Pam Hess appointed Retirement Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Mgt

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has strengthened its retirement research bench with the hire of Pam Hess as an Executive Director and Retirement Strategist on the firm’s Retirement Insights team. Hess will report to Michael Conrath and focus on translating behavioural evidence and plan design research into practical guidance for financial advisers, plan sponsors and savers.

Hess arrives with more than two decades of experience in retirement research and plan design. Her most recent role was as Executive Director at the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association’s Retirement Research Center, where she led studies on participant outcomes and employer-sponsored savings. Earlier in her career she spent 15 years at Aon Hewitt directing retirement research. Hess is a CFA charterholder and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

The appointment comes as retirement planning is rapidly moving up the agenda for asset managers and corporate plan sponsors. J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which reports $4.2 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2025, said the new hire is intended to broaden its output of data-driven guidance on participant behaviour, household financial wellness and practical plan innovations.

Within the industry, asset managers are investing more in specialist research teams to address the complexity of defined-contribution systems, longevity risk and the shift toward personalised guidance. Hess’s brief will include developing original research, collaborating with product teams and creating tools that translate empirical findings into implementable plan features and communications strategies.

Conrath described Hess as someone who can convert academic and field research into clear takeaways for advisers and sponsors, helping them design programmes that raise participation, improve asset allocation and reduce leakage from retirement accounts. For European and Spanish institutional readers, the move signals the continued professionalisation of retirement research — an area where demographic shifts and regulatory reform are driving demand for better outcomes and more measurable metrics.

Beyond immediate content production, the hire reinforces a trend in which large asset managers embed policy-aware researchers to help clients navigate evolving retirement landscapes. With multi-jurisdictional pressures on pension design and growing interest in outcomes-based products, the addition of Hess positions J.P. Morgan Asset Management to supply richer evidence and pragmatic recommendations to plan sponsors and advisers globally.