Veteran wealth management executive brings more than 30 years of leadership experience to drive organic growth, advisor engagement and operational clarity
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., February 18, 2026 — World Investment Advisors (“the firm”), a leading financial advisory firm and division of World Insurance Associates LLC (World), today announced that Jeffrey Sheftic has joined the firm as Chief Growth Officer. In this role, Sheftic will lead organic growth initiatives, advisor recruiting, relationship management and strategic expansion across the firm, with a focus on strengthening advisor partnerships across both retirement and wealth management.
Sheftic brings more than 30 years of executive leadership experience in wealth management, combining deep operational expertise with a strong commercial mindset. Throughout his career, he has led complex middle-office and investment operations organizations supporting broker-dealers, RIAs, institutional platforms and retail clients. His background spans large-scale operational transformation, regulatory infrastructure development, technology modernization and multi-location team leadership across the United States and offshore operations in India.
His unique strength lies in bridging growth strategy with operational execution to align advisor-facing initiatives with scalable infrastructure to drive sustainable expansion.
“Jeff’s exceptional acumen for relationship building and bringing clarity to operational complexities will deepen the partnership that drives our long-term success,” said Ed Walters, President of World Investment Advisors. “His ability to translate operational strength into advisor value will be instrumental as we continue to build a growth-focused organization that supports both retirement and wealth management advisors.”
Before joining World Investment Advisors, Sheftic held senior leadership roles at Prudential, Charles Schwab & Co., ADP, Credit Suisse, Capital One and Lincoln Financial. He has worked closely with advisors, leadership teams and boards to improve onboarding, platform utilization, productivity and long-term retention while supporting disciplined growth initiatives.
“I’m excited to be part of the leadership team at World Investment Advisors,” said Sheftic. “This is a tremendous opportunity to build strong relationships with financial advisors representing both retirement and wealth management. By aligning a growth strategy with operational excellence and mutually beneficial relationships, we can create meaningful value for advisors and the clients they serve.”
In addition to announcing Sheftic’s appointment, the firm also shared a leadership transition for Mike Woods. Woods, former co-founder of Pensionmark and Chief Growth Officer of World Investment Advisors during the acquisition transition, has been appointed Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for World Insurance. In this role, he will lead M&A activity for World Investment Advisors and continue working directly with the firm’s leadership team to support its growth strategy.
This leadership alignment reflects the firm’s commitment to pairing strategic advisor growth with disciplined acquisition and integration.
Sheftic has been an active leader within the financial services industry, having served on the OCC Operations Committee and SIFMA’s Securities Operations Section. He was formally a twenty year member of FINRA’s Uniform Practice Code Committee and a 25 years of a member of FINRA’s Financial Responsibility Committee. He holds principal licenses including Series 27, 24 and 53.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, completed a Wharton Executive Education certificate program and earned his MBA in Finance and International Business from NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
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World Investment Advisors is a network of more than 350 advisors and staff across more than 100 U.S. locations with thousands of retirement plan and wealth management clients. The World Investments network of professionals includes wealth management, defined contribution, defined benefit, terminal funding, not-for-profit, and executive/deferred compensation specialists. For more information, please visit www.worldadvisors.com.
Advisory services offered by World Investment Advisors, LLC. Securities offered by World Investments, LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC). World Investment Advisors, LLC is affiliated through common ownership with World Investments, LLC.
World Insurance Associates (World) is a nationally ranked financial services organization headquartered in Iselin, N.J., that serves its clients from more than 300 offices across the U.S. and U.K. World's comprehensive network of brokers and specialists empower people to make informed decisions to improve their risk management outcomes, modernize their benefits programs, and help achieve their long-term financial goals. Using data-driven analytics, World's advisors innovate new products and solutions tailored to clients' needs across commercial and personal insurance and bonds, employee and executive benefits, wealth management and retirement plan services, private client services, and payroll & HR solutions. For more information, please visit www.worldinsurance.com.
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