GA Group appoints Bill Soncini and Marc Musitano as Co-Presidents of GA Group's Advisory & Valuation services segment. Oct 20, 2026, 09:14 ET Appointments reinforce GA Group's focus on growth, operational excellence, and integrated client solutions WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Oct. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Great American Holdings, LLC ("GA Group"), a provider of financial advisory, valuation, asset disposition, investment banking, and lending services and majority-owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. ("Oaktree"), today announced the appointments of Bill Soncini and Marc Musitano as Co-Presidents of its Advisory & Valuation business, effective immediately. Both long-tenured GA Group leaders, Bill and Marc have helped guide the organization through various ownership transitions and played key roles in the company's successful sale to Oaktree. Their combined institutional knowledge, leadership experience, and commitment to clients and colleagues will support the continued growth and evolution of the Appraisal, Field Exam, and Advisory Services platform. "Bill and Marc are proven leaders who have made meaningful contributions to GA Group's success through periods of transformation and growth," said Dan Shribman, Chief Executive Officer of GA Group. "Their complementary strengths, deep understanding of our business, and shared commitment to delivering exceptional client outcomes make them ideally suited to lead this group, which consists of diligence offerings for both credit underwriting and general corporate transaction purposes, into its next chapter." In his role as Co-President and Chief Revenue Officer, Bill will lead the business's sales and revenue-growth strategy. Drawing on his experience as National Sales Manager and leader of the Appraisal & Field Exam sales force, he will focus on strengthening relationships with existing clients, referral sources, and strategic partners; expanding cross-selling across GA Group's platform; developing new markets and service offerings; shortening the client-conversion cycle; and accelerating growth in the non-lending diligence business segments. "GA Group has an exceptional team, strong client base, and significant opportunity ahead," said Bill Soncini. "I am excited to build on the momentum of the business and continue to advise our clients as they navigate their most important opportunities and challenges. Marc and I aim to bring a more integrated approach to growth, thus creating meaningful, long-term value for our clients and our employees." As Co-President and Chief Operating Officer, Marc will lead operations, execution, and profitability for the Advisory & Valuation business. Building on his experience as COO of the team, he will focus on advancing operational efficiency, improving margins, applying technology to enhance processes, reinforcing accountability, and integrating future acquisitions into the platform. "We will remain focused on disciplined execution, operational excellence, and investing in the capabilities that enable us to deliver even greater value to our clients and enriching the careers of our employees," added Marc Musitano. "We look forward to partnering with our teams across the organization as we continue to grow." Together, Bill and Marc will oversee the Advisory & Valuation business with a shared focus on delivering integrated, effective solutions for clients while building a stronger, more scalable organization. About GA Group GA Group is a privately held global firm offering a comprehensive set of tailored solutions to meet our clients' diverse needs. Our experts provide advisory and valuation services, as well as monetize, lend against, and acquire assets across a broad range of sectors from both healthy and distressed companies. GA Group and its predecessors are celebrating over 50 years of customer service, and the company's leadership has over 100 years of collective experience in the industry. GA Group is majority-owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. For more information, please visit www.gagroup.com. SOURCE Great American Holdings, LLC

Retirement industry people moves - 10/9/2026. Fiduciary Trust International adds 2 relationship managers; IRI appoints chief government, political affairs officer; TCW Group names managing director; and more. Reported by Fiduciary Trust International adds 2 relationship managers. Fiduciary Trust International, a wealth management firm and wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Inc., added Tim Kazachkov and Kevin Markett as relationship manager and senior relationship manager, respectively. They will be based in the firm's New York headquarters and report to Christopher Gleason, managing director and portfolio manager. Kazachkov joins Fiduciary Trust International from Beacon Trust Co. in Morristown, New Jersey, where he served as vice president and relationship manager. In this role, he led comprehensive financial planning across retirement, tax, estate and cash flow strategies, and also managed multi-scenario retirement, tax and distribution modeling. He earned a B.S. in financial planning from William Paterson University and an M.S. in personal financial planning from Texas Tech University. Markett has more than 25 years of experience guiding high-net-worth and institutional clients on investment and wealth planning strategies. He joins Fiduciary Trust International from Iconiq Capital in New York, where he was a vice president and relationship manager on the family office advisory team. Markett's previous positions included senior client relationship manager at Geller Advisors and senior consulting analyst in the Americas institutional consulting division of Russell Investments. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Connecticut College and an MBA from Marist University. Fiduciary Trust International had more than $119 billion in assets under management and administration as of June 30. IRI taps Jill Hoffman as chief government, political affairs officer. The Insured Retirement Institute appointed Jill Hoffman as chief government and political affairs officer to lead the group's federal legislative and political efforts. She will succeed Paul Richman, who will retire on December 31 after more than 11 years with the association. Hoffman joined IRI on October 5 and will work with Richman through the end of the year to ensure continuity across IRI's federal legislative, political and public policy priorities. Hoffman brings more than 20 years of government affairs and public policy experience across the financial services, insurance and retirement industries. Most recently, she served as an open finance industry affairs lead at Plaid. She previously served as vice president of federal government affairs at Assurant and as a partner in Capitol Counsel. Earlier, Hoffman held senior government affairs positions at the Financial Services Roundtable and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. She also has experience at the American Council of Life Insurers, Aflac and in the office of former Senator John Breaux, D-Louisiana. During his IRI tenure, Richman led the association's advocacy presence on Capitol Hill, at the White House and across federal agencies leading up to the enactment of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. Michael Chambers becomes Managing Director at TCW Group. Michael Chambers joined TCW Group as a managing director in TCW's institutional advisory group, working with institutional clients across the Southeast. Chambers last served as the managing director of Oaktree Capital Management. His previous roles include executive director at Morgan Stanley and vice president of Columbia Threadneedle Investments. In a statement, Jennifer Grancio, head of global distribution at TCW, praised Chambers' "reputation for excellence in delivering smart investment solutions for his long-standing clients." Chambers earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. New York Life names Meghan Shea as head of group benefit solutions. New York Life Insurance Co. named Meghan Shea as head of group benefit solutions, effective January 1, 2027. She will report to Alain Karaoglan, executive vice president and head of New York Life's strategic businesses. Shea will succeed Scott Berlin, who will retire from New York Life on December 31 following more than 36 years of service. Shea has served as head of distribution for group benefit solutions since 2024, working on driving growth across regional and national segments. Over more than 20 years of group insurance industry experience, Shea has held leadership roles across distribution, strategy, solutions and marketing. She joined New York Life as part of the company's 2020 acquisition of Cigna's group insurance business. Michael Banks, currently head of national accounts for group benefit solutions, will succeed Shea as head of group benefit solutions distribution. Banks has more than 20 years of group insurance industry experience. ICI names IDC Managing Director, board of governors re-elects members. The Investment Company Institute's Independent Directors Council named Tara Buckley as its new managing director. Buckley, currently ICI's deputy general counsel, succeeds Managing Director Thomas Kim, who is retiring after seven years leading the IDC. Prior to joining ICI in 2025, Buckley spent 15 years at Vanguard and served as its deputy general counsel, focusing on enterprise growth, corporate governance and disclosure. She previously was a senior lawyer in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management and a lawyer in private practice. Buckley earned a B.A. from Vassar College and a J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. The ICI's board of governors recently announced the re-election of two members. Andrew Schlossberg, president and CEO of Invesco Ltd., will serve a second year as its chair, and George Walker, chair and CEO of Neuberger Berman, will serve a second year as vice chair. Creative Planning names ovi Vitas as chief marketing officer. Ovi Vitas joined Creative Planning LLC as chief marketing officer. His previous roles included chief marketing officer of AmeriLife, chief brand and digital officer at Marriott Vacations Worldwide and global marketing director at Reebok. In a LinkedIn post, Vitas wrote, "What [Creative Planning President and CIO] Peter Mallouk and the team have built is remarkable... an incredible business with tremendous momentum, a differentiated approach to serving clients" and added, "I'm looking forward to building on that momentum." Vitas earned a B.S. from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Brookfield announced the final close of Oaktree's Asset-Backed Finance Fund at $2 billion, meeting its fundraising target. The fund attracted a globally diversified base of institutional investors, including US public pension plans and sovereign wealth funds. Oaktree's ABF strategy provides flexible capital solutions to originators across equipment leasing, transportation, consumer, real estate and infrastructure sectors. The firm has invested more than $19 billion across its broader ABF platform over two decades. The close builds on Brookfield's partnership with Oaktree, which began in 2019. ABF I complements Brookfield's asset-based finance platform, which totals more than $60 billion. Brookfield manages over $1 trillion in assets globally.