Firm Taps Annuity Specialist to Drive Growth, Distribution as Structured Products Platform Sees Robust Demand
Cincinnati, OH, August 4 2020 – Luma Financial Technologies (“Luma”), an independent, multi-issuer structured products and annuities platform, announced today that John (Jay) R. Charles has joined the firm as Director of Annuity Products. He reports directly to Tim Bonacci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Luma.
Mr. Charles will oversee strategic initiatives to expand Luma’s annuity offerings and distribution as the firm continues to develop its extensive product suite to reflect growing demand from financial advisors seeking to provide targeted solutions to their clients.
“Luma is the financial technology market leader in the structured products category. We have a proven track record of leveraging our award-winning technology to solve the needs of advisors by making the complex simple and more compliant. Annuities has similar opportunities, and we expect demand from Annuity providers will continue to grow as fintech enables advisors, and further drives product adoption, especially in an environment where investors are facing persistent market volatility and low interest rates,” said Mr. Bonacci. “Bringing Jay to Luma is perfectly timed to help our advisor clients provide the risk-management benefits of annuities to the investors they serve. He brings an impressive track record and vast experience in annuity distribution, as well as deep insight into the technology supporting this product. We’re excited to welcome him to Luma and look forward to Jay’s involvement in expanding our platform and client experience.”
Mr. Charles joins Luma from Prudential Financial, where he led teams focused on developing and commercializing new strategic solutions for Prudential Annuities. During his tenure at Prudential, Mr. Charles helped launch Prudential’s Fixed Index Annuity on multiple fintech platforms. Prior to joining Prudential in 2017, Mr. Charles served as Vice President, Commercial Banking Strategy at JP Morgan Chase & Co, where he managed projects focused on developing commercial banking growth strategies and improving operational efficiency and effectiveness. Previously, Mr. Charles also worked as an associate for McKinsey & Co.
“Luma has differentiated itself as an industry leader by offering an unmatched set of tailored solutions and educational tools for financial advisors,” Mr. Charles said. “I’m delighted to be joining an experienced and knowledgeable team of professionals and excited to start working closely with financial advisors on Luma’s platform.”
Mr. Charles earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Swarthmore College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He started with Luma on August 3rd and is currently based in Connecticut.
About Luma Financial Technologies
Luma Financial Technologies is the creator of Luma, a fully customizable, independent, buy-side platform that helps financial advisors more efficiently learn, create, order and manage market-linked investments such as structured products, structured annuities and more.
Launched in 2011, Luma is one of the largest and longest-tenured structured product platforms in the U.S. market and is used by broker/dealer firms, RIA offices and private banks to automate and optimize the full process cycle for offering and transacting in market-linked investments. This includes advisor education and certification; creation and pricing of custom structures; order entry; and post-trade actions. Luma is multi-issuer, multi-wholesaler and multi-product, thus providing advisors with an extensive breadth of market-linked investments to best meet clients’ specific portfolio needs.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Luma also has offices in New York, NY.
