ING Fixed Annuities Adds Baldwin, Sharpens Focus on Banks

Eric Baldwin has joined ING's Fixed Annuity team as vice president and head of regional banks distribution. He will focus exclusively on developing and strengthening relationships with regional banks, community banks and bank-focused third party distributors, according to Chad Tope, senior vice president - ING Fixed Annuity Distribution.

Eric brings to ING more than 20 years of experience as a producer, program manager, wholesaler and national sales manager, successfully developing and growing distribution of insurance and savings products through financial institutions. He most recently was employed by Key Investment Services (Key Bank's broker-dealer group). He has extensive experience in both wirehouse and bank distribution environments and strong knowledge of traditional fixed and fixed indexed annuities, as well as other insurance-related products. He is based in Milan, Ohio and will manage his team from there.

The addition of a dedicated resource to support ING's growing fixed annuity presence in regional and community banks strengthens the company's capability to tailor annuity solutions to the unique client base of financial institutions. ING recently sponsored a Kehrer-LIMRA survey of bank product managers and marketing organizations that showed ING's strengths and attributes are well-aligned with bank and independent marketers' priority considerations in selecting annuity providers. Tope said ING is exploring fixed annuity products designed specifically for banks and related financial institutions, with features based on bank market trends and preferences, ongoing bank customer feedback and insight collected through the Kehrer-LIMRA survey.

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to more than 60 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of over 115,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

In the U.S., the ING family of companies offers a comprehensive array of financial services to retail and institutional clients which include life insurance, retirement plans, mutual funds, managed accounts, alternative investments, direct banking, institutional investment management, annuities, employee benefits, financial planning, and reinsurance. ING holds top-tier rankings in key U.S. markets and serves over 14 million customers across the nation. For more information, visit www.ing.com.

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SOURCE: ING U.S. Financial Services

CONTACT: Chuck Eudy of ING U.S. Financial Services, +1-770-980-5209, or
mobile, +1-770-490-6420, or chuck.eudy@us.ing.com

Web site: http://www.ing.com/us