To fight “a period of prolonged economic stress,” a Pennsylvania-based financial services firm is reorganizing its staff and taking other steps it hopes could trim up to $250 million from its budget this year.

Lincoln Financial Group announced the efforts in a statement issued Monday (March 17).

On the personnel side, Mark E. Konen has been named president of retirement solutions as well as insurance solutions; Charles C. Cornelio has been appointed executive vice president and chief administrative officer; and Heather Dzielak has been named chief marketing officer.

Dennis R. Glass

The latest changes continue a company-wide restructuring that began late last year by Philadelphia-based Lincoln Financial that has already identified estimated run-rate cost saves of $150 million, the company announced. Additional actions currently underway will increase that amount to $250 million by year-end 2009.

“These initiatives represent our ongoing commitment to appropriately align our structure to the external environment while continuing to execute on our business strategies,” said Dennis R. Glass, president and CEO of Lincoln Financial, in a statement. “The recent dividend actions, which will reduce our holding company cash requirements by $400 million annually, combined with the after-tax impact of our expense reductions, improves our annualized cash run rate by approximately $550 million.”

The leadership moves reinforce the company’s strategic alignment around insurance and retirement solutions while preserving its focus on responsive product development, the company said.

“Our leaders are drawing on their extensive industry experience to navigate through this difficult period while driving initiatives that are designed to serve our customers and fuel our growth,” Glass said.

Lincoln Financial Group, headquartered in the Philadelphia region, offers annuities, life, group life and disability insurance as well as 401(k) and 403(b) plans, mutual funds and other comprehensive financial planning and advisory services.