2019 Forum Speaker Profiles
Rob Barnett
Group VP, Head of Intermediary Sales Distribution
Wilmington Trust
Mr. Barnett, Administrative Vice President of Wilmington Trust, is Head of Intermediary Sales Distribution for the Wilmington Trust Retirement and Institutional Services Company. He leads the Intermediary Sales team and is responsible for building and managing enterprise level partnerships and strategic alliances that create opportunities to broaden the business and our service offering.
He has over a decade of industry experience, with more than half of those spent with Wilmington Trust. Mr. Barnett earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance from Washington State University.
Chris Brodersen
Blockchain Specialist Leader, Technology Group
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Chris is a blockchain subject matter expert at the intersection of blockchain and business applications leading Deloitte’s blockchain Lab. He has global experience in evaluating, determining the validity, and building clients’ blockchain use cases & capabilities. He began his career in Capital Markets before moving to Consulting.
Bill Byerly
EVP & Global General Manager of Retirement Solutions
FIS
Bill Byerly is the Group Executive for the Retirement division which comprises both Omni and Relius product site. He is responsible for the direction and growth of the Retirement operations, technology, client satisfaction and product development for FIS’s wealth and retirement administration business.
With more than 30 years of experience, Bill has built scalable, comprehensive, and highly productive service delivery teams and platforms, including ten years of experience in off-shore and near-shore operations involving off-shoring work to India and within the U.S. as well as direct oversight of the off-shore resources.
Philip Chao
Principal and CIO
Chao & Company, Ltd.
Philip Chao founded Chao & Company, Ltd in 1990. As the Chief investment Officer of the firm, Philip sets portfolio construction and investment policies to manage individual and institutional assets in the best interest of the clients. By emphasizing risk as well as return, each portfolio is calibrated in an attempt to align the long-term investment outcome with clients’ criteria and expectations.
Philip serves as an ERISA fiduciary under ERISA Sec 3(21) – a consultant, or under ERISA 3(38) – a manager with discretionary investment authority.
Scott Colangelo
Chairman
Prime Capital Investment Advisors
Scott Colangelo is the Chairman and Managing Partner of Prime Capital Investment Advisors (PCIA), and the creator of Qualified Plan Advisors (QPA). Forward-thinking in the financial business, Scott is responsible for the strategy and growth of these companies.
With his clients’ best interests in mind, Scott started QPA to fill a void in the company when an investment client inquired about the best way to monitor and maintain his company’s retirement plan. “We wanted to see what their retirement dreams and goals were and how we could help,” said Scott. “Yet, I discovered that there were no requirements whatsoever for participants in a retirement plan. Essentially, this left a nation of workers to manage their retirement planning and investing without the knowledge to do so. My client was confused when I asked to meet with all the employees to learn about them and to set goals, asking, ‘Why do you need to meet with them? No one has ever done that before.'” This single experience left an indelible impact on Scott, and out of it came a singular focus on participant education that has evolved into comprehensive financial wellness.
PCIA’s team approach and commitment to invest in resources open up even more opportunities for clients. The collaborative approach is the foundation of this company. PCIA builds real relationships with clients, but Scott continues to strive for better and is willing to look for solutions that are not always the easiest to find. When Scott’s not working hard for his clients and team, he is spending time traveling with his family. “The concept of work-life balance, unfortunately, doesn’t happen often enough in our business. But our team approach provides a support system that allows us time to be with our families.”
Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance with a minor in marketing from Kansas State University, as well as FINRA Series 7, 63 and 66 registrations. In his own words, his two hobbies are basketball and golf, “although I’m not very good at either.”
Jason Colarossi
Vice President, Head of Strategic Accounts
Franklin Templeton Investments
Jason Colarossi is the National Retirement Strategist for Franklin Templeton’s Defined Contribution Division. He is responsible for the development and distribution of Franklin Templeton’s Collective Investment Trust platform. Mr. Colarossi has been working in the defined contribution industry for over 20 years. He joined Franklin Templeton in 2014 as the Head of Strategic Accounts – Defined Contribution Division, responsible for developing and executing Franklin Templeton’s business plans with our strategic DC partners.
Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, he had been with JPMorgan since April of 2007, most recently as a National Account Manager within JPMorgan’s Defined Contribution Investment Solutions group. He was responsible for delivering JPMorgan’s thought leadership and investment solutions to defined contribution record keepers. From 2003 to 2007 Mr. Colarossi worked for The Bostonian Group, an employee benefits consulting firm based in Boston, MA. He was a consultant in the Retirement Services Practice, helping plan sponsors manage their defined contribution programs.
He began his career in 1996 with Putnam Investments, holding several positions within their record keeping business. Mr. Colarossi is a 1996 graduate of Hobart College and resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two sons.
Matt Condos
Vice President
Lincoln Financial Group
Matt Condos serves as Vice President within Lincoln Financial Group’s Retirement Plan Services business, and is specifically responsible for product development & management. In this role, he leads efforts to develop and support Lincoln’s products and services for the Defined Contribution markets (including 401, 457, and 403(b) plan sponsors and their advisors). Prior to joining Lincoln in 2017, Matt was Senior Vice President and leader of the Guaranteed Products segment for Voya Financial’s Retirement business.
Additionally, Matt held several finance and product development/management roles within Voya and also previously at Keefe Bruyette and Woods, and Hartford Life Insurance Company. Matt earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bryant College. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, holds FINRA Series 7, 26, and 63 securities registrations, and holds state insurance licenses.
Dick Darian
CEO
Wise Rhino Group
Dick is the founder and CEO of Wise Rhino Group, which provides M&A Advisory Services for firms focused in the retirement plan consulting space. Prior Dick managed strategy and distribution for BlackRock’s DC Intermediary operation.
He began his career as a retirement consultant with Williams Thacher and Rand where he was a partner and retirement plan national practice leader. He also led retirement distribution at MFS Investment Management and ING. Prior to joining BlackRock, Dick was a co-founder and COO at National Retirement Partners. Dick lives in Charleston SC with his wife Mary.
Denise Diana
SVP, Head of Client Management
Envestnet Retirement Solutions
Denise is currently the Senior Vice President, Head of Strategic Account Management for Envestnet Retirement Solutions (ERS). She is responsible for the execution of ERS’s Strategic Account Management plan supporting ERS’s Broker-Dealer, RIA, Recordkeeping clients. ERS supplies technology and investment management solutions to the Institutional Retirement Marketplace seeking to improve market position, efficiency and effectiveness. Denise has over 28 years’ experience in the employee benefits industry including the institutional retirement and healthcare marketplace.
Previous to ERS, she held a variety of leadership roles at Prudential, MassMutual, The Hartford, Transamerica, Schwab, Cigna and Kaiser Permanente. Denise is a strategic thinker who has demonstrated success in strategically leading organizations to drive revenue growth, develop effective long-term distribution partnerships and designing client retention and growth strategies. She has a proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and develop effective sales and account management teams. Denise is a graduate of Bryant University with a degree in Business Administration, Marketing. Denise served as President for Women in Pensions Network in 2018-2019.
Chris DiPrimio
Director, Senior Product Strategist
BlackRock
Chris DiPrimio is a Senior Product Strategist within the Active Equities Group at BlackRock representing Systematic Active Equity strategies. In this capacity, he primarily supports SAE’s Investment capabilities to institutional and retail clients. He is responsible for providing a link between investment teams and all client groups and for providing insight on the Active Equities product platform.
Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. DiPrimio was a member of BlackRock Alternatives Specialists (BAS) Group where he served as a Product Specialist for alternative investment products offered to private wealth clients. He was also an Investment Management Associate within the US Wealth Advisory Group at BlackRock, serving Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors in the Southeast US. Mr. DiPrimio began his career at Hamilton Lane Advisors, a global private equity firm. Mr. DiPrimio earned a BS in Finance, summa cum laude, and a minor in Biochemistry from The Honors College at Millersville University.
Michael Doshier
Sr. DC Advisor Strategist
T. Rowe Price
Michael is the Senior Defined Contribution Advisor Strategist primarily responsible for driving the increased visibility of T Rowe Price’s investment brand, furthering the firm’s position as a thought leader in the retirement arena. Michael has more than 25 years of experience across several firms and functional roles. Specifically, he has a multifaceted background including time spent with Franklin Templeton, MassMutual and Fidelity.
He has broad experience through various roles, namely global head of marketing for Franklin’s retirement business, head of business strategy for Fidelity’s tax-exempt retirement plan business, and other expansive sales and relationship management roles within the retirement space. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events on key issues affecting the DC and global retirement industry and remains well connected on the ever evolving legislative and regulatory conversations happening on Capitol Hill. On a personal note, Michael is a graduate of Xavier University and has earned his FINRA Series 7, 63, and 24 registrations. He is an avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast. He is a husband to Patty and the father to three children; Holland, Parker and Lily.
John Dulay
Financial Advisor
Raymond James
John joined True North Retirement Partners in 2006. Since joining Raymond James, John has developed extensive knowledge of defined contribution plans and participant retirement planning. He has gained experience working on small plans and has grown into a senior role on the team. John has been an integral part in the consulting services provided to all of our clients and is the lead advisor for half of our retirement plans. He has strong public speaking skills and excels at enrollment and education meetings as well as addressing the specific needs of individual employees. John became a CFA Charterholder in 2010.
Terry Dunne
SVP, Managing Director
Millennium Trust Company
Terry is responsible for executing key strategies, managing and developing the Retirement Services team. He brings over 35 years of sales and marketing experience in the financial services industry.
Prior to joining Millennium Trust, he served as director of marketing and client service at Harris Associates, and also held positions at Chicago Title and Trust, Arthur Andersen, and Harris Trust and Savings Bank. Terry has written on a number of retirement plan topics for several different publications, including the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), Sage’s Compensation & Benefits Review, International Foundation for Employee Benefits Plans, National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, and Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw Journal. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame, an M.B.A. in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago, and a master’s degree in taxation from DePaul University. He has previously held the Certified Public Accountant®, Certified Financial Planner® and Personal Financial Specialist® designations.
Corey Dylengoski
Strategic Accounts
HealthView
Corey Dylengoski serves as the Strategic Accounts Manager at HealthView Services – a software firm that provides retirement healthcare cost data and planning tools toorganizations in the financial services sector. Corey’s key responsibilities include maintaining strong relationships with enterprise clients and ensuring that the solutions HealthView provide meet the unique needs of each company, from product planning to onboarding and training.
Additionally, Corey provides valuable assistance in strategic planning, competitive and industry analysis, and product enhancement initiatives to help ensure the company’s growth, including the recent launch of HealthyCapital – a joint venture with Mercy Health – in which Corey took a leading role in designing and launching the revolutionary behavior modification-focused wellness platform.
John B. Emerson
Vice Chairman, Global Distribution
Capital Group International, Inc.
John Emerson works in global distribution as vice chairman of Capital Group International, Inc. He has 18 years of industry experience, all with Capital Group. He most recently served as the United States ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2015, John was awarded the State Department’s Susan M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service, which is given annually to one non-career ambassador, and in 2017 he was awarded the CIA Medal and the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Service award.
Prior to accepting the ambassadorial posting, John was president of Private Client Services for the Capital Group Companies. Before joining Capital, he was deputy assistant to President Clinton where he coordinated his economic conferences, served as the president’s liaison to the nation’s governors, and led the administration’s efforts to obtain congressional approval of the GATT Uruguay Round Agreement and the extension of China’s MFN trading status.
Additionally, he was appointed by President Obama to serve on his Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Before working in the Clinton White House, John served as Los Angeles Chief Deputy City Attorney, and was a partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg, and Phillips. John holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Hamilton College, a juris doctorate degree from the University of Chicago and a bachelors degree in philosophy from Hamilton College. John is based in Los Angeles.
Jeff Evers
Principal Consultant
Enterprise Iron Financial Industry Solutions, Inc.
Jeff Evers, is a Principal Consultant for Enterprise Iron with over 20 years’ experience in the retirement plan sector. His expertise includes extensive operational management and relationship management, with diverse experience across the retirement plan marketplace. This experience includes plan consulting, relationship management, operations management, implementation management, process improvement, data analysis, and application development. Jeff joined Enterprise Iron in 2007 as a Principal Consultant and works with clients in a variety of roles.
Prior to his arrival at Enterprise Iron, Jeff spent 16 years with Milliman, Inc. in a wide range of assignments that included: Plan Consultant, Implementation Manager, Director of Daily Operations, and Pension Administrator. There was also a 3 year stint with a small TPA firm where he served as a Plan Consultant, Daily Operations Manager, and Communications Manager. Jeff is a results driven and versatile servant-leader who has managed both small and large shops. His goal is to provide high quality service, with integrity, to every client he works with, as well as building long term relationships. He works well with staff at all levels, whether junior level administrators or executive leadership, and is adept and improving quality while reducing costs and minimize client risk. Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, with a teaching certificate in Advanced Mathematics, at the University of Oregon. During the process he also picked up a degree in Business Administration and a degree in Computer Systems and Design. Jeff is a veteran of the U.S. Army and lives in Spokane, WA with his wife Lynn.
Rick Floress
Senior Vice President, Risk Management
FIS
Rick Floress is a Senior Vice President of Risk, heading the Risk team overseeing FIS’ Payments, wealth, and retirement businesses in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. In this role, he is responsible for the second-line management and oversite of all risks within these businesses; information security, operational, regulatory and strategic. Rick has over 20 years of experience managing risk and compliance at the local, divisional and enterprise levels for organizations such as Prudential and Credit Suisse. In addition to his role with FIS, Rick participates in Spark’s Fraud Sub-Committee as well as the Retirement and Asset Management Councils of FS-ISAC’s Securities Industry Risk Group (SIRG).
Tara Fung
Vice President
CommonBond for Business
Tara Fung leads CommonBond’s Enterprise business, which is focused on providing student loan benefits to employers. Prior to CommonBond, Tara worked for German automotive giant, Daimler AG, in international strategy and project management roles. Tara has a B.S. in Economics from the University of South Carolina, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
While completing her MBA at Harvard Business School, Tara saw firsthand how classmates were making job decisions based on their student debt. She heard time and time again people saying they were accepting jobs they did not want in order to pay off their loans as quickly as possible. It was this experience that changed Tara’s career trajectory. She decided to join CommonBond and be part of the solution to the student debt crisis.
Chris Gaston
Senior Policy Director
Davis & Harman LLP
Chris Gaston is Senior Policy Director of Davis & Harman LLP. Chris has more than a dozen years of Capitol Hill experience and he represents clients on a wide range of issues before Congress, particularly retirement and savings policy.
Prior to joining Davis & Harman LLP, Chris served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) who was a senior member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
After growing up in Central New Jersey, Chris initially started with Rep. Holt as an intern and over the next twelve years, worked for Rep. Holt in a number of congressional and political positions. For more than five years Chris served as Rep. Holt’s Legislative Director where he helped establish an ambitious legislative agenda and advised him on a diverse range of legislative issues. In that capacity, Chris was responsible for all of Rep. Holt’s work on the Education and the Workforce Committee, including his legislative initiatives to promote retirement savings. Chris also led Rep. Holt’s efforts to raise concerns about the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal.
Chris graduated with a B.A. in Political Science with a Public Policy Focus from The George Washington University and received a M.A. in International Law and Politics from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Molly, have two active kids, Max and Clare, and one hyper active Border collie, Ace.
Larry Goldbrum
SVP, Director of ERISA Fiduciary Services, Retirement Strategies Group
Reliance Trust, An FIS Company
Larry Goldbrum is a senior vice president and director of ERISA fiduciary services with the retirement strategies group at Reliance Trust. In addition to managing the ERISA services group, he provides relationship management and business development services to all special fiduciary clients, as well as product development, sales and fiduciary consulting activities. Larry also provides thought leadership on critical retirement plan industry issues and serves as a liaison to industry trade groups. He has more than 30 years of legal experience in the retirement and investment services industries and joined Reliance Trust in 2015.
Previously, Larry was the co-owner, executive vice president and general counsel for The SPARK Institute Inc., where he represented the interests of approximately 60 of the largest retirement plan service providers, including mutual fund companies, banks, insurance companies, brokers, record keepers, consultants and others in Washington D.C. on critical regulatory, legislative and business matters. As chairman of SPARK’s government relations committee for nine years, he has provided significant industry leadership on critical retirement plan issues, including fiduciary and fee disclosure matters. While serving as general counsel for The SPARK Institute, Larry also co-owned, managed and operated an affiliated retirement plan business consulting company. He has also served as a senior vice president and chief risk officer for the retirement service group at Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) and as an associate attorney at law firms in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, Calif.
Larry received his juris doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Law in Nashville, Tenn., and graduated in the top 20 percent of his class. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He has been admitted to the state bars in California and the District of Columbia and has passed the CPA examination. Larry has been recognized by 401(k) Wire as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Defined Contribution” five times and has won a fund operation award for industry leadership from the publication Money Management Executive.
Yalmore Grant
Director of Information Security
SS&C Technologies
Yalmore Grant is the director of Information Security within SS&C’s Enterprise Services. He is responsible for the oversight and implementation of information security policies and controls across the Asset Manager Solutions (AMS) division.
He previously served as Chief Information Security Officer at Boston Financial Data Services. Yalmore holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Northeastern University.
Frank Gregory
Senior Business Development Consultant
iraLogix
Frank, the Senior Business Development Director for iraLogix, has almost 30 years of experience counseling small and large businesses to help them develop strategic and tactical courses of action that are cutting edge and compliant. He helps asset managers, affinity groups, and record-keepers implement IRA solutions that meet the needs of their constituents while increasing their operational Alpha. His clients also leverage his legal background to assist them and their boards in understanding current regulations and navigating their fiduciary duties.
Frank began his career as a labor and employment litigator, with a focus on counseling Fortune 500 companies regarding their business direction and risk management, including their compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). He then spent 14 years at Lord Abbett & Co., where he developed the Firm’s investment only defined contribution business and expanded its insurance sub-advisory business. Prior to joining iraLogix, Frank ran an alternative asset management firm and acted as a Fiduciary Rule project lead at UBS.
Frank holds his J.D. from the Duke University School of Law, and his B.S. from Villanova University. He also is a holder of the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) designation from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) designation from the University of Pittsburgh.
Mike Hadley
Partner
Davis & Harman LLP
Mike Hadley is a partner in the law firm Davis & Harman LLP. He practices in the area of employee benefits, advising clients on the full range of tax, ERISA, and other laws affecting benefit plans. He has a particular focus on helping financial institutions that sell products to defined contribution and defined benefit plans, IRAs and similar plans navigate the special rules that govern those plans. He also provides clients with strategic advice, plan design, counseling, and compliance assistance for qualified plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, non-qualified executive compensation, employment agreements, and health and other welfare plans.
Mike was formerly Associate Counsel for Pension Regulation at the Investment Company Institute, the national association of U.S. investment companies. His responsibilities included advocating for the Institute’s membership before Congress, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury, and the Securities Exchange Commission on retirement security issues and assisting ICI members and staff in understanding tax and ERISA rules. Among other duties he managed ICI’s work implementing the Pension Protection Act and responding to 401(k) fee, investment advice, and fiduciary developments in Congress, DOL, and the courts.
Prior to joining ICI, Mike was an associate with Covington & Burling LLP, where he advised clients on employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements, provided advice on ERISA litigation, and assisted with pension and benefits issues in mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.
Mike is a frequent speaker on the latest retirement savings policy developments coming out of Congress and the regulatory agencies and has testified before Treasury, IRS, and Department of Labor. A sampling of articles he has authored or co-authored: ERISA Compliance for Investment Advisers: A Q&A Guide To DOL’s 408(b)(2) Disclosure Regulation, Investment Lawyer, Vol. 20, No. 7 (July 2013); The Economics of Providing 401(k) Plans: Services, Fees, and Expenses, 2010 ICI Research Perspective, Vol. 17, No. 4 (June 2011); and 401 (k) Plans: A 25-Year Retrospective, ICI Research Perspective, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Nov. 2006).
Mike was a law clerk for the Honorable Gerald Tjoflat, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia, where he was Notes Editor of the Virginia Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif. He received his B.A., cum laude, from the College of William and Mary.
Phillipa Healy
Senior Vice President
PIMCO
Ms. Healy is a senior vice president and marketing manager in the Newport Beach office. Previously at PIMCO, she was head of marketing for Australia and New Zealand. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2015, she was head of marketing and client strategy at Centric Wealth in Sydney. She has also held positions at Investec Bank, Kaplan Funds Management and Patrick Corporation. She has over 15 years of investment and financial services experience and holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Southern Cross University and a masters of marketing from Griffith University.
Roberta Hess
CEO
Princeton Marketing
Roberta Hess is the CEO and Founder of Princeton Marketing, a strategic marketing and communications firm specializing in financial services. Roberta has previously held executive leadership roles at Ascensus, Prudential, MetLife, Travelers Life & Annuity and Merrill. She is is a speaker and coach on personal branding and leadership. Currently she is the head of SPARK public relations committee and chair of the Women in Pensions Network Philadelphia chapter.
Roberta is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Business, a Certified Personal Branding Strategist and 360 Reach Certified Analyst.
Olivia Jack
Senior Analyst
Corporate Insight
Olivia Jack is a Senior Analyst on the Retirement group team at Corporate Insight which consists of the Retirement Plan Monitor and Retirement Plan Monitor — Institutional research services. She has conducted extensive research on the retirement industry during her time at Corporate Insight, examining the online platforms and technological innovations leading firms offer clients. She received her master’s degree and graduated from New York University in 2015, and has been a member of the Corporate Insight team since 2016.
Vinitha Kaushik
Director, Defined Contribution Investment Strategist
BlackRock
Vinitha Kaushik, CFA, is an Investment Strategist within BlackRock’s US and Canada Defined Contribution group. She is responsible for representing BlackRock’s Defined Contribution (“DC”) capabilities to institutional investors, investment consultants and advisors. The team partners with Research and Product Development to evolve DC solutions, and works closely with distribution teams to provide thought leadership and client analytics.
Prior to joining BlackRock, Ms. Kaushik spent over a decade in multi-asset solutions in various roles at Goldman Sachs and Bridgewater Associates. In these roles, she worked with a wide range of institutional and high-net worth clients across the globe. She also served as the Head of Distribution Services for Anteil Capital Partners, a private equity business within Credit Suisse. Ms. Kaushik graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in Economics and Public Policy. She is a CFA charterholder.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Director of Retirement Security
Economic Policy Institute
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is Director, Retirement Security at the Economic Policy Institute. She Founded the Center for Retirement Security at Georgetown University where she is a Research Professor.
She has served with distinction in both the private and public arenas. She was Maryland’s first woman Lt Governor, and served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States.
Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, Ms. Townsend led the fight to make Maryland the first—and only—state to make service a high school graduation requirement.
She has been a Managing Director of Rock Creek the largest women owned asset management firm, with states, foundation, unions and corporate pension funds for clients.
She has been appointed Special Advisor at the Department of State. She is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, has taught foreign policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland and has been a visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. In the mid-1980s, she founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.
She Chaired the Institute of Human Virology founded by Dr. Robert Gallo, which treats over 700,000 patients in Africa as part of the PEPFAR program, has chaired the Robert Kennedy Memorial and has been on the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
She has served on a number of boards including the Export-Import Bank, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Wilderness Society, the Points of Light Foundation, the National Catholic Reporter and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Baltimore Urban League the Center for American Progress, Lightbridge Corporation and New Tower Trust. Ms. Townsend is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue. She is the Vice-Chair of the Future of Science conference held in Venice Italy.
An honors graduate of Harvard University, Ms. Townsend received her law degree from the University of New Mexico where she was a member of the law review. She has received fourteen honorary degrees. Ms. Townsend’s book, Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches Mixed God with Politics and Lost Their Way has been published by Warner Books in March 2007.
Ronnie Kher
Director, Business Development – Insurance
R3
Ronnie Kher leads global sales and business development for the insurance vertical at R3, a leading enterprise blockchain firm. He works closely with R3’s partners and customers to expand the R3 insurance ecosystem globally. Prior to joining R3, Ronnie led multiple business transformation engagements for Fortune 100 insurers, including Allianz and AIG, as an external and internal consultant.
Kevin Kilcarr
Senior Managing Director, Retirement Services
Enterprise Iron Financial Industry Solutions, Inc.
Mr. Kilcarr is a Senior Managing Director at Enterprise Iron over Health Care and Retirement Services with 35+ years in the health care and financial industry with various customers including end-to-end development and implementation of new products and services at fortune 100 firms. This experience crosses insurance (life and annuity), defined contribution, defined benefit, and health and welfare lines of business. Prior to the TESS contract supporting the TSP plan, Mr. Kilcarr worked at TIAA-CREF where he managed the OmniPlus application along with others during a major conversion and development, effort of 3.5 million participants with over 7 million accounts, ending his stay at that organization working within product architecture.
Rich Linton
EVP of Group Distribution and Operations
Empower Retirement
Rich Linton is Executive Vice President of Group Distribution and Operations for Empower Retirement. In his role, he oversees Empower’s segment distribution, which includes core, government, large, mega and not-for-profit markets. He also manages all aspects of recordkeeping and plan administration operations, including the Plan Service Center, the participant services center, compliance, conversion and implementation services, client services, processing operations, and financial controls. Additionally, he has responsibility for Great West Global operations in India.
Rich joined the organization in 2016 and has 28 years of industry experience, managing all aspects of the defined contribution business. Before joining Empower, he served as President of large corporate markets and retail wealth management for Voya Financial. There, he oversaw sales and marketing, relationship management, product development, platform management, field representative service, brokerage operations and strategic planning. Rich has also served at Bank of America, where he was Managing Director of the business retirement solutions group, and at Fidelity Investments, where he gained deep experience running a major part of the operations organization. At Fidelity he served in a variety of leadership roles in operations, sales, product, marketing and client services before becoming Executive Vice President in the advisor retirement business.
Rich holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Boston University. He is board chairman and president of the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Recordkeepers (SPARK), and he serves on the board of trustees of Colorado Succeeds, an organization of business leaders who are working to improve Colorado’s schools.
Peter Lohri
Partner
Enterprise Iron Financial Industry Solutions, Inc.
Peter Lohri has 25 years of experience in the financial services and management consulting industries primarily leading Retirement Plan recordkeeping, insurance and annuities, and strategic sourcing organizations. He has an extensive operational, process re-engineering, product management and compliance background and has led multiple teams in line, implementation, transformation and business readiness and adoption roles.
Peter has worked on a wide range of assignments including leading the recordkeeping and trade settlement for all Defined Contribution Pension Plan assets for Qualified and non-Qualified plans across Annity, Mutual Fund and Real Estate separate account product families, leading the PMO for the lean management transformation of Individual & Institutional Operations, Risk and Controls Director for record keeping system plan data remediation across 25k+ plans and >$500B AUA and building out new business capabilities for benefits office outsourcing. Peter is a Project Management Professional (PMP), an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and a (former) FINRA-licensed Securities Professional.
Jim Lyday
Managing Director
Pensionmark
As Managing Director, Jim consults on and helps manage retirement plans for corporations, not for profit organizations, individuals and trusts.
Jim has extensive experience with over 25 years in the financial services industry. He brings a unique perspective as he has spent a majority of his career working for many of the largest retirement plan providers and on many of the largest retirement plans. As a result, his breadth and depth of knowledge includes all aspects of Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit, ESOP and Non-qualified plans. More specifically, recordkeeping platforms, institutional investments including the development and launch of a target date fund family, fiduciary oversight, stable value portfolios, liability driven investing of defined benefit plans, buy in/buy out strategies of defined benefit plans and comprehensive employee engagement and financial education strategies.
Jim was a pioneer and was instrumental in the development of the Institutional Retirement Income market. He has a passion and expertise for helping plan sponsors address the participant’s pre and post retirement needs that is widely recognized. He has extensive experience in plan design optimization through the use of behavioral finance best practices as well as addressing and mitigating a plan sponsor’s fiduciary responsibility and liability.
Jim has been a frequent speaker at many industry events including the Pension & Investments Conference, Institutional Investor Defined Contribution Forum, American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), Plan Sponsor Plan Designs, Plan Sponsor Plan Adviser, National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA), and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. He’s been frequently quoted and published in the Wall Street Journal, Plan Sponsor Magazine, Plan Adviser Magazine and Pension & Investments Magazine. One of his clients was recently recognized as Plan Sponsor of the Year by Plan Sponsor Magazine for their innovation in plan design and employee education, as well as their dedication to delivering optimal participant outcomes in retirement. Jim received the Behavioral Finance Innovator Award for 2016 for his demonstrated leadership in applying behavioral finance strategies to work toward improving retirement outcomes for clients and employees. He’s also been recognized by the Financial Times as one of the Nation’s top Retirement Plan Advisors for the past two years.
Jim received his Bachelors of Science degree in Corporate Finance from Drake University. He also studied at the University of Delaware as part of the Honors Program. He has received advanced education on the application of behavioral finance in retirement plans from the Behavioral Finance Institute. Jim also serves on several other advisory boards for investment management firms and retirement plan service providers. While growing up in Wyoming, he’s lived in Nashville for 18 years. He enjoys playing golf and spending time with his three children Asher, Flannery and Hensley.
Don MacQuattie
Head of Sales
Raymond James, Institutional Fiduciary Solutions
Don is Vice President and Head of Sales at Institutional Fiduciary Solutions within Raymond James. He’s been tasked with building-out and executing a long-term sales strategy to grow the DC, endowment & foundation and institutional businesses. He manages a team of fourteen professionals working with both generalist advisors as well as the firm’s elite RPAC advisors.
Prior to joining Raymond James, Don was Managing Director and Head of Retirement within the Global Strategic Relationships Group at JPMorgan Asset Management. Before JPMorgan, he served briefly at The Capital Group and held several leadership positions at The Hartford’s Retirement Plans Group. Don began his retirement industry career at Merrill Lynch in New York City. His first job after college was with U.S. Senator James Jeffords (Vermont) in Washington, DC. Education and Affiliations University of Vermont, B.A., Economics The College of William & Mary, MBA NASD Series 7, 65, 63 and 26 registered Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS)
Steven Malin
Adjunct-Full Professor of Economics and Public Administration
City University of New York
Steve Malin is Adjunct-Full Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the City University of New York.
Between 2013 and 2019, Dr. Malin was the Senior U.S. Investment Strategist for Allianz Global Investors(AllianzGI), the world’s third largest asset manager. Before joining AllianzGI, Steve was the Director of Research for Wealthstream Advisors, a financial advisory firm, and an in-house consultant to AJO Partners, a quant-based asset management firm.
For 16 years, Dr. Malin served as Vice President and Corporate Secretary at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York responsible for the external communications of the bank and board of director relations. Earlier, he was a federal budget and monetary policy economist for The Conference Board, as well as the creator and Executive Director of that firm’s Regional Economics Center. Steve began his career at CBS,
Inc. as a Senior Research Associate before joining the staff of the CBS Evening News.
Dr. Malin has taught macroeconomics, statistics, industrial organizations and risk management as an adjunct professor or guest lecturer in 18 universities, including Columbia University and Barnard College, the U.S. Army War College, and five colleges of the City University of New York. He was the 1997 winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in College Teaching.
Steve was appointed by two Presidents of the United States to various commissions on U.S. competitiveness, has testified before Congress twice and before the legislatures of 7 states as well as the New York City Council, served as an advisor to the N.Y. State Assembly, and was a consultant to the Governors of three states. He also was Chief Economist of the Southern Growth Policies Board, an organization of 14 southern governors that promotes the economic development of the U.S. south, and economic consultant to 15 Fortune 500 companies.
Steve is a former professional baseball player, coach and manager, as well as financial manager of the Elio Pomare Dance Company and the Orton Dyslexia Society. He works with several organizations on promoting youth financial literacy. Steve has appeared often on CNBC, CNN and other news outlets and was nominated for a Peabody Award for his role in a CBS Radio program. Steve has published extensively, most recently, Under the Macroscope, a quarterly white paper series distributed by Allianz Global Investors.
Doug McIntosh
VP, Investments
Prudential Retirement
Douglas S. McIntosh, Jr. is vice president of Investment Products for Prudential Retirement. In this role, Doug supports the investment product function, working across the enterprise to source best-in-class investment & guaranteed solutions for retirement investors on Prudential’s recordkeeping platform and beyond. His team also oversees third-party asset managers that deliver on the promise to help Americans retire with dignity.
Prior to his current role, Doug held the position of vice president, Investments within Prudential Annuities, in which he led all aspects of sales support and strategic direction for that division’s investment platform. Doug previously held the position of vice president, Distribution for Prudential International Investments, creating custom principle-protected and lifelong income products for the world’s largest asset aggregators.
Earlier in his career in the United States, Doug held the role of vice president, Distribution for Prudential IncomeFlex in Prudential Retirement. Along with distribution and product development, he works closely with the firm’s Regulatory and Legislative Affairs groups to promote understanding and use of guaranteed outcome vehicles within DC plans. Prior to working for Prudential Retirement, Doug was Director, International Sales for Mentor Ophthalmics, a specialty medical manufacturer, where he ran distribution in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Doug holds an MBA with Distinction in International Management & Finance from Cornell University, and received a B.A. in English & Communications from Fairfield University. Doug is currently a board member of both the Connecticut Secure Retirement Authority Board, and the Center for Latino Progress, and was formerly the chairman of the Pension Board for the Town of West Hartford CT.
John Mitchem
Principal
JM3 Projects
John Mitchem, Principal of JM3 Projects, has worked in journalism, public policy, executive communications and strategic content marketing. His focus has been on emerging technologies, economic development, global capital markets, asset management, fintech and retirement finance. JM3 projects has worked with leading financial services firms, trade associations, governments and universities around the world.
Kevin Murphy
Senior Vice President, Head of DC Strategic Accounts
Franklin Templeton
Kevin Murphy is a senior vice president and Head of the Defined Contribution Strategic Accounts team for Franklin Templeton’s US Investment Only division. He is responsible for directing and expanding sales of mutual funds and sub-advised portfolio products in employer-sponsored retirement plans. In addition to leading the team of Strategic Account Managers, his primary focus is on mid-market advisory firms with a national footprint, and serves as the primary liaison with these firms at their home offices. Mr. Murphy also leads the firm’s Health Savings Account (HSA) initiative.
Mr. Murphy’s primary objective is to help more Americans achieve optimal retirement outcomes. He approaches this by offering thought leadership in retirement plan services and investments and working diligently as a key business partner to retirement plan advisory firms, consultants and retirement plan sponsors. His expertise spans qualified plans, investments, current industry trends and Franklin Templeton products and services.
Mr. Murphy began his career in the financial services industry in 1999 and joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 2011. Prior to that, he was a regional vice president on Columbia Management’s Defined Contribution Investment Only team. He also served as vice president and regional sales director of corporate retirement plans at Wachovia Retirement Services.
Mr. Murphy holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture from the University of Delaware. He was selected by National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) for its list of the Top 100 Defined Contribution Wholesalers in the industry in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Among his sales accolades, Mr. Murphy was named Franklin Templeton’s Investment-Only Specialist of the year in 2012 and 2014. Kevin, his wife Shannon and their four children reside in Kinnelon, NJ. He is a FINRA registered representative.
Marc Pester
Senior Vice President
Prudential Retirement
Marc Pester is a senior vice president within Prudential Retirement, a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), and a leading provider of defined contribution, defined benefit, nonqualified deferred compensation plan administration, and institutional investment and risk management services.
Marc broadly focuses on the retirement needs of the institutional market place with a particular emphasis on income. Marc leads Prudential’s in-plan DC Income practice, and he is responsible for all business development institutional opportunities to distribute products and services to help individuals produce a stream of income in retirement. Marc has guided Prudential’s success as a leading provider of in-plan guaranteed lifetime income options since the Group’s inception in 2006. In June 2018, Marc testified before the DOL ERISA Advisory Council to help formulate the changing regulations for income solutions.
He joined Prudential in 1992 and has held a number of senior positions in Prudential’s investment and retirement related businesses. Marc was an attorney for Sullivan & Cromwell for six years before joining Prudential.
He received a B.S. (graduating Magna Cum Laude) in Economics with concentration in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School of Finance and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Matt Petersen
Executive Director
NAGDCA
Matt Petersen joined NAGDCA as the association’s first full time dedicated staff resource in the summer of 2017. In his role as Executive Director he works directly with the Executive Board and staff to develop strategies to help the organization achieve its mission and vision.
Prior to joining NAGDCA Matt spent 13 years on active duty in the US Air Force as a C-17 evaluator pilot and air drop specialist, and served three deployments in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Matt is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He also has a Master’s in Social Sciences from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Doug Peterson
CISO
Empower Retirement
Doug Peterson is the Chief Information Security Officer for Great-West Financial. In his role, Doug is responsible for our cyber security strategy, architecture, development and implementation.
He has enterprise-level responsibility for all cyber/data/information security policies, standards, evaluations, roles and awareness for all utilized technologies, services, vendors and partners. Doug is also responsible for business continuity and disaster recovery planning, testing and execution.
Tim Pitney
Managing Director, Institutional Investments Distribution
TIAA
As Managing Director, Institutional Investment and Endowment Distribution, Tim brings his knowledge and skills to plan sponsors and consultants as they design their retirement plans that seek to deliver the best possible outcomes for their plan participants. Driving innovation in the increasingly important default and QDIA space, Tim leads our custom default and QDIA strategies team. He works closely with consultants and plan sponsors to create default options unique to their plan that focus on generating lifetime income for participants1.
Tim and his team are also responsible for helping our clients and consultants understand the value of TIAA and CREF annuities and the importance of generating a lifetime of income – TIAA’s focus for over 100 years.
Frank Porter
Assistant Vice President
Empower Institutional
Frank Porter is Head of Institutional Business Development for Empower Institutional. In his role, he is responsible for helping clients grow their businesses and realize their goals and objectives through the creation of tailored recordkeeping solutions. He also works with prospective clients to help them understand how Empower services and solutions can benefit them. Frank joined the organization in 1993 and has an extensive background in retirement plan administration and consulting. He specializes in defined contribution/defined benefit plans and has considerable experience in relationship management, sales consulting, product management and development, plan design, plan implementation, compliance testing, and recordkeeping.
Frank currently serves as President-elect of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA). He is also a Leadership Council board member and Co-Chair of the ASPPA Government Affairs Committee as well as an author and speaker on trending topics related to retirement. Frank holds the Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) designation from the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA) as well as the Qualified 40(k) Administrator (QKA) and Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) designations from the ASPPA.
Peter Preovolos
President & CEO
Penchecks
A founder of PenChecks, Inc., Peter Preovolos has enjoyed a long and very successful career in the employee benefits industry. It began in 1966 at Wells Fargo Bank, where he was soon promoted to head up the bank’s employee benefit trust administration and asset management services. In 1974 he joined Southern California First National Bank as Vice President in charge of statewide employee benefit services.
In 1979, he left the banking industry and became CEO of Alpha & Omega Financial Management Consulting Inc, a third-party administration (TPA) and asset management firm. In 1994 he and 20 other TPAs joined forces in forming PenChecks, Inc. where he was elected President of the PenChecks family of companies.
An acknowledged leader in the pension benefits distribution field, Peter holds professional designations as a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and an Accredited Pension Administrator(APA). He is one of approximately 300 people in the U.S. to earn the prestigious credential of Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analysts (AIFA).
Eugeny Prudchyenko
CEO
EvoShare
Eugeny (Yevgen) Prudchyenko is the CEO of EvoShare, a FinTech startup that is revolutionizing the savings landscape by unlocking the power of everyday spending to fuel savings. Eugeny believes that everyone, regardless of income, should be able to save for their financial future without stress, guilt, or stretching their already over-strained paycheck.
Prior to starting EvoShare, Eugeny led and sold a luxury retail business, co-founded a Ukrainian Uber and drove growth at the largest microfinancing institution in the region. A sought-after public speaker and Forbes contributor for FinTech, he holds a Masters’ degree in Physical Sciences from Donetsk National University.
BJ Ralston
Director, Legal, Compliance, and Risk, Retirement Solutions
SS&C
BJ Ralston serves as Senior Director of Compliance and Risk Management for SS&C Retirement Solutions. Her responsibilities include legal and regulatory compliance, risk management, and management of several operational service groups. BJ joined SS&C through the acquisition of DST Systems in 2018. Prior to DST, BJ was the Chief Compliance Officer for Wealth Management Systems Inc. (WMSI), which was acquired by DST in 2015. She has over 30 years of diverse experience in the management of retirement and other employee benefit plan recordkeeping and administrative operations, risk management, and regulatory compliance, primarily in the areas of employee benefits, and trust and investment management.
Prior to WMSI, BJ was employed as the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Mellon HR Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of Mellon Financial Corporation. Earlier, she served as executive manager and Senior Vice President for Dreyfus Retirement Services and Dreyfus Trust Company, as Principal and Retirement Plan Consultant for Buck Consultants, Inc., and as Chief Operations Officer of WF Corroon Corporation-TN. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, BJ received a Bachelor of Science degree in the dual disciplines of Mathematics and Computer Sciences and continued graduate studies in Finance. She holds FINRA registrations 7, 24, 63, 65, and 99.
Tim Rouse
Executive Director
SPARK Institute
Tim has over thirty years of experience in the financial services industry mainly within retirement services of large mutual fund companies. For the past twenty-five years Tim has worked with major plan sponsors in state and local governments, corporations, Taft-Hartley plans, nonprofit hospitals, colleges and universities. Over his career Tim has worked with Voya Financial, Fidelity Investments, ICMA Retirement Corporation and The Vanguard Group.
Tim is a former President of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators’ Industry Board and a graduate of Villanova University.
John Saeli
Managing VP, Strategy Development & Implementation
ICMA-RC
John Saeli has more than 30 years of financial services experience and is responsible for monitoring and communicating Federal legislative and regulatory activities that may affect public sector retirement plans. Mr. Saeli also leads development of plan sponsor and participant service enhancements. He co-authored State and Local Government Deferred Compensation Programs, published by the Government Finance Officers Association and ICMA-RC, as well as articles regarding public plans for industry publications.
Tina Sanchez
Managing Director, Head of BlackRock U.S. & Canada Defined Contribution National Accounts
BlackRock
Tina Sanchez, Managing Director, is head of BlackRock’s U.S. & Canada Defined Contribution National Accounts team. Her team is responsible for formulating and executing the home office strategy with BlackRock’s DC clients and for developing and maintaining relationships with all recordkeepers and insurers including investment placements, product development and distribution within the client’s retirement business.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Sanchez worked at Legg Mason in the Defined Contribution Group. At Legg, she was a senior member within relationship management in the DC and sub advised space. Prior to her time at Legg Mason, Tina worked at Pioneer Investments in numerous sales and relationship management roles within both retail and defined contribution. Ms. Sanchez graduated from Saint Michael’s College, cum laude, with a major in International Business Administration.
Tim Scott
Partner
Enterprise Iron Financial Industry Solutions, Inc.
Tim Scott has over 30 years of experience in the retirement plan services industry primarily serving banking, insurance, trust, technology and other asset management clients. He has extensive technology, operational, business development and client services background and has led multiple IT transformation efforts. Mr. Scott has also led the largest Professional Services unit of a major international IT Services organization.
Michael Shafer
Director, Relationship Management
SS&C Retirement Solutions
Michael Shafer is currently Director of Relationship Management for SS&C Retirement Solutions, responsible for ensuring the best possible client experience for several of SS&C’s complex retirement relationships. Previously, Michael led both relationship management and business development for the technology and servicing platforms of Wealth Management Systems, Inc. (WMSI), a firm which was acquired by DST in August 2015.
Prior to joining WMSI, Michael served as a Corporate Vice President of New York Life Insurance Company and was the head of the Retirement Market unit for New York Life’s Agency Department. In this role, Michael was responsible for the sales and marketing of IRA rollover and retirement income products, as well as life insurance and long term care insurance products for pre-retirees and retirees for New York Life’s career agency channel. Prior to joining New York Life, Michael was with Prudential Retirement Services, where he was instrumental in creating their asset retention strategy for their DB and DC plans in addition to creating and leading their IRA rollover sales desk.
Michael currently holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation, as well as Series 7, 24 and 63 designations from FINRA, and had previously earned the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations from the American College.
Chantel Sheaks
Executive Director
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Chantel Sheaks is executive director of retirement policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Sheaks develops, promotes, and publicizes the Chamber’s policy on retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation, and Social Security. In addition, she regularly meets with members of Congress, the administration, and regulatory agencies to advocate the Chamber’s retirement policy. She also represents the Chamber on several national coalitions.
Sheaks has over 20 years of experience in employee benefits law, in both policy and practice. Her experience includes working as a director in the Global Human Resources group of PricewaterhouseCoopers and serving as the fund director and counsel for the National IAM Benefit Trust Fund. Before that, Sheaks established the government relations unit of Buck Consultants, working on employee benefit legislative and regulatory matters on behalf of Buck and its client. She also was a partner at McDermott, Will & Emery in the firm’s Employee Benefits Department.
She has a B.A. in Spanish and Russian studies from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. She is admitted to the bars in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Georgia. Sheaks is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Law in the Tax LL.M. program.
Brent Sheppard
Partner, Financial Advisor
Cadence Financial Management
Brent has earned recognition as a Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist®, Retirement Income Certified Professional®, Accredited Investment Fiduciary® and is a member of the National Association of Plan Advisors. Brent helps companies design and manage innovative retirement benefit plans, financial wellness programs, and customized executive services.
What he is most proud of is seeing his clients, their organizations, and their employees achieving their financial goals. Brent has been named Top 401 Retirement Advisor by the Financial Times and is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences such as PLANSPONSOR and SHRM. A graduate of the University of Delaware with his 7, 63, and 66 securities licenses, Brent resides in Moorestown, NJ with his wife and son.
Lisa Smith
SVP, Retirement Relationship Management
Fidelity Investments
Lisa Smith is a senior vice president at Fidelity Institutional Asset Management (FIAM), Fidelity Investments’ distribution and client service organization dedicated to meeting the needs of consultants and institutional investors, such as defined benefit and defined contribution plans, endowments, and financial advisors.
Ms. Smith has over 25 years of experience at Fidelity and is responsible for the development and management of strategic retirement alliances with intermediary financial service firms.
Prior to her current role, Ms. Smith was responsible for new product development and marketing for the Fidelity Advisor 401(k) program. Under her management from 2003 through 2008, an industry-leading participant education program was launched and available investment options were expanded. These and other program enhancements grew the number of funded plans and assets, and increased the number of advisors selling the program.
Before joining FIAM, Ms. Smith was the head of communication and education for Fidelity’s Large Plan Services unit, which provides total benefits outsourcing to Fortune 500 companies. In this role she was responsible for employee education for plan sponsors clients’ defined contribution, pension, health and welfare, and HR/Payroll plans.
Ms. Smith holds a bachelor of science degree from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She holds the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Series 7, 26 and 63 registrations.
Jeremy Stempien
Principal, Portfolio Manager and Strategist
QMA
Jeremy Stempien is a Principal, Portfolio Manager and Strategist for QMA working within the Global Multi-Asset Solutions team. In this capacity, he is responsible for portfolio management, analysis and research for the Prudential Day One Funds.
Prior to joining QMA, Jeremy was a Director of Investments at Morningstar Investment Management. There, he developed asset allocation programs for plan providers, plan sponsors and money management companies, working with clients to create and manage custom target date glidepaths, select appropriate asset classes and construct model portfolios. Previously, he worked as a Defined Contribution Manager at Hewitt Associates. Jeremy earned a BA in Finance from Saint Louis University and an MBA in Investments from University of Notre Dame.
Danny Streiff
VP Strategic Partner Sales
HealthEquity
Danny Streiff founded Matrix Communications Technologies in 2003 and grew the organization to become the second largest provider of communication materials and internet based applications in the Retirement Plan and Health Plan industries. Matrix is now part of the Broadridge family of companies. In recent years Streiff has held positions as National Sales Manager for Reliance Trust Company as well as Head of National Core Market Sales for VWISE.
Streiff entered the Health Savings Account space in 2017 as director of National Platform Development for HealthSavings Administrators. He was responsible for expanding the distribution of their Health Care Savings Account Investment Programs into the platforms of Banks, Credit Unions, Record-Keepers, TPA’s and Wealth Management Firms.
Today, Streiff is Vice President of Strategic Partner Sales for HealthEquity. HealthEquity is the nation’s fastest growing HSA provider and one the countries largest with over 45,000 plans. Streiff is responsible for spreading the health and wealth massage nationwide. His primary role at HealthEquity is to create integrated HSA and retirement plan partnerships with nations largest retirement plan providers. Danny is a proud member of the Board of Trustees of the NASCAR Speedway Children’s Charities.
Mike Tipton
Director, Key Accounts
ISS Market Intelligence (MI)
Mike Tipton is Director, Key Accounts at ISS Market Intelligence, a division of Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”). ISS Market Intelligence provides critical data and insight to global asset management industry with established retirement-focused solutions such as BrightScope, and media brands PLANSPONSOR and PLANADVISER.
With more than 13 years’ experience providing research and analytics to Recordkeepers and DCIO teams alike, Mike shares his passion for leveraging data to help Marketing and Distribution teams identify and target the very best opportunities. Through his customized, client-specific approach and deep industry expertise, he is a key partner with leadership teams looking for pathways to stay ahead of industry and product trends.
Andrew Way
Director of Research
Corporate Insight
Andrew Way heads the Retirement group at Corporate Insight which consists of the Retirement Plan Monitor and Retirement Plan Monitor — Institutional research services. He has conducted extensive research on the retirement, brokerage and insurance industries during his time at Corporate Insight, examining the online platforms and technological innovations leading firms offer clients, prospects and financial professionals. He has been quoted in numerous financial and retirement publications, including PLANSPONSOR, 401k Wire, Fund Action, Money Management Intelligence and Ignites. Andrew graduated from Binghamton University in 2010 and has been a member of the Corporate Insight team since January of 2011.
Dr. William West
SVP Business Development and Legislative Affairs
HealthEquity
Dr. William J. West is a board certified OB/GYN and graduate of Jefferson Medical College. He founded First MSA (later First HSA) in 1999 as one of the first companies of its kind. First HSA was acquired by HealthEquity in 2011. Dr. West has been actively involved in the Consumer Directed Healthcare (CDH) industry. He is a member of the HSA Coalition, the AHIP HSA Council, the American Bankers Association HSA Council and many other committees and councils. He has participated in town hall meetings with former President George W. Bush and continues to work with members of Congress and other regulatory agencies on CDH products, rules and regulations. Dr. West is Senior Vice President of Business Development and Legislative Affairs for HealthEquity.
Snezana Zlatar
SVP PGIM DC Solutions
Prudential
Snezana Zlatar is senior vice president at PGIM QMA, a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), and a leading provider of global asset management solutions. Snezana joined Prudential in 2015 and she is leads New DC Solutions at PGIM, the asset management company of Prudential. Prior to that, Snezana had responsibility for Product Development, Product Management, Pricing, Underwriting and Proposal Management functions for the Prudential Retirement full service business. Her responsibilities included Defined Contribution, Defined Benefits and Non-qualified business as well as Digital Strategy, and Individual Retirement Solutions.
Prior to joining Prudential, Snezana was managing director in the Global Wealth & Investment Management division at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. During her tenure there, she had a variety of executive responsibilities focused on global business management, business analysis, performance measurement and business intelligence, analytics and data strategy, CRM, distribution support, growth and risk management, and platform and business model innovation.
Snezana was also senior vice president at Fidelity Investments. During her tenure there, she led product development and product management organization for Fidelity’s institutional retirement business.
She also had executive roles in consulting and strategic new business development. Earlier in her career, Snezana was principal in a Massachusetts-based strategy consulting firm. She consulted for large clients in the financial services industry, focusing on retirement, asset management, brokerage and insurance sectors. Her areas of expertise included business strategy, distribution effectiveness, client experience, product management and business transformation.
Snezana has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She currently serves as the Vice-chair on the Governing Board of the SPARK Institute.