Sammons Financial Group Chief Financial Officer Don Lyons to Retire
Financial services leader taps David Attaway as new CFO, effective April 1, 2025
October 21, 2024, West Des Moines, Iowa – Sammons Financial Group® long-time Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Don Lyons has announced his retirement effective April 1, 2025. Lyons joined the company in 2002 and has elevated throughout the financial and corporate services functions over his two-plus decade tenure. Lyons became Sammons Financial Group CFO in 2013.
The company immediately announced the elevation of David Attaway into Lyons’ position as Chief Financial Officer. Attaway, who joined Sammons Financial Group in 2018, is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for Sammons Financial Group member companies Midland National®Life Insurance Company and North American Company for Life and Health Insurance®. In his current role, Attaway oversees all strategic and financial operations of the life insurance and annuity companies.
“It seems like yesterday that Don first arrived here and it was a natural fit. In 2002, the annuity division was just a couple of years old and, at the time, a promising idea of what a new financial services firm could become,” said Esfand Dinshaw, Chief Executive Officer. “To this day, we have the entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity to take sound ideas and develop them. Don’s work was critical to shaping our vision, and I feel honored to have worked side by side with him to grow Sammons Financial Group into a financial services industry powerhouse.”
At Sammons Financial Group, Lyons initially led annuity product development and asset/liability management. As he built upon those skills, he touched virtually every aspect of the financial services business – operational planning, finance and accounting, internal audit, risk and capital management, and corporate development. Lyons has grown the company into adjacent areas through the development of Sammons Institutional Group®, Sammons®Corporate Markets, and in entering the wealth management field through the acquisition of Beacon Capital Management and strategic partnership with Minneapolis-based NorthRock Partners.
Among Lyons’ top accomplishments has been building the financial services teams and David Attaway stands ready to take the reins. Attaway joined Sammons Financial Group in 2018 and in the past six years has held several finance-related roles of progressive responsibility. Attaway has been in the insurance industry since 2002 and has served in the CFO role in two other life insurance and annuity companies.
“David knows every aspect of our operations and is integral to seeing our growth strategy come to fruition,” Dinshaw said. “Across this diverse body of work, he maintains a keen focus on financial stewardship. No one is more ready for this elevated responsibility to grow our company and to support our parent company Sammons Enterprises.”
Attaway has supported the company’s business growth through leadership roles in financial analysis, investment management, corporate development, and more recently, the acquisition and integration of Beacon and NorthRock Partners in the developing wealth management practice. He serves on the boards of NorthRock, Beacon, and Ruby Management Company, a reinsurance vehicle sponsored by Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated.
Sammons Financial Group will begin the transition from Lyons to Attaway in the fourth quarter 2024 and into first quarter 2025, with completion set for April 1, 2025.