Combined business unit aims to accelerate firm’s engagement with consumers

Empower today announced that Carol Waddell is taking on broader responsibilities as president of a newly created organization within Empower that will deliver consumer wealth management services for individual investors.

Waddell will assume business leadership of all phases of the unit’s outreach and engagement with individuals and their advisors who wish to work with Empower on any aspect of their financial picture, including planning, investment strategies, savings, goal setting, and liability management.

In this new role, Waddell will continue to have responsibility for the existing Empower consumer division as well as Personal Capital, a leading wealth manager and registered investment adviser Empower acquired in 2020. The new combined division will be called “Empower Personal Wealth.”

Waddell takes the reins of the combined unit from her role as executive vice president over the firm’s Retirement Solutions Group (RSG), a division established upon the creation of Empower in 2014. Initially built as a means of providing IRA rollovers to retirement plan participants, over the ensuing eight years RSG has developed into a full-service retail investment offering featuring brokerage services, advice, managed accounts, and other investor services.

Waddell will be managing a dedicated unit of some 1,500 associates serving more than 260,000 investors. Waddell will continue to report to Empower President and CEO Edmund F. Murphy III. The appointment was effective Jan. 1, 2023.

“Our vision is to transform the financial lives of those we serve through the delivery of world-class personal wealth management products and services, advice, and education,” said Murphy. “Under Carol’s leadership Empower will continue its legacy of being a respected and valued provider of services to people who need financial advice, education, and investment expertise across the income spectrum.”

Waddell said that the key components of the new division are in place and staffed by industry-leading talent.

“Our new organization is built upon two incredibly successful teams supported by well-established capabilities that can help more people on the path to building financial freedom,” she said. “Everyone has questions about their money, and we stand ready to help them get the answers they need.”

Waddell previously served as managing director and head of marketing and products at J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services, which Empower acquired in 2014. Waddell joined J.P. Morgan after 18 years with T. Rowe Price in product management and development. Previously she served at Citibank.

A veteran leader with years of experience in the benefits, retirement, and investment industries, Waddell is based at Empower’s headquarters in Greenwood Village, Colorado. She is an active leader in the community and within the Empower organization who co-chairs the Empower Diversity, Belonging, & Equity Council and serves on the boards of the Mile High United Way and the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Jay Shah, president of Personal Capital, who has led the company since 2017, departed Empower on Dec. 31.

“Jay has been an incredible thought leader, the architect of the most important digital-first wealth management and investment advisory firm in the market, and a terrific advocate for consumers,” said Murphy.

On August 1, 2022, Empower announced that it is changing the names of various companies within its corporate group to align the names with the Empower brand. For more information regarding the name changes, please visit empower.com/name-change.

Empower refers to the products and services offered by Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries. “EMPOWER” and all associated logos and product names are trademarks of Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America.

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