Meghan Shea (pictured), who has spent more than two decades working in the group benefits business that became New York Life Group Benefit Solutions (GBS), will take over as its head on January 1, 2027.
Shea succeeds Scott Berlin, who retires on December 31, after more than 36 years at New York Life. She currently serves as vice president and head of distribution for GBS, a role she has held since 2024, and has previously led strategy, solutions, and marketing within the division.
Shea's background is specific to the unit she is now leading. She joined the group benefits business in 2005, when it was still part of Cigna. She remained with it through New York Life's $6.3 billion acquisition of Cigna's group life, accident, and disability insurance operations in late 2020, which created GBS as it exists today. That acquisition, at that time, was the largest in New York Life's history and made it one of the largest providers of non-medical group insurance in the US.
Her most recent role running distribution puts broker relationships at the center of her résumé. GBS sells group life, disability, absence management, and voluntary benefits products to mid-size and large employers primarily through broker channels. The distribution function she oversaw is how most of that business is placed and renewed. Michael Banks, who currently leads national accounts for GBS, will step into her distribution role when she moves up.
Alain Karaoglan, executive vice president and head of New York Life's strategic businesses, said Shea has "a proven ability to build strong teams and deliver results" and understands "the needs of our clients and brokers."
Shea said her focus will be on understanding what clients, employees, beneficiaries, and broker partners will need.
Banks' move into distribution ensures the team managing day-to-day broker and client relationships is led by someone with comparable experience. He brings more than 20 years in group insurance and significant existing broker and client relationships, according to New York Life.
Berlin's departure closes the longest leadership chapter GBS has seen under the New York Life name. Karaoglan said his "decades of leadership and contributions across many areas of the company have had a lasting impact." His 36-plus years spanned the Cigna integration and the build-out of GBS as a standalone unit, and Shea, who was part of the Cigna business before New York Life acquired it, now leads the division he helped establish.
