Speaker Profiles

Karen Andres

Director, Policy and Market Solutions

Aspen Institute

As the Director of Policy and Market Solutions and Project Director of the Retirement Savings Initiative at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, Karen works to advance promising solutions to American families’ most pressing financial security challenges. Working across sectors and disciplines, Karen and the Policy and Market Solutions team seek to highlight market and policy gaps, jumpstart creative solutions, and build a diverse set of leaders who can turn ideas into action.

Before coming to the Aspen Institute, Karen spent over ten years at the Financial Health Network (formerly the Center for Financial Services Innovation), where she built the Long-Term Savings and Retirement Practice. Previously, Karen led the development of the Financial Health Network itself. She began her career in the retirement industry as a bilingual 401(k) plan educator for both Strong Funds and Wells Fargo Institutional Trust Services.

Karen holds M.B.A. and M.P.P. degrees from the University of Michigan. She also holds a B.A. in Spanish and Art History, with a minor in Mathematics, from Indiana University. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her husband, Matt, and two young sons.

Pablo Antolin

Principal Economist, Head of the Private Pensions Unit

OECD Insurance, Private Pension and Financial Markets Division

Pablo Antolin is Principal Economist, Head of the Private Pensions Unit and Deputy Head of the OECD Insurance, Private Pension and Financial Markets Division. He manages the research and policy programme of the Working Party on Private Pensions (http://www.oecd.org/daf/fin/private-pensions/), a body that brings together policymakers, regulators and the private sector of almost 40 countries around the world. His work covers issues related to the operation and regulation of funded retirement income systems.

The current work of the WPPP addresses issues related to the contribution of funded pensions to retirement income adequacy, as well as ageing populations at its impact on pensions. The work includes collecting and disseminating standardised pension fund statistics; the OECD Core Principles of Private Pension Regulation; work on pension funds as institutional investors; capital requirements and long-term investment; how pension funds, annuity providers and the regulatory framework incorporate future improvements in mortality and life expectancy; an analysis of the role that private pensions play and could play in the retirement saving adequacy of current and future pensioners, including non-standard forms of employment; an assessment of the different annuity products in different countries according to the guarantees they provide; and an assessment of the impact of fiscal incentives on retirement savings.

Currently, the work is mostly focused on the impact of COVID-19 on retirement savings, learning on different policies implemented, and providing policy guidelines.

In the past, he worked on the impact of ageing populations on the economy and on public finances. He has produced several studies examining options available to reform pension systems in several OECD countries, including public pensions. Previously, he worked at the IMF and at the OECD Economic Department. He has published journal articles on ageing issues as well as labour market issues. Mr. Antolín has a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Alicante (Spain).

Charlie Bolton

Budget and Retirement Policy Adviser

Sen. R. Portman (R-OH), U.S. Senate

Charlie Bolton has served as a staffer for six years in the U.S. Senate, advising U.S. Senator Rob Portman on budget, tax, and retirement issues. Charlie began as a legislative correspondent in 2014, and has served as Senator Portman’s lead economic policy adviser since 2017. Beginning in 2019, Charlie has also served as staff director of the U.S. Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy within the Senate Finance Committee.

In these roles, Charlie found his passion in authoring and facilitating bipartisan legislation to improve the U.S. retirement system. In 2018, Charlie developed the 57-provision Retirement Security & Savings Act with the Office of Senator Ben Cardin; four provisions in this legislation were enacted in the SECURE Act. Charlie also developed a bipartisan framework to reform the multiemployer pension system as Senator Portman’s advisor to the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multi-employer Pension Plans in 2018; he helped author the resulting the Multiemployer Pension Recapitalization and Reform Plan published last November. Also in 2019, Charlie served as lead staffer on the Bipartisan American Miners Act, which became law in the 2019 omnibus appropriations bill (public law 116-94).

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Charlie earned his A.B. in Political Economy from Georgetown University.

Keith Brainard

Research Director

National Association of State Retirement Administrators

As research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, Keith Brainard leads the organization’s effort to inform public retirement system directors regarding public pension administration, design, and policy. NASRA members are the directors of more than 90 mostly statewide public retirement systems in the United States. Combined, these systems hold assets of more than $3.5 trillion to fund pension and other benefits for most of the nation’s 25 million working and retired employees of state and local government.

Mr. Brainard is co-author of The Governmental Plans Answer Book, and he has discussed public pension issues before Congress, state legislative committees, public pension boards of trustees, and on broadcast television and radio. He created the Public Fund Survey, predecessor to the Public Plan Database and winner of the Government Finance Officers Association’s Award for Excellence. He also has authored numerous articles and briefs on various facets of public pension plan administration and policy, many of which are accessible online at nasra.org.

Keith has served as vice-chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board since 2013 and he served two terms as a member of the Georgetown, Texas city council. He previously served as manager of budget and planning for the Arizona State Retirement System and as a fiscal analyst for the Texas and Arizona legislatures. Mr. Brainard holds a BA and an MPA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sarah Bratton Hughes

Head of Sustainability, North America

Schroders

Sarah Bratton Hughes is the Head of Sustainability, North America. Her responsibilities include leading the sustainability strategy and ESG integration in North America. She joined Schroders in 2011 and is based in New York. Previously, Sarah was an Investment Director at Schroders which involved supporting and representing the Schroders Sustainability Team as well as the Schroders US Small Cap and Schroders US Small & Mid Cap investment capabilities to clients and prospective clients. She was also responsible for ESG integration in North America. Sarah was an Associate Product Manager at Schroders from 2014 to 2017, which involved supporting the US Equities teams and representing the Schroders US Small & Mid Cap and Schroders US Large Cap investment capabilities to clients and prospective clients. She was a product executive on the same team from 2011-2014.

Prior to joining Schroders, Sarah was a Senior Analyst Investment Performance at JP Morgan Asset Management from 2010 to 2011, which involved supporting investor and client inquiries relating to investment performance reviews. She was also a Client Service Associate at JP Morgan Chase from 2007 to 2010, which involved monitoring and implementing new account openings as well as maintenance of existing accounts. Qualifications: BA in Economics from St. Francis College; BSc in Business Management from St. Francis College.

Eric Brickman

Lead, Global Solutions and Innovation Group

Newport Group

Eric Brickman leads Newport’s Global Solutions and Innovation Group. In this capacity, he is responsible for the firm’s strategic roadmap, global product platform and digital experiences. Eric is also responsible for global innovation, product and platform productization and monetization, research and development, financial technology (fintech) strategy, strategic partnerships, outsourcing and alliances. He has more than 29 years of experience leading strategic planning, e-business and technology in the financial services industry.

He began his career helming key strategic initiatives within Prudential Financial’s U.S. consumer, global operations and institutional divisions. Eric led e-business and digital experience for the company’s 40 million customers, as well as service delivery strategy and product management for the firm’s personal wealth management, employee benefits and corporate services groups. Eric earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics from Muhlenberg College, his master’s degree in business administration from Seton Hall University and completed Executive International Studies programs at Seton Hall University and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Joe Canary

EBSA

DOL

Guillermo Cano

Executive Director, Equity Solutions

MSCI

Guillermo joined MSCI as Executive Director in the Equity Solutions Team. He is responsible for working with asset owners on global and factor index strategies as well as ESG integration.

Prior to joining MSCI, Guillermo held several roles at FTSE Russell including most recently as Director of Alternatively Weighted Indexes for the Americas and Europe. In this role, he worked closely with asset owners and managers on the analysis and implementation of factor indexes. As Product Manager with Russell Indexes, he led the creation of index products used for benchmarking and passive replication by some of the world’s largest asset owners and ETF providers.

He started his career at J.P. Morgan Chase Capital Markets in New York City where he worked on the equityand fixed income trading desks. Guillermo holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Washington and a BA in Music and Business Administration from the University of Miami.

DeMario Carswell

Associate, Financial Industry and ERISA Litigation

Goodwin

DeMario Carswell is an associate in Goodwin’s Financial Industry and ERISA Litigation practices. His practice focuses on counseling and representing fiduciaries, companies, benefit plan service providers and trustees in all phases of complex ERISA litigation and ERISA compliance. Mr. Carswell also represents clients in regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings, including with the Department of Labor.

Additionally, Mr. Carswell provides guidance to fiduciaries as to their fiduciary responsibilities and obligations under ERISA. He also provides guidance in proactively developing litigation risk mitigation strategies ERISA benefit plans and their service providers. Mr. Carswell is admitted to practice in New York and Illinois only; his application to the D.C. bar is pending. His practice is supervised by D.C. admitted lawyers at Goodwin.

Lemaire Christian

Global Head of Retirement Solutions

Amundi Pioneer

Based on Amundi long-standing expertise in Employee Savings & Retirement plans, Christian assists multinationals to use the innovative solutions that Amundi develops to manage more efficiently their pension schemes.

Member of the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group and of the PEPP Expert Panel of the European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). Active member of pension working groups from PensionsEurope and European Fund & Asset management Association (EFAMA).

Previously, as Global Head of Insurance clients at Amundi, he structured dedicated investment solutions for insurers within the Solvency 2 framework. Formerly, as Special Advisor of the Senior Management of Credit Agricole Group, Christian worked on the reorganization of asset management and real estate subsidiaries and the private banking business line.

Previously, as Director of Finance, Strategy and Risks at Credit Agricole Consumer Finance / Leasing & Factoring, he was responsible in particular for corporate development, Assets & Liabilities Management, supervision of Risks Weighted Assets and capital requirements.

Formerly, as Senior Banker within Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Christian structured and executed major financings and equity / capital markets transactions for large groups. Before joining the Credit Agricole Group 18 years ago, as Finance Director of companies, he listed a large one on stock exchanges, managed Treasury, Investor Relations and corporate developments. Master of Engineering (Ecole Centrale Paris). MBA (HEC/Wharton) majoring in finance. Teaching professor in Finance, Strategy and Management.

Tom Clark

Chief Operating Officer

The Wagner Law Group

Tom Clark serves as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer and leads the firm’s St. Louis office. His expertise encompasses all aspects of employee benefits programs, including the design, implementation and compliance of retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive and incentive compensation arrangements. He also has a robust practice assisting covered service providers in meeting their ERISA compliance needs. Mr. Clark’s vast litigation experience complements the firm’s strong and growing ERISA and employment litigation department and includes work on landmark ERISA cases involving complicated ERISA fiduciary duty issues.

Mr. Clark is regularly and extensively quoted extensively as an ERISA and employee benefits expert by outlets such as Reuters, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and Forbes. He is also a highly sought after speaker on ERISA and employee benefits issues and speaks regularly at the industry’s most prestigious conferences and meetings.

Mr. Clark teaches ERISA fiduciary law as an Adjunct Professor at The Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, his alma mater. He is a co-author of the Second Edition of “ERISA: Principles of Employee Benefits Law,” the only treatise of its kind that provides an overview of the regulation of employee benefit plans by highlighting the central principles and competing policies of employee benefits law in a compact and accessible format for a broad audience of readers.

Josh Cohen

Managing Director, Institutional Relationship Group

PGIM

Joshua R. Cohen, CFA, is a Managing Director for PGIM’s Institutional Relationship Group (IRG). Josh provides expert counsel and thought leadership to large Defined Contribution Plans on investment issues ranging from plan design, Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIA), implications of regulatory change and implementation. Josh works on developing innovative solutions and thought leadership to help plan participants accumulate the wealth needed for their retirement.

Prior to joining PGIM, Josh was the Head of Defined Contribution for Russell Investments where he was responsible for the leadership, strategic direction, and growth of Russell Investments’ U.S. Defined Contribution (DC) asset management business across the institutional and intermediary channels. Prior to his twelve years at Russell Investments, Josh spent nine years at Hewitt Associates.Highly regarded throughout the industry and a recognized DC thought leader, Josh served a three-year term (2013-2015) as a member of the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Councilon policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Josh is also actively involved with several industry organizations, including the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), where he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees and the vice chair of the executive committee, and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), where he previously served on the executive committee and as the Chair of the Retirement Research Board.

For 2016, Josh was identified by Chief Investment Officer magazine (CIO) as one of the world’s most influential investment thought leaders worldwide by being named to the annual Knowledge Brokers list. This marked the fourth consecutive year Josh has received this recognition. Josh earned his BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Josh holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Scott Colangelo

Chairman and Managing Partner

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.”

Simon Colboc

Senior Advisor at CMI Secretary General

FECIF European Pensions Institute

Simon Colboc is a member of the advisory committee of FECIF, the European Federation of Financial Advisors and Intermediaries, grouping more than 15 national associations and direct corporate members and representing some 240,000 advisors at European level.

He is also the Secretary-General of FEPI, a think-tank established in February 2018 to bring together consumers, intermediaries, providers and experts to support the development of pensions across Europe.

Simon is a Senior Advisor with CMI Strategies, a Paris-based strategy consulting boutique advising public and private sector clients. He has over 25 years’ experience in Financial Services, both as an executive (in banking with Fortis and BNP Paribas and in insurance with Prudential Plc) and as a business consultant (with The Boston Consulting Group, DiamondCluster and CMI). He has lived in Hong Kong, London and Brussels and is now based in Paris.

Catherine Collinson

CEO & President

Transamerica Institute

Catherine Collinson serves as CEO and President of nonprofit Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, and is a champion for Americans who are at risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement. Catherine oversees all research and outreach initiatives, including the Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey. Catherine also serves as Executive Director of Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement based in the Netherlands.

With two decades of retirement industry-related experience, Catherine has become a nationally recognized voice on retirement trends. She was named a 2018 Influencer in Aging by PBS’ Next Avenue. In 2016, she was honored with a Hero Award from Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) for her tireless efforts in helping improve retirement security among women. In 2015, Catherine joined the Advisory Board of Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging. She co-hosts ClearPath: Your Roadmap to Health and Wealth on WYPR, Baltimore’s NPR news station.

Catherine is employed by Transamerica Corporation. Since joining the organization in 1995, she has held a number of positions and has identified and implemented short- and long-term strategic initiatives, including the founding of the nonprofit Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

Catherine earned her bachelor’s degree in British and American literature at Scripps College, Claremont, California, and her master’s of business administration at the University of California, Irvine.

Kevin Cox

President of Retirement

Ascensus

Kevin is responsible for overseeing and driving the strategic direction for Ascensus’ Retirement line of business, including the firm’s full-service retirement plan recordkeeping and administration, along with its compliance, trust, and education and training functions. He joined Ascensus in 2003 where he previously served as head of Government Savings. Kevin has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, and was instrumental in leading Ascensus’ entry into the state-facilitated auto-IRA industry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and English from Lehigh University and graduated with honors from the Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management master’s program.

Michael Davis

Head of Institutional Defined Contribution Plan Specialists

T. Rowe Price

Michael Davis is the head of institutional defined contribution plan specialists for the Americas division of T. Rowe Price, the organization responsible for the firm’s institutional business worldwide. In this role, he leads the team responsible for expanding the firm’s reach and strategic engagement capabilities in the U.S. institutional defined contribution investment-only (DCIO) segment. He is a member of the Americas leadership team and plays a key role in guiding the group’s U.S. DCIO strategy. Mr. Davis is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., and is a member of the T. Rowe Price Trust Company Board of Directors.

Mr. Davis has 27 years of industry experience, three of which have been with T. Rowe Price. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Mr. Davis spent 17 years with J.P. Morgan, where he ultimately became managing director and head of the western U.S. region for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. In 2009, he was appointed deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration. After four years at the DOL, he joined Prudential Financial as senior vice president and head of stable value and later served as director of institutional client relationships at Calvert Investments.

Mr. Davis earned a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.P.P. in public policy from the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. He is a Series 7, 63, and 24 registered representative. Mr. Davis is a member of the executive committee for the DC Institutional Investment Association and an advisory board member for the Aspen Institute Forum on Retirement Savings.

Gustavo Demarco

Pensions Global Lead

World Bank

Gustavo Demarco is the Pensions Global Lead at the World Bank. As a Lead Economist, he has led World Bank’s operations and policy dialogue on Pensions, Social Protection and Labor across the Middle East and North Africa region for more than 10 years. He was a Program Leader for Human Development for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti between 2013 and 2018. He also led the Pension capacity building program at the World Bank Institute, including four editions of the World Bank’s Pension Core Course and several regional events.

Before joining the World Bank, he served at the Pension Supervision Authority of Argentina as Director of Operations and Planning. He was a core member of the Argentine pension reform team in the 1990s. Earlier in his career, he was Professor of Economics at the Universities of Córdoba, La Rioja and Buenos Aires (Argentina). He is main author or contributor of seven books on Economics and Pensions. He has published several articles in specialized journals and contributed to World Bank publications on Pensions, Social Safety Nets and Social Protection Systems. He graduated as Economist at the University of Córdoba (Argentina) and followed doctoral studies at the same university and post graduate studies on Development Economics and Planning at ECLAC, Chile.

Keri Dogan

SVP, Worplace Investing

Fidelity Investments

Keri Dogan is a senior vice president with Fidelity Workplace Investing, a unit of Fidelity Investments responsible for helping employers lead successful benefits programs. Ms. Dogan leads retirement income efforts across the workplace and retail business units and develops solutions to help customers successfully transition into retirement. Ms. Dogan joined Fidelity in 2001 and has served in multiple strategic product and marketing roles across the firm.

She briefly left Fidelity in 2017 to become a senior vice president of Vertical Solutions and Social Impact with Penn Foster, a leading provider of workforce development and digital education solutions for employers. Prior to joining Fidelity, she was a strategy consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and Treacy & Company. Ms. Dogan received her undergraduate degree from the University of Rhode Island and her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

David Draine

Senior Policy Director

The Pew Charitable Trusts

David Draine, a senior researcher at Pew, serves as a principal investigator and methodologist on Pew’s research on public sector retirement systems. His work has helped showcase the funding challenges facing many state and local pension and retiree health care plans as well as the possible solutions being considered by policymakers. In addition to examining plan funding, Draine’s research has covered plan design, risk and uncertainty, and pension disclosure and transparency.

Based on this research, Draine has advised state and local task forces considering public sector retirement systems reforms.

Lynn Dudley

Senior VP Policy, Global Retirement and Compensation Policy

American Benefits Council

Lynn Dudley is senior vice president, global retirement and compensation policy, for the American Benefits Council. In this role, Lynn directs the Council’s advocacy efforts regarding retirement and compensation policy, including defined benefit and defined contribution plans and executive and non-qualified deferred compensation. Lynn also coordinates the Council’s efforts and outreach in the international arena, including the Benefits Passport informational series.

Lynn has held senior positions at the Council since 1991, including stints as Vice President, Retirement Policy; Vice President and Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President, Policy. Prior to joining the Council, Lynn was a Legal Consultant for Sungard Employee Benefits Systems in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition, she was engaged in the private practice of law for several years with the firm of Berkowitz, Lefkovitz, Isom and Kushner of Birmingham. After earning her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University, Lynn received a L.L.M. in taxation from the University of Florida in 1983 and a law degree from Cumberland School of Law, Samford University in 1982. Lynn is active in numerous information sharing organizations, is a fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and a member of the Alabama and Georgia state bars. Lynn is a frequent speaker domestically and internationally on retirement and compensation policy issues.

Jonathan Epstein

President and Founder

Defined Contribution Alternatives Association

Jonathan is the president and founder of DCALTA- the Defined Contribution Alternatives Association established five years ago to enhance participant outcomes through education, research, and advocacy on the benefits of including alternative investments within a defined contribution framework.

He has 25 years of diverse experience and includes serving as the US DC Director for CEM Benchmarking, as Institutional Trust Officer at Associated Trust Company and as the Midwest Territory Director for ICMA-Retirement Corporation. Currently, and alongside the Board of Directors, he leads DCALTAs mission and strategic direction while embracing the diversity and varied perspectives of member firms and organizations.

Ralph Ferraro

Senior Vice President, Head of Product, Retirement Plan Services

Lincoln Financial Group

Ralph Ferraro is Senior Vice President, Head of Product, for Lincoln Financial Group’s Retirement Plan Services (RPS) business. Drawing upon more than 30 years of experience in the retirement industry, Ferraro leads the innovation and evolution of the RPS suite of products – developing solutions that meet the needs of today’s consultants, advisors, plan sponsors and participants. Ferraro has an extensive knowledge of product development, risk management and stable value products, and provides industry-leading thought leadership on these topics.

Prior to joining Lincoln Financial in 2016, he was responsible for the profitability and product management of small/mid corporate and institutional markets at Voya Financial, Inc. (previously ING U.S., Inc.). Earlier in his career, Ferraro held executive positions with CitiStreet, LLC, and spent 12 years in managerial roles for a variety of investment and insurance products at Prudential. Ferraro currently leads the African-American Business Resource Group at Lincoln Financial, and is a member of the Lincoln Sustainability Group.

Ferraro earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Princeton University. He holds series 6, 7, 24 and 26 FINRA registrations.

Jamie Fleckner

Partner and Chair of ERISA Litigation Practice

Goodwin Procter

Jamie Fleckner is a partner in Goodwin’s Financial Industry practice and Chair of its ERISA Litigation practice. According to Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business where Mr. Fleckner has been selected for inclusion since 2014, Mr. Fleckner is “at the top of his game,” and is “a rare thought leader” on ERISA litigation.

Mr. Fleckner represents clients in a wide array of complex commercial litigation, with a focus on retirement financial services and products, including investment management. He regularly litigates class and derivative actions under ERISA, the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and related federal and state laws. His practice also focuses on regulatory investigations and governmental proceedings, and has represented clients before the U.S. Department of Labor, Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and state authorities.

Diane Gallagher

Vice President, Client Marketing and Value-Add Programs

American Century Investments

Diane Gallagher develops value-add programs and is a spokesperson on retirement.

Diane originally joined American Century Investments in 1995 and developed communication campaigns for J.P. Morgan/American Century Retirement Plan Services. Diane was vice president, Retirement Insights for J.P. Morgan Asset Management and led participant communications for J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services.

Diane holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit and is accredited by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Diane serves on the Boards of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Children’s Mercy Hospital’s Hands and Hearts Auxiliary and the Center for Practical Bioethics. A graduate of the Chamber’s Centurions Leadership Program, she was Board Chair for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City and serves on its Advisory Board. In 2007, Diane was named a Kansas City “40 Under 40” leader. A frequent conference speaker, she holds FINRA Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses.

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.

John Geli

President, Retirement Solutions

SS&C Technologies

John is President of SS&C Retirement Solutions, where he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the firm’s broad array of front-and back-office technology and servicing solutions for the retirement business. John is a benefits professional with over 30 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry. Over the past 20 years, he has been dedicated to the Retirement industry and this experience provides him with a unique insight and understanding of this marketplace. John has held various senior level positions with industry leaders such as Mellon Financial Corporation and Bankers Trust as well as being the CEO of Wealth Management Systems before it was acquired by DST in 2015. During his career, he managed large-scale operations and client service divisions in support of both defined contribution and corporate trust business lines.

As the CEO of Wealth Management Systems, Mr. Geli was responsible for growth of the organization organically as well as through strategic acquisitions. As Executive Director at Mellon Financial Corporation, Mr. Geli managed all aspects of the Defined Contribution service delivery including new business implementation, participant services, trust and custody operations as well as recordkeeping operational service delivery. In addition, he was responsible for managing the integration of acquisitions both at a corporate level and for the client base he supported.

As a Vice President at Bankers Trust, he oversaw the Operations groups in the Retirement Services Division as well as the Corporate Trust Division. He was involved in new system development and the establishment and staffing of a new satellite office. Prior to joining Bankers Trust, he spent five years in the brokerage industry with National Financial Services. In this position, John managed both Tax & Compliance and Internal Control divisions. John has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from St. John’s University.

Mary Beth Glotzbach

Vice President – Institutional DCIO

Franklin Templeton Institutional, LLC

Mary Beth Glotzbach oversees Franklin Templeton’s defined contribution investment only (DCIO) business segment within the U.S. institutional market. Ms. Glotzbach works with existing and prospective plan sponsor clients to help their participants achieve a secure retirement through education and by aiding in the development of DC-focused solutions.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Ms. Glotzbach led the Reporting Solutions product team and developed a retirement strategy for institutional software products at Morningstar, Inc. Earlier in her career with Morningstar, Ms. Glotzbach was part of the retirement advice product team. Prior to 2000, she served as head of implementation and reconciliation for the Defined Contribution Solutions Group at the Chicago Trust Company, where she began her career in the financial services industry in 1995.

Ms. Glotzbach is currently Chair for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), a nonprofit association dedicated to enhancing the retirement security of American workers. She is a speaker at industry conferences on topics of retirement communication and custom investments. Ms. Glotzbach holds a bachelor of arts from DePauw University.

Jenny Glowacki

Vice President, Head of In-Plan Retirement Income

AIG Retirement Services

Vic Goetz

Senior Policy Advisor

Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10)

Vic Goetz has worked as Rep. Brad Schneider’s (IL-10) Senior Policy Advisor since January 2019, handling various issues relevant to the Ways and Means Committee including retirement security and health care. Prior to Rep. Schneider, Vic worked for Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) in various capacities since 2013. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and native of Nashville, TN.

Benny Goodman

Vice President

TIAA

Benjamin (aka Benny) Goodman is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). He is a Vice President at TIAA with over 30 years of financial industry experience.

Benny has been with TIAA since 1988, and has served in a variety of actuarial positions, including life insurance pricing, pension plan pricing, product development and dividend setting. For a number of years, he managed the Actuarial Consulting Services area, with a focus on pension plan design and meeting individual retirement income needs. Benny also has spent time in non-actuarial roles, including nonstandard governance and employee resource requirements.

Benny currently works in the TIAA Financial Solutions area, where he serves as the Subject Matter Expert on the TIAA product and lifetime income. He earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Touro College. Benny has coauthored a number of papers for the TIAA Institute and has been a featured speaker at college and university seminars and events across the country.

Benny is married to Yvette (a retired actuary currently teaching high school mathematics), and is the proud father of four, and grandfather of the six most adorable grandchildren in the world
(pictures upon request).

Ryan Grosdidier

Senior Business Development and Relationship Management

SS&C Technologies

Ryan Grosdidier is a senior business development and relationship management executive with 15 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Ryan recently joined SS&C’s Retirement Services team after over a decade managing enterprise investment management relationships at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Prior to S&P Ryan held senior positions at SPA ETF’s and Prudential Equity Group. Ryan is focused on helping clients elevate their businesses and client experiences through the use of data analytics and technology.

Ryan holds a B.S. in Finance from Fordham University in New York.

Denise Gumlak

Partner

Enterprise Iron Financial Industry Solutions, Inc.

Denise Gumlak has 25+ years of experience in the retirement and investment management industry primarily leading product, relationship management and sales organizations. She has hands on experience in developing strategy and translating strategic vision into actionable results with a focus on growth, retention, operational efficiency, profitability, organizational alignment, and optimizing participant outcomes.

She has worked on a wide range of business initiatives including product strategy, governance, development, and execution. She has conducted in-depth product, competitive and market segmentation evaluations. Denise has overseen business transformation and process improvement initiatives resulting in the evaluation of recordkeeping platforms, enhances system integration, and adoption of scalable and repeatable processes to improve service delivery and enhance the overall client experience. Denise has extensive experience in both Corporate and Tax-Exempt market segments, as well as defined benefit plans. Her education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY at Cortland and an MBA from Simmons College.

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.

Alicia Hartjen

Head of Product, Financial Education & Communication Solutions

SS&C Technologies

Alicia Hartjen is Head of Product Development for SS&C’s Participant Education and Communication Solutions. Alicia joined the company through the acquisition of Wealth Management Systems Inc. (WMSI) in 2015, where she was the Vice President, Head of Product Development. Prior to that she was the Director of Product Design at S&P Capital IQ Financial Communications. Alicia has a background in user-interface design – with a focus on how to design solutions that drive user outcomes.

Alicia has a B.A. from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, MO and an M.B.A. from Babson College/F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

Bob Holcolm

Vice President Legislative and Regulatory Affairs

Empower Retirement

Cindy Hounsell

President

Wiser

Dr. Abigail Hurwitz

Assistant Professor

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Assistant Professor (Lecturer), Environmental Economics and Management Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Abigail is an Assistant Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research is dedicated to long term saving, consumption and annuity choices. She seeks to better understand financial behavior in order to influence policy as well as to develop and promote savings products and to increase the demand for annuities. Hurwitz has recently worked on projects focused on mandatory annuitization in Israel. Her research also focuses on life and health subjective perceptions and how to influence them in order to enhance saving behavior. Hurwitz holds a Ph.D. in Finance as well as an M.A. and B.A. in Business and Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She was previously a Postdoctoral visiting scholar at the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania.

David Ireland

Senior Managing Director

State Street Global Advisors

David is a Senior Managing Director of State Street Global Advisors and the Head of Global Defined Contribution. In this role, he is responsible for advancing SSGA’s global defined contribution business, including product development, distribution, pricing, client service, operations and marketing infrastructure. He works closely with our global teams to build out competitive defined contribution offerings tailored to meet regional and country-specific requirements. Additionally, David is a member of SSGA’s Senior Leadership Team.

Prior to joining SSGA, David was Director of DC Distribution for Wellington Management where he focused on business development and investment strategy. Prior to Wellington, David spent 12 years at SSGA in a variety of roles, including Head of US Consultant Relations and Director of the North American Defined Contribution Sales and Strategy. David began his career at the firm in 2004 as a Senior Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager for the Global Asset Allocation team where he was involved in designing and managing the SSGA Target Date Funds. Prior to joining SSGA, David spent five years as a strategic consultant with FactSet Research Systems.

David earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Skidmore College. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the Boston Security Analysts Society and CFA Institute. He holds series 7 and 63 registrations with FINRA, and also holds the NFA Series 3 registration.

Kendra Isaacson

Senior Pensions Counsel

Senator Patty Murray

Kendra Kosko Isaacson serves as Senior Pensions Counsel to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, where she advises Ranking Member Murray and other committee members on ERISA and retirement issues. Kendra joined the HELP Committee after working in the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the Department of Labor where she worked in the Office of Policy and Research. Kendra holds an LL.M in Taxation with a certificate in Employee Benefits from the Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D., with honors, from the Catholic University Law School and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Melissa Kahn

Managing Director and Retirement Policy Strategist

State Street Global Advisors

Melissa Kahn is a Managing Director and Retirement Policy Strategist with State Street Global Advisors (SSGA). She is tasked with strengthening SSGA’s position as an advocate supporting retirement and pension related issues. She is focused on increasing SSGA’s engagement with key policy makers and leveraging these connections to inform future research projects.

Melissa is an attorney with extensive experience in developing and implementing policy and strategies on domestic and international employee benefits legislation and regulation, as well as Social Security reform. Prior to joining State Street Global Advisors, Melissa was a principal with MJKAHN Associates, LLC, an employee benefits consulting firm. The firm provides strategic planning, policy analysis, and advocacy work on a variety of issues including retirement, long-term care, Social Security and global employee benefits.

Prior to establishing MJKAHN Associates, LLC, Melissa was a vice president with MetLife for 12 years. She was based in MetLife’s Washington, DC Government Relations office. Additionally, Melissa has worked for Retirement Strategies Group, the American Council of Life Insurance and the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America.

Melissa holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and B.A. from Cornell University.

Pam Kinard

Office of Chief Counsel

IRS

Rachel Kugelmass

Center of Excellence Leader

Conduent

Rachel Kugelmass is the Center of Excellence Leader for Defined Contribution at Conduent HR and Learning Solutions. Rachel has 30 years of experience in Defined Contribution consulting and outsourcing, with deep expertise in DC plan design, process improvement, product design, communications and compliance. She helps large organizations navigate the complexities of the evolving retirement landscape to ensure compliance and participant engagement. As the organization’s leader in interpreting and implementing legislative and regulatory changes in the recordkeeping environment, she collaborates with legal, technology, client service, customer service and plan sponsor stakeholders to ensure consistency of messaging and outcome in the evolving DC landscape.

Dennis Lamm

Senior Vice President, Customer Protection

Fidelity Investments

Dennis Lamm heads customer protection for Fidelity Investment’s Workplace business, and is responsible for the security of customer retirement accounts and their personal information. Dennis is a founding member of the SPARK Data Security Oversight Board and co-chairs the FS-ISAC Broker Dealer Council. Dennis has been with Fidelity Investments for 14 years.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Dennis led the Information Assurance Center of Excellence at BAE Systems and served as a security consultant for the US Navy. Dennis started his career as a US Air Force intelligence officer. Dennis holds Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering) and Master of Science (Strategic Intelligence) degrees. Dennis has 32 years experience in information security and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).

Christian Lemaire

Global Head of Retirement Solutions

Amundi

Based on Amundi long-standing expertise in Employee Savings & Retirement plans, Christian assists multinationals to use the innovative solutions that Amundi develops to manage more efficiently their pension schemes.

Member of the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group and of the PEPP Expert Panel of the European Insurance & Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA).

Active member of pension working groups from PensionsEurope and European Fund & Asset management Association (EFAMA). Previously, as Global Head of Insurance clients at Amundi, he structured dedicated investment solutions for insurers within the Solvency 2 framework.

Formerly, as Special Advisor of the Senior Management of Credit Agricole Group, Christian worked on the reorganization of asset management and real estate subsidiaries and the private banking business line.

Previously, as Director of Finance, Strategy and Risks at Credit Agricole Consumer Finance / Leasing & Factoring, he was responsible in particular for corporate development, Assets & Liabilities Management, supervision of Risks Weighted Assets and capital requirements.

Formerly, as Senior Banker within Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Christian structured and executed major financings and equity / capital markets transactions for large groups. Before joining the Credit Agricole Group 18 years ago, as Finance Director of companies, he listed a large one on stock exchanges, managed Treasury, Investor Relations and corporate developments. Master of Engineering (Ecole Centrale Paris). MBA (HEC/Wharton) majoring in finance. Teaching professor in Finance, Strategy and Management.

Anne Lester

Author, Former Portfolio Manager

Anne Lester, former portfolio manager and Head of Retirement Solutions for JPMorgan Asset Management’s Solutions group, retired in 2020 to write a book designed to help average Americans overcome the challenges they face when saving for retirement. At JPMorgan, she created and advanced the firm’s market-leading retirement investment offerings including SmartRetirement and SmartSpending. She also led the firm’s retirement thought-leadership efforts, exploring the intersection of data and behavior and helping the firm advocate for policy solutions to improve retirement outcomes in the US and abroad. She has frequently appeared in national media including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Bloomberg TV and CNBC to discuss these topics.

Anne joined JPMorgan in 1992, working in the firm’s Milan, Italy office before relocating to the firm’s New York Office in 1997. Before beginning her career with JPMorgan, she was a Fulbright Scholar and spent a year in Tokyo working for a member of the Japanese Parliament. Previously she worked for the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Anne earned an M.A. in International Economics and Japan Studies from Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies and received her A.B. in Politics from Princeton University

David Levine

Principal

Groom Law Group, Chartered

David N. Levine is a principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered. Mr. Levine advises plan sponsors, advisors, and other service providers on a wide range of employee benefits matters, from health and welfare to retirement and executive compensation matters.

Mr. Levine was previously the Chair of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (2011-2013) and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. Mr. Levine regularly speaks on plan design, fiduciary governance, and legislative issues. He is recognized in the Chambers USA guide for Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation. Mr. Levine received his J.D., from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A., with general and departmental honors, from Johns Hopkins University.

Per Linnemann

Principal

Linnemann Actuarial Consulting

Per U.K. Linnemann, Ph.D., M.Sc., is the former vice president of the Danish Society of Actuaries and former associate professor of Actuarial Science at the University of Copenhagen. At the unusually young age of 30 he was appointed Chief Actuary of the Danish Insurance Supervisory Authority by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe 2nd of Denmark. Linnemann has more than 30 years of experience as a leader and innovator in the life and DC pension industry and he is principal and founder of Linnemann Actuarial Consulting ApS.

Linnemann is the inventor of individual Target Date Funds (iTDFs), which are emerging investment-based retirement income solutions for decumulation with optional longevity income management. His essay “A Danish Perspective on Investment-Based Retirement Income: Innovative DC Retirement Income Solutions From Denmark” has been published recently by the Society of Actuaries in the USA.

Neil Lloyd

Head US DC & Financial Wellness Research

Mercer

Neil Lloyd was appointed Head US DC & Financial Wellness Research in late 2015. Neil is a Partner and prior to this role was a senior consultant in Mercer’s investments business in the Vancouver office. Neil uses his actuarial, investment and international expertise to lead the research activities for US DC and Financial Wellness.

Neil is a member of Mercer’s DC Team Leaders group, DC Investment Committee and several of Mercer’s Strategic Research Teams, including the US Target Date Fund Strategic Research team. Neil is a regular speaker at national and regional industry forums. Neil participates in the industry, chairing PSCA’s Thought Leadership Council, and is an At-Large member of DCIIA’s Executive Committee. In addition, Neil is on EBRI’s Executive Committee as the Research Chair.

Neil obtained a Business Science degree from the University of Cape Town in 1987, before qualifying as a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1990. He also became an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and an Affiliate of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. In addition, Neil qualified as a Certified Financial Planner in South Africa in 1994.

Randy Long

Managing Principal

SageView Advisory Group

Randall Long is the founder and Managing Principal of SageView Advisory Group and serves as the firm’s CEO. Randy founded SageView in 1989 by assembling a team of seasoned financial advisors and investment specialists across the country. The firm has since grown to one of the leading retirement advisory organizations in the United States with 25 locations and over $104B in assets under management.

He has extensive experience in the oversight and operations of retirement plans and assisting plan sponsors with their fiduciary responsibilities. Randy is a frequent speaker, providing thought leadership to organizations nationwide, and has been recognized as one of the “Most Influential” in the industry by 401kWire.

His professional memberships and affiliations include the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) and the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA). Randy is also a Registered Principal of Cetera (Cetera Advisor Networks LLC).

Richard Luchinsky

Senior Vice President & Co‐Head US Intermediary Distribution

American Century Investments

Rick Luchinsky is senior vice president, Co-Head US Intermediary Distribution for American Century Investments, an independent, privately controlled, pure-play asset management firm founded in 1958.

Mr. Luchinsky is responsible for co-leading the firm’s US Intermediary Distribution, including sales strategy, resource allocation and client alignment.

Mr. Luchinsky joined American Century Investments in 1996 as vice president of sales in Retirement Plan Services, focusing on business development to corporate defined contribution and defined benefit plans. Over the last 24 years, he has worked in the financial intermediary business as a leader in both DCIO Sales, and National Accounts developing strategic partnerships with retirement and wealth management intermediaries.Prior to joining American Century, Mr. Luchinsky was regional director of institutional investments at New York Life Asset Management and an assistant vice president with T. Rowe Price Associates.

Mr. Luchinsky holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Towson University, a master’s in business administration from the University of Baltimore and has completed the Pension Funds and Money Management Program, University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School. He is a principal and holds Series 7, 6, 63 and 26 licenses.

He is a member of the Asset Managers Committee for the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and serves on the board for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and Gilda’s Club Kansas City.

Rich Magner

CEO and Managing Director

Infosys McCamish Systems

Richard E. Magner is the CEO and Managing Director for Infosys McCamish Systems. He was with CIGNA for thirteen years where he led their executive benefits group, was head of CIGNA’s national brokerage operation and served as President of CIGNA Associates, Inc. Subsequently, Rich became an owner in Management Compensation Group, SE, and President of One Securities Corp., a Broker Dealer, where he was responsible for the design, implementation and administration of executive benefit and insurance programs for many of the country’s largest employers.

In 1999, Rich founded Magner Financial Network which developed the first web-based automated software solution for the Executive Retirement Benefits Business. A business combination of the Retirement Services division of Magner Financial Network with McCamish Systems was completed in 2005. Infosys acquired McCamish Systems in December 2009.

Steve Manthie

Senior Manager

Deloitte Consulting LLP

Steve is a Senior Manager in Deloitte Consulting focusing on the Retirement, Asset Management, and Wealth markets. Steve has led numerous projects in these markets in areas such as: overall business strategy, growth opportunity development, pricing strategy, product design, and competitive benchmarking. Recent client engagements have involved retirement advice offerings, lifetime income solutions, and product rationalization.

Prior to his current role, Steve was a retirement plan consultant with extensive experience in record keeper search/selection projects, fee benchmarking studies, and has advised clients on retirement plan governance. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2010.

Alex Mazer

Founding Partner

Common Wealth

Les McCollum

MVP & Chief Information Security Officer

ICMA-RC

Mr. McCollum serves in a Senior Executive Leadership capacity, in the role as a Managing Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer. He is responsible for establishing and maintaining Enterprise Security, its vision, strategy, and risk, ensuring all information assets and technologies are adequately protected. He leads his teams in identifying, developing, implementing, and maintaining efficient processes across the organization to reduce security technology risk. In addition, he is responsible for the Security Innovation, Security Operations, Identity and Access Management, Disaster Recover, and Business Continuity functions.

Mr. McCollum joined ICMA-RC in October 2011 and has more than 25 years’ experience providing strategic direction and operational leadership of enterprise IT infrastructure comprising information security operations, help desk support, server operations, datacenter operations, and network voice/data services.

Mr. McCollum served on the board of directors for the Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) and actively participates on various industry advisory committees including the SPARK Data Security Oversight Board and IANS Security Client Advisory Committee. He is currently pursuing a MS in Cyber Risk Management at Georgetown University, to complement his bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, from North Carolina Central University and his certifications and license: C|CISO, SANS GIAC/GSLC, and FINRA Series 99.

Kevin McDermott

Senior Labor Policy Advisor

Committee on Education and Labor

Kevin McDermott has worked in Congress for nearly twenty years.He currently serves as a senior labor policy advisor for the Committee on Education and Labor where he advises Chairman Bobby Scott and Committee Democrats on retirement security issues, among others.Prior to joining the Committee, Kevin worked for the Committee on Oversight and Reform, served as former Massachusetts Congressman John Tierney’s Legislative Director, and worked for then-Senator Joe Biden. Kevin graduated with honors from the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Charles Millard

Senior Advisor

Amundi Pioneer

Charles E. F. Millard is a Senior Advisor at Amundi Pioneer. He advises the institutional team and clients on topics related to pension strategy, pension fund regulation, and the growing interest in Responsible Investing. Charles is a frequent speaker, writer, and advisor on pension-related issues. He has appeared numerous times on CNBC and been published in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times and elsewhere on a variety of pension topics.

In addition to working with the institutional team and clients, he works with the marketing team to strategize on speaking opportunities and editorial content.Charles was appointed by President George W. Bush to be the Director of the United States Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. He was the first Director to be confirmed by the United States Senate and carried the rank of Under Secretary.Subsequently, he was Managing Director and Head of Pension Relations with Citigroup. He also taught pensions and public policy at the Yale School of Management, served as a Senior Advisor for McKinsey, and held various senior roles in the private sector. Earlier in his career, Charles served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and as a member of the New York City Council representing the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Charles is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Retirement and the Advisory Board of the Georgetown University Center for Retirement Research. He holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Lew Minsky

President and Chief Executive Officer

DCIIA

Lew Minsky is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). Before helping launch DCIIA in 2010, Lew was the owner and managing member of Minsky Consulting through which he advised plan sponsors, service providers and fiduciary committees on governance, public policy and compliance issues.

Earlier in his career, Lew served as the senior in-house counsel for a Fortune 200 company, where he had primary responsibility for governance and compliance issues relating to employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements. He has also worked as an attorney at major law firms and began his legal career working in the General Counsel’s office at the US Department of Commerce. Lew is a recognized thought leader on retirement plan issues and has provided expert testimony to the federal regulatory agencies as well as both the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee. Lew received a bachelors degree in management (BSM) from Tulane University, a juris doctor (JD) from the University of Florida and a master of laws (LLM) with a certificate in employee benefits law from Georgetown University.

John Mitchem

Principal

JM3 Projects

John Mitchem, Principal of California-based JM3 Projects, has worked in journalism, public policy, industry strategy, executive communications and content development worldwide. After two decades with the United Nations and the State Street Corporation, he founded JM3 Projects to provide strategy development and thought leadership projects for a variety of technology and financial firms, trade associations, government agencies, universities and nongovernmental organizations around the world.

His focus is on economic development, emerging technologies, global capital markets and innovations in financial services, including the evolution of private workplace savings plans worldwide. John collaborated with Bob Reynolds and the team from Great West/Empower/Putnam on the book “From Here to Security: How Workplace Savings Can Keep America’s Promise” (McGraw-Hill Professional).

Elizabeth Mulholland

Chief Executive Officer

Prosper Canada

Elizabeth Mulholland is the Chief Executive Officer of Prosper Canada, a national charity dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for Canadians living in poverty through program and policy innovation. Elizabeth joined Prosper Canada in 2011, after a 25-year policy career in the public, private and non-profit sectors, including a decade of independent policy consulting, five years as senior social policy advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister, and five years directing United Ways of Ontario’s government relations program. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geology and French from Wellesley College and successfully completed McGill University’s Graduate Summer Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Charlie Nelson

Chief Executive Officer, Retirement and Employee Benefits

Voya Financial, Inc.

Charles Nelson is chief executive officer of Retirement and Employee Benefits for Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. In his role, Nelson oversees Tax-Exempt and Corporate Markets and Retail Wealth Management, which comprise the company’s workplace and individual retirement businesses, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, as well as its Employee Benefits business. Nelson also serves on Voya’s Executive Committee.

He serves on the board of directors of the Defined Contribution Alternatives Association, a non-profit organization that educates the community on the benefits of including alternative investments within a defined contribution framework. Nelson served as the past president of the board of directors for The SPARK Institute, a trade institute that represents the entire spectrum of defined contribution service providers. He has also been a member of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) since 1985.

Doug Peterson

CISO

Empower

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.

Darren Philp

Director of Policy and Communications

Smart Pension

Darren is Director of Policy and Communications at Smart Pension, where he is active in the industry lobbying for change in pensions and financial services for the benefit of members and customers. Darren joined Smart in September 2018, having previously undertaken policy-related roles at the The People’s Pension, the National Association of Pension Funds (now Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association) and HM Treasury – where he headed up the pensions team between 2007 and 2010 and was closely involved in the design and implementation of the UK’s flagship auto-enrolment programme.

Josef Pilger

Global Pension & Retirement Leader, Partner

EY

Josef leads EYs Global Pension and Retirement business working across EY’s Financial Services and Government and Public Sector practice. He has an accomplished record of designing and delivering exceptional stakeholder and commercial outcomes in complex, political and uncertain environments. Josef is skilled in engaging, connecting and galvanizing diverse stakeholders on board, senior executive and operational levels behind evolutionary or transformational strategies and initiatives. His has an adaptive leadership style working across 30 countries with leading private and public sector clients as well as governments and regulators. Josef brings 25+ years of expertise and insights across wealth and asset management, retirement, life insurance and retail banking across 4 continents in industry and advisory roles. He is skilled in board, strategy, risk and governance, distribution, investments, administration and digital from working with leading financial services organisations locally and globally. As a leader he enjoys seeing colleagues grow and evolve personally and professionally.

As previous COO Retirement of a pension fund master trust, pension trustee director and working with boards in several countries Josef learned the importance of purpose, good governance, a members’ best interest culture as well as rigorous risk and conflict management and fit for purpose oversight to deliver predictable outcomes. Trust and confidence are key. And conflicts of interest are omnipresent. He thrives navigating transformational change from running a business strategy consultancy and leading market entry, growth and complex implementation programs for many leading pension, retirement and social security organisations, life insurers, asset managers and wealth management businesses globally. But, his industry and advisory roles taught him that only successful implementation makes a successful strategy. And, behavioural change is tough.

Josef was involved in supporting informed decisions and policy reform in many countries working with political, policy, regulatory and industry leaders. It taught him two key lessons: pension, retirement and financial well-being policy reforms require tough decisions and behavioural change, and they require translating between different stakeholders to convert industry jargon into stakeholder understanding and empathy. Successfully building, evolving and governing growing direct investment portfolios across different regions, countries, asset categories and themes became his passion again as it maximises retirement assets as ultimate member outcome. Josef is a frequent speaker and author on pension, retirement, governance and risk management issues on many global and local forums to help build a better retirement world for all stakeholders.

Tim Pitney

Managing Director, Institutional Investment and Endowment Distribution

TIAA

As Managing Director, Institutional Investment and Endowment Distribution, Tim Pitney 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 participants.

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. Prior to joining TIAA in 2013, Tim was an independent consultant providing consulting services to both institutional retirement plans and individual wealth management clients. He gained valuable perspectives on the challenges facing plan sponsors and helped them with their fiduciary duties including: investment menu design, retirement committee formation and plan governance, employee education and fee alignment. He was recognized as one of PLANADVISER’s Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers in 2013 and was one of five finalists for PLANSPONSOR’s Retirement Plan Advisor of the Year in that same year. Tim also spent 12 years at Fidelity Investments where he held a variety of roles ranging from client service to product development and sales. Tim led the product development for bundled defined benefit services and also drove the development and distribution of an early version of an outsourced CIO business and led the national sales team.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master of Science degree in finance from Clark University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 registrations. An energetic and engaging speaker, he is a frequent presenter at client and industry conferences throughout the country and has lectured at several New England colleges and universities.

Lori Prater

Policy Director/Tax and Trade Counsel

Rep. M. Kelly (R-PA)

Ms. Prater currently serves as Policy Director and Tax and Trade Counsel for Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee with jurisdiction over tax, trade and health care matters. Congressman Kelly is Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Ways and Means and is co-chair of the Retirement Security Caucus.

Having worked on Capitol Hill for nearly two decades, Ms. Prater has worked as senior staff in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for Member of Congress from California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania including Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) as General Counsel, Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA) as Legislative Counsel, and Congressman Tom Campbell (R-CA) as Senior Legislative Assistant. She has also worked as the Director of Government Relations for the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), a leading information technology trade association, representing the “top 50” high-tech companies in Washington, D.C.

Prior to working in the nation’s capital, Ms. Prater worked at several universities in a research and teaching capacity. In 2002, she received her law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law in Silicon Valley, California. In Oregon, she received her bachelor’s degree from the University Honors Program at Portland State University in 1993, and master’s degree in Political Science from Portland State University in 1995. In 2016, she was awarded an Executive Certificate in Comparative Tax from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Roberta Rafaloff

Vice President

MetLife

Kirby Rappell

Chief Executive Officer

SuperRatings

Kirby was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SuperRatings in October 2017 and is responsible for leading SuperRatings Ratings, Research, Consulting and insights to Superannuation Funds. He has worked to build a strong working knowledge of Australian Superannuation Funds, Service Providers and Key Industry Stakeholders to ensure SuperRatings has a strong understanding of the market, highlighting where opportunities for value uplift for members exists as we seek to improve member’s retirement outcomes.

Kirby has been with SuperRatings since 2008. During his time at SuperRatings, Kirby has work as a Quantitative Analyst before becoming responsible for our Research team in 2011. Kirby has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney (Finance and Accounting) and is a CFA Charterholder.

Mike Raso

Managing Director, Head of Intermediary and Retail Distribution

PineBridge Investments

Mr. Raso joined the firm in 2014 and is responsible for PineBridge’s presence in major mutual fund complexes, variable annuity providers, retirement platforms and US offshore/LatAm retail as well as select other verticals within the retail and intermediary space. He has more than 25 years of experience. Prior to PineBridge, he was at Old Mutual Asset Management where he served as Senior Vice President, Director of Sub-advisory and Institutional Retirement. Prior to that, he held various leadership roles at Crosswind Investments, Artisan Partners, NATIXIS and Fidelity Investments.

Mr. Raso is a member of the Operating and Executive Committees of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). He holds a BA from Providence College and is FINRA Series 10, 9, 7, 6 and 63 licensed. He resides in Hingham, Massachusetts with his wife and four daughters.

Chris Robino

Senior ERISA Counsel

SS&C Technologies

Chris Robino has been with SS&C since May of 2012 supporting Retirement Solutions. Chris is responsible for managing compliance with ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and other relevant regulations as they relate to the Retirement Solutions business, while also working with regulatory agencies and legal staff to resolve complex compliance issues. Prior to joining the organization, Chris worked as a compliance consultant for John Hancock Signature Services, and spent over ten years combined with Putnam Investments and Mercer HR Services as an ERISA Regulatory Consultant and Relationship Manager.

Chris is a frequent industry speaker on topics such as the DOL Fiduciary Rule, qualified plan distributions, plan design, regulatory and legislative developments and fiduciary responsibility. Chris received his JD from New England Law Boston in 1999 and has over 16 years’ experience in the qualified retirement plan recordkeeping industry. Chris has served as a member of the SPARK Government Relations Committee.

Phil Roe

U.S. House of Representatives

R-MD

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.

Mark Rowlands

Customer Experience Director

National Employment Savings Trust

Mark is responsible for building the product, engagement and supporting proposition strategy with employers, their intermediaries and members. This encompasses the end to end experience from joining the scheme through to a member taking their benefits.

The role includes product and proposition development, research, marketing, member engagement and implementing behavioural and evidence based solutions.

Mark has nearly 30 years’ experience in workplace pensions and has worked for leading providers and consultancies during this time.

Ronald Rutherford Triche

Office of Chief Counsel

IRS

Ronald Rutherford-Triche is Branch Chief, Qualified Plans Branch 2, in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, DC. Mr. Rutherford-Triche focuses on regulatory issues affecting employers’ qualified plans. Prior to joining the IRS Office of Chief Counsel in 2017, Mr. Rutherford-Triche spent over 20 years practicing in the field of employee benefits law. Mr. Rutherford-Triche received his bachelor’s degree from McNeese State University and his law degree from the Tulane University School of Law.

Bill Ryan

Partner, Head of North America DC Multi-Assets Solutions

Aon

Bill has over 18 years of Defined Contribution (DC) experience. His DC clients across North America own over $800 billion in retirement assets invested by over 60 million participant lives.

Bill leads Aon’s North America DC Multi-Asset Solutions team, which includes four of Aon’s DC Subject Matter Expert teams: the DC Multi-Asset Manager Research team who evaluates Target Date Fund, Balanced Fund, and Managed Accounts created by Asset Managers, the Custom DC Solutions team building bespoke solutions for Aon clients, the DC Multi-Asset Fund Management team providing Aon’s best ides in a packaged product, and the Retirement Income team helping client consider and add retirement income solutions into their DC plans. These teams are made up of over 20 Aon colleagues who focus on supporting over 300 of Aon’s DC clients find solutions that best fit their needs and objectives.

Bill is an Executive Committee member for DCIIA and the Chair of DCIIA Investment Policy & Design Committee. He has been a Judge for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 DCIIA/P&I Innovator & Excellence Awards.

Bill holds a B.S. in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a M.B.A. in Corporate Finance from the University of California, Irvine. Bill holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation and is a member of the CAIA Society of Chicago. Bill is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and is currently a candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Jeri Savage

Principal

Rocaton Investment Advisors

Jeri Savage, Principal, is the Rocaton’s Head of Defined Contribution Research, leading the team that researches DC trends, recordkeepers, target date and managed account providers and contributes to DC thought leadership, including the regulatory and litigation environment and DC client investment structure discussions.

Jeri has 19 years of experience in research and analytical roles with investment and consulting firms. Jeri joined Rocaton from Evaluation Associates, where she spent several years as an Equity Research Associate and member of the firm’s Defined Contribution Task Force. Jeri earned an M.B.A. with distinction in Finance and Marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Business Economics from Brown University.

Hutch Schafer

Vice President, Business Development

Nationwide Financial

Hutch Schafer is the Vice President, Business Development within Retirement Plans at Nationwide Financial. The Business Development group is responsible for delivering competitive retirement plan solutions, guiding large scale programs and developing business strategies for both the Private and Public Sectors. His past experience includes the development of various individual fixed and variable annuity products.

He is also the President of Nationwide Investment Advisors, LLC. Nationwide Investment Advisors offers various investment advisory programs, including a discretionary managed account service, to defined contribution retirement plans. Hutch is a graduate of The Ohio State University and has been with Nationwide for 27 years and has spent most of his time in Product Development and Operations. About Nationwide Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance.

Rob Schneinerman

President, Group Retirement

AIG

Jessica Sclafani

DC Strategist

MFS Investment Management

Jessica Sclafani, CAIA, is a director and Defined Contribution strategist for the Investment Solutions Group at MFS Investment Management® (MFS®). Her responsibilities include leading Defined Contribution research and the firm’s thought leadership agenda, as well as working extensively with the firm’s client facing teams to represent MFS in the marketplace.

Jessica joined MFS in 2019 in her current role. She previously spent five years at Cerulli Associates as director of US retirement research, where she primarily was responsible for the US Defined Contribution and IRA markets. Before that, she served as an analyst on the US pensions team at Wellington Management Company for four years.

Jessica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Boston College. She holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) certification. She is a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Editorial Review Board for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA).

Bobby Scott

U.S. House of Representatives

(D-VA)

Katie Selenski

Executive Director

CalSavers

In 2017, the California State Treasurer appointed Katie Selenski to serve as the first Executive Director of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board and the pioneering CalSavers Retirement Savings Program.

Prior to CalSavers, Ms. Selenski was State Policy Director at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C., where she helped jurisdictions undertake data-driven pension reforms. Previously, she was a senior manager with Harvey M. Rose Associates in San Francisco. Ms. Selenski is a member of the advisory board of the Aspen Institute’s Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings and a graduate of the University of Chicago and Harvard University.

Allie Shafer

Director of Relationship Management

SS&C Technologies

Allie Shafer is Director of Relationship Management for SS&C/DST Retirement Solutions, responsible for ensuring the best possible client experience for several of DSTRS’s complex relationships. Previously, Allie led both Relationship Management and Business Development for the technology & servicing platforms of Wealth Management Systems Inc. (WMSI), a firm which was acquired by DST in August 2015.

Prior to joining WMSI, Allie 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, she 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, Allie was with Prudential Retirement Services, where she 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.

Allie currently holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation, Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses from FINRA, as well as the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations from the American College.

Chantel Sheaks

Executive Director, Retirement Policy

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Chantel Sheaksis 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.

Sara Shean

Executive Director and U.S. Defined Contribution Practice Leader

PGIM Real Estate

Sara Shean is an Executive Director and U.S. Defined Contribution Practice Leader at PGIM Real Estate. She has over 20 years of industry experience and is currently Co-President of the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council. Sara also serves on DCIIA’s Investment Policy & Design committeee.

Prior to joining PGIM Real Estate, Ms. Shean was head of institutional defined contribution at Cohen & Steers, where she was a board member for the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.

Ms. Shean also spent 19 years at J.P. Morgan, primarily focused on investment strategy work for the firm’s defined contribution clients. Ms. Shean earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Management from Cornell University, and is a CFP certificant.

Natalya Shnitser

Associate Professor

Boston College Law School

Natalya Shnitser is an Associate Professor of Law at Boston College Law School. Her research focuses on retirement security in the United States, including the provision of retirement and healthcare benefits by private and public employers, the governance of multiple-employer plans, and the regulation of financial intermediaries.

She has served as Chair of the AALS Section on Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation and as the organizer of the Annual Conference on Employee Benefits and Social Insurance. Upon starting at Boston College Law School, Professor Shnitser was named as the inaugural David and Pamela Donohue Assistant Professor in business law. Prior to joining the faculty, she was an Associate Research Scholar in Law and the John R. Raben/Sullivan & Cromwell Executive Director of the Yale Law School Center for the Study of Corporate Law. Prior to her time at the Center for the Study of Corporate Law, she was an associate in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Shnitser received her J.D. degree from Yale Law School, where she was a Coker Fellow, editor of the Yale Law Journal, and editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal on Regulation. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University, where she received an M.A. in International Policy Studies and a B.A. in Economics.

Joe Smolen

Senior Vice President, Core Market

Empower Retirement

Joe Smolen is a Senior Vice President for Empower Retirement. In his role, he leads the core market segment, which consists of retirement plans with under $50 million in assets and includes some 26,000 plans and 2 million participants. Joe is responsible for strategy development as well as all new business acquisition, client satisfaction, retention and financial results.

Since 1999, Joe has held numerous sales and leadership positions with the organization. As Vice President of Sales Strategy, he led an initiative to recast the core market’s internal sales strategy, and as Regional Vice President for the western territory, he grew sales roughly 24% a year over 10 years. He has also served as a Pension Consultant covering 21 states and was named national salesperson of the year twice.

Joe holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Kansas State University. He is on the board of the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, Great-West Capital Management, Advised Assets Group and the Plan Administrative Committee – Welfare Benefits at Empower. In addition, Joe is involved with the Tim Tebow Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

Ron Storhaug

Tax and Economic Policy Advisor

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)

Ron Storhaug serves as Tax and Economic Policy Advisor for the office of Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In that role, he serves as the Senator’s principal policy advisor in his capacity as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee (taxation, retirement, international trade), as well as small business and banking. Prior to this role, Ron was Senior Economic Policy Advisor to Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), where he handled the Senator’s economic portfolio. Before Senator Kaine’s office, Ron was an Enterprise Risk Management consultant at Deloitte. Originally from North Dakota, he started his career at the U.S. Senate Budget Committee under Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND).

Rod Stortenbecker

AVP Compliance

Lincoln Financial Group

Rod Stortenbecker is Assistant Vice President of Compliance at Lincoln Financial Group. Rod provides consulting/compliance services to his clients and leads Lincoln’s Retirement Plan Design and Consulting Group (RPCG). Rod has over 20 years of experience working with complex retirement programs including defined benefit, non-qualified/executive benefit programs and ESOPs. Rod speaks at various industry events and is the author of retirement publications/updates. Rod is a member of the American Society of Pension Professional & Actuaries (ASPPA) Leadership Council. He also has earned the CPC designation with ASPPA. Rod was formerly at Principal Financial Group. He received his B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa (Management and Economics).

Jody Strakosch

Principal

Strakosch Retirement Strategies, LLC

Jody Strakosch founded Strakosch Retirement Strategies, LLC in 2012 to help investment management firms create retirement income solutions for the defined contribution market. Jody offers in-depth retirement market expertise, product development and strategic positioning for investment management and service providers seeking to enhance their profiles in the defined contribution marketplace. Jody is an active member of DCIIA (Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association); on the Advisory Council for The Women’s Institute for Secure Retirement (WISER); and on the Editorial Board of the Institutional Investor Journal of Retirement. Jody previously worked for MetLife and is a recognized defined contribution and institutional retirement income subject matter expert. Jody holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and a Master of Arts in Gerontology from the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California.

Mark Strosahl

Business Information Security Officer Retirement & Income Solutions

Principal

Mark advances business information security by leading a team of security professionals. In his role he directs efforts to protect customer information and accounts for Principal and its clients. Since joining the company in 2008, Mark has held several roles in IT and security. He has master’s degrees in business administration and cyber security from Iowa State University and Harvard University Extension.

He also holds the CISSP, CISM and CCSP information security certifications. Mark is a member of several industry relevant organizations, including FS-ISAC (Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center), InfraGard, SPARK DSOB, and the Cyber Readiness Institute.

Marlon Sullivan

Divisional Vice President, Global Compensation and Benefits

Abbott

Marlon Sullivan is Divisional Vice President of Global Compensation and Benefits at Abbott, a healthcare technology company based in Chicago. He leads a team of Human Resources specialists who provide support across Abbott around compensation, benefits, employee wellness, HR employee communications and HR mergers and acquisitions. Marlon also has experience at Abbott in global talent acquisition and global talent development.

Before joining Abbott, he held HR roles at Home Depot and was a business consultant with McKinsey and Company. Marlon holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and earned his B.A. in corporate finance from Morehouse College.

Aron Szapiro

Director, Policy Research

Morningstar

Szapiro is director of policy research for Morningstar. Szapiro is responsible for developing research reports on policy matters, coordinating official responses to regulatory proposals, and providing investor-focused comments on policy issues to clients and the press. He also chairs Morningstar’s Public Policy Council. His research has been covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Journal of Retirement, and on National Public Radio.

Before assuming his current role in July 2016, he served as Morningstar’s associate director of policy research and as policy and finance expert at HelloWallet, a former subsidiary of Morningstar. Previously, he was a senior analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), specializing in retirement security issues and pension plan policy. He also worked at the New Jersey General Assembly Majority Office.

Szapiro holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Grinnell College and a master’s in public policy from Johns Hopkins University.

Stephen Tackney

Office of Chief Counsel

IRS

Stephen Tackney is currently serving as Deputy Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes), Office of Chief Counsel – IRS. In that capacity, Mr. Tackney supervises attorneys addressing tax issues in the areas of qualified retirement plans, health and welfare arrangements, and executive compensation. Much of Mr. Tackney’s current work centers on formulating the guidance and addressing other implementation issues under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the SECURE Act and the CARES Act. Prior to coming to the Office of Chief Counsel, Mr. Tackney spent several years in private practice, focusing on employee benefits issues. Mr. Tackney graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1996.

Stacey Tovrov

Investment Strategist, Retirement Group

BlackRock

Stacey Tovrov, Director, is an investment strategist in BlackRock’s Retirement Group representing the global LifePath target date fund franchise and BlackRock’s broader retirement capabilities to a range of clients across institutional investors, investment consultants, and financial professionals. She is responsible for overseeing the LifePath platform, working closely with business partners to develop and execute strategic initiatives to enhance our retirement solutions to meet evolving client needs.

Prior to joining the Retirement Group, Ms. Tovrov was focused on product development and strategy as a member of the Multi-Asset Strategies group focusing on the firm’s sustainable investment solutions, as well as a member of the Strategic Product Management group. As a member of the BlackRock Portfolio Management group, she was responsible for executing strategic projects and business management initiatives across all of the firm’s investment teams. Ms. Tovrov joined BlackRock in 2008 as part of the institutional client business in New York and London, where she was responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with the firm’s central bank, sovereign wealth fund, and other official institution clients.

Ms. Tovrov earned a BA degree in economics and international relations from Tufts University.

Jeff Turner

EBSA

DOL

Steve Utkus

Principal

Head of Investor Research, Vanguard

Stephen P. Utkus is the head of investor research at Vanguard. The investor research team conducts and sponsors research on investor behavior and decision-making. Mr. Utkus’s personal research interests include retirement and aging, behavioral economics and household finance. Mr. Utkus received a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the advisory board of the Wharton Pension Research Council, a Visiting Scholar at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the advisory board of the Consumer Finance Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington, D.C.

Ziga Vizintin

Advisor to the Management Board, CMO

Pokojninska družba A

Žiga Vižintin is an advisor to the Management Board at Pokojninska družba A pension fund in Slovenia. He has a M.Sc. in economics from the University of Ljubljana and is interested in behavioral biases related to retirement saving. He has almost 10 years of senior management experience in the pension fund industry in the roles of CMO and CSO where he is combining the latest information technology and behavioral insights to help people save more for retirement. During this time he gained extensive knowledge of the pension landscape in Europe and is advocating the development of multi-pillar private pension plans in order to combat the facing demographic challenges.

Cindy Volker

VP, Product Strategy, Marketing and Regulatory Communications

Broadridge

Cindy Volker is the Vice President of Product Strategy for marketing and regulatory communications with Broadridge’s Mutual Fund and Retirement business. In this role, she leads a team of experts who work with leading retirement providers to help them develop best-in-class digital marketing and regulatory experiences for their plan participants, advisors and sponsors.

Cindy has over 20 years of financial marketing experience and is a leading expert on marketing and regulatory trends in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Broadridge, Cindy held similar roles in strategy, digital marketing, business transformation and benefits management positions with fortune 500 firms.

Cindy is a frequent author, speaker and contributor to industry associations on the topic of digital transformation, customer experience design and regulatory strategy in financial firms.

Kevin Walsh

Principal

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Kevin L. Walsh is a principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered who advises clients on a wide range of fiduciary matters and other issues involving benefit plans. His practice encompasses helping plan service providers comply with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rules, working with them as they develop processes for and make investments, and helping them navigate the impact of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and SEC regulations.

Kevin counsels clients primarily on issues related to Title I of ERISA, but also works with clients on the intersection of ERISA and other federal statutes. He assists insurers in obtaining guidance from the Department of Labor, and helps plan fiduciaries structure investments. He has also worked with plan service providers to structure the distribution of proprietary products in a manner that complies with ERISA’s prohibited transaction provisions.

Kevin is also a member of Groom’s Policy and Legislation Group, where he leverages his deep legislative experience on behalf of clients by providing technical legislative drafting services and strategic advice on interacting with the legislative and executive branches.

Debra Whitman

Chief Public Policy Officer

AARP

As AARP’s chief public policy officer, Debra Whitman, leads policy development, analysis and research, as well as global thought leadership supporting and advancing the interests of individuals age 50-plus and their families. She oversees AARP’s Public Policy Institute, AARP Research, Office of Policy Development and Integration, Thought Leadership, and AARP International.

Dr. Whitman is an authority on aging issues with extensive experience in national policymaking, domestic and international research, and the political process. An economist, she is a strategic thinker whose career has been dedicated to solving problems affecting economic and health security, and other issues related to population aging.

As staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, she worked across the aisle to increase retirement security, lower the cost of health care, protect vulnerable seniors, safeguard consumers, make the pharmaceutical industry more transparent, and improve our nation’s long term care system.

Before that, Dr. Whitman worked for the Congressional Research Service as a specialist in the economics of aging. She provided members of Congress and their staff with research and advice, and authored analytical reports on the economic impacts of current policies affecting older Americans, as well as the distributional and intergenerational effects of legislative proposals.

From 2001 to 2003, she served as a Brookings LEGIS Fellow to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Earlier in her career, she conducted research on savings and retirement for the Social Security Administration, helping to establish the Retirement Research Consortium and serving as the founding editor of the Perspectives section of the Social Security Bulletin.

Dr. Whitman has been quoted by or appeared in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and Politico, among others. She serves on several boards, including the National Advisory Council on Aging for the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the National Coalition on Health Care, and the Pension Rights Center.

Dr. Whitman holds master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in economics, math and Italian from Gonzaga University.

Jeanne Wilson

Acting Assistant Secretary

US Department of Labor

As Acting Assistant Secretary, Ms. Wilson serves as agency head for the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the Department of Labor. Ms. Wilson has served at EBSA since her initial appointment in November 2017. Since that time she has served as Acting Assistant Secretary (from June 2020 to now, and previously from November 2017 to January 2018). She also served as EBSA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy (November 2017 to May 2019), and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (May 2019 to May 2020).

Before her appointment, Ms. Wilson served as counsel to plan sponsors and fiduciaries for over fifteen years. Prior to her graduation from law school, Ms. Wilson worked for seven years at a national accounting firm where she audited employee benefit plans and provided employee benefit plan compliance advice.

Lisa Woll

CEO

US SIF

Lisa Woll is CEO of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment as well as the US SIF Foundation where she leads both organizations’ overall direction. She has been responsible for developing a robust policy and media presence, expanding and diversifying funding, launching the US SIF national conference, creating the Center for Sustainable Investment Education and playing a lead role in the creation of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA).

Prior to US SIF, Lisa was executive director of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), an organization focused on press freedom and the expansion of women’s role in the media. During her tenure, the IWMF played a significant role in reorienting the way journalism training addressed the issues of HIV-AIDS, malaria and TB in several African media organizations. Before IWMF, Lisa spent a decade working on children’s human rights. She was the director of the first international study which looked at the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and directed the Washington, DC office of Save the Children. She was a member of the Advisory Council of the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch.

Lisa’s early career focused on domestic social policy. She began as an Urban Fellow in the New York City Human Resources Administration and then worked as a legislative assistant for the US Congress. Lisa founded Suited for Change, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that provides professional clothing and ongoing career education to low-income women who have completed job training programs and are seeking employment. She was a founding board member and former president of the board of The Women’s Alliance, a national membership organization of community organizations that increase the employability of low-income women. She was board president of Women’s Voices for the Earth, a national environmental health organization based in Montana, and a board member of the Children’s Environmental Health Network. Lisa has written and spoken widely on human rights, development and leadership.

In 2018, Lisa was included in Barron’s list of “The 20 Most Influential People in ESG Investing.” She was given the SRI Service Award and the inaugural Forbes Impact Award. Previously, Washingtonian Magazine named Lisa a Washingtonian of the Year in recognition of her pioneering role with Suited for Change. She has received numerous other awards and has volunteered on many nonprofit boards and commissions. She was also a Fulbright Fellow in Melbourne, Australia. Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in public policy and women’s studies from George Washington University.

Megan Yost

VP Engagement Strategist

Segal Benz

A recognized thought leader in benefits communications, particularly in the areas of retirement, financial wellness, and employee engagement, Megan has led award-winning campaigns with some of the country’s biggest employers to improve and increase employees’ interactions with their benefits. She speaks frequently at industry conferences and with policymakers on Capitol Hill and has testified twice before the ERISA Advisory Council to the Department of Labor. Megan’s been quoted in dozens of articles in both U.S. and European media outlets, and she serves as a judge of the Pension & Investment Eddy Awards.

Prior to joining Segal Benz, Megan spent 10 years at State Street Global Advisors, where she was Head of DC Experience. In this role she was responsible for global thought leadership, as well as client and participant engagement for their Defined Contribution Team.