SPONSORSHIPS
Foster Wright
203 595 3280
fwright@plansponsor.com
GENERAL INQUIRIES
Carol Popkins
203 595 3282
cpopkins@plansponsor.com
SPEAKERS
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Nevin E. Adams Editor in Cheif PLANSPONSOR Nevin has overall editorial responsibility for PLANSPONSOR.com, and PLANSPONSOR Magazine. Nevin is a 23-year veteran of the retirement services industry. He has held senior positions at Wachovia Bank and Northern Trust. He holds a BS and JD from DePaul University.
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Rebecca Ades Vice President of Institutional Sales AXA EQUITABLE Rebecca Ades serves as Vice President of Institutional Sales for Corporate Markets. She is responsible for growing, developing, and managing the company's corporate client base. Initially, she will work with large corporations to create an enhanced awareness of the Corporate Markets offerings-guaranteed income products for employees, with education, service and ongoing support to help at every stage of the retirement planning process. She has nearly a decade of professional experience in sales and management, and spent the last seven years with Hewitt Associates in strategy and business development for benefits outsourcing, including Hewitt's defined contribution services. Most recently, she led Hewitt's Global Benefits Business Development efforts. In this role, she was responsible for the strategy, solution development, and sales of Hewitt's benefits outsourcing services to global companies.
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Gail Anderson Director of Finance BELL, BOYD & LLOYD LLP Ms. Anderson graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in
1975 with a Bachelor's degree in English, with a concentration in
American literature. She also completed the requirements for an
Accounting major, and continued her accounting studies at the graduate
level at De Paul University.
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Karen Kay Barnes Managing Counsel McDONALD'S CORPORATION Karen Kay Barnes is a managing counsel in the legal department of McDonald's Corporation. She has more than 25 years of experience in the employee benefits field. She was named one of the top 50 Most Influential People in the 401(k) Industry for 2007 by The 401(k) Wire and is listed in Illinois Super Lawyers for 2008. She has a unique background, combining the corporate plan sponsor perspective with legal expertise as a partner of the law firm of McDermott Will and Emery, and consulting experience as a principal with the employee benefits consulting firm of William M. Mercer, Incorporated. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America (PSCA) and a member of PSCA's Legal and Legislative Committee. She has served as the past Chair of PSCA's Board of Directors, as former national president of WEB, Inc., and the former chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Chicago Bar Association.
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Michael Barry President PLAN ADVISORY SERVICE Michael Barry is President of the Plan Advisory Services Group, a consulting group that helps financial services corporations with the regulatory issues facing their plan sponsor clients. He has had over 30 years experience in the benefits field, in law and consulting firms. Plan Advisory Services provides information concerning regulatory developments affecting defined benefit and defined contribution plans, focusing on the challenges, opportunities and consequences for sponsors regulatory changes present. Before founding Plan Advisory Services, Mike was a Managing Director at Bankers Trust and, before that, the New York benefits partner at LeBeouf, Lamb, Greene & McRae. You can reach Mike at (773) 665-4050. His email is michaelpbarry@rcn.com.
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Barbara Best Vice President - Investments CAPITAL STRATEGIES GROUP OF WACHOVIA SECURITIES Barbara has over 25 years of investment and retirement consulting experience. Barbara spearheads Client Management for the Capital Strategies Group. She is responsible for coordinating the delivery of investment and retirement consulting services to pension and defined contribution plan clients. Barbara also spearheads our Provider Management practice and oversees the RFI/RFP search and selection process. Barbara received her BA at Boston College, magna cum laude, in economics and studied at London School of Economics and the Faculte des Lettres in France. She also received a Professional Program in Business Certificate in Finance from New York University. Barbara is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) and received the prestigious PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation from the Plan Sponsor Institute.
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Jason Bortz Partner DAVIS AND HARMAN, LLP He is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Davis and Harman, LLP and works exclusively on employee benefits matters. Mr. Bortz represents a diverse group of clients, including large employers, tax-exempt organizations, plan service providers and trade associations. Mr. Bortz has authored a number of amicus curiae briefs on employee benefits matters in the federal courts of appeal and has testified on behalf of clients at hearings before the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor. He is a frequent speaker on employee benefits topics and is the author of a number of book chapters and articles. Mr. Bortz holds a BA from Hamilton College and a JD from Cornell Law School.
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Robert Boyda Senior Vice President INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES Robert Boyda is Senior Vice President of Investment Management Services for John Hancock Financial Services. The Investment Management Services group oversees the investment activities in over 218 unique portfolios managed by over 50 of the nation's largest asset management firms. These firms manage in excess of $133 billion for John Hancock's U.S. business units - Annuities, College Savings, Group Pensions, Mutual Funds, and Insurance.
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Brian Birmingham Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer AXA EQUITABLE Brian F. Birmingham, CFA, is Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Corporate Markets unit of AXA Equitable where he leads institutional marketing strategy and product development for the Corporate Markets business. His responsibilities include developing guaranteed income product solutions and marketing programs to address the unique needs of large corporations and their employees as they save, invest and distribute retirement plan assets.
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Tony Ciocca Managing Director INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT CONSULTING Recognized in December 2007 by PLANSPONSOR Magazine in an article titled Best of the Best -The nations most successful Retirement Plan Advisers- for the 3rd straight year. Mr. Ciocca was also recognized by Institutional Investor as a 2007 Rising Stars Retirement Plan Advisors. Mr. Ciocca has more than ten years of experience in the employer sponsored retirement plans industry.
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Jason Chepenik, CFP®, AIF®, PRP Managing Partner CHEPENIK FINANCIAL As Managing Partner of Chepenik Financial, a member firm of National Retirement Partners, Jason Chepenik oversees the executive compensation and retirement plan consulting for organizations spanning a wide range of industries, including several Fortune 1000 companies and encompassing more than 35,000 employees. A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) since 2002, Jason became an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) in 2007. He has since emerged as a leading strategist and speaker on fiduciary best practices, as well as a key proponent of fee transparency in corporate retirement planning. In 2008, PLANSPONSOR magazine named Jason one of the most successful retirement plan managers in the country. As a designated PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP), he is dedicated to staying abreast of evolving investment management strategies and changing trends in the retirement plan industry.
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Jim Clary President MullinTBG James M. Clary is President of MullinTBG, the nation's largest independent full-service firm specializing in all aspects of executive benefits, retirement income and compensation planning. Jim and a staff of more than 300 professionals counsel major corporations on state-of-the art executive benefit plan design, funding and benefit security options, communications strategy, and ongoing plan record keeping and management. He has more than 25 years of experience in this highly specialized field.
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Mark A. Davis Partner KRAVITZ DAVIS SANSONE Mark A. Davis is a seventeen year veteran of the defined contribution industry. He is a Registered Investment Advisor ("RIA") working with more than $1,300,000,000 in qualified retirement plan assets. Mark is a partner with Kravitz Davis Sansone in Los Angeles. He has earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies as well as the QPFC designation from the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries "ASPPA". Mark is a frequent speaker at national conferences on retirement investment and educational issues and he serves as host and panelist on PLANSPONSOR.com's national web cast series "Plugged In". In 2004 Mark was invited to testify before the Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council. Over the course of recent years he has been asked to meet with members of the Senate and House of Representatives and their staffs as well as the Government Accountability Office to help them to understand the way fees are charged in retirement plans. Mark served as the co-chair of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 iterations of the ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT and is Past President of the Ventura County, CA Chapter of the National Human Resources Association. Mark began his financial services career writing communications and education materials and managing client relationships for clients of Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services Co (FIRSCo). Mark left Fidelity in 1994 to establish the Investment Education arm of Charles Schwab & Co.'s Retirement Plan Services team. In an earlier life, Mark was a professional actor and director and served on the faculties of Amherst and Mt. Holyoke Colleges. He has a B.A. (cum laude) from Amherst College in Amherst, MA. and an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota. Mark is married with two children and lives in Thousand Oaks, CA.
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Barbara J. Delaney President and Founder
Barbara began her career in 1980 at E.F. Hutton. As a result of her rapid success and intuitive sense of the business, she was soon promoted to Senior Vice President of the Personal Financial Planning Division. In 1988, Barbara joined The Tribus Companies, one of New Jersey's largest employee benefit consulting firms, where she formed their Investment Management Services Division specializing in the qualified and non-qualified retirement plan arena. When The Tribus Companies was sold to First Union Bank in January 2001, Barbara made the decision to create her own Company and founded FFoA. Barbara has been a guest speaker at numerous industry conferences and semina rs and has authored various articles for industry publications. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Women's Pension Exchange. Barbara holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration and Economics from St. Thomas Aquinas College and has attended New York University's Stern School of Business for her graduate work.
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Kenneth A. Dayton, JD, CPA Regional Director THE NEWPORT Ken Dayton provides client development and project oversight for consulting services in the design, funding and administration of executive benefits. He has over 25 years of experience in the fields of accounting, law, insurance and executive benefits consulting. Prior to joining Newport, Ken directed PricewaterhouseCoopers' national deferred compensation consulting practice, with particular emphasis on non-qualified plan vendor selection and executive compensation. Ken earned his bachelor's degree (with honors) from Stetson University and his JD (with honors) from the University of Miami Law School. He is a Florida CPA and a member of the Florida Bar.
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Jim Daley President and Founder DIVERSIFIED INVESTMENT ADVISORS Jim Daley is Vice President, Head of Asset Allocation at Diversified Investment Advisors. He oversees the asset allocation services for defined benefit plans, working closely with the client investment services group. He also oversees the investment strategies for Diversified's participant investment solutions in the defined contribution arena. Prior to working at Diversified, Jim spent nearly nine years with Ibbotson Associates and Morningstar, where he was product manager for a number of investment-related software components and services related to the Ibbotson Managed Account solution, a service that has grown to more than $10 billion of AUM. He received a BS in Mathematics from Illinois State University, an MS in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MBA in Finance and Economics from the Northwestern University J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also has earned the CEBS, CFA, and CFP® designations.
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Mike DiCenso, PRP National Practice Leader/President Gallagher Retirement Services Mike DiCenso serves as the National Practice Leader, Gallagher Retirement Services, President of GBS Investment Consulting, and as President of the GBS Broker Dealer. His responsibilities include: Vision/Strategy Creation and Implementation, Compliance Process Development and Implementation, Sales and Marketing Management, Product Development, Technology Development, Service Delivery and Acquisitions. He has served at the executive management level for more than 14 years with product providers, banks, and consulting firms concentrating in financial services with a focus in the retirement plan industry both in the U.S. and Internationally. His experience includes retirement plans, life and disability insurance, nonqualified deferred compensation, mutual funds, worksite marketing, registered investment advisory services, wealth management, and broker dealer operations. In 2008, he was recognized as one of the top influencers in the 401(k) industry by The 401k Wire magazine.
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James Danaher Senior Product Manager, Defined Contribution Solutions THE NORTHERN TRUST COMPANY James Danaher is a Vice President and Senior Investment Product Manager of The Northern Trust Company in Chicago. His primary responsibilities include researching and identifying new investment product lines, enhancing existing offerings, and developing new distribution strategies. He serves as the main conduit between investment teams that include portfolio management and investment strategy, and Northern Trust's distribution groups. He has more than 18 years of experience in providing guidance to plan sponsors for their defined contribution investment and administrative programs. He has worked with several large employers in the construction, health services, hospitality, and media/marketing industries. His largest client engagement to date involved a state academic system with approximately 200,000 participants and $12 billion in plan assets.
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Marina L. Edwards Senior Consultant TOWERS PERRIN Marina Edwards is a Senior Consultant in the Retirement Practice, where she serves as a retirement plans resource primarily to the Central division offices of Towers Perrin. She applies her 16 years of pension and 401(k) plan expertise to lead clients in vendor search projects for defined contribution and defined benefit plans, plan compliance reviews, plan design studies, merger and acquisition due diligence reviews, Puerto Rico plan administration, and other employee benefits-related consulting projects. She also specializes in the delivery of QDRO and pension administration services. Throughout her career, she has worked with large employers in the health-care, consumer product, and manufacturing industries. She was responsible for plan design and administration, technical plan compliance and operation, participant education, client consulting, and relationship management. She began her employee benefits career by delivering administration and recordkeeping services to clients at a large U.S. bank in Madison, Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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Ron Eisen Principal FIDUCIARY BENCHMARKS, Inc (FBi) Ron Eisen is a principal founder of Fiduciary Benchmarks, Inc (FBi). FBi's expectation is to be the 401(k) industry's leading source of "reasonableness" benchmarking information-providing apples-to-apples comparisons in the areas of plan fees, services, and success measures. FBi will begin offering 401(k) plan reports on a limited basis in the fourth quarter, 2008. Full-scale reporting will be launched the first quarter of 2009, with 403(b) benchmarking following in the third quarter. He has conducted or assisted (as the consultants' consultant) in nearly 50 DC recordkeeper searches, and hundreds of investment manager, custodian, and vendor searches. In addition, he developed and supervised the implementation of program monitors for both individual and institutional clients. Since the founding of FBi, he no longer accepts new DC search and monitor business. This avoids any conflicts of interest with other advisors and service providers.
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Jennifer Flodin, AIF®,PRP® Plan Sponsor Advisors Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder PLAN SPONSOR ADVISORS For almost twenty years, Jennifer has been involved in the investment and retirement plan industry. Before Plan Sponsor Advisors, Jennifer spent much of her career at Citibank where she ultimately managed an investment portfolio. As a co-founder of PSA, Jennifer is charged with a broad range of duties including: acquiring new clients, managing client relationships, managing the firm's compliance oversight program as well as serving on the firm's Investment Committee that is responsible for selection, de-selection and oversight of all client assets. Jennifer is a frequent speaker on issues involving the retirement plan market and has spoken on a variety of retirement plan topics such as the Pension Protection Act (PPA), retirement plan operational compliance, investment selection, de-selection and monitoring, fiduciary best practices, as well as the ever evolving issue of fee disclosure.
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Janet L. Ganong Financial Consultant OLD MUTUAL Janet has been in the securities industry for over 14 years. She specializes in 401(k) plan design, ERISA regulations and employee education. Janet has obtained the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) and PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designations. Although not required to hold these designations, the additional skills and expertise gained will ultimately benefit our clients. In addition to continuing education requirements set forth by the FINRA and RBC Wealth Management policy, she will also be fulfilling continuing education requirements for the AIF® and PRP designations. This will help keep her current on new investment management strategies and trends in the retirement plan industry. Janet earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1981 and a Masters of Business Administration in Industrial Management from the University of Dallas in 1998. Janet is an avid scuba diver, enjoys traveling and gardening. She resides in Cudahy, Wisconsin.
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James E. Graham Accredited Investment Fiduciary Retirement Plan Consultant, CapTrust Advisors, LLC Jeb Graham provides investment consulting services to retirement plan committees of both public and private sector, and nonprofit institutions. He earned his Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Central Florida and his MBA from the University of Tampa. He completed the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) program offered by the Investment Management Consultant Association (IMCA) at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Other professional designations include: Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS), through the International Foundation of Employee Benefits in conjunction with Wharton; the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) program through the Center for Fiduciary Studies, which is associated with the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh; and the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) program offered through the PLANSPONSOR Institute.
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Keith J. Gredys, J.D., CTFA, AIF® CEO & COO KIDDER BENEFITS CONSULTANTS Keith Gredys co-founded Kidder Benefits Consultants in 1996 and has more than 25 years of investment, trust, and pension administration experience. He is a recognized expert in investment management, fiduciary issues, and qualified plan administration and has served a wide range of clients and sponsors-from sophisticated small plans to complicated large plans with participants and individual accounts exceeding $100 million.He possesses a law degree (JD) and earned the professional designation of Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA), which covers the disciplines of fiduciary law, insurance, tax law, and investment management. He also has obtained the professional designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF), which covers investment fiduciary standards of care and investment due diligence. He has conducted numerous seminars and continuing education programs on qualified retirement plans and fiduciary topics for individuals and professional groups across the Midwest.
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C. Christopher Herman VP and Director of Retirement Solutions OLD MUTUAL Chris is a Vice President and the Director of Retirement Solutions for Old Mutual U.S. In this role, Chris leads a group responsible for strategy formulation, product development and management of financial solutions for retail and institutional retirement markets, including investment and insurance products.
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Bob Higgins Senior Consultant BENEFIT PLANS PLUS, L.L.C. Robert has been working with Benefit Plans Plus since 2005. As a Senior Consultant he is responsible for advising various organizations (ERISA qualified plans, corporations, foundations and endowments) in fiduciary governance and practices. Prior to his current position he worked for the US Bank for five years as the Vice President in the Institutional Trust. He managed regional offices and record keeping offices, he also managed multiple offices providing plan administration and consulting for clients throughout the region. He has given many presentations most recently: "Fiduciary Update"- One America National Education Conference Indianapolis, Indiana; September, 2006. He graduated Youngstown State University in 1976 with a Bachelors of Arts later graduated from University of Akron School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1980.
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Stace Hilbrant Managing Director 401k Advisors, LLC. Stace Hilbrant is Managing Director and Founder of Chicago-based 401k Advisors, LLC. Since 2001, Hilbrant and his associates have assisted plan sponsors of 401k plans of all sizes. The firm represents small to mid-sized companies from manufacturers to printing companies to firms engaged in the automotive and aerospace industries and has just over $900 million in assets under management. Stace has been in the financial industry for more than 27 years, including 20 years with one of the 401k industry leading service providers. Most recently, Stace was that vendor's Vice President for the Illinois region, responsible for marketing, investment, and administrative services for their 1,200+ retirement plan clients. The clients, both "for profit" and "not for profit" ranged in sizes from $1 million in plan assets to hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Steven A. Horner, CFA Sr. Vice President and Manager, PUTNAM INVESTMENTS Steven Horner is a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager on the Core Fixed Income team with lead responsibility for Putnam's stable value portfolios. An integral part of the investment team, he is responsible for working with the portfolio construction team to build the portfolios, negotiate the terms and provisions of the wrap agreements, provide fiduciary oversight, and communicate investment team decisions on policy, strategy, and tactics to clients. He joined Putnam in 1997, is a CFA charter holder, and has 13 years of investment experience.
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Chris L. Jones Investment Management FINANCIAL ENGINES Christopher L. Jones (Palo Alto, CA) is Chief Investment Officer and Executive Vice President of Investment Management for Financial Engines, a leading provider of independent personalized investment advice and portfolio management services in the workplace. Working closely with cofounder William F. Sharpe, Jones built and led the team of experts in finance, economics, and mathematics that developed the financial methodology for Financial Engines' personalized investment advice and portfolio management services. Jones has led the Investment Management team at Financial Engines for more than 11 years, after joining the firm as the third employee in 1996. Jones has frequently appeared in articles for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, Fortune, LA Times, SF Chronicle, and other national publications, and regularly speaks at industry conferences and events. He is also the author of The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines published by Wiley & Sons in 2008. Jones holds an MS in business technology, an MS in engineering-economic systems, and a BA in quantitative economics, all from Stanford University.
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Robert "Rob" Kieckhefer Vice President - Financial Consultant RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT - THE KIECKHEFER GROUP Rob has focused his securities career on retirement plans. He works closely with small business owners, assisting them with their investment and retirement planning needs. Rob has obtained the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) and PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designations. Although not required to hold these designations, the additional skills and expertise gained will ultimately benefit our clients. Rob is a member of the Retirement Leadership Council as recognized by the Organization of Retirement Leaders. The Kieckhefer Group was one of three finalist for PlanSponsor's best retirement planning team in 2007. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1974. Rob and his wife, Maryglen, have three children, and currently reside in Mequon, Wisconsin.
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Tom Kmak Principal FIDUCIARY BENCHMARKS, Inc. Tom Kmak is a founding principal of Fiduciary Benchmarks, Inc. Fiduciary Benchmarks was started in October of 2007. The firm is dedicated to becoming the premier benchmarking firm in the retirement plan industry. Prior to founding Fiduciary Benchmarks, Tom was the Chief Executive Officer for JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services in Kansas City, Missouri. Tom started the RPS business with four other people in January of 1990. At the time of his departure, JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services had 1000 employees, over 200 clients, $1.5mm participants and over $115 billion in assets under supervision. Prior to that, Tom was a consultant in Kansas City for Mercer Consulting. He was also a manager for the employee benefits trust department of Midwest Commerce Bank in Elkhart, Indiana. Tom started his career with Crowe, Chizek and Company in South Bend, Indiana where he was a staff consultant for a regionally based accounting firm.
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Kamila Kowalke Director of Institutional Markets DOW JONES INDEXES Ms. Kowalke is responsible for developing business in global equity and lifecycle products. In her role she focuses on educating investors on the benefits of proper selection and use of indexes as both benchmarks and passive investments during the portfolio construction, manager selection, monitoring, and evaluation processes. She works directly with trustees, plan sponsors, and consultants to promote the importance of benchmark education in the assessment of portfolio risk and return. Ms. Kowalke attended Gdansk Institute of Technology in Gdansk, Poland and she earned MBA at the University of Arkansas.
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Michael Kozemchak AIF, PRP Managing Director, Institutional Investment Consulting, an NRP Member Firm Michael Kozemchak has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining Institutional Investment Consulting as a Managing Director, he worked for a number of other highly respected firms on Wall Street including Wachovia Securities, prudential Securities, and Merrill Lynch, where he frequently was recognized as one of the nation's leading investment consultants. Today, he leads a national investment consulting practice focused on and dedicated to serving client's needs as an objective single-source provider of institutional investment consulting services. He was individually recognized in September 2007 by Institutional Investor and recipient of its prestigious Rising Star award, given to the nation's top 20 Retirement Plan Consultants. He also was recognized in December 2006 and 2007 by PLANSPONSOR magazine in an article titled "Best of the Best ~ The nation's most successful Retirement Plan Advisers" for his role on one of the largest and most accomplished Retirement Plan Consulting teams in the country, consulting to more than $2.5 billion of Retirement Plan assets.
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C. Todd Lacey, AIF® Managing Partner THE (K)LARITY GROUP Todd Lacey is Founder and Managing Partner of The (k)larity Group, an independent consulting firm based in Athens, GA, dedicated to the corporate retirement plan market. The (k)larity Group, a member firm of National Retirement Partners, objectively serves plan sponsors and participants offering services including corporate fiduciary and investment consulting, vendor and fee comparative analysis, plan design consulting, and participant investment advice. The (k)larity Group also has offices in St. Simons and Atlanta.
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James Lyday Sr. Vice President Distribution Prudential Retirement James A. Lyday , Sr. Vice President, Distribution, for the Institutional Income Consulting team within the Institutional Income Innovation (I-3) group, a business unit within Prudential Retirement. Jim is charged with the National Distribution of Prudential Retirement's Institutional Income Solutions. This includes distribution through Prudential's internal clients as well as through Prudential's non recordkept clients via outside consultants, advisors and Third Party Distribution Channels. He is responsible for both the full service and investment only distribution of their institutional retirement income products. Prior to his current role in the Institutional Income Innovations group, Jim was part of the Sales Management Group of Prudential's Full Service Retirement Division. Jim has over 16 years of experience in the retirement services business in both a sales and sales management capacity. Prior to Prudential Jim also worked for the Principal Financial Group, MetLife, and New York Life Investment Management.
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Mary Ann Langevin DC Business Leader Mercer Mary Ann Langevin is the Defined Contribution Business Leader for Mercer's outsourcing business. She is responsible for strategic direction, product management, and business development efforts for the Defined Contribution business. Ms. Langevin has over 20 years experience in the retirement industry. She joined Mercer in 2007 from ADP Retirement Services where she served as Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy, responsible for management of the 401(k) micro, mid and large market products and defining the future growth strategy. Prior to ADP, Ms. Langevin was a Vice President with ING where she led product and strategic initiatives for the Defined Contribution businesses. Earlier in her career, she held product leadership positions at Mass Mutual and CIGNA.
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John Low Regional Vice President Nationwide Financial John Low has been in the financial services industry for over 7 years, with the past 5 years working in the Qualified Retirement Plan area of Nationwide Financial. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a degree in finance with a specialization in financial planning. He currently holds the designations of Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), through the Center for Fiduciary Studies, and the PlanSponsor Retirement Professional (PRP) through the PlanSponsor Institute.
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Theresa "Tess" Malone Consultant BLUE PRAIRIE GROUP Tess is a Consultant with Blue Prairie Group, and has over 20 years of institutional retirement consulting experience. She worked for a Fortune 250 financial services firm, The Principal. While at Principal, she lead their in-house ERISA consulting division supporting 29,000 retirement plan sponsors across the United States. In this position, she worked with plan sponsors, national consulting firms and ERISA attorneys to design, implement, and administer DC and DB retirement programs.
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John B. Mott Sr. VP, Wealth Management, Corporate Client Group Director SMITH BARNEY John has 28 years of institutional consulting experience. He is one of 45 Corporate Client Group Directors within Smith Barney who are allowed to work with publicly traded companies and their retirement plans. John was the inaugural winner of the Retirement Adviser of the Year Award sponsored by PLANSPONSOR magazine. He graduated from Rice University.
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Anne McKillips Managing Director The MCKILLIPS GROUP, LLC Anne McKillips is Managing Director of The McKillips Group, LLC, a consulting group helping service providers and their clients address the benefit plan issues they face. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the benefits industry in sales, service, research, and consulting roles as well as that of a plan sponsor. Prior to founding The McKillips Group, Anne served as President of Total Benefit Communications, which she founded in 1993 and sold to Bisys Retirement Services (now Ascensus) in 2006.
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Joseph C. Nagengast Principal Target Date Analytics LLC Mr. Nagengast is a principal of Target Date Analytics,(www.tdbench.com) a firm specializing in target date indexes for reporting clarity and glidepath licensing. Under the Target Date Analytics banner, he directs and co-authors, "Popping the Hood," a recurring and comprehensive analysis of target date fund families.
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Stephanie L. Napier Vice President and Senior TRUST COUNSEL Stephanie Napier joined Marshall & Ilsley Trust Company in April 2004. From 1997 through 2004, Ms. Napier was an associate with Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in employee benefits law, with a particular emphasis on Title I of ERISA. At M&I, she continues to specialize in application of ERISA and its fiduciary requirements.
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Stuart O'dell Director of Retirement Investments Treasury Department, Intel Corporation Stuart Odell is Director of Retirement Investments in the Treasury Department of Intel Corporation. He oversees the asset allocation, manager selection, and performance monitoring for Intel's defined contribution and defined benefit plans. In 2004, he developed and implemented a new three-tier investment lineup for Intel's 401(k) plan, which consists of custom target-date lifecycle and core investment options (composed of commingled trusts and separate accounts) as well as an expanded mutual fund window. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College, his MBA in Finance from NYU, and worked in investment banking, public finance, and as an engineer prior to joining Intel in 2000. He lives in San Francisco, serves on the Finance Committee for the Guide Dogs for the Blind, and is an advisory board member for Pensions & Investments West Coast DC conferences.
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Cheryl D. Orr Assistant Director of Human Resources FAIRFAX COUNTY (VA) GGOVERNMENT Cheryl Orr has more than 25 years of experience in public administration including: human resources management, training and organizational development, program management, performance management, strategic planning, facilitation, and teamwork. She has established and/or reengineered several offices that currently continue to be viable entities in the organizations in which they reside. In June 2007, she moved to Fairfax, Virginia, to become the Assistant Director of Human Resources for Fairfax County Government, the largest county in the State of Virginia and one of the largest Counties in the Country. She is responsible for the following HR areas: benefits, payroll, recruitment and HR Central (HR call center).
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Jim O'Shaughnessy Managing Partner SHERIDAN ROAD Jim O'Shaughnessy is a Managing Partner of Sheridan Road. Jim is responsible for the day to day operations of Sheridan Road's retirement plan consulting business and wealth management group. Jim maintains all mutual fund, insurance and administrative relationships. Prior to co-founding Sheridan Road, Jim worked for AXA Advisors where he built one of the largest asset management businesses focused on middle market corporate retirement plans in the country. Jim holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary™ (AIF) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies and the PRP designation from Plan Sponsor. Jim is NASD Series 6, 7, 24, 63 and 65 licensed, as well as, life, health and variable licensed. Jim's experience in the field of qualified plans has led to his active involvement with several industry advisory boards, and he is currently a member of American Funds Advisory Council, JP Morgan's Retirement Advisory Council, AllianceBernstein Advisor Board, Wachovia's Independent Retirement Advisor Council and Putnam's Golden Scale Advisory Council. He is a member of the Center for Fiduciary Studies and the Profit Sharing Council of America. Jim is as an advocate for the retirement plan industry, frequently speaks at industry conferences, and consults on ways to improve the overall health of the U.S. retirement plan system. For his achievements, he was recently recognized by Plan Sponsor as a top 5 finalist for Plan Sponsor Advisor of the Year and was named as one of the 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisors by Institutional Investor News. Jim received his B.S. in Industrial Management from Purdue University.
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Michael J. Olah Field Vice President ERISA SERVICES Mr. Olah had 24 years of retirement plan industry and ERISA experience. Throughout his tenure with Schwab, he has concentrated on managing relationships with large-market clients, and functioning as an ERISA resource for Schwab's retirement plan clients.. In that capacity, Mr. Olah is primarily responsible for ensuring clients of Schwab Corporate Services receive the full range of appropriate services from Schwab's Corporate Services enterprise. Mr. Olah has extensive experience in all matters pertaining to retirement plan design, documentation, administrative processes and procedures, and compliance and fiduciary concerns. In connection with fiduciary issues, Mr. Olah is instrumental in working with clients to establish processes and procedures for establishing prudent fiduciary processes, and monitoring decision making, and working with others to ensure appropriate processes for investment selection. He also works as a resource for client's benefits and investment committees in setting policy with respect to plan design, administration and funding.
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Nicholas Platt Jr. COO PLANSPONSOR As COO of parent company Asset International, Nick has focused on building the company's retirement service franchise into the driving force behind the company's growth. Prior to joining Asset International, Nick was a financial correspondent, bureau chief, and editor at Reuters, the international news service. He holds a BA from Vassar College.
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Thomas B. Pittman Chief Marketing Officer THE NEWPORT GROUP Tom Pittman leads the sales and marketing of Newport’s qualified retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation, and independent investment advisory services. His responsibilities include oversight of the firm’s Regional Directors, and coordination with its team of Managing Directors. He also is responsible for all client and business development at Newport, and is charged with creating and launching initiatives to accelerate and expand growth in all lines of businesses. His experience in the financial services industry includes building and leading successful sales organizations; establishing strategic alliance relationships; and integrating acquired business into existing organizations. Prior to joining Newport, he was head of sales for ADP’s retirement services business and worked at Merrill Lynch’s Retirement Group. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Baylor University. He holds the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist designation from the College for Financial Planning.
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Rob Portman Former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Trade Representative and Congressman Rob Portman, described as one of the most experienced and respected public servants of his generation, served on the White House Staff during the first Bush Administration. He later represented Southwest Ohio for 12 years as a U.S. Congressman, winning each election with at least 70 percent of the vote. More recently, he was asked to serve in the Cabinet-first as U.S. Trade Representative and later as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. During his time in Congress and the Cabinet, Rob and his wife Jane kept their home in Ohio. After commuting to Washington, DC for more than 14 years, Rob left OMB in August, 2007 to be in Ohio full time with his family. Today, Rob works at the Ohio law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey. Through his many roles and titles, Rob has proven time and time again to be a true leader who focuses on results.
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Douglas G. Prince Managing Director STIFEL NICOLAUS & COMPANY, INC. Doug is a Managing Director with STIFEL NICOLAUS & COMPANY, INC. Prior to joining Stifel Nicolaus, Doug was a Senior Vice President and investment consultant with McDonald Investments Inc.. Prior to Doug serving as an investment consultant, he was the Vice President in charge of the Southern Region of McDonald Investments, Inc.'s Retirement Services practice. Doug is based in the Indianapolis office of Stifel Nicolaus. Doug currently advises over $1 Billion in assets throughout Indiana. In December of 2005, Doug's team was named, in Plan Sponsor Magazine, as one of the 30 most successful retirement plan advisory groups in the country. In 2007 Doug was named as one of the top 20 retirement plan advisory rising stars, by Institutional Investor News.
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Fred Reish Managing Director and Partner REISH LUFTMAN REICHER & COHEN is an ERISA attorney whose practice focuses on fiduciary responsibility issues. He has been recognized on several occasions for his contributions to the 401(k) community: selected by Plan Sponsor magazine as one of 15 Legends in the development of retirement plans; the 401(k) Industry's Most Influential Person for 2007 by 401kWire; the Commissioner's Award and the District Director's Award by the IRS; the Eidson Founder's Award by ASPPA; the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Plan Sponsor Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. Fred was recently appointed as a member of the Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Pension Editorial Advisory Board. In addition, he has been recognized in the legal community as a Charter Fellow of the Employee Benefits Counsel as one of "The Best Lawyers in America," and as a "Super Lawyer in Southern California." He has written over 250 articles and four books about retirement plans, including a monthly column on 401(k) fiduciary issues for Plan Sponsor magazine. Fred co-chaired the IRS Los Angeles Benefits Conference for over 10 years, served as a founding Co-Chair of the ASPPA 401(k) Summit, and has served on the Steering Committee for the DOL National Conference.
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Charles Ruffel CEO PLANSPONSOR Charlie is the founder of Asset International, the parent company of PLANSPONSOR Magazine, PLANSPONSOR.com, the PLANSPONSOR Institute and Global Custodian Magazine. He is an authority on global pension issues. He previously held posts at Institutional Investor and McCann-Erickson. He has Masters degrees from Cambridge University and Columbia University.
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Nancy G. Ross Partner MCDERMOTT WILL & EMERY, LLP Nancy G. Ross is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the firm's Chicago office. As a member of the Trial Department, she practices primarily in the area of employee benefits class action litigation and counseling under ERISA. In the 2006 and 2007 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, she was recognized as a leader in both employee benefits litigation and ERISA litigation. She has been named among the top lawyers in the field of employee benefits/ERISA in Illinois Super Lawyers for 2005 through 2008. She has also been named one of the top 50 women lawyers in Illinois in Illinois Super Lawyers for 2008. The Legal 500 recognizes Nancy as the Firm's leader in ERISA litigation and an authority on employee and benefits disputes. LeadingLawyers.com named Nancy a Leading Lawyer in Employee Benefits Law in 2008. Nancy is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 8th and 11th Circuits, U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, and the State of Illinois.
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John N. Smith, III VP and Corporate Benefit and Institutional Specialist MERRILL LYNCH RETIREMENT GROUP John N. Smith, III is a Vice President and Corporate Benefit and Institutional Specialist for Merrill Lynch Retirement Group, specializing in consulting and delivering nonqualified deferred compensation services to our clients. Smith helps companies design plans to comply with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A and to assure that the plan meets competitive practices. He works with companies to arrive at the optimal hedging strategy for their liabilities.
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Matt Smith Managing Director, Retirement Service-Americas RUSSELL INVESTMENTS Matt Smith is managing director of retirement services for Russell Investments. As managing director of retirement services, Matt leads strategic development of Russell's fast-growing defined contribution investment management business in the U.S. In addition, Matt is an expert spokesperson on retirement issues, Matt Smith has been quoted by numerous trade and professional publications, including PlanSponsor, Employee Benefit News, and Pension & Investments.
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Michael Case Smith AVATAR, LLC
Michael Smith began his career in asset management with Trust Company of the West in London. After seven years of institutional sales in Los Angeles, he briefly joined TCW spin-off GuidedChoice.com, an online investment advice tool under the direction of Nobel Laureate Harry Markowitz. Smith and former TCW colleagues then designed the fully discretionary 401(k) business method described in the Department of Labor Advisory Opinion that was issued to their client, IG/SunAmerica, in 2001. Elements of this business method were codified in the Pension Protection Act and recently were awarded a U.S. patent. As architects of "autopilot 401(k)," the group helped develop the managed investment programs of AIG, New York Life, Great West Life, and J.P. Morgan. He is Index Manager for the TD Ameritrade Independence lifecycle ETFs and adviser on customized QDIAs and is a frequent market commentator on CNBC's "Power Lunch" and "Closing Bell."
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Pat Schmidt Founder and President JTEKT North America
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Thom Shumosic President THE ROCKWOOD FINANCIAL GROUP AND RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS Thom Shumosic, CFP is a 20 year veteran in the financial planning industry with a strong emphasis on retirement planning. Mr. Shumosic is founder and President of The Rockwood Financial Group and Retirement Planning Specialists. These corporations were founded in 1996. Mr. Shumosic received his CFP designation from the College of Financial Planning and earned his BS in Leadership and Consumer Economics from the University of Delaware. He has recently accepted a seat on the University of Delaware Alumni Board. Mr. Shumosic was recently honored by PLANSPONSOR magazine as one of The Most Successful Retirement Plan Advisers of 2007. Thom's group manages more than $175 million in an array of retirement plan platforms. The Rockwood Financial Group and Retirement Planning Specialists pride itself on being a completely independent and unbiased firm.
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Christina Stauffer, CFA Vice President PIMCO Ms. Stauffer is a Vice President and a member of PIMCO's account management group. She is the DC Business Manager - U.S. and is responsible for coordinating the firm's defined contribution marketing and servicing efforts and is chairman of the PIMCO DC Leadership Group. Ms. Stauffer joined PIMCO in 2002, having been associated with Transamerica Investments where she was responsible for client servicing, marketing and sub-advisory relationships. Before that she was a member of the financial risk management group at both Standard Chartered Bank and First Interstate Capital Markets. She has nineteen years of investment experience and holds a bachelor's degree from California State Polytechnic University.
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Pete Swisher, CFP, CPC Certified Financial PlannerTM Practitioner, Certified Pension Consultant, Vice President of Advisory Services, Senior Institutional Consultant Pete Swisher is a pension consultant and wholesaler serving as Vice President and Senior Institutional Consultant for Unified Trust Company, NA, in Lexington, Kentucky. He accepted a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the first Gulf War as Executive Officer of an infantry company and left the Marines as a Captain in 1993. He is the author of 401(k) Fiduciary Governance: An Advisor's Guide, a textbook for 401(k) advisors and consultants. He is a frequent speaker on the subject of qualified plans and fiduciary risk management for groups that include the Institute for International Research, American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, the Financial Planning Association, National Institute of Pension Administrators, The American Bankers Association, The International Forum, the ERISA Fiduciary Guild, and various employee benefit organizations. As the principal author of the "ERISA Boot Camp" workshop series, he delivers workshops across the country annually.
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Melanie Walker Vice President, National Compliance Practice, Denver THE SEGAL COMPANY Melanie Walker works in the Denver office of The Segal Company as a Vice President and is a licensed attorney in the State of Colorado. She provides ongoing and special project compliance services for employee benefit plans to clients in Segal’s three market divisions (public sector, private sector, and multiemployer). Her primary area of expertise is with public-sector retirement plans and she serves as a national resource for Segal in this area. She received a BA in Political Science and International Affairs with an area of concentration in the former Soviet Union at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a JD from the University of Colorado School of Law. She is an active member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA) and National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA).
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Heidi L. Walsh Vice President and Director of Consultant and Advisor Relations T. ROWE PRICE RETIREMENT PLAN SERVICES, Inc. Heidi is currently Vice President and Director of Consultant and Advisor Relations for T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. and Vice President for T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. a publicly traded financial services firm based in Baltimore, Maryland. In this capacity, Heidi is responsible for business development and supporting consultant and advisors with business acquisitions and client support. She has extensive experience in the defined contribution and pension business working with Fortune 500 companies, state and local government and small business clients. Heidi's former roles within T. Rowe Price included Communications Manager supporting defined contribution plans as well as Vice President and Director of Strategic Marketing and Business Development. Heidi was recently named one of the top 5 rising stars in the defined contribution marketplace by 401(K) Wire.
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Mark J. Woolhiser, PRP, IAR President & CEO MBC INVESTMENT CONSULTING,Inc. Mark J. Woolhiser is a Principal at MBC Investment Consulting, Inc. ("MBCIC"), an NRP Member Firm. NRP, National Retirement Partners, is a full service pension and employee benefit consulting firm specializing in the design, investments and administration of retirement programs. These programs consist of 403(b), 457, pension, profit sharing, and 401(k) retirement savings plans. Mr. Woolhiser, who is an Investment Advisor Representative of Sigma Planning Corporation, is in charge of investment consulting and investment advisory services for MBCIC. Mr. Woolhiser has written for various professional associations (most recently, Pension & Investment Age Magazine) and he is a frequent guest speaker in the retirement industry. He is next scheduled to speak at the March, 2008 Future of Asset Allocated Funds Conference, hosted by PLANSPONSOR. He also holds a PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation.
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