Washington, D.C., Oct. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICMA-RC, one of the nation’s leading providers of public sector financial services, has named Lynne Ford as President and CEO effective November 4. Ms. Ford, an experienced leader with a track record of more than 30 years in the financial services industry, will succeed retiring President and CEO Bob Schultze.

"As the incoming President and CEO, Lynne brings a passion for helping Americans build retirement security, exceptional in-depth knowledge of the retirement industry, a history of commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as a focus on innovation that will serve ICMA-RC and its clients extremely well in the future,” said Peggy Merriss, ICMA-RC’s board chair.

When Mr. Schultze joined ICMA-RC in 2015, he committed to a multiyear agreement that concludes in 2019. To ensure a smooth transition, Mr. Schultze will continue with ICMA-RC as President and CEO Emeritus through the end of 2019.

"Because Bob’s retirement date was set in advance, ICMA-RC’s board had ample time for a thorough and comprehensive national search for a new President and CEO,” said Chair Merriss. “We are grateful to Bob for his outstanding leadership during the past five years and thrilled to bring Lynne on board.”

"I am extremely excited to be joining ICMA-RC to advance its strategic vision. I look forward to the opportunity to build on the organization’s tremendous success as well as work with a mission-driven organization that serves those who serve our communities,” said Lynne Ford. “Organizations that can truly innovate and provide client-oriented solutions will be the ones that thrive as our industry evolves,” she added.

Ms. Ford firmly believes in ICMA-RC’s mission of providing retirement services to local and state government employees because many members of her family are public employees. “ICMA-RC has a tremendous history of serving public employee retirement for almost 50 years. Retirement is the largest expense that we save for over the longest period of time and being able to help provide security for that journey is critical. ICMA-RC’s focus on public sector employees is especially important to me. Growing up in a family of public servants, I understand the financial challenges they face as they serve their communities.”

Over her career, Ms. Ford has led and built financial and retirement services organizations. Before joining ICMA-RC, Ms. Ford was an executive vice president and division executive for SunTrust’s Private Wealth Division, where she led a team delivering wealth management and retirement products and solutions to clients. Prior to her time at SunTrust, she was an executive vice president of Calvert Investments, leading the preeminent socially responsible investment firm’s retail and institutional distribution efforts. She also has served as executive vice president and CEO of Individual Retirement at Voya Financial (formerly ING Insurance U.S.), and spent 20 years at Wells Fargo Corporation and Evergreen Investments in leadership roles focused on retirement at both the client and participant levels.

In addition, Ms. Ford is actively involved in her community. She is a graduate of the 2015 Leadership Greater Washington program. She currently serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. She is a past director of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement USA. She has also dedicated time to a wide variety of industry associations. This includes the Insured Retirement Institute where she was a director for 10 years and chair; the Women’s Initiative for a Secure Retirement; the Investment Company Institute Sales Force Marketing Committee.

Ms. Ford holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Davidson College and a Master of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina. She and her husband are parents to two adult daughters and live in Bethesda, MD. View Ms. Ford’s bio.

About ICMA-RC

Founded in 1972, ICMA-RC is a non-profit, independent financial services corporation that, with its wholly owned subsidiaries, has approximately $57 billion in assets under management and administration (as of September 30, 2019). ICMA-RC is focused on providing retirement plans and related services for more than 1.4 million public sector retirement accounts. ICMA-RC’s mission is to help public sector employees build retirement security. For more information, visit www.icmarc.org, download ICMA-RC's mobile app from the App Store^® and Google Play^TM or follow ICMA-RC on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.