Empower has promoted longtime executive Joe Smolen to President of its Workplace Solutions business unit, expanding his remit to oversee strategy, growth, relationship management, and product for what the company described as America’s second largest retirement services provider.
Smolen most recently served as Executive Vice President and head of Empower’s Core and Institutional Market segments. He joined the company in 1999 as a regional sales director and has held progressively senior leadership roles since then. Empower said he assumed leadership of its core markets in 2017 and added responsibility for the Mid-Market segment in 2024.
Workplace Solutions is a major engine within Empower’s retirement platform, serving more than 61,000 employer-sponsored retirement plans and over 18.8 million plan participants. Assets under administration for the business unit are approximately $1.9 trillion as of September 30, 2025. The unit spans government 457 plans, corporate 401(k) clients across small to mega segments, nonprofit 403(b) entities, and private-label recordkeeping clients. It also supports defined contribution, defined benefit, non-qualified, and consumer-directed healthcare plans, as well as stock plan services.
As part of the transition, Empower appointed Ken Munro as Executive Vice President and head of the Core and Mid-Market segments, succeeding Smolen. Munro joined Empower in 2006 and has served as Senior Vice President and National Sales Director since 2021. The Core and Mid-Market segments work with advisors to administer plans with assets up to $150 million, including start-up, pooled employer, and multiple employer plans. In total, the segment serves more than 44,000 retirement plan sponsors representing more than $360 billion in assets under administration for over 4.8 million participants as of September 30, 2025.
Reporting relationships will remain unchanged, with Smolen continuing to report to Empower President and Chief Operating Officer Rich Linton, and Munro continuing to report to Smolen.
KEY QUOTES
“Joe is a proven leader who consistently delivers results while keeping clients and partners at the center of everything he does. His deep understanding of the workplace retirement landscape, combined with his ability to lead high-performing teams, makes him exceptionally well suited to lead our Workplace Solutions business as we continue to innovate and grow.”
“Ken’s experience, operational expertise, and commitment to our clients position him well to build on the strong foundation Joe established. This transition reflects the strength of our leadership bench and our continued focus on developing talent from within the organization.”
Rich Linton, President and Chief Operating Officer, Empower
