ING U.S.'s Insurance Solutions Business CEO Donald Britton Retires - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - ING U.S. Inc. (VOYA), which will rebrand as Voya Financial Inc. in 2014, announced that Donald Britton, 65, will retire effective immediately as Chief Executive Officer of ING U.S.'s Insurance Solutions business.

The company said that Britton will assume the role of senior adviser to the Chairman and CEO of ING U.S., and to the CEO of Insurance Solutions, until June 30, 2014.

Insurance Solutions includes ING U.S.'s Individual Life and Employee Benefits business segments. Britton, who joined ING U.S. in 2004, has spent 40-years in the Life Insurance and Annuity industries. Prior to joining ING U.S., he was president, Life Insurance, American General Financial Group.

Britton will be succeeded as CEO of Insurance Solutions, by Michael Smith, 50, currently ING U.S. Chief Risk Officer. Smith will continue to report to Rodney Martin, Jr., Chairman and CEO, ING U.S. Smith will also retain his current responsibilities for the Closed Block Variable Annuity (CBVA) segment.

Smith, who has been with ING U.S. since 2009, will be succeeded as ING U.S. Chief Risk Officer by Chet Ragavan, 59, currently Chief Risk Officer of ING U.S. Investment Management. Ragavan, who has been with ING U.S. since 2008, will now report to Martin and become a member of the ING U.S. Executive Committee.

Smith has 28-years of experience in the Life Insurance and Annuity industries. Immediately prior to becoming Chief Risk Officer, Smith served as CEO of the ING U.S. Annuity Manufacturing business that included the CBVA segment. In 2009, he joined ING U.S. as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Insurance Risk Officer of the Annuity business. Prior to joining ING U.S., Smith was with Lincoln Financial Group where he held numerous leadership positions.

Ragavan has more than 30 years of risk management and analytical research experience, most recently as Chief Risk Officer for ING U.S. Investment Management. As Chief Risk Officer, Ragavan was responsible for an integrated platform that covered investment, operational and business risk management. Prior to joining ING U.S., Ragavan served as Managing Director, co-head of the Portfolio Analytics Group for BlackRock Solutions.