Our Leadership

It takes strong leadership to build and maintain a company for 175 years. We’re proud of our long record of protecting people and helping businesses - and of our leadership, that makes this all possible.

Executive Leadership

Rick McKenney
President and Chief Executive Officer
Steve Zabel
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Liz Ahmed
Executive Vice President, People and Communications
Tim Arnold
Executive Vice President, Voluntary Benefits and President, Colonial Life
Puneet Bhasin
Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer
Lisa Iglesias
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Martha Leiper
Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer
Chris Pyne
Executive Vice President, Group Benefits
Mark Till
Executive Vice President and CEO, Unum International

Richard P. McKenney

President and Chief Executive Officer


Richard (Rick) McKenney is president and chief executive officer for Unum Group, one of the world's leading providers of workplace financial protection benefits. He became president in April 2015 and assumed the role of CEO in May of the same year.

McKenney served as executive vice president, chief financial officer for Unum Group from 2009 to 2015, where he was responsible for overall financial management of the company, including financial reporting, treasury and capital management, strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions, investments, financial planning, investor relations, and enterprise risk management. He also chaired Unum's Operating Committee, which oversees the company's business operations throughout the U.S. and U.K.

Prior to joining Unum in 2009, McKenney was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sun Life Financial, Inc., an international financial services company based in Toronto.

McKenney began his career at GE, transitioning in his roles from manufacturing to financial leadership. He joined GE Financial Assurance in 1996 and became CFO in 2002. In 2004 he became CFO of Genworth Financial as part of the team that launched its initial public offering from GE.

In 2017, McKenney joined the Board of Directors of U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States. He also serves on the board of the American Council of Life Insurers.

McKenney graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

McKenney lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with his wife and is active in his community, serving on the board of the Siskin Hospital for Rehabilitation.

Steven A. Zabel

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer


Steve Zabel is executive vice president, chief financial officer of Unum Group, one of the world’s leading providers of workplace financial protection benefits. Appointed as CFO in July 2019, he is responsible for overall financial management of the company, including financial reporting, treasury and capital management, strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions, investments, financial planning, investor relations, and global risk management.

Zabel previously served as senior vice president and president, Closed Block Operations from July 2015 to July 2019 responsible for the financial management and service operations for the long term care and individual disability legacy business. Steve began his tenure at Unum in August 2013 as chief risk officer and led the global risk management program.

Before joining Unum, Zabel spent over nine years at Genworth Financial. He served in various roles there, including senior vice president for Long Term Care Insurance, chief financial officer for Insurance Products and senior vice president of Corporate Audit Services.

Earlier in his career, Zabel was with Americo Life, Inc. where he was responsible for financial reporting and rating agency relationships and with Ernst & Young where he managed life and health insurance audit engagements.

Zabel graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 1990. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is active in the community, serving on the boards of the Tivoli Theatre Foundation and the Hamilton County Schools Foundation.

Liz Ahmed

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, People and Communications


Liz Ahmed was appointed executive vice president, people and communications of Unum Group in October 2018. In this role, Ahmed is accountable for Unum’s people strategy, including all aspects of the employee experience, and serves as the company’s culture advocate and brand builder. Areas of responsibility include talent management, employee wellbeing, inclusion and diversity, corporate social responsibility and corporate communications.

Previously, Ahmed was executive vice president and chief human resources officer at AmTrust Financial Services, a multinational insurance holding company, from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, she held positions as vice president of human resources at Equity Trust Company, senior vice president of human resources at PNC Bank and spent 10 years in human resources leadership positions at Marsh USA, a global leader in insurance broking and risk management.

She received her master’s in organizational design and analysis from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Sussex in England.

Ahmed lives in Chattanooga with her husband and is active in the community, serving on the boards of the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults and the Tennessee Aquarium.

Timothy G. Arnold

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, Voluntary Benefits and President, Colonial Life


Tim Arnold has served as executive vice president, voluntary benefits, and president of Colonial Life since February 2020. He previously served as executive vice president and president of Colonial Life for five years. Prior to that, he served as the company’s senior vice president of sales and marketing and chief operating officer.

Prior to joining Colonial Life, Arnold spent 26 years at Unum, where he held several leadership positions across the company in underwriting, corporate planning, client services, national sales accounts, and benefits.

Arnold earned his MBA in finance and his bachelor’s degree in management, both from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He holds the professional designations of associate, Life and Health Claims, and fellow, Life Management Institute.

Arnold lives in Columbia, South Carolina, where he serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the American Heart Association Southeast Board, the United Way of the Midlands, Midlands Business Leadership Group, Palmetto Business Forum, and Columbia College.

Visit Tim Arnold on LinkedIn.

Puneet Bhasin

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF INFORMATION AND DIGITAL OFFICER


Puneet Bhasin serves as chief information and digital officer for Unum. In this capacity, he oversees the execution of Unum’s comprehensive, long-term information technology strategy.

Prior to joining Unum, Bhasin was executive vice president of Corporate Operations and president of the Recycling division for Waste Management. He joined Waste Management in 2009 as senior vice president and chief information officer and also held roles as senior vice president of logistics, customer service, supply chain, and strategic accounts for the company.

Previously, he was senior vice president and CIO of Monster Worldwide, senior vice president of E-Commerce for Putnam Investments, and vice president and CIO for Ryder TRS.

Bhasin holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India and a Master’s in Operations Research from Ohio State University.

Bhasin lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Lisa G. Iglesias

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL


Lisa Iglesias has served as executive vice president and general counsel of Unum Group since January 2015.

In this role, Lisa has responsibility for the legal affairs of the corporation, and heads a team of lawyers who handle transactions, finance and investments, SEC reporting, corporate governance, regulatory matters, compliance, privacy, government affairs, and litigation. She also oversees the company’s Enterprise Audit and Corporate Services functions.

Previously, Lisa served as senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary at WellCare Health Plans, Inc. Prior to that, she served as general counsel and corporate secretary at Nordstrom, Inc., and as general counsel and secretary of Spherion Corporation.

Lisa received her law degree from the University of Miami, and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of South Florida. She is also a certified public accountant.

Lisa lives in Chattanooga, Tenn., and serves on the board of Ambac Financial Group, Inc., as well as the Public Education Foundation.

Martha D. Leiper

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER


Martha Leiper has served as executive vice president, chief investment officer of Unum Group since October 2019, responsible for the investment and asset management strategies of Unum’s portfolio. Before re-joining Unum after a tenure with USAA, she held leadership roles of increasing responsibility with Unum (including predecessor companies) from 1985 to 2010, most recently as senior vice president and deputy chief investment officer from January 2006 to May 2010.

Leiper previously served as senior vice president, corporate finance and enterprise money movement at USAA from October 2016 to October 2019. While at USAA, she also served as senior vice president, corporate finance and investments from May 2015 to September 2016, and as senior vice president, chief investment officer from May 2010 until May 2015.

Prior to returning to Unum, Leiper served on the board of the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless and the board of trustees of the Catholic Community Foundation of San Antonio.

She holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Science in business administration and finance from the University of Tennessee. She is also a certified public accountant and remains active in industry associations.

Christopher W. Pyne

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP BENEFITS


Chris Pyne was named executive vice president, group benefits of Unum Group in February 2020. In this role, Pyne leads the company’s U.S. group benefits business lines across all client segments and is also responsible for Unum’s U.S. distribution organization.

In his 28 years with Unum, Pyne has held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as senior vice president, growth operations and distribution from June 2018 to January 2020 and as senior vice president, sales and client management from June 2011 to June 2018. During his career, he has consistently focused on growing business by creating value for customers, leveraging Unum’s robust product portfolio, capabilities and expertise in the leave management category.

Pyne holds a bachelor’s degree in government and legal studies from Bowdoin College.

Mark P. Till

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNUM INTERNATIONAL


Mark Till was named Executive Vice President and CEO, Unum International in April 2021. Before that, he served as Executive Vice President and CEO Designate, Unum International after joining Unum in February 2021.

Prior to joining Unum, Till worked for five and a half years at Aegon, the global insurer, where he held a range of leadership roles across market, distribution, investments, insurance and general management. When he resigned to join Unum, he was Managing Director for their UK Platform Solutions business which was the largest long term savings business in the UK and provided investment platforms, pensions, asset management and individual insurance to the broker and workplace markets.

Till has worked in financial services for 35 years. He started his career at Barclays where he qualified with the Chartered Institute of Bankers and had a 20 year career across retail, business and wealth banking, sales, marketing and change. After a short period as Product and Marketing Director at HomeServe, a UK general insurer, he moved to Standard Life to run UK Marketing and lead their direct business as Managing Director. He then switched into asset management with Fidelity International where he was Managing Director of their direct investing business and UK Marketing Director between January 2012 and February 2015.

He and his wife Kay have three children and live in Kent, England.

Board of Directors

Theodore Bunting
Susan Cross
Susan Devore
Joseph Echevarria
Cynthia Egan
Kevin Kabat
Timothy Keaney
Gale King
Gloria Larson
Mojgan Lefebvre
Richard McKenney
Ronald O'Hanley

Theodore Bunting

Director since 2013


Mr. Bunting served as the Group President, Utility Operations of Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, from June 2012 until his retirement in June 2017.

From August 2007 to May 2012, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Entergy and its subsidiaries. Prior to that, he held numerous executive positions within the Entergy organization, which he joined in 1983.

He began his professional career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1981 and is a certified public accountant. Mr. Bunting has served as a director of NiSource Inc., an energy holding company, since September 2018, and of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. since September 2020. He previously served as a director of Infrastructure & Energy Alternatives, Inc. from May 2021 to October 2022.

Susan Cross

Director since 2019


Ms. Cross served as Executive Vice President and Global Chief Actuary of XL Group Ltd (now AXA XL), together with its subsidiaries a global insurance and reinsurance company, from August 2008 until September 2018, and before that served as Global Chief Actuary beginning in 2006. She served as Chief Actuary of XL’s reinsurance operations from 2004 to 2006, and held various actuarial and reinsurance operations roles after joining the company in 1999.

Prior to joining XL, she was a Principal and Consulting Actuary at Tillinghast-Towers Perrin. She has more than 30 years of experience in developing and leading actuarial and analytical functions supporting global growth. Ms. Cross is a director of Enstar Group Limited, serving since October 2020.

She is a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an associate of the Society of Actuaries.

Susan Devore

Director since 2018


Ms. DeVore served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Premier Inc., a leading health care improvement company, from 2013 to May 2021, and also served as President of Premier from 2013 to April 2019. She has served in a consulting capacity for Premier since her retirement in June 2021.

Ms. DeVore was President and CEO of a predecessor company, Premier Healthcare Solutions, Inc. from 2009 to 2013 prior to its reorganization, and before that was the Chief Operating Officer for a number of affiliated Premier entities from 2006 to 2009.

Prior to joining Premier, Ms. DeVore had two decades of finance, strategy and healthcare consulting experience. Ms. DeVore is also a director of Elevance Health, Inc., serving since August 2021.

Joseph Echevarria

Director since 2016


Mr. Echevarria served as Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte LLP, a global provider of professional services, from 2011 until his retirement in August 2014. During his 36-year tenure with Deloitte he held increasingly senior leadership positions prior to being named CEO, including U.S. Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Deputy Managing Partner, and Southeast Region Audit Managing Partner.

He also served on key boards and committees within Deloitte and its member firm network, including chair of the U.S. Executive and Americas Executive committees and memberships on the U.S. and global boards. Mr. Echevarria currently serves as CEO of the University of Miami.

He serves as a director of Xerox Holdings Corporation (since January 2017), The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (since January 2015, serving as its Non-Executive Chairman since September 2019), and Pfizer Inc. (since June 2015).

Cynthia Egan

Director since 2014


Ms. Egan was President of T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc., a retirement planning subsidiary of the global investment management firm T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., from May 2007 until her retirement in December 2012.

She served an appointment as a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on the development of myRA, a Treasury-sponsored retirement savings program from April 2014 to April 2015.

Prior to her work at T. Rowe Price, she was a long-time member of the executive team at Fidelity Investments where she was head of Fidelity Institutional Tax-Exempt Services Company and President of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund.

Ms. Egan served as a director of Envestnet, Inc., a wealth management technology and services provider, from August 2013 to March 2016. She has also been a director of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (serving as its chair since December 2020), the holding company for several property and casualty insurers, and the BlackRock Fixed Income Fund Complex, since May 2015 and April 2016, respectively.

Ms. Egan is also a director of Huntsman Corporation, serving since June 2020.

Kevin Kabat

Director since 2008


Mr. Kabat has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unum since May 2017, having previously served as its Lead Independent Director from May 2016.

He served as Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Third Bancorp, a diversified financial services company, from 2007 until October 2015, before fully retiring from the company in April 2016. He served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fifth Third Bancorp from September 2012 until his retirement in April 2016, and before that served as its Chairman from 2008 to 2010. He previously served at Fifth Third Bancorp as President from 2006 to September 2012 and as Executive Vice President from 2003 to 2006. Before that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Third Bank (Michigan) from 2001 to 2003.

Prior to joining Fifth Third Bancorp, Mr. Kabat served in a number of management and executive positions with Old Kent Financial Corporation, including as its Vice Chairman and President.

Mr. Kabat has been a director of Alvarium Tiedemann Holdings, a global investment firm, since January 2023 (serving as its Chairman since January 2023), and is also a director of NiSource Inc., an energy holding company, since July 2015 (serving as its Chairman since May 2019).

He also served as a director of E*TRADE Financial Corporation from June 2016 to October 2020.

Timothy Keaney

Director since 2012


Mr. Keaney served as Vice Chairman of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), a global investments company, from October 2010 to September 2014. While at BNY Mellon, he held a number of executive positions, including Chief Executive Officer of Investment Services from January 2013 to June 2014 and Chief Executive Officer of Asset Servicing from September 2010 to December 2012. He served as co-CEO of Asset Servicing at BNY Mellon following its formation in 2007 upon the merger of The Bank of New York Company, Inc. and Mellon Financial Corporation.

Prior to the merger, Mr. Keaney was head of The Bank of New York’s asset servicing business and head of that company’s presence in Europe, with management responsibilities for all business activities in the region. Mr. Keaney has served as a director of Alvarium Tiedemann Holdings, a global investment firm, since January 2023.

Gale King

Director since 2022


Ms. King served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, a leading diversified insurance and financial services company, from April 2012 until her retirement in July 2021.

Before that, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Nationwide from 2009 to 2012. During her 37-year tenure with Nationwide, her leadership responsibilities encompassed the human resources, corporate real estate, corporate security, and aviation departments, which included focus on building a people first culture with a strong commitment to inclusion and diversity.

Ms. King has also served as a director of AutoZone, Inc. since 2018 and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. since 2020.

Gloria Larson

Director since 2004


Ms. Larson was the President of Bentley University from July 2007 until her retirement in June 2018. She also served as President in Residence at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from July 2018 to June 2019.

She previously served as co-chairperson of the Government Practices Group of the law firm Foley Hoag LLP and coordinator for its Administrative Practices Group after joining the firm in 1996. Prior to joining Foley Hoag, she served as Secretary of Economic Affairs and as Secretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and prior to that was Deputy Director of Consumer Protection for the Federal Trade Commission.

Ms. Larson also served as a director of Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc., a wealth management company servicing high net worth individuals, families and select institutions, from January 2015 to July 2021.

Mojgan Lefebvre

Director since 2023


Ms. Lefebvre has been Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Operations Officer of The Travelers Companies, Inc., a property casualty insurer, since May 2019, having joined the company in September 2018 as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Operations and eBusiness. At Travelers, she is responsible for the global technology and operations functions, including cloud technologies, cybersecurity, digital capabilities, data and analytics, customer service, and billing.

From 2010 to 2018, Ms. Lefebvre served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for various business units at Liberty Mutual Insurance, including Commercial Markets, Global Specialty, and Global Risk Solutions.

She held chief information officer positions from 2007 to 2010 at bioMerieux, a medical device company, and from 2004 to 2007 at TeleTech Holdings, a customer management solutions provider. Ms. Lefebvre also has prior experience as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company.

Richard McKenney


Mr. McKenney is President and Chief Executive Officer of Unum Group. He became President in April 2015 and assumed the role of CEO in May of the same year. Mr. McKenney served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Unum Group from 2009 to 2015.

Prior to joining Unum in 2009, Mr. McKenney served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sun Life Financial, Inc., an international financial services company from February 2007, having joined that company as Executive Vice President in September 2006.

Mr. McKenney has also served as a director of U.S. Bancorp since October 2017.

Ronald O'Hanley

Director since 2015


Mr. O’Hanley has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of State Street Corporation, a provider of financial services to institutional investors worldwide, since January 2019, and was appointed Chairman of the Board in January 2020. Prior to this, he served as its President and Chief Operating Officer from 2017 to 2019 and before that as its Vice Chairman from January 2017.

He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Global Advisors, the investment arm of State Street, from April 2015 to November 2017.

Prior to joining State Street, he served as President of Asset Management and Corporate Services for Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of financial products and services, from July 2010 until March 2014 and was a member of Fidelity’s Executive Committee.

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. O’Hanley served as Vice Chairman of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon), a global investments company, and President and Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon Asset Management.