Lincoln Financial Announces Leadership Promotions

Lincoln Financial has promoted three senior leaders to its Senior Management Committee (SMC): Darrel Tedrow as executive vice president, and president of Life Insurance and Retail Shared Services; Curtis Chesney as executive vice president, and president of Annuities; and Paul Spurr as executive vice president and chief risk officer and chief actuary.

All three report directly to Ellen Cooper, chairman, president and CEO.

Each business will now have a dedicated president reporting to Cooper.

Tedrow joined Lincoln 20 years ago and previously served as president of Life. In his expanded role, Tedrow will continue to lead the Life business while also assuming executive oversight of operations and shared services functions that support the company’s Retail businesses.

Chesney brings 17 years of Lincoln experience to his new role leading the Annuity organization. He most recently served as CFO of Lincoln’s Annuity business, and also previously led Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis across all of Lincoln’s business segments. In his new role, Chesney is responsible for delivering on financial and growth objectives, overseeing product strategy and in-force management and ensuring a high-quality experience for customers and advisors across all distribution channels.

Spurr has been with Lincoln for more than two decades, serving in progressively senior leadership roles across finance, risk, and actuarial functions. In this role, he is responsible for advancing Lincoln’s risk management framework, overseeing the company’s risk profile, and ensuring risk considerations are embedded in capital allocation, product strategy, and business planning. He also leads actuarial practices across valuation, reserving, and pricing, further enhancing discipline and consistency across the organization.

These promotions coincide with the planned retirements of Brian Kroll, EVP and president of Retail Life and Annuity Solutions, and Andy Rallis, EVP and chief risk officer — both effective as of June 1.

“These promotions reflect the incredible depth of talent we have developed at Lincoln and our commitment to thoughtful, deliberate succession planning,” said Cooper. “Darrel, Curtis and Paul each bring deep institutional knowledge, proven leadership, and a track record of results that give me tremendous confidence in our path forward. It is genuinely exciting to see leaders of this caliber step into expanded roles, and I look forward to the energy they will bring to our Senior Management Committee as we continue to lead our talented workforce in executing on our strategy and delivering for our customers, partners, and shareholders.”

“We also want to recognize and thank Brian Kroll and Andy Rallis for their significant contributions to Lincoln,” Cooper continued, “I am deeply grateful for their partnership, their leadership, and their commitment to our strategy and our people — and I wish them both the very best in their well-earned retirements.”