Rick Niu, who has been heading up ING’s multicultural growth strategy and execution in the U.S., was promoted to chief marketing officer for ING U.S. Retirement Services effective September 1. Niu will hang on to his multicultural marketing duties while taking on his new responsibility for customer- and distributor-focused research and creating a consistent media voice for ING in Retirement Services marketing and communications vehicles.
For two years prior to his promotion Niu was chief growth officer for ING U.S. Insurance. Niu will now be based in the Windsor, Connecticut office of the Dutch insurance giant and will report to Catherine H. Smith CEO of U.S. Retirement Services.
“We’re thrilled to have Rick on our team,” Smith said. “With his broad financial services marketing experience and demonstrated strategy and execution expertise in growth markets, Rick will be instrumental in moving ING to the next level as a top retirement services company in the U.S.”
Before joining ING Niu worked at management levels of various financial services firms in Asia, Europe and North America. His direct experience has included P&L responsibilities, multicultural distribution, product management, branding, strategic initiatives, management of large-scale acquisitions and post-merger integrations, cross-selling, and management consulting.
“Based on its size and market penetration, ING enjoys a unique leadership role in the defined contribution space and is one of the best positioned,” Niu said. “I see an incredible opportunity for ING as an advocate for plan sponsors, as they seek to improve their benefit offerings, by helping them educate, enroll and service their employees in retirement plans. In addition, we can aid our distributors and customers in reaching some of the fastest-growing yet least-served parts of America’s workforce — the multicultural employees.”
Niu earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing. He speaks fluent Mandarin. He is currently a board member of the Junior Achievement organization and represents Insurance Americas on ING’s Global Diversity Council. Niu and his wife live in Connecticut with their two children.
With over 52,000 participating employers, ING U.S. Retirement Services is tops among the nation’s define contribution plan providers based on number of sponsors. Its 7 million plan enrollees make it the second largest based on number of plan participants. It is the third largest based on combined assets under management and administration with over $235 billion.
