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Great-West Retirement Services® adds new sales role to tackle its growing 401(k) business
Hires proven sales director for Seattle-area markets

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Nov. 14, 2012 — Great-West Retirement Services® (GWRS) has appointed Andrew Howard as regional sales director for the Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, Wash., markets, announced Bill Harmon, senior vice president of 401(k) corporate markets.

In this newly created position, Howard will work with brokers, financial advisers, consultants, wire houses and third-party administrators to offer GWRS 401(k) plans and services to businesses located in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and throughout the Olympic Peninsula. He joins Guy Ridout, whose sales territory includes Bellevue, Wash., northwestern Washington, and Alaska. Howard is based in Seattle and reports to Ken Munro, Western Region vice president.

"Intermediaries and plan sponsors across the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia markets will benefit from Andrew's industry knowledge and 15-plus years of hands-on sales and service experience," Harmon said. "Andrew has a deep understanding of employers' retirement plan needs and this territory. I'm confident he will be an immediate asset to intermediaries who are counting on Great-West to help them bring some of the best retirement plan solutions to Seattle-area clients."

Howard joins GWRS from The Hartford, where he spent the past nine years as regional sales director for its northwest region. While at The Hartford, he was a participant in the company's Emerging Leaders sales management program. Prior to The Hartford, he was a retirement plans sales manager for Mutual of Omaha from 2000 to 2003. During his tenure there, he was among the company’s top salespeople – earning No. 1 in plan sales and No. 2 in assets nationally in 2002.

Howard has a bachelor’s degree in History from Western Washington University. He holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 licenses and health and life insurance licenses in Washington and Alaska. He is a member of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference, Seattle chapter.

Great-West Retirement Services is a division of Great-West Financial℠. It provides 401(k), 401(a), 403(b) and 457 retirement plan services to 26,500 plans representing 4.6 million participant accounts and $174 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2012.

About Great-West Financial
Great-West Financial is the service mark for Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. Headquartered in metro Denver, Great-West Financial serves its 5 million customers through a range of retirement savings products and services, life insurance and annuities.

Great-West Financial is the nation’s largest underwriter of life insurance sold through banks (BISRA Life Report, Second Quarter 2012, based on total premiums at June 30, 2012) and fourth-largest retirement plan record keeper (Pensions & Investments, April 2012, based on total participant accounts at year-end 2011). It is an indirect,
wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc. and "A Member of the Power Financial Corporation Group of Companies" ®.

Great-West Financial refers to products and services provided by Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company; Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York, White Plains, New York; their subsidiaries and affiliates. Recordkeeping information and rankings reflect all recordkeeping customers of Great-West Retirement Services®. Great-West Retirement Services refers to products and services provided by Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, its wholly owned subsidiary FASCore, LLC, and other subsidiaries. The trademarks, logos, and service marks used are owned by Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. "A Member of the Power Financial Corporation Group of Companies" is the registered mark of Power Corporation of Canada.


Contact:

Amy Hawkinson
Fleishman-Hillard
O: (312) 729-3634
C: (773) 301-6437
amy.hawkinson@fleishman.com

Lisa Gigax
Corporate Communications
O: (303) 737-6290
lisa.gigax@greatwest.com