Transamerica Hires Industry Veteran to Lead Defined Benefit Practice

Mark Valentine will help sponsors and advisors address the challenges of managing defined benefit plans

Transamerica Retirement Solutions today announced the hiring of Mark Valentine as vice president of defined benefit sales and business development for the East Coast. Mr. Valentine has more than twenty years of retirement industry experience with extensive experience in the defined benefit, 401(k), and 403(b) markets, covering the large, mid, and small markets. Before joining Transamerica, Valentine was vice president of retirement plan sales and consultant relations for BB&T’s Retirement and Institutional Services division.

“In light of all of the activity and changes in the defined benefit institutional market, we are excited to have Mark join the Transamerica defined benefit sales team,” said Jim Kais, senior vice president of defined benefit and special markets. “He brings a tremendous amount of defined benefit experience along with strong advisor relationships. Defined benefit plans require specialized expertise in managing fiduciary risks and efficiently administering the plan. Mark’s knowledge of these plans will help us continue to develop strategic solutions that meet the needs of our defined benefit clients.”

Defined benefit plans can present a number of challenges for retirement plan sponsors, and many cite risk management as a primary concern. Plan sponsors and their advisors also have to contend with hurdles such as estimating and calculating benefits, budgeting for benefit expenditures, fiduciary liability and efficient data management.

Valentine will lead Transamerica’s efforts to help clients address these challenges by providing them with best practices relative to total retirement outsourcing, de-risking, liability management and modernization of data on administrative platforms.

“Ultimately, we want to ensure that our plan sponsors are able to help participants achieve the goal of retirement readiness,” said Valentine. “The challenges associated with defined benefit plans can seem daunting, so it’s important for our business partners to know that we are solidly focused on helping them streamline their plans, institute administrative efficiencies and reduce their exposure to liability.”

Transamerica’s defined benefit practice offers clients a holistic view of their retirement plans and can help them develop solutions to easily manage their entire suite of retirement offerings, including their defined contribution plans.

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About Transamerica Retirement Solutions
Transamerica Retirement Solutions (Transamerica) is a leading provider of customized retirement plan solutions for small to large organizations.

Transamerica partners with financial advisors, third party administrators, and consultants to cover the entire spectrum of defined benefit and defined contribution plans, including: 401(k) and 403(b) (Traditional and Roth); 457; profit sharing; money purchase; cash balance; Taft-Hartley; multiple employer plans; nonqualified deferred compensation; and rollover and Roth IRAs.

Transamerica helps more than three million retirement plan participants save and invest wisely to secure their retirement dreams. For more information about Transamerica Retirement Solutions Corporation, please visit trsretire.com.

Media inquiries

Hank Williams	Julie Quinlan
Phone: (319) 355-7789	Phone: (213) 742-5134
Email: hank.williams@transamerica.com	Email: julie.quinlan@transamerica.com

17189- PR (12/14)