Beams moves to ING after serving as president and CEO of TIAA-CREF's individual and institutional services. In her new role, she will be responsible for linking ING Retirement Services and ING Individual Retirement to create a unified operation. She is also charged with delivering on operational goals as ING prepares for an initial public offering of its US-based retirement, insurance, and investment management operations.

She will be based in the firm's Windsor, Connecticut and Braintree, Massachusetts offices and will report directly to Rob Leary, the president and CEO of ING US. The appointment is effective 1 June.