SPARK National 2018
Agenda
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
6:00 – 9:00 pm Conference Registration – Sponsored by Messagepoint
7:00 – 9:00 pm Exhibitor Setup
Thursday, June 14, 2018
7:00 am – 5:00 pm Conference Registration – Sponsored by Messagepoint
7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast with Exhibitors – Sponsored by Ameritas
8:00 – 8:10 am Welcome & Opening Remarks
Tim Rouse, Executive Director, SPARK Institute
8:10 – 9:00 am Economic Update
David Lebovitz, Executive Director, Global Market Strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management
During his session, David will discuss the outlook for global growth, inflation and monetary policy. He will then discuss how this evolving macroeconomic backdrop will impact fixed income, equities, and other parts of the capital markets. Finally, David will touch on market volatility, before highlighting that in the current environment, the best investment approach remains one of balance.
9:00 – 9:50 am Global DC Environment
John Mitchem, Principal, JM3 Projects (moderator)
Serge Boccassini, Senior Vice President, Northern Trust
Bill Byerly, EVP, General Manager, FIS
Around the world countries are evaluating their retirement systems and increasingly modeling reforms on the U.S. Defined Contribution system. In many cases countries are taking the next step to install a DC system and better prepare their citizens for a secure retirement. Interestingly, some overseas DC systems, already in place, have developed best practices that offer positive examples that our own U.S. workplace system should consider. In this session you will hear from experts that work around the globe and learn what is working, what doesn’t and if there is an opportunity for American firms to expand into these emerging opportunities.
9:50 – 10:20 am Break with Exhibitors – Sponsored by Convergent
10:20 – 11:10 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS
SESSION A – Fraud Prevention: Biometrics
Alex Petrow, VP of Information Security, Ascensus (moderator)
Shawn Hall, VP, Strategy and Operations, Pindrop Security
Mia Puzo, Fraud Prevention SME, Nuance Communications
Jay Whoriskey, Manager Strategic Partnerships, BioCatch
As fraud becomes a bigger concern for retirement plan administrators and plan sponsors technology firms are responding with solutions. In this session you will hear about the trends in account fraud and latest technology to help prevent these attacks.
SESSION B – Human Capital Strategies
Sheryl Craun, Senior Managing Director, Head of Institutional & Individual Operations, TIAA (moderator)
Russell Fernandez, Senior Manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Steven Hatfield, Principal, Workforce Transformation, Financial Services, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Barry Tetrault, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP
In a world of ever increasing automation this session explores how record keepers can effectively re-skill existing workforce to adapt to this changing environment. TIAA will moderate this session and ask experts from Deloitte Consulting what companies are doing to navigate their workforce into the future.
11:10 – 12:00 pm Congressional Panel
Chris Gaston, Senior Policy Director, Davis & Harman LLP
In this session, Davis & Harman will moderate a discussion on current legislative activity around retirement issues with congressional panelists.
12:00 – 1:00 pmLunch
1:00 – 1:50 pm Exploring the Saver’s Credit
Jon Graff, SVP, Participant Services Director, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust (moderator)
Jennifer Brown, Manager of Research, National Institute on Retirement Security
The Saver’s Credit was created to help encourage lower income savers to enroll in their employer sponsored retirement plan. Unfortunately, very few eligible employees take advantage of this Federal benefit. In this session you will hear from Jennifer Brown, a researcher with the National Institute of Retirement Savings about her study of the savers credit and the reasons why eligible employees are not using it. Joe Ready, from Wells Fargo, will moderate the discussion and explore ways the industry can help increase usage.
1:50 – 2:40 pm BREAKOUT SESSIONS
SESSION A – Battling Fraud
Wendy Shaw, Vice President, Retirement Plan Operations, Nationwide (moderator)
Daniel Lyons, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
The retirement industry is not immune to attacks by fraudsters. In this session, Special Agent Lyons will discuss the FBI’s response to financial fraud. Mr. Lyons will provide information on best practices to help avoid attacks and the steps to follow if your firm is victimized.
SESSION B – Back Office Robotics
Sheryl Craun, Senior Managing Director, Head of Institutional & Individual Operations, TIAA (moderator)
Jay Muller, Manager, Business Systems Analysis, DST / SS&C
Susheel Nesargi, Chief Technology Officer, Wealth & Retirement, FIS
AI and automation are expanding more and more into the back office processing of record keepers. This session will examine the latest trends and adoption of these technologies. You will hear from experts on what works and doesn’t when automating back offices. You will also hear from a recordkeeper that has implemented several automation technologies and what they learned.
2:40 – 3:20 pm Break with Exhibitors – Sponsored by Congruent
3:20 – 4:10 pm Consultants Panel
Michael Domingos, VP, National Corporate Strategy & Distribution, Prudential Retirement (moderator)
Marina Edwards, Senior Director – Retirement, Willis Towers Watson
Julian Regan, Senior Vice President, Segal Marco Advisors
Ben Taylor, Senior Vice President, Callan LLC
Prudential will host this discussion with leading plan consultants from Segal, Callan and Willis Towers Watson. In this conversation, our panelists will be asked to share their thoughts on the key issues plan sponsors want addressed. Our panel will engage in a wide open discussion that will likely touch on Fee Leveling, Next Steps After the Fiduciary Rule, Cyber Security, Financial Wellness, the Rise in Fraud Attempts Against Plans and more. You will not want to miss this session as you plan your own strategies for meeting the changing needs of plan sponsors.
4:10 – 5:00 pm Demise of the Fiduciary Rule – Now What?
Mike Narkoff, EVP, Business Development, Ascensus (moderator)
Guy Hocker, President, Cetera Retirement Plan Specialists
Edward O’Connor, Managing Director, Head of Workplace Solutions, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Now that the DOL appears unlikely to challenge the 5th Circuit ruling vacating their conflict of interest rule, where does the industry go from here? In this session we will hear from senior business leaders from larger broker dealers and DC focused RIAs on how they plan to react to the end of the DoL’s fiduciary rule and the emergence of a new SEC rule.
5:00 – 7:00 pm Reception with Exhibitors
Friday, June 15, 2018
7:00 – 8:00 am Continental Breakfast with Exhibitors – Sponsored by Congruent
8:00 – 8:25 am Opening Remarks
Rich Linton, Empower Retirement (introduction)
Keynote speaker: Congressman Tim Walberg
8:30 – 9:20 am Creating Revenue & Plan Fiduciary Wellness Through IRA Platforms
Tom Kmak, CEO, Fiduciary Benchmarks (moderator)
David Levine, Principal, Groom Law Group, Chartered
Rich Rausser, SVP, Client Services, Pentegra Retirement Services
Vincent Vicidomini, Vice President, Business Development, Mesirow Financial
As the retirement services and wealth management industry adjusts to the new demands of IRA account holders, it is time to evaluate the products and pricing strategies offered to plan sponsors and retail investors. Consideration should be given to the effective management of lower balance retirement accounts, including fiduciary considerations, while helping the account holder achieve more secure retirement outcomes. In this session, industry leaders – including recordkeepers, legal advisors and investment advisors – will share their perspectives on the new best practices you should employ to optimize product management protocols and increase efficiencies.
9:20 – 10:10 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS
SESSION A – Missing Participants
Gayle Rollins, Assistant General Counsel, AIG Consumer (moderator)
Terry Dunne, SVP, Managing Director, Millennium Trust Company
Mark Sweatman, President, Retirement Plan Management Services, RCP Solutions
Missing participants are a growing concern for plan sponsors, regulators and recordkeepers. In this session, you will learn about strategies for dealing with missing participant accounts, what works and what doesn’t.
SESSION B – Cyber Security Trends
Monica Oswald, Vice President, Prudential Financial (moderator)
Morian Eberhard, Vice President, Threat Management & Monitoring, Schwab Cybersecurity Services
Peter Falco, Director of Broker-Dealer Services, FS-ISAC
SPARK just announced a partnership with the FS-ISAC for the creation of a Retirement Industry Council (RIC) to help member firms share cyber security threats and prevent attacks. In this session, moderated by Prudential, you will hear about trends in cyber security attacks and learn how others are working to prevent them.
10:10 – 10:30 am Break with Exhibitors – Sponsored by BenefitsLink
10:40 – 11:10 am Advisor Panel
Kathleen Roche, Vice President, Ascensus (moderator)
Tim Black, President, Black Diamond Advisory Services
Joseph DeNoyior, Managing Partner, Washington Financial Group
Jania Stout, Practice Leader and Co-Founder, Fiduciary Plan Advisors
Advisor sold retirement plans continue to be a critical market for record keepers. In this session, you will hear from three leading retirement plan advisors on how partnerships between advisors and recordkeeping firms can be enhanced. The panel will discuss recordkeeper services that help advisors grow their business,such as support for financial wellness, college loan repayments, dedicated client services and other factors that make recordkeepers standout.
11:30 – 12:20 pm Legislative & Regulatory Update
Chris Gaston, Senior Policy Director, Davis & Harman LLP
Mike Hadley, Partner, Davis & Harman LLP
The audience will hear from Washington Insiders, Davis & Harman, on the RESA Bill and legislative and regulatory changes likely to change U.S. retirement rules.