New York Life elected three new SVPs of the company, including Annamaria Banaszek, Craig DeSanto and John DiRago; all will report to Chris Blunt, president of the company's Insurance Group.
Annamaria Banaszek is department head and responsible for the group’s wealth management and investment advisory services, including Eagle Strategies. She joined the company in 2001 as a director of finance at New York Life Investments, where she held several roles of increasing responsibility.
In 2006 she was elected managing director for New York Life Investments, and in 2008 VP for New York Life. Banaszek was chief administrative officer in Retirement Income Security (RIS) Third Party Distribution from 2008 to 2010. In 2011 she was elected first VP and was appointed to her current role in April 2012. Prior to New York Life, she worked at Coopers & Lybrand, Citibank and Deutsche Bank and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York State. Banaszek earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from St. Francis College.
Craig DeSanto is responsible for the group’s life insurance product management, where he manages accounting P&L for life products sold through the career agency system, identifying segmented market opportunities and developing product strategies and solutions to address targeted consumer/market needs, the company said. He also oversees the Group’s life insurance product development and implementation and manages the company’s in-force product lines.
DeSanto joined the company as an actuarial summer intern in the financial management department in 1997 and returned in 1998 as an actuarial assistant in the individual life department. He was named corporate VP in 2007, and from 2008 to 2011 was VP and actuary in the advanced markets network department and managed the company’s institutional insurance business. He was elected first VP and actuary in 2011 and became head of the affluent market business, responsible for product development, compliance and marketing activities related to that initiative, including leading Eagle Strategies. DeSanto earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University.
John DiRago is responsible for the group’s service department and oversees 2,100 new business and customer service professionals. He the company in 1990 in the individual policy services department, where he held many positions with increasing management responsibility. He was promoted to assistant VP in 2000, corporate VP in 2003, and from 2004 to 2005 he was chief of staff for the individual life department. From 2005 to 2006, he worked in the agency department. DiRago was elected VP in 2007 and first VP in 2010. He earned his MBA from Iona College and a BBA degree from Pace University.
