Lincoln Financial Network Strengthens Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion with New Head of Multicultural Markets

Samantha Hunter brings more than 15 years of experience in development initiatives to support financial professionals and their practice needs

Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail wealth management affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE:LNC), today announced the appointment of Samantha (Sam) Hunter as Head of Multicultural Markets. In this role, Hunter will focus her efforts on developing and promoting long-term and sustainable programs that help to advance racial equity and inclusion across Lincoln's distribution companies and within the financial planning industry. She will also lead LFN's African American Financial Professional Network (AAFPN) and its mission to support the unique needs of African American financial professionals and clients, LFN's WISE Group (Women, Inspiring, Supporting and Educating) with a focus on advocating for women in the industry and as clients, and the company's Women in Sales Network on behalf of Lincoln's wholesale franchise, Lincoln Financial Distributors.

"Sam is an innovative and impactful leader, with deep industry experience and an impressive track record of providing value and support to financial professionals to improve advisor and client engagement," said David Berkowitz, president of LFN. "She will be instrumental in furthering LFN's culture of service, executing on our commitment to advance racial equity and ensuring that our network of financial professionals reflects the diversity of consumers in America."

"I look forward to helping LFN continue to leverage its expansive platform to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within the financial planning industry and the communities we serve," said Hunter. "Lincoln's enterprise-wide commitment to DEI has impressed me and I'm excited about what we can accomplish together as we further integrate DEI principles into our network of financial professionals and our business."

Hunter comes to Lincoln with a distinguished record of accomplishments from LPL, a leading global wealth and investment management solutions company. At LPL she worked closely with financial professionals, building relationships and providing valuable content on the resources and support available to them to further improve advisor and client engagement. Hunter was the lead developer of LPL's inaugural Women's Business Resource Group and has extensive experience delivering engaging and informative programs and events to minority advisor groups.

Lincoln's AAFPN launched last year and is designed to support advisor development efforts, attract more Black financial professionals to LFN and to help define new strategies for supporting multicultural clients. The AAFPN was modeled after Lincoln's successful WISE Group, which was founded in 2015 and continues to support the unique needs of female financial advisors and their clients.

About Lincoln Financial Network

Lincoln Financial Network is the marketing name for the retail sales and financial planning affiliates of Lincoln Financial Group and includes Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and Lincoln Financial Securities Corp., both members of FINRA and SIPC. Consisting of approximately 14,000 representatives, agents, and full-service financial planners throughout the United States, Lincoln Financial Network professionals can offer financial planning and advisory services, retirement services, life products, annuities, investments, and trust services to affluent individuals, business owners, and families. Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) and its affiliates. Find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help people take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, and guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its affiliates. The company had $324 billion in end-of-period account values as of December 31, 2021. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen included on major sustainability indices including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good and ranks among Newsweek's Most Responsible Companies. Dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are included on transparency benchmarking tools such as the Corporate Equality Index, the Disability Equality Index and the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index. Committed to providing our employees with flexible work arrangements, we were named to FlexJobs' list of the Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs in 2022. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at http://newsroom.lfg.com.

LCN-4328838-021522

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