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February 28, 2024
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA – February 28, 2024 – The American College of Financial Services has named the new chair and vice chair of its Board of Trustees in addition to recently electing four new members. Salene Hitchcock-Gear, JD, president of Prudential Individual Life Insurance, assumes the title of Board chair after serving as vice chair since 2022. Brandon Carter, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, president of USAA Life Insurance Company, will serve as the new vice chair. Additionally, the Board welcomes Lisa Davis, MSM, Kristin Ferguson, Brad Montgomery, CLU®, ChFC®, CPCU®, FLMI®, HIA, CASL, and Matt Spriggs as its newest elected Trustee members. These appointments reflect The College’s commitment to recruiting top-tier talents to bolster its mission of educating and empowering financial services professionals.
“I am beyond pleased to congratulate Salene and Brandon on their new roles and welcome more distinguished industry leaders onto the Board,” says George Nichols III, CAP®, president and CEO at The American College of Financial Services. “The College takes great pride in maintaining a high standard of excellence when it comes to financial services education. We are confident that the collective expertise provided by Lisa, Kristin, Brad, and Matt will advance both The College and the collective financial services field into the future.”
As the new chairperson, Hitchcock-Gear is enthusiastic about the opportunity to work alongside the Board’s new members and share their insights with The College. “By providing a quality education today, we are ensuring a more robust financial services field tomorrow — it’s a critical dynamic that I and each of our new appointees fully appreciates,” says Hitchcock-Gear. “It’s a privilege to be able to collaborate with financial services professionals who value the importance of a meaningful education.”
Salene Hitchcock-Gear, JD, is president of Prudential Individual Life Insurance, leading the unit offering competitive solutions to meet the needs of consumers via a diverse portfolio of life insurance products. An industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience, Hitchcock-Gear joined Prudential in 2017 as chief operating officer of Prudential Advisors, the company’s national sales organization with more than 3,000 financial professionals, advisors and fee-based financial planners who offer clients a broad range of financial solutions. She was appointed president of both businesses in 2018. Previously, Hitchcock-Gear served as president and CEO of Ameritas Investment Corp. and president and CEO of Acacia Life Insurance Company. She is the executive sponsor for the Women Empowered employee affinity group at Prudential, serves on the Board of Trustees of The College, and sits on the Life Insurance Committee of the American Council of Life Insurers.
Hitchcock-Gear is an alumna of the University of Michigan and New York University School of Law, holds FINRA Series 7 and 24 securities licenses, and is a member of the New York State Bar Association. She is also a board member of the University of Michigan Alumni Association.
Brandon Carter, CLU®, ChFC®, CFP®, is president of USAA Life Insurance Company and multiple subsidiaries. He has responsibility for the strategy and operations for product management and distribution, actuary, underwriting, servicing, and claims across the life, health and annuity portfolio and is leading the digital transformation of the business while preserving USAA’s legendary service. The USAA family of companies provides insurance, banking and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million current and former members of the U.S. military and their families.
Carter is a graduate of Texas A&M University and joined USAA in 1997. In his 26 years with the company, he has held multiple executive leadership positions focused on sales, marketing, service, operational efficiency, and transformation. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The College and is an active board member for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a non-profit organization providing comfort, care and resources to families grieving the death of a military loved one. Previously, he served as Chair of LL Global, the parent company of LIMRA and LOMA and was a member of the Board of Directors for the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).
Lisa Davis, MSM, is managing principal of Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company’s Philadelphia-based agency, 1847Financial. She has held the role since 2020 and has led the way in developing the firm’s advisers, leaders, and overall team practice. Davis has been with the firm for more than a decade and served as its director of practice development and managing director prior to assuming her current title. Throughout her time with 1847Financial, Davis has facilitated considerable gains in the firm’s footprint through expansions to Delaware, New Jersey, and Florida in addition to overseeing more than 100 financial advisers.
Before joining 1847Financial, Davis directed business development with DVFG Advisors, LLC. She is a graduate of Cornell University and an alumnus of The College, having earned a master’s degree in science of management and leadership.
Kristin Ferguson is a senior vice president at Securian Financial Group. She has worked with the St. Paul, Minnesota-based firm for more than 20 years and currently directs Individual Solutions, a division that includes the company’s individual life insurance and individual annuities business lines. Ferguson’s responsibilities within the subset encompass everything from supervising product development and risk management to sales and distribution. She first joined Securian Financial as a college intern in 2001 before being onboarded as a full-time employee in 2002. In that time, she has overseen an array of varied actuarial responsibilities — including the development of sophisticated hedging programs and the enhancement of the company’s asset liability management process — and held several leadership roles.
Ferguson holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from Iowa State University and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a CFA charter holder, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA).
Brad Montgomery, CLU®, ChFC®, CPCU®, RICP®, FLMI®, HIA, CASL, is Senior Vice President – Agency for State Farm. He has accrued more than 30 years of experience working for the national insurance provider, having first joined the company in 1991 as a leader in Life & Health operations. He later served as a State Farm Agent in the St. Louis area, eventually moving into Agency Field Leadership and serving in a number of executive roles. Prior to his current role leading Agency Operations and Corporate & Business Development for State Farm, Brad served as Vice President in Life, Health & Investment Planning Services.
Prior to his time with State Farm, Montgomery earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration specializing in finance from the University of Missouri. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program.
Matthew Spriggs joined Truist Insurance Holdings in 2021 as CIO and oversees all aspects of technology, cybersecurity, and innovation for the enterprise and its subsidiaries including AmRisc, BenefitMall, CRC, Crump, Kensington Vanguard, McGriff, and Starwind. Matthew is a results-driven technology executive with over twenty years of leadership experience in software engineering, infrastructure operations, digital transformation, consumer banking, and insurance brokerage.
Prior to his appointment as the CIO for Truist Insurance Holdings, Matthew served as the Truist Financial Corporation CIO for Consumer and Small Business Banking along with many other roles. His teams were responsible for the JD Power award winning U Mobile application and the successful integration of hundreds of systems enabling Branch, ATM, Contact Center, Deposit, Lending, Mortgage, Credit Cards, and Debit Cards related to the merger between BB&T and SunTrust. Matthew earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
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ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nation’s largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The College’s faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.
Contact:
Sarah Tremallo
908-967-0381 / stremallo@jconnelly.com
Lindsey Allumbaugh
678-643-1310 / lindsey.allumbaugh@theamericancollege.edu
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