Barry Ward

Barry Ward is a longtime insurance-finance executive associated with Security Benefit, a Topeka, Kansas-based retirement market company. SEC filings identify him in 2019 as CFO, Chief Risk Officer and Director of Security Benefit Life and related companies, with the business address One Security Benefit Place, Topeka, KS 66636.

Ward joined Security Benefit in 2013 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with responsibility for finance, capital planning, risk management, income taxes, financial reporting, and treasury for the company’s corporate and annuity operations. He also served on boards of affiliates including SE2, according to The Org’s profile of him.

Before Security Benefit, Ward was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Fidelity & Guaranty Life, where he was involved in a sale process. Earlier roles included Vice President and Head of U.S. Financial Reporting for ING Insurance Americas, Assistant Commissioner for financial regulation at the Ohio Insurance Department, Controller at the Integrity Companies, and work in Ernst & Young’s insurance practice.

Ward earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Kentucky University in 1983 and is a Certified Public Accountant. EKU reported in August 2025 that Barry and Paula Ward established a scholarship fund for EKU students; the article describes Ward’s Security Benefit CFO tenure as a successful 10-year career and notes Security Benefit had more than $50 billion in assets under management.

• I found no verified evidence that Ward is an active angel investor or that he publicly invests in seed-stage startups.
• His documented professional focus is insurance and retirement finance: annuities, life insurance, capital planning, risk management, income taxes, financial reporting, treasury, M&A reviews, and insurance regulation.
• Any potential strategic relevance to founders would likely be in insurance, retirement, annuity infrastructure, risk, regulatory finance, or financial-reporting workflows, but I found no public personal investment thesis or check-size information.
• Publicly available materials show philanthropic support for education rather than a startup-investing program; EKU quoted Ward saying, “Education is just so important,” in connection with the Wards’ scholarship fund.