New York Life Announces Executive Promotions in the Agency Department

New York Life announced today that John O’Gara and Richard Simonetti have each been elected senior vice president in the company’s Agency Department, reporting to Executive Vice President and Head of Agency Mark Pfaff.

Mr. O’Gara is responsible for New York Life’s wholesaling operations across all product lines within the Agency distribution channel including life insurance, annuities, investments and long-term care insurance. He also oversees New York Life’s Dallas-based Advanced Planning Group, a team of experienced attorneys, certified public accountants and other professionals with whom New York Life agents can exclusively work when serving affluent clients.

Mr. O’Gara joined New York Life in 1984 and has held sales and marketing positions across various business operations. Mr. O’Gara is a graduate of Iona College with a major in business and finance. He resides in New Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife and three children.

Mr. Simonetti is responsible for agent and manager recruitment, training and development. This includes growing the company’s field force and sales among New York Life’s key markets, including women, cultural markets, the LGBT community and young professionals.

Mr. Simonetti joined New York Life as an agent in the Long Island General Office in July 1996. Since then, he has held several positions with increasing managerial responsibility, including serving as sales manager in that office from 1998 to 2002, managing partner of New York Life’s Vermont office from 2002 to 2005, and managing partner of the Greater Detroit office from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Simonetti earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is an active member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), the Association of Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU) and the General Agents and Managers Association (GAMA). Mr. Simonetti lives in Westchester, New York with his wife and their three children.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States* and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York Life has the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any life insurer by all four of the major credit rating agencies.** Headquartered in New York City, New York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life Investments*** provides institutional asset management and retirement plan services.