By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
February 12, 2007

Mayors can look to a new friend supporting their needs in providing quality retirement planning products and services for employees. As Vice President of Strategic Relationships, Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS) has charged Louie Watson with overall responsibility for NRS’s partnership with The United States Conference of Mayors. He replaces Linda Barber who assumes new responsibilities through the newly created position of Vice President of Relationship Management.

In his new role, Watson serves as strategic liaison between NRS and the Conference of Mayors. Watson keeps the Conference of Mayors’s leaders informed on the Conference of Mayors'sponsored deferred compensation program and educates NRS associates about the unique advantages the partnership between Nationwide and the Conference of Mayors offers the nation’s mayors and employees.

“We’re pleased to ask Louie Watson to assume this responsibility,” Matt Riebel, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions, said. “He brings to the Conference of Mayors and its members a passion for empowering public employees to achieve financial security in retirement.”

“Louie has earned the respect of governmental plan sponsors at every stop along his career. We know that the Conference of Mayors members will find in him an advocate for their concerns as we work together to meet the needs of municipal employees across the country,” Riebel added.

Watson encourages mayors to take a fresh look at the NRS-provided the Conference of Mayors deferred compensation program. “If there’s one thing we can be sure of, even with the competitive compensation programs most municipalities provide, future retirees will likely need supplemental sources of retirement income to make up for what a pension and Social Security will not provide. The the Conference of Mayors deferred compensation plan takes advantage of public employees’ special status under the Internal Revenue Code and offers tax-deferred investing and plan services to rely on throughout retirement,” Watson said.

NRS is the market leader in providing supplemental retirement savings programs — defined contribution plans — for public sector employees. The the Conference of Mayors program, a supplemental retirement plan governed under Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, delivers to municipalities the tools and resources for dealing with regulatory and fiduciary issues, selecting and monitoring investment options, educating employees about participation and easing the administrative burden of plan sponsorship. The program is:

• Technology-enabled, so your employees have easier access to their account and to the tools and resources they need to manage it effectively.

• People-focused, giving your employees ongoing access to knowledgeable retirement specialists to help them prepare and manage their plans for retirement.

• Success-driven, geared to be the best value for your municipality and its employees.

NRS is proud that almost 300,000 city employees have more than five billion dollars saved for their future through the the Conference of Mayors deferred compensation plan.

Watson comes to the Conference of Mayors with 21 years experience in the financial services industry, 17 with NRS. He has held positions of increasing responsibility at NRS including Financial Services Representative, Affiliate Relations Manager, Regional Market Director, Business Development Director, State Director, and Regional Vice President. Most recently, as Regional Vice President, he was responsible for sales, service and client relationship activity in the East Region.

He is a graduate of Kent State University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance. He earned a Chartered Financial Consultant designation in 1999 and Certified Retirement Counselor designation in 2003. He is a Registered Principal with NASD Series 6, 26 and 63.

For more information, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or at kweyland@usmayors.org or Jeff Bean at 202-446-8140 or at jbean@usmayors.org or Louie Watson (NRS) at 614-854-8895 or at watsonl2@nationwide.com.