Putnam Investments has named industry veteran Stephen Jenks head of products and marketing for its defined contribution business.
In this position, Jenks will focus both on Putnam’s full-service and investment-only retirement offerings, reporting to Director of Defined Contribution Services Edmund F. Murphy III.
Jenks joins Putnam from Acceleration Retirement, where he was chief executive officer and a co-founder. Acceleration Retirement is a marketing and lead generation outsourcing firm that partners with financial services companies.
Before that, Jenks co-founded and served as managing director of registered investment advisory firm Stable Two Financial, providing 401(k) plan consulting services to mid-large size plan sponsors.
Earlier, Jenks worked at Fidelity Investments for 16 years, including as senior vice president at the Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services Company. He also was chief marketing officer of Fidelity’s Emerging Corporate Market division, which sold and serviced retirement and payroll products, including 401(k) plans, to small- and mid-sized companies.
“Putnam has deepened its commitment to the defined contribution market during the past three years and is transforming how plan sponsors and participants think about retirement savings,” Murphy said. “Steve’s leadership capabilities, entrepreneurial skills and experience working with the industry’s biggest players will help us continue to innovate and showcase Putnam’s full suite of 401(k) services and solutions.”
In addition, Putnam has promoted Meredith Wolff from regional 401(k) director for New England to defined contribution national accounts manager, with responsibility for several important broker-dealer relationships. She has also held senior roles at Principal Financial and Fidelity Investments.
Wolff joins Christopher Doucet, a senior defined contribution national accounts manager, to further strengthen the firm’s national sales relationships. Both Wolff and Doucet report to Defined Contribution National Sales Manager James Brockelman.
-- This article first appeared on
