Leadership
Executive Bios
J. Greg Ness
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company
Greg Ness is chairman and chief executive officer of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company. Beginning in July 2009, he served as president and chief executive officer, and was elected chairman of the board in December 2011. He previously served as president and chief operating officer from September 2008 until June 2009.
Ness joined Standard Insurance Company in 1979 and has held a succession of positions with increasing responsibilities, including senior vice president of the Insurance Services Group, senior vice president of the Employee Benefits Division, senior vice president of Investments and president of StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, and StanCorp Investment Advisers, vice president and corporate secretary, and vice president of Retirement Plans Sales and Marketing.
He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington State University, has earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Portland State University and holds the Leadership Institute Fellow designation from the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA).
Ness chairs the board of directors of the Oregon Business Council and the Armory Theater Fund. He is a member of the board of directors of the Oregon Health & Science University Foundation. Ness is also trustee emeritus and past chair of the Portland Center Stage board of directors and a member of the SOLVE Founder’s Circle.
Dan McMillan
President and Chief Operating Officer
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company
Dan McMillan was appointed president and chief operating officer of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company in December 2020. McMillan has executive responsibility for the companies’ two primary business units, the Insurance Services Group and Asset Management Group, as well as Information Technology and Corporate Actuarial and Risk Management. Previously, McMillan served as executive vice president and before that was vice president of the Insurance Services Group.
McMillan joined The Standard in 1989 and has held a succession of leadership positions with increasing responsibilities, as well as spearheading large-scale business, technology and efficiency initiatives for the Insurance Services Group.
He is a graduate of Linfield College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in mathematics. He holds an Associate Life & Health Claims designation from the International Claim Association.
McMillan serves on the Group Insurance Executive Council of the American Council of Life Insurers. He previously served on the board of directors of the Council for Disability Awareness, Portland Children's Museum, Lines for Life and the Portland Business Alliance.
Sally Manafi
Vice President, Corporate Actuary and Chief Risk Officer
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company
Sally Manafi is vice president, corporate actuary and chief risk officer for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company. Manafi has responsibility for enterprise risk management, asset liability management and actuarial governance and oversight. She is the appointed actuary for both Standard Insurance Company and The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York. Manafi joined The Standard in 1992, and has held numerous senior positions in the company, including pricing, valuation and asset liability management and most recently served as vice president and corporate actuary.
Prior to joining The Standard, Manafi worked in various actuarial roles at other organizations including Transamerica and Acacia Mutual.
Manafi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in mathematics from University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of American Academy of Actuaries.
Manafi is a member of the board of directors of Trillium Family Services.
Rob Erickson
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company
Rob Erickson is vice president and chief accounting officer for StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., and Standard Insurance Company. Erickson joined The Standard in 1996 as a financial analyst and corporate accountant. Since 2000, Erickson has held leadership roles with increasing responsibility in Corporate Financial Services, most recently as vice president of corporate finance and controller. Erickson has responsibility for Corporate Treasury, Tax, Accounting, Financial Planning and Regulatory Financial Reporting functions of StanCorp.
He is a graduate of Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Erickson is a member of the board of directors of the Oregon Zoo Foundation.
David Payne
Vice President, Employee Benefits
Standard Insurance Company
David Payne is vice president of Employee Benefits for Standard Insurance Company and The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York. Payne has executive responsibility for all aspects of the group insurance business including claims services, customer support, premium administration, Sales, Actuarial, Underwriting, producer services functions and the Contact Center.
Payne joined The Standard in 2009 as assistant vice president of Contact Center Operations. He has held a succession of leadership positions with increasing responsibilities. In 2012 he was promoted to vice president of Short Term Disability, Absence Management and Contact Center Operations. Most recently, he held the position of vice president of Employee Benefit Services.
Prior to joining The Standard, Payne held professional roles at the Limited Brands Companies and GE Financial Assurance.
Payne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in management and finance from Lynchburg College. He received a Master of Business Administration from Averett University in Danville, Virginia.
Payne is active in a variety of volunteer and charitable organizations and has served on the Board of Trustees for Ronald McDonald House Charities Oregon and Southwest Washington since 2009.
Scott Hibbs
Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
Standard Insurance Company
Scott Hibbs is vice president and chief investment officer for Standard Insurance Company. Hibbs has responsibility for the company's investment management division, which includes StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Real Estate, the fixed income unit and the company’s Retirement Plan and Individual Annuities businesses. Hibbs joined The Standard in 2000 as assistant vice president of Investor Relations and Financial Planning. He has also held numerous senior positions in the Asset Management and Insurance Services groups of The Standard.
Before joining The Standard, Hibbs was director of Investor Relations and Financial Reporting at Flir Systems and director of Investor Relations at PacifiCorp. Hibbs was also a senior accountant at Deloitte.
He is a graduate of Oregon State University where he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Hibbs is a member of the board of directors of Greater Portland, Inc., and Portland State University Foundation. He also serves on the Retirement Plans Committee of the American Council of Life Insurers.
Susan Bruechner
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Standard Insurance Company
Susan Bruechner is vice president and chief human resources officer for Standard Insurance Company. Bruechner leads The Standard’s Human Resources department and is responsible for aligning The Standard’s talent strategy with the company’s long-term strategic, operational and financial objectives. Bruechner oversees all aspects of human resources including talent management, talent acquisition, compensation, benefits and diversity and inclusion.
Prior to joining The Standard in 2019, she was senior vice president and chief human resources officer at PeaceHealth. In addition to advancing PeaceHealth’s workforce planning initiatives, she co-led its diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives and worked with the executive team to expand its succession planning. Prior to her time at PeaceHealth, Bruechner held various human resources leadership roles at Goldman Sachs’ commercial real estate division.
Bruechner received her Bachelor of Arts at Texas A&M University and earned her Master of Business at Marylhurst University in Oregon.
Greg Chandler
Vice President, Information Technology
Standard Insurance Company
Greg Chandler is vice president of Information Technology for Standard Insurance Company. He is responsible for developing and leading the company's information technology strategy to enable the company's business goals. His responsibilities include business systems development and maintenance, program and project management, enterprise supplier management, Lean Center of Excellence, enterprise architecture and infrastructure.
Since 2008, Chandler has held leadership roles with increasing responsibility in Information Technology including assistant vice president of IT Infrastructure and vice president of IT Enterprise Services. Most recently, he was vice president of IT Solutions Delivery.
Prior to joining The Standard, Chandler held technical positions at IBM, Cabletron Systems and Novell in Silicon Valley before joining Intel in Oregon. At Intel, his responsibilities included network and server engineering, global IT construction and global infrastructure and operations management with responsibility for data centers worldwide.
Chandler earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and computer science from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Chandler is a member of the board of directors of Portland Center Stage.
