Company Press Release

Nationwide Financial expands mutual fund sales team

Six new wholesalers to help drive retail mutual fund growth

  KING of PRUSSIA, Pa. – Nationwide Financial’s mutual fund business has hired six new wholesalers to help drive retail sales growth for Nationwide Funds and support financial advisors in all distribution channels.

    Nationwide Financial is looking to aggressively grow its retail mutual fund business. Over the past year, Nationwide Funds experienced significant sales growth and plans to grow retail sales by 18 to 20 percent annually over the next five years.

    “Given the recent expansion of our investment offerings, including our  recent acquisition of 17 mutual funds from HighMark Capital, we continue to execute on our strategy of offering a complete lineup of funds that provide long-term, above-average performance at below-average cost,” said Michael Spangler, president ofNationwide Funds. “These new wholesalers will be instrumental in helping us achieve our growth objectives through increased sales and distribution.”

    Additions to the mutual funds sales team include:

    Linc DuPree, who will serve as regional vice president for the Georgia territory.  DuPree has worked in the financial services industry since 1988, and joinedNationwide from J.P. Morgan Asset Management. He is a graduate of Loyola University.

    Jane Flanigan, who will serve as regional vice president for the Connecticut and Westchester, N.Y. territories. Prior to joining Nationwide, Flanigan was employed by ProShares. She has 25 years of industry experience, and is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

    Michael Harvey, who will serve as regional vice president for the Texas territory. Harvey has worked in the mutual fund industry for the past 16 years and was most recently employed by Columbia Management. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Trinity University.

    Carla Jimenez, who will serve as regional vice president for the Carolinas territory.  Prior to joining Nationwide, Jimenez spent 16 years as a financial advisor. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and maintains Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC), Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC) and Certified Retirement Administrator (CRA) designations.

    Michael Matarazzo, who will serve as regional vice president for the Chicago territory. Matarazzo joins Nationwide with 20 years of industry experience and previously worked for Direxion Funds.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston University.

    Maryam Rusch, who will serve as regional vice president for the Los Angeles territory. With 12 years of industry experience, Rusch joins Nationwide from Highland Capital. She holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge.

    “At Nationwide Financial, we add more value to our advisor relationships by providing them with a consultative sales process,” said Karen Heath-Wade, vice president of mutual fund sales for Nationwide Financial. “We’re excited about our new product lineup, and are investing in new talent to increase our distribution capabilities.”

    About Nationwide Funds Group

 ?Based in the Philadelphia area, Nationwide Funds Group is the mutual fund business of Nationwide Financial Services Inc., a leading provider of long-term savings and retirement products and a Nationwide Insurance company. A strategic partner to advisors, Nationwide Funds Group provides a full family of subadvised mutual funds designed to help meet the unique investment goals and risk tolerances of their investor clients. As of Sept. 30, 2013, Nationwide Funds manages 108 funds with approximately $54 billion in assets, excluding fund of funds.

    About Nationwide  

                                                                                         Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides customers a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, pet, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and specialty health services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

   Investors should carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, fees, charges and expenses before investing any money. To obtain this and other information on NationwideFunds, please call 1-800-848-0920 to request a summary prospectus and/or a prospectus, or download a summary prospectus and/or a prospectus at nationwide.com/mutualfunds. Please read it carefully before  investing any money.

    There is no assurance that the investment objective of any fund will be achieved.

    Nationwide Funds Group (NFG) comprises Nationwide Fund Advisors, Nationwide Fund Distributors LLC and Nationwide Fund Management LLC. Together they provide advisory, distribution and administration services, respectively, to Nationwide Funds, and manage more than $54 billion in assets as of September 30, 2013, excluding fund of funds. Nationwide Fund Advisors (NFA) is the investment adviser to Nationwide Funds.

    Nationwide Funds distributed by Nationwide Fund Distributors LLC (NFD), member FINRA, King of Prussia, Pa.  NFD is not an affiliate of HighMark Capital.

    Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, the Nationwide framemark, Nationwide YourLife and On Your Side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.