The Lancer Group Finds New CFO for Beneplace
December 12, 2018 – The Lancer Group, a La Jolla, CA-headquartered executive search firm, recently placed John Pence as chief financial officer of Beneplace, a leading provider of voluntary benefits to Fortune 1000 companies and government institutions. The assignment was led by Scott Dunklee, partner; Dashan Subramaniam, consultant; and Liliana Corona, who is in charge of marketing and business development.
Mr. Pence has more than 25 years of experience in operations and finance across multiple industries including consulting, software and manufacturing, said the Lancer Group. Along with his strong finance skills, he has a proven track record in strategic planning and executing strategies that meet the demands of a high growth business.
In his new role, Mr. Pence will be responsible for formulating and executing financial and operational strategies.
“We are thrilled to have John join the leadership team of Beneplace at this exciting time,” said Rusty Stein, president at Beneplace. “His breadth of experience in managing an evolving organization is exactly what we need to help us achieve our next phase of growth.”
A Strong Fit
Mr. Pence said he was excited about joining Beneplace and working directly with Mr. Stein and the leadership team. “Managing the opportunities and challenges that come with such a fast-growing business fit my skill-set well,” he said. “I look forward to building upon the company’s reputation as the leading provider of voluntary benefits and discounted consumer product and service offerings to the employees of corporate customers.”
Most recently, Mr. Pence served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Mobi, a provider of enterprise location-based solutions and analytics. He was responsible for establishing strategic company and product goals as well as executing its go-to market strategy. Prior to Mobi, Mr. Pence worked in various leadership roles for Freescale Semiconductor, Brinkmann International and Allied Riser Communication. He began his career at Arthur Andersen, in the Dallas office.
Beneplace, which is based in Austin, TX, is one of the fastest-growing voluntary benefits companies in the industry, managing customized voluntary benefits and consumer savings programs for Fortune 1000 companies and government institutions. Its products are available to approximately five million employees in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The company was founded in 1973.
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The Lancer Group, established in 1998, is a leading retained executive search firm that is trusted by private equity firms, their portfolio companies and public corporations to deliver high-impact leaders. The firm specializes in board-driven search mandates including CEOs, CFOs, C-suite executives and board directors as well as private equity investment professionals and operating partners. The Lancer Group has provided strategic counsel to clients across a range of industries and has particular expertise in technology, industrial, energy, healthcare and consumer markets.
Fully Aligned
With relationships at over 50 of the top 100 private equity firms, Lancer Group provides a range of pre-deal private equity advisory services beyond traditional executive search. These services include deal origination, diligence support and introductions to “backable” executives. The firm, which is privately held, operates from offices in Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Sydney.
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These co-investments allow the Lancer Group to be fully aligned with its private equity clients and gives the firm an “owners perspective” that informs its executive search and advisory services.
Respected Recruiters
Mr. Dunklee is the founder of The Lancer Group. He has been instrumental in broadening the firm’s practice areas into private equity and publicly-traded companies. Previously, he worked in the Silicon Valley office of Heidrick & Struggles as a member of the international technology practice with a focus on the enterprise software and telecom market spaces. Before that, he was a consultant with R.J. Watkins & Company, a boutique search firm in San Diego, where he managed senior level engagements in the technology and biotechnology sectors. He has also been director of business development for a Mexico City-based holding company where he oversaw the company’s equity investments and served in interim management roles for various portfolio companies, among other roles.
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Mr. Subramaniam is responsible for placing C-level executives into key leadership roles for the Lancer Group’s public and private equity clients. He has worked on numerous C-level searches and competitive intelligence projects while taking an active role in refining research techniques and best practices used by the firm to identify top-tier executive talent. Previously, Mr. Subramaniam served as project manager in the Mauritian Energy Industry. Before that, he was based out of Malaysia where he served as general manager for a 25-year-old post-press business unit.
Ms. Corona is responsible for leading research projects and business development initiatives to support the firm’s global search engagements. Since 2014, she has worked on numerous C-suite searches across the technology, consumer and healthcare sectors for leading private equity-backed portfolio companies and public corporations. In addition, Ms. Corona drives marketing operations, communications and campaigns for the firm.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
