Vertical Management Systems Names New President and Chief Executive Officer
Pasadena, CA (April 15, 2015): Vertical Management Systems, Inc. (VMS) announced today that its Board of Directors has named financial technology veteran Kevin Rafferty as the company’s next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 15, 2015. The Company’s current CEO, Roger Loar, 77, will become Chairman and continue as part of senior management. Rafferty, 53, joins VMS with more than 30 years of financial technology experience. As President and CEO, Rafferty’s top priorities will be to continue accelerating the Company’s revenue growth and advancing the market penetration of its Mutual Fund Desk and Retirement Revolution products.
“Our Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring the strength of the Company’s senior leadership and that the executive team possesses the experience, skills and character required to achieve the Company’s goals. With today’s announcement, we enable a smooth transition to a proven executive in Mr. Rafferty, while providing for ongoing executive guidance and Board-level leadership from Mr. Loar”, said Brad Kuhlin, Co-founder and Chief Software Architect of VMS.
Mr. Rafferty most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer for Backstop Solutions Group, a leading provider of SaaS solutions for the institutional investment industry. Prior to joining Backstop, Mr. Rafferty spent over 20 years at SunGard, managing a variety of its brokerage and software businesses. He was the CEO of SunGard Institutional Brokerage, as well as the President of SunGard’s Wealth Management segment. This operating segment included seven major product areas, including its three trust and custody systems (AddVantage, Charlotte and Global Plus), the two retirement services systems (Omni and Relius), the electronic trading network (SunGard Transaction Network), and the financial planning solution (WealthStation). Mr. Rafferty earned his undergraduate degree from Texas Lutheran University and graduated from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Management Institute.
“As we seek to aggressively move VMS forward and establish the Company as the leading provider in the wealth and retirement market, we focused on identifying an extraordinary leader who could bring vision, focus and a breadth of experience to our business,” said Mr. Kuhlin. “The Board is confident that Mr. Rafferty’s diverse and broad experience in financial technology, as well as his passion for leading high performing teams, will propel VMS forward.”
“I am honored to join VMS at this important stage of growth for the Company. I am committed to empowering this talented team to realize its full potential, lead positive change, and continue to strengthen the quality experience that our clients have come to expect from us. I’m excited to be working with solutions that are built on the latest technology and can be delivered in the Cloud,” said Rafferty.
“We want to thank Roger for his leadership and strategic vision in the 12 years since he was appointed CEO,” said Kuhlin. “He has guided VMS through extraordinary growth where the Company’s revenues more than quadrupled during his tenure as CEO.”
In his role as Chairman, Mr. Loar will remain as a senior officer of the Company and will help guide its future strategies and direction. “I am very proud of what we have accomplished and look forward to being part of the Company’s continued success. At its heart, VMS is a company of skilled professionals and entrepreneurs and I’m excited by the opportunities that lay ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of financial technology,” Mr. Loar said. “I want to congratulate Kevin on his new role, and I look forward to working closely with him to serve our clients. I have the utmost confidence that we will continue to drive technical and business innovations and ensuring the high level of quality service that our clients expect from us.”
About Vertical Management Systems
VMS is a technology innovation firm operating in the financial services space. Its accounting and process-and-control technologies are used to administer over $600 billion in retirement, trust, and brokerage assets. The company has locations in Pasadena and Irvine, California as well as West Chester, Pennsylvania. For additional information, visit us at: www.vmshelp.com.