PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LegacyShield Solutions, Inc., a pioneer in providing a client-centric engagement solution to the insurance and financial services industry enabling companies and advisors to build and protect their clients’ legacies through a digital growth platform, announces that Christopher L. Haley has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. Chris is a seasoned advisor, operating executive, investor and board member of high-growth, founder-led entrepreneurial ventures. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, Chris is charged with managing the company’s strategic initiatives, driving the execution of the company’s strategic plan and managing all of LegacyShield’s financial and operational matters.
“We are thrilled to have Chris on the LegacyShield team,” said Michael Babikian, Founder and CEO. “He brings a unique set of experiences as an operating executive, advisor, board member and investor of high-growth technology companies, which Dan and I as founders are eager to leverage. We feel that he perfectly complements our skills and that, together, we are poised to deliver on the promise of LegacyShield as a consumer-centric platform that empowers financial services companies and advisors to grow their businesses, engage with their consumers and protect their consumers’ legacies.”
In addition to his role at LegacyShield, Chris currently serves on both entrepreneurial and philanthropic boards, including Forcura, Antisyn and SuperFi as well as the University of Tennessee College of Law Alumni Council and the University of Mississippi Patterson School of Accountancy’s Alumni Board as Chair. He has also served on the board of Wealth Access, the advisory board of Michael C. Fina and the board of Lutheran Social Services.
Chris was most recently a Partner at Harbor View Advisors, a boutique investment bank where he advised entrepreneurs of high-growth technology and business services companies. During his tenure at Harbor View, Chris advised entrepreneurs through the sales of their businesses and provided strategic consulting to a number of others who were planning for liquidity events. Because of his background and experiences, he was able to guide founders through both the quantitative aspects of valuing, marketing and selling their businesses and the emotional aspects of selling their life’s work.
Prior to joining Harbor View, Chris was the Chief Operating Officer of Knowledge Infusion, a leading provider of strategic and deployment consulting services for human capital management technology, and Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Black Diamond Performance Reporting, a leading independent provider of Web-based, outsourced portfolio management and reporting platforms to independent advisors. In both of these roles, Chris provided strategic advice and counsel to the companies’ founders, executive teams and boards and was instrumental in managing them through their explosive growth.
Before his entry into entrepreneurial ventures, Chris was an attorney in the Corporate & Securities and Tax Groups at Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville, Tennessee (“Bass”). While at Bass, Chris served in a variety of capacities for his clients throughout their lifecycles from initial formation and capital raising to exits via public markets and private transactions. Chris received a Bachelor of Accountancy, magna cum laude, and Master of Taxation from the University of Mississippi; a juris doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Tennessee College of Law; and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law where he received the Harry J. Rudick award for distinction in the Graduate Tax Program.
“Having Chris join our team is a big win,” said Dan Pierson, LegacyShield’s Founder and CMO. “I met Chris a few weeks after moving into the Jacksonville area and have tremendous respect for his accomplishments and reputation within the Jacksonville community. Chris’s SaaS experience and operational acumen rounds out our executive team.”
“I am very excited to be joining LegacyShield as its Chief Operating Officer,” said Mr. Haley. “From my experiences with Black Diamond and Wealth Access, I have witnessed the transformative power that technology can give to financial services companies and advisors in growing their businesses and engaging their clients. I am looking forward to complementing Michael’s and Dan’s knowledge of and relationships in the insurance industry with my experiences building high-growth technology companies to bring a higher level of engagement between life insurance companies and advisors and their consumers.”
About LegacyShield
LegacyShield is a state-of-the-art, integrated, consumer-centric platform empowering financial service companies and advisors to grow their businesses, engage their consumers and protect legacies. LegacyShield is an experience that puts customers at the center by letting them choose how and when to connect with an aligned team of product manufacturers, distributors and agents. LegacyShield helps customers organize their financial lives and tap into a digital network of offerings that help them prepare for the future while protecting their data through military-grade security. For more information, visit legacyshield.com.
