Obama Appoints New Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Chairman

(August 23, 2011) — President Barack Obama has appointed Michael Kennedy as the new chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB).

As a Board member since June 2010, Kennedy replaces former chairman Andrew Saul, who will continue to serve until his replacement is confirmed by the US Senate. The five presidentially appointed Board members develop and establish the policies governing the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for Federal employees. The Executive Director of the Board, Gregory T. Long, serves as the head of the Agency that manages the Plan.

Chairman Kennedy said, according to a press release, that he was “honored by the President’s action” and that he looks forward to “continuing the effective and steady leadership that Andrew Saul provided as Chairman of the Board.” He thanked Saul for his “tireless efforts on behalf of TSP participants over the past nine years.”

As outlined in a statement on the appointment, Kennedy has been serving as a Board member since being confirmed by the Senate in June 2010. He is a Managing Director in the Atlanta office of Korn/Ferry International and a member of the firm’s global financial services practice, specializing in commercial/investment banking, capital markets, and asset management searches. Additionally, he co-leads Korn/Ferry’s Diversity Practice. Prior to joining Korn/Ferry, Kennedy founded his own venture capital consulting firm, and was a Vice President at GE Capital Corporation and at Wachovia Corporation in the US corporate group. He started his financial services career with J.P. Morgan’s Investment Management Group in New York. Kennedy is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Employees’ Retirement System pension fund. He holds a B.A. with highest honors in history and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

As of July 2011, TSP assets totaled approximately $287 billion, and retirement savings accounts were being maintained for almost 4.5 million TSP participants.