ING U.S., Inc., which is rebranding this year as Voya Financial, Inc., has announced that Donald “Butch” Britton will retire as chief executive officer of ING U.S.'s insurance solutions business. Mr. Britton will assume the role of senior adviser to the chairman and CEO of ING U.S., and to the CEO of insurance solutions, until June 30, 2014.
The insurance solutions business includes ING U.S.'s individual life and employee benefits business segments.
Mr. Britton, who joined ING U.S. in 2004, has had a 40 year career in the life insurance and annuity industries. Prior to joining ING U.S., he was president of life insurance at American General Financial Group.
“First and foremost, on behalf of everyone at ING U.S., I would like to thank Butch for his significant contributions to ING U.S. over the past 10 years,” said Rodney O. Martin, Jr., the chairman and CEO of ING U.S. “Butch is well known and highly regarded throughout the life insurance industry and our employees, customers, and distribution partners have benefited considerably from his expertise, experience, and innovative thinking. Butch is passionate about the importance of Americans having sufficient life insurance coverage to protect their loved ones and their retirement savings. That passion is embedded in our culture today thanks to his leadership.”
Mr. Britton will be succeeded as CEO of insurance solutions by Michael Smith, who is currently ING U.S.'s chief risk officer. Mr. Smith will continue to report to Mr. Martin and also will retain his current responsibilities for the closed block variable annuity segment (“CBVA”).
Mr. Smith, who has been with ING U.S. since 2009, will be succeeded as ING U.S.'s chief risk officer by Chet Ragavan, who currently serves as chief risk officer of ING U.S. investment management. Mr. Ragavan, who has been with ING U.S. since 2008, will now report to Mr. Martin and become a member of the ING U.S. executive committee.
Mr. Martin added, “We are fortunate to have the necessary executive bench strength to promote into these important roles from within the organization and thus preserve the continuity with our employees, customers, clients, and distribution partners. I have tremendous confidence in Mike and Chet and expect them to step into their new responsibilities and continue executing our strategy, achieving our growth objectives, and managing our risks effectively. We have a deliberate process for developing our internal talent and these promotions validate the strength of that process.”
Mr. Smith has a 28 year background in the life insurance and annuity industries. Immediately prior to becoming chief risk officer, Mr. Smith served as CEO of the ING U.S. annuity manufacturing business that included the CBVA segment. In 2009, he joined ING U.S. as chief financial officer and chief insurance risk officer of the annuity business. Prior to joining ING U.S., Mr. Smith was with Lincoln Financial Group.
Mr. Smith holds bachelor's degrees in economics and Russian studies from the University of Michigan. He attained Fellowship in the Society of Actuaries in 1990, and he is also a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Mr. Smith is a CFA charterholder.
Mr. Ragavan has more than 30 years of risk management and analytical research experience, most recently as chief risk officer for ING U.S. investment management. As chief risk officer, Mr. Ragavan was responsible for an integrated platform that covered investment, operational, and business risk management. Prior to joining ING U.S., Mr. Ragavan served as the managing director and co-head of the portfolio analytics group for BlackRock Solutions.
Mr. Ragavan has a B.B.A. in management science from Madurai University, and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Madras, both in India. He also holds an M.S. in computer science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Mr. Ragavan is a CFA charterholder.
Learn more: http://ing.us.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].