Marsh & McLennan makes two acquisitions

Estep will be responsible for the strategic development of voluntary worksite products, including managing the performance of the voluntary product portfolio and recommending new product development opportunities. He was previously director, Strategy and Analytics for Aviva North America, a division of multinational life and retirement and property and casualty insurer Aviva PLC. He has also worked as Senior Manager, Strategy and Business Development for Allstate Financial, in which role he helped develop Allstate Workplace Division's voluntary growth solutions. he received his bachelor's degree in Business from the University of Wisconsin in Parkside, and received an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago. He is certified as a Chartered Financial Consultant.

Fix is responsible for working with AIG Benefit Solutions' business partners and IT team to ensure the design and delivery of administrative applications and technological solutions that meet the needs of brokers, administrators and customers. She was previously director of New Markets for Business and Product Development for prescription drug benefits provider Medco/Express Scripts. She also worked as director of Software Testing & QA at Medco, and she has also worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Paragon Computer Professionals. Fix has a Six Sigma Certified Green Belt and is a Certified Scrum Professional.

Lapan works with the vice president, HR for AIG Life and Retirement (formerly SunAmerica Financial Group) and with AIG Benefit Solutions' senior leadership to execute a human resources strategic plan to grow the business and build out its programs and services for employees. She joined AIG Benefit Solutions in 2012 with more than 15 years of experience in human resources. Most recently, she was director of Human Resources & Facilities with TRAC Intermodal. Lapan received her bachelor's in Business Administration and MBA from WV Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.Va. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and currently serves as president of the Human Resources Management Association of Princeton, NJ (2012) and is past president of the Jersey Shore Association for Human Resources (2005-2007).

Employee benefits-only agency, Digital Insurance, acquired Brown Insurance Services of Los Altos, Calif. The firm now operates as Digital Benefit Advisors (DBA), a division of Digital Insurance.

Principal Kathy Brown and her staff joined forces with DBA.This is the company's first office in Northern California.

INVEST Financial Corporation executives John Bertino, senior vice president of operations, and Ruth Burgess, senior vice president and chief compliance officer, have been appointed to serve three-year terms beginning January 2013 on the Operations & Technology Council and Compliance Council (respectively) for the Financial Services Institute (FSI).

FSI is an advocacy group for independent broker-dealers and independent representatives, conducting lobbying efforts across the country to ensure that all individuals have access to competent and affordable financial advice, products and services through involvement with FINRA governance, the regulatory environment and the legislative process.

The Operations & Technology Council and the Compliance Council are two of four advisory councils tasked with providing advice and input to FSI's board of directors. The Operations & Technology Council is responsible for addressing operations-focused concerns from member firms, facilitating the exchange of "best practices" information between broker-dealers and supporting industry efforts to streamline standard business processes, while the Compliance Council focuses on efforts to build and maintain a more business-friendly regulatory environment.

Through a joint effort with employees and agents, New York Life raised more than $5 million for those in need during the last two months of 2012.

More than 4,000 employees and agents raised $3.3 million through the company's Give for Good giving campaign. Employees and agents had the opportunity to donate to charities of their choice and raise funds through an online auction and various activities. The total amount raised exceeded what was raised in the 2011 campaign by 22 percent.

Employees, agents and retirees also contributed almost a quarter of a million dollars to the American Red Cross, Feeding America and other nonprofit agencies focused on Superstorm Sandy victims and recovery efforts in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  The company committed $1 million to these nonprofits and matched the approximately $250,000 raised by employees.

In response to the storm's impact on more than 100 of New York Life's own employees, the company established the NYLIC Family Disaster Assistance Fund with a donation of $200,000. This was supplemented by donations from employees and agents and a contribution of $12,000 from the employees of Seguros Monterrey, New York Life's affiliate in Mexico.  In total, nearly $280,000 has been collected to date. Employees and agents also volunteered through the company and on their own to help people recovering from Sandy by donating supplies, clothing and participating in blood drives.