ING Financial Solutions Names New CEO

ING Group announced Wednesday it hired Lynne Ford as chief executive officer of ING Financial Solutions, the company's transformed annuity and rollover business.

Ford is executive vice president and managing director of Wells Fargo’s retail retirement group. She will report to Rob Leary, the chief executive officer of ING Insurance U.S. Bill Lowe, who was chief executive officer of ING Financial Solution, will continue as interim CEO until mid-January, and after that will continue to lead the marketing, sales and distribution for the business.

"Lynne's strong experience in the annuity and IRA arena and her strategic leadership of Wells Fargo's retirement initiative makes her an ideal candidate to lead ING Financial Solutions," Leary said. "As we undertake this new direction in the retirement solutions market, Lynne brings a fresh perspective to our strong expertise and position in the retirement and annuity marketplaces. Her innovative, customer-oriented approach and her retail background will be an asset to ING."

Ford has spent a majority of her professional career at Wachovia, which merged with Wells Fargo last year, serving in a number of executive capacities within its investment and distribution organizations. In her most recent position, Ford was responsible for the annuity and IRA products distributed across the company. This included the sales, marketing and product management for IRAs and annuities, as well as channel management, annuity operations and servicing. She was also responsible for the company's overall retail retirement strategy and branding as the company aimed to capitalize on the retirement market opportunity.