to LGIMA, Grant worked at UBS Global Asset Management as Director, Head of Change Management in the global operations function.

Lawrence Griffin, US General Counsel: Most recently, Lawrence was General Counsel at Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc, where he also served as Chief Compliance Officer. Lawrence has been a lawyer for more than 30 years and has spent the last 15 years specializing in compliance, risk and governance, and IT security/data protection for financial services organizations.

Rob Stanley, Chief Operating Officer: A veteran of the record-keeping industry, Rob spent 18 years in John Hancock's Wealth and Asset Management organization, the last 13 years in the $180B+ Retirement Plan Services business, including nine years leading JHRPS' Sales Operations and Infrastructure. Most recently, Rob founded Inflection Point Consulting, where he helped clients implement key strategic initiatives to face the challenges in a rapidly changing industry.

Walter Womersley, General Manager: Walter joined Smart at the beginning of 2019 as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer of its sister UK asset manager, EC2 Asset Management. Before joining Smart, he spent seven years in Asia, launching a macro hedge fund, WHARD Stewart, in 2011. Previously, Walter was Head of Credit Trading and Structuring at Standard Bank Asia in Hong Kong ("HK") and previous to that, Head of Structuring Asia for Rabobank in Singapore and HK.

Catherine Reilly, Director of Retirement Solutions, said, "The SECURE Act is a pivotal step towards expanding access to retirement solutions for more Americans. Smart's technology is the only US offering purpose-built for pooled employer plans (PEPs) and the facilitation of lifetime income in retirement plans that the SECURE Act allows, and we are energized about entering the US market at this important juncture with such a strong team."

About Smart
Smart is a global savings and investments technology platform provider. Co-founded in 2014 by Andrew Evans, Group CEO, and Will Wynne, Group MD, it is one of the UK's largest providers of retirement plans. Its award-winning master trust (UK pooled employer plan), Smart Pension, is overseen by independent professional trustees and already supports over 70k plan sponsors and 700k participants, despite only launching in 2015.

In 2020 Smart Pension was named Master Trust Offering of the Year at the Pension Age Awards. Other awards include DC Master Trust of the Year, DC Innovation of the Year, and Retirement Innovation of the Year in the 2019 UK Pensions Awards. Smart Pension was also named European Pension Fund of the Year 2019 in the European Pension Awards.

J.P. Morgan, Natixis Investment Managers, Barclays, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), and Link Group (Australia) are all strategic investors in Smart.

For more information, please visit http://smartretire.com.

Media Contact:
Jacqueline Silva
Caliber Corporate Advisers for Smart
Jacqueline@calibercorporate.com

SOURCE: Smart

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