Empower Retirement head Edmund F. Murphy III has been appointed president and CEO of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, the company announced Thursday.
Murphy, who oversaw Empower’s climb to the nation’s second-largest retirement service provider, will take the reins from president and CEO Robert L. Reynolds, who will shift to a new role as chair of Great-West Lifeco U.S. LLC.
Reynolds will maintain his role as president and CEO of Boston-based Putnam Investments, also a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco US.
As president and CEO, Murphy will assume leadership of all of GWL&A, which has $544 billion in assets for approximately 9.2 million customers (as of Dec. 31, 2018), and includes Empower Retirement, Great-West Investments and the company’s individual life insurance and annuity businesses.
Murphy will remain president of Empower Retirement and will report directly to Great-West Lifeco president and CEO Paul Mahon.
“Ed’s vision, insight and guidance have helped Empower grow into the second largest retirement services provider in the U.S.,” Mahon said in a statement. “With his strong track record of success, he is well-placed to serve the needs of our growing client base in the U.S.
“It’s Bob’s leadership over the years that has helped strengthen GWL&A’s position in the U.S. market. I look forward to continue working with Bob in his new role and remain confident that he will continue to help grow our business in the U.S. and position us well for continued success into the future.”
Empower was formed in 2014 and serves approximately 39,000 retirement plans sponsors.
Under Murphy’s leadership, Empower has established a track record of sustained growth and momentum driven by a significant investment in participant engagement, an advisor-centric business model, and public policy advocacy on behalf of American retirement savers.
Experience
Murphy brings 30 years of industry experience to his role.
Before his 2014 appointment as president of Empower, he had served as managing director of the Defined Contribution and Investment Only business at Putnam Investments since 2009 and served on the firm’s Operating Committee.
Previously, he held executive leadership roles for 17 years at Fidelity Investments in its institutional, private equity and retail businesses.
Murphy’s appointment comes at a time of sharpened focus at GWL&A on the markets for retirement services, investments and wealth management.
Last month the company announced it had entered into an agreement to sell, through reinsurance, substantially all of its individual life insurance and annuity business to Protective Life.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
