Neuberger bulking up DC squad

Seeking to enlarge its footprint in the small- and midmarket-retirement-plan area, Neuberger Berman LLC has brought on a trio of wholesalers. The firm hired MFS Investment Management Inc. veteran Tim Guay as vice president of retirement, based in San Francisco; Jae Kim, formerly with StanCorp Financial Group Inc., has joined as a vice president covering the Southwest; and Chris Walker has joined as a vice president from Fidelity Investments and will cover the South-Central region. With the new additions, Neuberger Berman's sales team numbers are up to a dozen. The firm hopes to make a bigger splash with financial advisers, said Scott Kilgallen, managing director in charge of intermediary distribution for retirement services. “We wanted to hire people who understand the market from the plan sponsor side as well as the adviser side,” said Mr. Kilgallen, a Goldman Sachs Asset Management veteran who joined Neuberger Berman last October. “Understanding the needs of plan sponsors and advisers is the first thing to having credibility.” Mr. Kilgallen noted that all three new hires have experience working with plan sponsors. It is too soon to talk about sales goals for the firm's $17 billion defined-contribution business, Mr. Kilgallen said. “We're less concerned about asset gathering and more about positioning ourselves with our clients,” Mr. Kilgallen said. “We want to build a world-class team.” E-mail Darla Mercado at dmercado@investmentnews.com.