Western Pension &
Benefits Council
2019 Spring Conference
Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa
6902 E. Greenway Parkway, Scottsdale, AZ 85254
The Western Pension & Benefits Council is comprised of individuals who work or practice in the dynamic field of employee benefits. This conference offers general sessions and breakout sessions covering diverse topics ranging from pension basics and current developments to more advanced planning, design and administration issues. The Spring Conference is a great opportunity to network with your benefit colleagues and discuss current trends and developments in the field.
*** Continuing Education Credits will be available ***
Topics Scheduled to Include:
- Multiple Employer Plans by Shawn West of CuraFin Advisors
- Financial Wellness in the Workplace by Mariangela Noyes of MetLife
- Fraud and Benefit Plans by Lisa Tassara of Charles Schwab
- Non-Qualified Plans by Bob Werner of Onsager, Werner & Oberg
- 403(b) and 457 Issues by Vincent Garzarella of Lincoln Financial and Gordon Twell of Innovest Portfolio Solutions
- HSAs by Jim Daley of Fidelity
- The Evolving Workplace by Bill McManus of Hartford Funds
Click Here to Download Session Schedule
Keynote Speakers:
Michael Malone
MJM 401k
Morning Session: The 401(k) at 40: Best Practices After Four Decades
Mr. Malone is the founder and managing director of MJM401k, an independent consultancy serving retirement plan sponsors and committees. Prior to forming MJM401k, Mr. Malone served as a director and retirement plan consultant with both a regional and a national consulting and advisory firm.
Mr. Malone is a Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) with the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (AIFA). Mr. Malone was the 2011 recipient of the 401(k) Advisor Leadership Award, a national award sponsored by Morningstar, Inc. and the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA). He is a Past-President and a past board member of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by that organization in 2008. He is also a member of various other employee benefits professional groups, including the Arizona Employee Benefits Forum, Profit Sharing Council of America (PSCA), and had previous memberships in World-at-Work and the New England Employee Benefits Committee. In addition, he is a past-member of ASPPA’s Government Affairs Committee and past-Chairman of its Committee on IRS Enforcement.
For over thirty years, Mr. Malone has been a frequent author and lecturer throughout the U.S. at industry conferences on the various plan design and plan investment aspects of pension and retirement plan arrangements, and has provided expert testimony to the ERISA Advisory Council at the Department of Labor. His plan consulting experience began with work on some of the first 401(k) plans in the country, and has continued since then covering hundreds of corporate clients and tens of thousands of plan participants.
James Melendres
Snell & Wilmer, LLP
Lunch Session: Cybersecurity and Benefit Plans
James Melendres co-chairs the Investigations, Government Enforcement and White Collar Protection practice and the Cybersecurity, Data Protection and Privacy practice at the law firm of Snell & Wilmer. He regularly conducts internal investigations and represents companies in a wide variety of matters relating to federal and state criminal, civil and regulatory enforcement. James also advises companies regarding the full life cycle of enterprise risks associated with cybersecurity, including before, during and after a data breach or other cyber-attack.
James further assists clients in developing and implementing crisis management and public relations strategies. He has appeared on CBS, CNBC and MSNBC and been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, among other publications.
Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, James served as a federal prosecutor and led high-profile and complex matters, including the prosecutions of former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus and the leader of the Tijuana Cartel, Benjamin Arellano-Felix. He also served in the leadership offices at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General.
Lynn Young & Karen Smith
Pinnacle Plan Design & Nova 401(k)
Final Session: Ethics - Can Our Personalities Give Us Insight into Potential Challenges?
Lynn Young
Lynn M. Young is a partner of the firm and is an enrolled actuary with over 31 years experience in the consulting and administration of qualified defined benefit, cash balance, and defined contribution plans. As an enrolled actuary, Lynn specializes in actuarial consulting and third-party administration of defined benefit retirement plans. Lynn is the Past-President of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA). Lynn, along with fellow actuaries Sheri Alsguth and Kevin Donovan, authored the 2016 and 2017 Editions of the Defined Benefit Answer Book, published by Wolters Kluwer.
Karen Smith
At the helm of Nova 401(k) Associates is president, Karen Smith. She has been practicing in the retirement area for more than 25 years. In addition to being the visionary of the firm, Karen is a technical resource for the Nova 401(k) staff on defined benefit and cash balance issues, particularly legal, actuarial and complicated nondiscrimination testing issues. She assists clients with plan design and implementation, defined contribution plan and defined benefit plan administration, completion of IRS required nondiscrimination testing, special projects such as mergers and acquisitions and plan terminations, and plan drafting and interpretation. In the past, Karen has been involved in several industry groups including ASPPA, (American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries) where she was a member of the Board of Directors. She is a past president of ACOPA. Additionally, Karen was a member of the American Academy of Actuaries Committee on Qualifications for several years.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with Honors in 1990. She received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center in 1998, where she was an Associate Editor for the University of Houston Law Review from 1995-1996.
Thank you to our Sponsors:
As a WP&BC member you can attend he 2019 NIPA Annual Forum & Expo (2019NAFE) at the discounted membership price. 2019NAFE offers enriching, relevant, world-class education to help you build your business and enhance the services you provide to your organization’s clients. Register now for the 2019NAFE in San Diego on April 28th to May 1st, 2019.