New leadership role blends IT and Service & Operations

Symetra Financial Corporation today announced the promotion of executive vice president Chantel Balkovetz to Chief Operations Officer. In this newly created role, Ms. Balkovetz will add leadership for Symetra’s Information Technology organization to her current responsibilities heading Service & Operations for the company’s Retirement, Benefits and Individual Life divisions. She reports to Margaret Meister, president and chief executive officer, Symetra Financial Corporation.

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Symetra promoted EVP Chantel Balkovetz to Chief Operations Officer. In this newly created role, Ms. Balkovetz will add leadership for Symetra’s Information Technology organization to her current responsibilities heading enterprise-wide Service & Operations. (Photo: Business Wire)

The announcement follows an organizational realignment to better position Symetra’s technology and business teams to help accelerate and achieve the company’s long-term strategic goals. The move blends Symetra’s IT teams with its Service & Operations organization, led by Ms. Balkovetz, and within its Strategy Office, led by Chief of Strategy Mindi Work, who will take on responsibility for leading emerging opportunities, experiences, new lines of business, and technologies.

“Successfully executing our Symetra Empowers strategic plan is key to our vision to create a world where more people have access to financial freedom. Chantel’s exceptional work to innovate service and operations with a more digital experience that prioritizes our customers is a critical step to achieving many of our goals. Aligning IT functions under her leadership in this critical new role will ensure the success of these efforts and enhance our work to transform Symetra into a more customer-centric organization,” said Margaret Meister, president and chief executive officer, Symetra Financial Corporation.

A member of the Symetra Leadership Team, Ms. Balkovetz was named executive vice president in April 2020, heading enterprise-wide service and operations. She joined Symetra in 2008 as director of Retirement Service and Operations, subsequently moved into the Individual Life Division, and was named vice president in 2011. In 2012, she became vice president, Individual Life and Retirement Service and Operations, and was promoted to senior vice president in March 2017.

Ms. Balkovetz received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

About Symetra

Symetra Financial Corporation is a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Washington. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent financial professionals and insurance producers. For more information, visit www.symetra.com.

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