OUR PANELISTS
Tom Foster, Jr., National Spokesperson, Mass Mutual
Dagmar Nikles, Managing Director, BlackRock
Aram Boornazian, Director, Great-West Financial -Empower Retirement
BIOGRAPHIES
Aram Boornazian is responsible for distribution of Great-West Investments’ products designed for improving participant outcomes, including advisory services. In this role, Aram frequently represents the firm’s capabilities at point-of-sale presentations, industry events and with key intermediary teams.
Previously, Aram held a number of sales and service responsibilities including retirement plan sales and sales management, participant education, and financial adviser support. In these roles, he helped thousands of American workers achieve greater retirement security knowledge through seminars and hands-on workshops. He has been in the investment industry since joining the organization in 1996.
Aram currently maintains FINRA Series 6, 26 and 63 securities registrations to coincide with sponsoring broker dealer’s qualifications. Aram holds FINRA Series 7 credentials E. Thomas Foster Jr., (Tom) is National Spokesperson for MassMutual’s Workplace Solutions Division. Foster works directly with MassMutual financial advisor and plan sponsor clients to educate them on 401(k) plans and other qualified plan products and enhances MassMutual’s public image in the retirement plans arena.
Tom is particularly adept at translating complex regulatory and product developments into understandable terms for his audiences. He also works closely with financial advisors to help them build their retirement plan business.
Foster has more than 30 years of experience working with retirement plans, covering product development, training, marketing and relationship management. He is an acknowledged industry expert in retirement plan legislation, regulation and compliance testing.
Prior to joining MassMutual in 2013, Tom was National Spokesperson for The Hartford Retirement Plans Group. Before that, he supported John Hancock’s institutional sales and marketing efforts and was also with Aetna Life Insurance and Annuity Company. Additionally, he founded Foster Financial, a consulting firm specializing in employee benefit plans.
Tom travels extensively throughout the United States, lecturing to major trade organizations, national and regional broker dealers, banks and financial organizations, advisers, CPA’s, attorneys, and plan sponsors.
He has been published and/or quoted in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, On Wall Street, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, National Underwriter, American Banker, Investors Business Daily, Registered Representative, Forbes, Smart Money.com, Kiplinger, Personal Finance, Dow Jones, Associated Press, London Stock Exchange and more than one hundred others. He has appeared on media venues such as Bloomberg television, TheStreet.com, MainStreet.com, Sirius radio and a variety of local television and radio stations. He has also co-authored a book entitled To Sell or Not to Sell…Employer Retirement Plans.
Dagmar Nikles, CFA, CAIA, FRM, Managing Director, is a member of the US & Canada Defined Contribution Group within BlackRock's Global Retail and iShares businesses. She is responsible for leading the PlanStrategy team, focusing on helping plan sponsors and advisors improve participant retirement readiness via participant and plan level analytics, innovative DC plan tools and thought leadership.
Prior to her current role, Dagmar was a senior investment strategist in the Defined Contribution business after serving several years as a portfolio manager with the Allocations and Solutions Group managing DC funds, including LifePath. Prior to joining BlackRock, Dagmar was a portfolio manager with Zurich Scudder Investments / Zurich Insurance in Switzerland and San Francisco.
Dagmar earned a BBA degree in business administration from the University of Applied Science, Switzerland, in 1996, an MS degree in finance from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1997, and an MS degree in financial planning from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, in 2010.
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