Western & Southern Names Steven Kreider Chief Investment Officer

CINCINNATI, May 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) has named Steven K. Kreider senior vice president and chief investment officer for Western & Southern and Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington), effective May 30.

Nicholas P. Sargen, current senior vice president and chief investment officer, will remain with the company and transition to a new position of chief economist and senior investment advisor.

In his position, Kreider will be responsible for overseeing the investment activity for all assets under management for Fort Washington and its divisions and subsidiaries.

"Steve brings extensive experience as a global money manager," said John F. Barrett, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Western & Southern. "We welcome his expertise and leadership in managing investments across asset classes, including fixed income, public and private equities, real estate, alternative assets, and hedge funds."

"We are very excited and look forward to welcoming Steve to Fort Washington," said Maribeth Rahe, president and chief executive officer of Fort Washington. "His knowledge, experience and background will be a great asset to our company."

Kreider earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University, and an MBA in quantitative analysis and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Cincinnati while playing wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Prior to joining Fort Washington, Kreider served as head of Insurance Asset Management at Western Asset Management Company in New York. He also served as managing director for Morgan Stanley Investment Management in New York. Earlier, he was a partner in the firm of Miller, Anderson and Sherrerd.

"After 11 very successful years as senior vice president and chief investment officer with our company, Nick will continue to work with our team," Barrett said. "During his tenure, Nick led our investment team through one of the most difficult investment periods in history. Fort Washington was up to the challenge, and is now positioned as one of the most respected investment firms in our region. In addition to his investment responsibilities, he has done an exemplary job representing Fort Washington and Western & Southern in a wide array of industry, media and business development matters." 

As chief economist and senior investment advisor, Sargen will continue to bolster the company's business through his economic expertise and his contributions to the media and various affiliates and selected clients.

About Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. 
Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington), founded in May 1990, is the money management and primary investment arm of Western & Southern Financial Group with more than $46.4 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2013.* Fort Washington is a registered investment advisor with expertise in fixed income, public equity and private equity. Clients include institutions and high-net-worth individuals throughout the country. For more information, visit FortWashington.com.

*Includes total assets and/or commitments under management by Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington), $43.7 billion, and $2.7 billion managed by Fort Washington Capital Partners Group (FW Capital), a division, and Peppertree Partners LLC, a subsidiary.

About Western & Southern Financial Group

Founded in Cincinnati in 1888 as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is now a Fortune 500 diversified family of financial services companies. Its assets owned (in excess of $42 billion) and managed (in excess of $26 billion) totaled approximately $69 billion as of March 31, 2014. Western & Southern is one of the strongest life insurance groups in the world. Its six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain the following financial strength ratings: A.M. Best A+ Superior, Standard & Poor's AA Very Strong, Fitch AA Very Strong and Moody's* Aa3 Excellent. All of Western & Southern's life insurance companies have a Comdex Ranking* of 96. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.¹; IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC¹; Touchstone Advisors, Inc.¹; Touchstone Securities, Inc.²; W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.²; and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more information on the Western & Southern family of companies, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open (www.wsopen.com), a premier event in the U.S. Open Series played each August by the world's top-ranked professional male and female tennis players.

* Lafayette Life is not rated by Moody's and has a 97 Comdex Ranking.

1 A registered investment advisor.

2 A registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.

For current ratings, please visit http://www.westernsouthern.com/industry.asp.

SOURCE Western & Southern Financial Group