Vestwell is excited to have Scott Vensor join as our VP Regional Sales Director. Scott’s professional life began in the retirement industry, and the experience he has gained over a lengthy career has been a major asset for the Vestwell team.

In sitting down with Scott, we had the opportunity to ask him about his career and passions and share lessons learned as a retirement professional.

To set the stage, can you tell us what your career looked like before coming to Vestwell?

“My career really got started at Metlife. I held a number of positions there, from customer service to RFP writing, to running their RFP unit, to implementation, and more—at one point, I ran their entire marketing unit. That experience helped me understand what goes into recordkeeping a defined contribution plan, whether it’s the nuts and bolts of administration, or communication, or education. Eventually, my boss came to me and said, “I want you to go into business development.” I started really having success in that field, so I worked from 2001 - 2012, leading business development efforts for Metlife Resources. That involved working with hospitals, K-12, higher education, and governments, which was incredibly rewarding as both my parents were educators.

Then, in 2012, I was recruited to TIAA. They wanted me to help them move from higher education into other markets like K-12 and healthcare. I loved the not-for-profit focus they had, so I headed up all of their business development for the small-to-mid market. The last year I was there, we sold over a billion dollars in small market plans. My next job was at MissionSquare, where I helped them move from purely governmental into healthcare, K-12, and other markets. After that, I returned to Metlife and was doing stable value sales before I moved to Vestwell.”

So, what got you excited about Vestwell in the first place?

“Josh Forstater called me up and said, that try “Hey, I’ve got a pretty interesting position I’d like you to look at.” What drew me in is that I’ve always tried to work for organizations with good values, that tries to help those that are underserved or overlooked. That’s where Vestwell came in. If you’re an established, big-name corporate entity, you don’t have trouble finding a plan provider that can marry technology with best practices. If you’re a plan with, say, five employees, it’s a different ballgame. You still have proprietary products. You’re not going to get transparency in pricing, you’re not going to get open architecture, and so on.

That’s where I see Vestwell going, and that’s why I think this company is so special. We want to marry these two and provide them to people who are underserved in the market. That’s how I view Vestwell and why I love the company.”

What unique insights do you think you bring to your current position?

“One of the unique things I bring to the table is that I’ve seen a lot of different markets, both good and bad. I think you learn a lot when things aren’t good—when you can sit with an employer who’s so upset about the service they're getting that they end up losing their composure and crying in a presentation. You learn best when things are going wrong. It helps you gain perspective on what you might need to change and how to do things the right way.

I think I’ve always tried to bring that lesson to any organization I work for. I can bring those insights because I have a wealth of experience dealing with folks who are struggling in that way. When you’re in business development, you see it all the time.”

What are some of the most exciting developments in retirement these days? What’s happening in this industry right now that you’re looking forward to?

“I was in leadership for MissionSquare and TIAA, and we were trying to drive this industry more toward best practices. What I think is most intriguing about this industry is the increasing focus on plan health and saver outcomes. Ten years ago, when you’d show an employer their plan review, it would say something to the effect of ‘Here’s how many contributions are coming. Here’s how many withdrawals are occurring.’ It was really ‘Here’s how the trains are coming in and out of the station.’

That’s really different than now. Now, the market is focusing on ‘Is your plan doing what it’s supposed to?’ Which is to provide retirement outcomes for the participants in that plan. For example, say you’re in a hospital. The plan review might say, ‘How are your nurses doing? What does their income replacement ratio look like? Are they saving enough so when they retire, they’ll have enough income to sustain themselves?’ That’s what we should be focusing on, and it’s where the market is going. That change is really exciting and beneficial for everyone in the market.”

So what do you do outside of Vestwell? What kind of personal hobbies are you involved in?

“My family is very important to me. I’ve been married for 27 years and have two kids, both grown. One’s 24 and graduated from Northwestern. She lives in LA and is looking to be an actress. The other one is a student at the University of Colorado, just like her mom and I. We’re CU Buff fans, so we go to all the football games and love rooting them on. My wife and I also love to golf together. She’s better than I am! It’s always been a hobby for us, but it became more prevalent during COVID because it was one of the only things we could do.

Beyond that, I’ve always been a real workout guy, but during COVID, it became difficult to go to the gym, so I bought a Peloton. Now, I am a Peloton freak. I love the fact that it’s easier on my joints than running, which I used to do regularly.”

Join Scott (And Others!) as Part of the Vestwell Team

Vestwell is hiring for roles across our organization! Whether you're interested in reinventing the retirement space or just want to surround yourself with intelligent, affable, and driven people like Scott, we'd love to count you as part of the team.

Learn more about the opportunities available at Vestwell by checking our careers page, here.