T. Rowe Price appoints new leaders for intermediaries channel, retirement plan services

investmentnews.com:

T. Rowe Price veterans are preparing to take on new leadership roles in the intermediary and retirement plan services business units.

From March 1, the US intermediaries business unit, which supports financial advisors and consultants, will be led by Kevin Collins, who has been head of retirement plan services since 2019 and has been with the firm for 30 years.

Collins will succeed – and report to – Dee Sawyer, who previously headed up the Intermediaries unit before being promoted to head of Global Distribution at the start of the year. He is chair of the governing board of the Spark Institute.

“Kevin has a keen understanding of the advisor landscape and over the past several years, he has been instrumental in bringing the breadth of T. Rowe Price offerings to the marketplace. Similarly, we are aware of the shifting dynamics in the retirement market,” Sawyer said.

Francisco Negrón will step into Collins’ shoes to lead the RPS business unit having overseen the unit’s Client Services organization for the past 12 years. He has been with T. Rowe Price since 1984 and is a member of its MOSAIC committee, which focuses on attracting and retaining diverse associates. He is also part of the firm’s Latinx Heritage community and hosts the current season of the Confident Conversations on Retirement podcast.

“Francisco has fostered a culture of exceptional service, highlighted by RPS’ industry-leading client satisfaction scores,” added Sawyer.

The changes have created an opportunity to promote another two T. Rowe Price veterans, with Annie Brown, who joined in 1993, and Jim Zurad, who joined in 1996, taking on new roles as co-heads of USI Wealth Management, reporting to Collins.

Brown’s focus will be the national accounts management