New Hire Roundup: Charlson to Head Morningstar Alternative Funds Research

United Planners Financial Services has announced several staffing and organizational changes. Mike Goyarts has been named practice management consultant, a newly created position, and Thane Walton has joined the company as a retirement plan consultant. In addition, the firm has restructured its organization with a new advisor services division led by Billy Oliverio, vice president of the company. The new division will include retirement plan services, practice management services and investment advisory services.

Goyarts, a 20-year industry veteran, joined in 2013 as a partner and development consultant. He has served in business development and relationship management positions with TD Ameritrade, Schwab and Pershing.

Walton has worked in various sales and business development roles as an advisor to retirement plan clients as well as a business development officer to advisors, TPAs and recordkeepers. Most recently, he was a retirement plan regional sales manager with Mutual of Omaha, and in the past has worked with organizations such as Pacific Life, ADP, Principal Financial, Lincoln Financial and MassMutual.

Matthews Asia Welcomes Rothman

Matthews Asia has announced the addition of Andy Rothman as investment strategist, a newly created role.

Rothman previously spent 14 years as a China macroeconomic strategist at CLSA, where he conducted analysis into China and delivered his insights to the firm's institutional investor base. Prior to this, he spent 17 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with a diplomatic career focused on China, including as head of the macroeconomics and domestic policy office of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In total, he has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years.

Gomes Joines Phoenix Companies

The Phoenix Cos. announced that Allison Gomes has joined the company as vice president, corporate finance. She reports to Bonnie Malley, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and will oversee a number of key projects in corporate finance, including the company's 2013 SEC filings.

Gomes was previously an audit senior manager at the national office of Deloitte & Touche and was part of the Deloitte team working on the Phoenix account. She also provided insurance expertise and perspectives to Deloitte's accounting industry publications.

CFPB Adds Experts to Key Positions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has added three experts to senior positions. These positions are: assistant director for the Office of Research; assistant director for the Office of Financial Empowerment; and assistant director for the Office of Installment and Liquidity Lending Markets.

Christopher D. Carroll has joined the CFPB as the assistant director and chief economist for the Office of Research in the Bureau's Research, Markets and Regulations Division. Dr. Carroll is a professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, from which he has taken a leave of absence while serving at the Bureau.

Daniel Dodd-Ramirez has joined the CFPB as the assistant director of financial empowerment in the Bureau's Consumer Education and Engagement Division. Dodd-Ramirez previously served as the executive director of Step Up Savannah Inc. in Savannah, Ga. He received a B.A. in Hispanic studies from the University of Southern Maine and his M.A. in international/intercultural training from the School for International Training in southern Vermont.

Jeffrey Langer has joined the CFPB as the assistant director of Installment and Liquidity Lending Markets in the Bureau's Research, Markets and Regulations Division. Langer most recently served as senior counsel at Macy's, Inc. in Mason, Ohio. He also has served as a partner in several law firms, including Jones Day and Dreher Langer & Tomkies, and is a founding fellow and treasurer of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.