FMG announced the appointment of three independent directors and one board observer to its Board of Directors as the company continues expanding across the financial services market.
The new independent directors are John Carter, former President and Chief Operating Officer of Nationwide Financial; Janet Malzone, former CEO of Grant Thornton LLP; and Deanna Mulligan, CEO of Ceres Life Insurance and former CEO of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. Steve Sloan, VP of AWS Marketing at Amazon and former CEO of Contentful, has joined as a board observer.
FMG is a marketing automation platform used by more than 80,000 financial professionals collectively serving over 45 million U.S. investors. The appointments come as the company advances its growth strategy under GTCR’s ownership and expands across registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, wirehouses, and insurance organizations.
The new board members join a board that includes Executive Chairman Mark Casady, former Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial; CEO and Founder Dave Christensen; and Scott White, former CEO of FMG.
FMG said the appointments are designed to support the company’s next phase of enterprise scale and AI-enabled innovation. The new directors and board observer bring leadership experience across financial services, insurance, enterprise technology, AI, professional services, and corporate governance.
The appointments follow several recent milestones for FMG, including its acquisition of Testimonial iQ and the appointment of a new executive leadership team. The company said it is focused on helping financial professionals communicate consistently, personalize marketing at scale, meet compliance expectations, and turn marketing into a more measurable growth function.
Carter concluded a 40-year career in financial services as President and Chief Operating Officer of Nationwide Financial, a Fortune 100 company and one of the country’s largest providers of insurance and retirement solutions. During his time at Nationwide, he helped lead the company’s retirement plans, annuity, life insurance, and mutual fund businesses.
Earlier in his career, Carter held leadership roles at Prudential Financial, UBS, and Kidder Peabody. He has also served on the boards of the American Council of Life Insurers, the Insured Retirement Institute, and the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Malzone most recently served as CEO of Grant Thornton LLP, one of the nation’s largest professional services firms. She oversaw the firm’s audit and assurance practice and served on the Executive Committee.
Malzone has nearly 35 years of public accounting experience working with companies ranging from early-stage businesses to large multinational organizations. She has also been recognized twice on NACD’s Directorship 100 and holds NACD Directorship Certification.
Mulligan currently serves as CEO of Ceres Life Insurance and previously served as President and CEO of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America from 2011 to 2020. At Guardian, she led product strategy, distribution, and digital transformation across a decade of sustained growth.
Earlier in her career, Mulligan was a principal at McKinsey & Company, where she helped lead the North American Life Insurance Practice. She also held senior executive roles at AXA Financial and New York Life, previously served as a Director of The Vanguard Group and Trustee of the Vanguard Funds, and chaired the American Council of Life Insurers.
Sloan currently serves as VP of AWS Marketing at Amazon, where he leads the development of marketing teams powered by AI at one of the world’s largest cloud platforms. He previously served as CEO of Contentful, a Forbes Cloud 100 composable content platform.
Sloan also served as Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Twilio SendGrid and Senior Vice President of Product at Marketo. Earlier in his career, he held senior product leadership roles at Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, and he currently serves as an independent board member of AdRoll.
FMG provides marketing technology for financial advisors, insurance professionals, and enterprise financial services organizations. The platform is designed to help users scale compliant, client-centered marketing that supports organic growth.
The company said it is consistently ranked number one in market share in the T3 Software Survey Report and has been recognized by WealthManagement.com as Best Marketing Automation Platform. FMG also cited a study by a leading independent consulting firm finding that enterprises using FMG achieved Net Promoter Scores nearly four times the industry average, along with improvements in lead conversion, client retention, and time saved on marketing tasks.
GTCR, which owns FMG, is a private equity firm founded in 1980. The firm has invested more than $35 billion in over 300 companies since inception and currently manages approximately $45 billion in equity capital.
KEY QUOTES:
“FMG is serving a larger, more complex, and more strategic role in the market than it was even a few years ago. The firms we serve are looking for technology that helps advisors communicate consistently, personalize at scale, meet compliance expectations, and turn marketing into a more measurable growth function. John, Janet, Deanna, and Steve each bring experience that maps directly to where FMG is going.”
Mark Casady, Executive Chairman of FMG
“GTCR has strong conviction in FMG’s opportunity to define the next phase of organic growth for financial services firms. The company sits at the intersection of advisor growth, enterprise fintech, compliance, and marketing technology enabled by AI. This board brings the operating experience and governance perspective to help FMG continue scaling with the discipline and ambition the market requires.”
Michael Hollander, Managing Director at GTCR
“I started FMG because I believed advisors deserved better tools to grow their practices, and that belief has never wavered. What has changed is the scope and speed of what we need to deliver. Whether we are serving a solo practitioner or one of the largest firms in wealth management and insurance, every one of our customers is navigating the same rapidly shifting landscape. This board gives us the experience to move faster and the discipline to do it right.”
Dave Christensen, CEO and Founder of FMG
