Executive Management

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.

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.

Simonds was appointed as executive vice president, chief operating officer of Unum Group in February 2020. He is responsible for optimizing business operations across the enterprise.

Simonds previously served as president and CEO of Unum US from July 2013 to February 2020. Since beginning his career with Unum in 1994, Simonds has worked in leadership roles including chief operating officer and chief marketing officer for Unum US. During his tenure, Simonds helped lead the company’s expansion into voluntary, dental and vision benefits.

After earning bachelor’s degrees in economics and anthropology from Bowdoin College, Simonds began his career with Unum. He worked in management positions in finance, marketing and sales before leaving the company to earn his master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School. He then advised a range of financial institutions as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, before returning to Unum in 2003.

Simonds currently serves as Chair of the Finance Committee for the LIMRA Board and as Treasurer of the Finance Committee for The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center. He lives in Falmouth, Maine, with his wife, Ruby, and their four boys.

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.

Tim Arnold was named executive vice president, voluntary benefits and president, Colonial Life in February 2020, responsible for shaping an enterprise-wide approach to voluntary benefits while continuing to lead Colonial Life.

Arnold previously served as executive vice president, president and chief executive officer, Colonial Life from January 2015 and, before that, as executive vice president, president, Colonial Life from July 14. Prior to that, he served as the Company’s senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Colonial Life from August 2012 and, before that, as senior vice president, chief operations officer, Colonial Life from July 2011. Arnold joined Colonial Life in July 2011, following a 27-year career with Unum. During his career with Unum, he held leadership positions in Underwriting, Corporate Planning, Client Services, National Accounts Sales, and Benefits and served in leadership roles in the Chattanooga, Tennessee; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Portland, Maine, offices.

Arnold serves on the boards of the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce and the S.C. Junior Golf Foundation. He is a past chair of the Unum United Way campaign in Portland and served on the Unum United Way campaign board in Chattanooga. He also served on the boards of The First Tee of Chattanooga, First Things First, the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Inc. and Girls Incorporated in Chattanooga.

Arnold earned a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s in business administration degree in finance from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He holds the professional designations of Associate, Life and Health Claims (ALHC) and Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI).

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 was appointed executive vice president and general counsel of Unum Group in January 2015.

As the general counsel of Unum Group, Iglesias has overall responsibility for the legal affairs of the corporation, and heads a team of lawyers handling 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.

She joined the company in January 2015 from WellCare Health Plans, Inc., a managed healthcare company, where she served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary from February 2012 to December 2014. She joined WellCare in February 2010 as vice president, securities and assistant general counsel. Prior to that, she served as general counsel and corporate secretary at Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, from 2007-2008, and as general counsel and secretary of Spherion Corporation, a recruiting and staffing company, from 1999-2007.

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

Lisa serves on the board of Ambac Financial Group, Inc., as well as on the education non-profit Public Education Foundation.

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.

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 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.