Jackson Financial Inc. yesterday announced that Michael Hicks will join the company as Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective April 17. Hicks will be based in the company’s Lansing, Michigan office and will lead key aspects of Jackson’s information technology strategy, collaborating with business units to ensure operational efficiencies, enhance client experiences and expand market reach, reporting to Dev Ganguly, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
“Mike’s breadth of experience and expertise in integrating technology with the financial planning process is an outstanding complement to our core capabilities and evolving IT strategy, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our team,” said Ganguly. “His penchant for innovation is evident in his work, including his efforts to create some of the industry’s first, real-time integrations between retirement solutions companies and back offices using API technology. Mike has a proven track record of success that will help further our efforts to enhance and modernize Jackson’s technology capabilities for financial professionals and their clients seeking retirement products.”
“I greatly look forward to joining the Jackson team and applying my experience connecting operations and distribution functions with information technology ecosystems,” Hicks said. “I strongly believe more technological innovation and progress will be made in the annuities industry in the next decade than occurred in the last quarter century combined. I am excited to accelerate Jackson’s digital transformation journey and further enhance its position as an industry leader.”
Hicks most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at AF Group, a leading national provider of workers’ compensation insurance solutions. During his more than 25-year career, he has held similar positions at Emergent Holdings, Inc. and divisions within Guardian Life, MassMutual and Lincoln Financial Group. Hicks is an accomplished leader and was named a finalist in the 2021 MichiganCIO ORBIE awards in the Large Enterprise category. He is the former chairperson of the Insured Retirement Institute standardization committee and a past advisory board member for Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Insurance Services. He currently serves on advisory boards for Vation Ventures, MichiganCIO and the College of Technology at Davenport University.
Hicks graduated from the University of Northwestern Ohio with an Associate of Science degree in Business, Computer Programming and Analysis. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Global Business and Leadership from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University.
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