ING Employee Benefits Expands Voluntary Employee Benefits Efforts

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- ING's U.S. Employee Benefits division announced it will expand its marketing activities to capture more voluntary employee benefits business.  The company recently hired a new head of its voluntary sales and strategy and three new regional directors.  ING Employee Benefits also said it will enhance its products and underwriting offers in 2011.

"Voluntary benefits is an underserved segment of the market," said Ivan Gilreath, president of ING Employee Benefits. "In this challenging economic market, many employers want to offer their employees smart benefit choices that will help protect their families no matter what their life stage.  With our deep experience and expanded capacity, ING Employee Benefits is well-positioned to serve these employers and their employees."

The division, which offers traditional group life and disability income insurance, stop-loss insurance, and voluntary benefits to employees, recently hired Marc Lower to serve as head of voluntary benefits sales and strategy.  Brian Bly, Valerie Cyr and Terri Orem are ING Employee Benefits' newest regional directors. Bly's territory will include Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. Cyr's territory will include New England, New York and New Jersey. Orem's territory will include Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan and western Pennsylvania.

"We expect strong growth in our voluntary benefits sales, and we will continue to focus our resources in this area to accelerate growth.  This includes investments in people, product and marketing," Gilreath said.

ING Employee Benefits' new hires bring a strong history of success to their new roles.  Lower brings more than 25 years of experience in employee benefits, including 12 years in the voluntary market.  He most recently served as vice president of sales for the Western Region for Colonial Life. He has held senior voluntary benefits positions with Jefferson Pilot and Mutual of Omaha.

Bly has more than 19 years of voluntary insurance experience. Most recently, he served as the owner of Bridge Benefits Inc., located in Colorado. He has also held leadership positions with Conseco Insurance Group and American Fidelity Assurance Company. Bly is a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and the Broomfield and Arvada Chambers of Commerce.

Cyr has more than 20 years of insurance sales experience, most recently serving as regional sales director for Texas Life Insurance Company.  She is a long-time Workplace Benefits Association Advisory Council member, and was recently elected president. She previously served as president of the Voluntary Benefits Forum and was a member of the Mass Marketing Insurance Institute (MI2) Communications Committee.  

Orem has more than 33 years of sales experience in the industry, and was most recently with Trustmark Insurance Company as a senior regional sales director. She also worked at CBIZ/National Benefit Systems as their national sales director, as well as several positions with Anthem Life Insurance Company, including regional sales director for their Worksite products. While with Trustmark Insurance Company, she was the Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions overall sales leader four years in a row.

For more information about ING Employee Benefits voluntary efforts, contact Marc Lower at [email protected].

Press inquiries:

Philip Margolis

ING

(860) 580-2676

[email protected]

About ING

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 107,000 people, ING is dedicated to setting the standard in helping our clients manage their financial future.

In the U.S., the ING (NYSE: ING) family of companies offer a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients, which includes life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits and financial planning.  ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves nearly 30 million customers across the nation.  For more information, visit www.ing.us.

ING Employee Benefits has more than 60 years of experience in the voluntary benefits business. Voluntary benefits are benefits offered at the workplace and elected and paid for by employees. ING Employee Benefits voluntary products include accident, critical illness, whole life, universal life, and disability income insurance.  Insurance products are issued by ReliaStar Life Insurance Company (Minneapolis, MN) and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York (Woodbury, NY).  Within the State of New York, only ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York is admitted, and its products issued. Both are members of the ING family of companies.  

SOURCE ING U.S.