Kevin Takinen, AIF®, CPFA®, PHR®
Designations and licenses
Kevin is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, a Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor and holds the Professional in Human Resources® designation.
Experience and education
Kevin assists in developing the overall strategy and leads the execution and growth of Mariner’s scalable retirement plan solution for small and emerging 401(k) plans. He is responsible for advancing the Pathway DC operating model, strengthening implementation and service delivery, overseeing strategic recordkeeper and partner relationships, including building the structure, technology and accountability needed to support the goal of significant growth. Working across Mariner Institutional, Mariner Wealth, organic growth and external service providers, Kevin helps ensure a consistent experience for plan sponsors, participants and wealth advisors. He also plays an important role in expanding advisor adoption, improving operational efficiency and connecting retirement plan relationships to broader participant engagement and future wealth opportunities. In his role, he combines strategic leadership with hands-on execution, helping evolve Pathway DC from its current service offering into a scalable growth platform.
Prior to joining Mariner, Kevin was director of retirement advisory operations at Sequoia, where he served as a 401(k) client consultant and led the retirement advisory operations. While there, he designed and scaled corporate retirement plans, financial well-being solutions and institutional advisory frameworks. Before that, he was relationship manager at ADP, where he managed enterprise-level client relationships, specialized in corporate benefits administration and navigated complex benefit, payroll and retirement service architectures.
Kevin has a bachelor’s degree in hotel/restaurant management and a bachelor’s degree in international hospitality management, both from the Northern Arizona University. He also holds a master’s degree in applied leadership and management from Arizona State University.
Personal interests
Away from the office, Kevin enjoys the outdoors, hiking and mountain biking, alongside spending quality time with his family. He balances his active lifestyle with quieter creative pursuits, including building LEGO sets and reading sci-fi and fantasy fiction.