BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 27, 2025--
Protective Life Corporation (Protective), a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (Dai-ichi, TSE:8750), today announced that veteran industry leader Ron Laeyendecker, Senior Vice President of Executive Benefits Markets, has shared his plans to retire on June 30, 2025. Upon Laeyendecker’s retirement, John Cropenbaker will be promoted to Senior Vice President of Executive Benefits Markets.
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"Ron’s contributions to Protective and the Executive Benefits business lines have been transformational. His deep technical expertise and long-term relationships have driven significant growth and laid a strong foundation for future success,” said Aaron Seurkamp, Senior Vice President and President of the Protection & Retirement Division. “At the same time, he has built an outstanding team, and we are confident in John Cropenbaker’s ability to carry this work forward. John’s experience and vision make him a strong successor to build on Ron’s legacy and drive future growth."
Over his 39-year career, Laeyendecker has been instrumental in building the Executive Benefits team into the success it is today, achieving over $8 billion in new sales in the past five years alone. In addition to this significant growth, he ensured this business line will continue to reach new heights of success after his retirement through his thoughtful and strategic leadership.
Cropenbaker brings 20 years of financial services experience to this role, including roles at Fidelity Investments, Western & Southern, and a variety of leadership roles at Protective, since joining the organization in 2012. Most recently, John served as Vice President of Business Development of Executive Benefits Markets and has been pivotal in driving entry into new markets and investing in infrastructure for sustained growth.
Greg Ordonez will continue in his role as Vice President and National Sales Manager of Executive Benefits Markets, leading all distribution efforts with a focus on fostering and expanding relationships with its distribution partners.
Since it was acquired from Great-West in 2019, Protective’s Executive Benefits business has become an important part of the company’s strategic growth. With a long-term commitment to this business, Protective has invested in the Executive Benefits business and developed key talent that will sustain its success in the years to come.
About Protective
Protective has helped people achieve protection and security in their lives for 118 years. Through its subsidiaries, Protective offers life insurance, annuity, asset protection and employee benefits solutions and is helping nearly 17 million people protect what matters most. Protective’s approximately 3,800 employees put people first and deliver on the company’s promises to customers, partners, colleagues and communities - because we’re all protectors. With a long-term focus, financial stability and commitment to doing the right thing, Protective Life Corporation, a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., has $125 billion in assets, as of Dec. 31, 2024. Protective is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and is supported by a robust virtual workforce and core sites in the greater Cincinnati area and St. Louis. For more information about Protective, visit www.protective.com.
John Cropenbaker has been promoted to SVP of Executive Benefits Markets for Protective Life Corporation. (Photo: Business Wire)
Veteran industry leader Ron Laeyendecker, SVP, Executive Benefits Markets, announces plans to retire from Protective Life Corporation. (Photo: Business Wire)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid presumed he had a wretched stomach bug that hit him hard for a day or two on the Philadelphia 76ers' road trip earlier this month in Texas.
The 7-footer from Cameroon became so debilitated by the ailment that he struggled walking, stayed awake deep into the night and even going to the bathroom became a chore. Embiid was finally forced to tell team officials this sickness was worse than food poisoning or any other malady he suspected, and he required a hospital visit.
The test results almost seemed preordained for bad news for Embiid around NBA playoff time.
One of the dominant big men of his era when healthy, Embiid has had a postseason career curtailed by a cornucopia of injuries — sprains, fractures, even facial paralysis — and this April was no exception.
Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after the two-time NBA scoring champion was stricken with appendicitis overnight and sidelined indefinitely.
No Sixers' stretch run. No play-in tournament game. He watched from the bench as the Sixers went down 2-1 to Boston in their first-round series.
“You probably go through a couple of days where you feel bad for yourself,” Embiid said late Sunday. “Then it’s right back to it. Are you going to give up or are you going to try and come back as early as possible?”
Embiid indeed returned early and was welcomed by a roaring ovation in Game 4 only 17 days after having surgery, desperate to give the Sixers the punch — scoring, rather than gut — needed to try to upset a Celtics team that beat the Sixers by 32 points in a Game 1 victory.
The result was familiar, the 76ers again lost by 32, 128-96 on Sunday night and now trail the series 3-1 headed into Game 5 on Tuesday night in Boston.
Embiid had 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes, a gutsy effort in his latest return from injury that the Sixers otherwise did little to suggest they could win the next three games. The numbers were brutal: Boston hit 24 3-pointers to the 76ers' nine; the Celtics won the rebounding battle 51-30; and Boston at one point had a 13-0 edge in second-chance points to build a 21-point lead.
Give the Sixers this much: They know how to get blown out.
With All-Stars in Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George on the roster, the Sixers this season were the first team in NBA history to lose three home game by 40-plus points. Throw in two 32-pointers (one each at home and the road) in the playoffs and team president Daryl Morey and coach Nick Nurse figure to sit on the hot seat if the Sixers can't recover and win this series.
“I think those are going to kind of happen a couple of times a year,” Nurse said. “Listen, our kind of MO all year was to have a lot of things thrown at us, pick ourselves up and fight back. We're just going to have to do it again.”
To have any chance at resuscitating their chances, the Sixers need ruthless aggression and production from Maxey and rookie standout VJ Edgecombe. The Sixers have muddled roster construction in trying to win with two young, speedy, flashy guards while at the same time trying to force an aging, brittle, big man the ball.
Sure enough, Embiid sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.
Maxey took a backseat to Embiid and took only three shots in the first half. He scored 22 points for the Sixers in 40 minutes.
“That can’t happen,” Maxey said of the slow start. “That’s on me. That’s just unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game. It kind of happened that way. It wasn’t meant to happen that way.”
Maxey and Edgecombe combined for 23 shots. Embiid attempted 21.
“There's a couple of times when he had opportunities to shoot the ball, but he's got to take them,” Embiid said of Maxey. “You've got to want it.”
Embiid said he had unspecified complications after the surgery but still went out “to do the best job possible with the conditions.” He was limited to 38 games this season, sitting out primarily to manage injuries to his knees, and hasn’t appeared in as many as 40 games in a regular season since 2022-23, when he averaged a career-best 33.1 points and earned MVP honors.
Embiid said he no choice but to push through his latest setback and try to salvage the Sixers' season. It's a familiar refrain in Philadelphia. While anything can happen, the final result for the Sixers seems as inevitable as Embiid pulling up lame — no NBA title since 1983, no conference final since 2001.
“I just told them again, way out of character,” Nurse said. “We played another, about as bad as we could play, game. That's two in the series.”
The third one ends another empty postseason.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) goes up for a shot during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Neemias Queta, left, cannot get a shot past Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
