CINCINNATI, OH--(Marketwired - January 06, 2016) - Ohio National Financial Services is pleased to announce several promotions within the enterprise's executive management group. These include a newly-elected position of Vice Chairman, Strategic Businesses as well as promotions within the organization to Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Investment Officer and heads of several strategic business units.
In making the announcement, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Gary T. "Doc" Huffman, CLU, ChFC, said, "With these promotions, we are bringing new levels of focus, experience and leadership skills to our executive management team. Our company continues to experience outstanding growth in our business lines, nationally and globally, and the future is very bright at Ohio National."
During 2015, the company grew its life insurance line for the 26th consecutive year -- a record unmatched in the industry.
"At Ohio National, we are fortunate to have outstanding depth and breadth of talent across our organization. These promotions allow for continued development of our management succession throughout the organization," said Huffman.
Christopher A. Carlson is promoted to Vice Chairman, Strategic Businesses -- a new executive office at the company. Each of the company's heads of the strategic business units (life, annuities, disability income, retirement plans and Latin America) will now report to Carlson, and he will have overall responsibility for the growth and success of Ohio National's business lines. Carlson was most recently Vice Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Latin America Strategic Business Head.
In his new role, he will continue to report to Huffman.
Carlson joined Ohio National in 1993 as an Investment Officer, Mortgages and Real Estate, after 12 years in real estate and development in Virginia. He steadily advanced and was named Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in 2004. He was named Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in 2010 and was most recently named Vice Chairman, Chief Investment Officer, and Latin America Strategic Business Head since 2015. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond and his MBA from the University of Cincinnati.
Barbara A. Turner, CRCP, is promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Reporting to Turner will be the company's Insurance and Annuities Operations areas and Information Technology. Turner was most recently Senior Vice President, Variable Annuity Strategic Business.
In her new role, she will continue to report to Huffman. She assumes Chief Administrative Officer responsibilities from Nancy A. Dalessio.
Turner joined Ohio National in 1997 as Vice President, The O.N. Equity Sales Company (ONESCO), Operations. She previously had more than 15 years of experience as a portfolio manager, trading and operations manager at several leading Cincinnati securities and financial service companies. At Ohio National, she has steadily advanced, becoming President and Chief Executive Officer, ONESCO in 2013. She was named Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer in 2014. Turner attended the University of Cincinnati and was a member of the inaugural graduation of the FINRA/Wharton University Certified Compliance Professional certification program and she maintains six FINRA licenses.
H. Douglas Cooke, III, is promoted to Executive Vice President, Life Insurance Strategic Business and continues to lead Ohio National's life insurance line of business as the organization brings new products and new platforms to this critical, foundational line. New enterprise sales totaled more than $156.1 million during 2015.
Cooke joined Ohio National in 1998 as a Regional Vice President, Institutional Sales, and was promoted to vice president level in 2006. In 2012, he was promoted to the senior vice president level. Cooke was named Senior Vice President, Life Insurance Strategic Business in 2015. He is a graduate of Longwood University in Virginia.
Paul J. Gerard, CFA, FLMI, is promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, with overall responsibility for Ohio National's $10 billion portfolio of fixed income securities, commercial mortgages and equities and oversight of its $4 billion mutual fund portfolio.
Gerard will report to Huffman and succeeds Carlson in the role as Chief Investment Officer.
Gerard joined Ohio National in 2009 as Senior Vice President, Investments. He previously had more than 20 years of experience as a senior investment officer, fixed income portfolio manager and chief investment officer at financial service companies. He received his bachelor's degree from Indiana University and his MBA from the University of Illinois.
Michael J. DeWeirdt, CFA, FRM, is promoted to Senior Vice President, Annuities Strategic Business and will lead all strategy, product development, operational execution and profitability of the line, representing $2 billion of annual new sales. In addition, the corporate capital and hedging operation, critical to the success of Ohio National's variable annuity portfolio, will now be incorporated within the variable annuities strategic business unit.
DeWeirdt joined Ohio National in 2012 as Senior Vice President, Capital and Financial Risk Management. He previously had more than 30 years of experience in financial risk management, capital products, structured products and corporate finance, including the founding of Milliman's capital markets group. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois and his MBA from the University of Chicago.
Richard J. Bodner, ACS, CIOP, is promoted to Senior Vice President, Retirement Plans Strategic Business and will lead all strategy, product development, operational execution and profitability of the line, including the ongoing and future implementation of the Omni platform.
Bodner joined Ohio National in 1973 in the office services area and advanced to officer level in 1995. He was elected to vice president level in 2007 and was most recently Senior Vice President, Insurance Operations. He attended Northern Kentucky University and is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati's Executive Leadership Program.
David A. Azzarito is promoted to Senior Vice President, Latin America Strategic Business and will be responsible for the overall leadership of global operations, including Chile, Brazil and Peru, as well as assessing future opportunities. Ohio National has more than $1 billion in assets under management in Latin America.
Azzarito joined Ohio National in 2014 as Senior Vice President, Latin America. He came to the company with more than 14 years industry experience focusing on the Latin American region, most recently as senior vice president for personal lines with ACE Group in Santiago, Chile. He is a graduate of Florida State University.
Tracing its corporate origins to 1909, Ohio National markets a variety of insurance and financial products through more than 50,000 representatives in 49 states (all except New York), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and through affiliated operations in South America. Additional subsidiaries operate in New York and Connecticut. As of April 30, 2015, its affiliated companies have $42 billion total assets under management. Products are issued by The Ohio National Life Insurance Company and Ohio National Life Assurance Corporation. Ohio National is proud to be named a "Top Workplace" in Cincinnati for six consecutive years by Enquirer Media (June 2010-2015) and employs more than 1,200 associates. Visit www.ohionational.com for more information.
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Contact Information:
Contact:
Adrienne Gutbier, APR
513.794.6254 office
513.508.9436 cellular
