Skip to main content

Employee Benefit Plans Conference (VIRTUAL)

Tuesday, May 20
 8:20am - 4:20pm

(Check-In )

Add to Calendar

Online

8.00 Credits

Member Price $314.00

Non-Member Price $439.00

Overview

This CTCPA conference updates practitioners on a variety of topics in the employee benefit plans area.

Designed For

Auditors of employee benefit plans or who advise companies in this area, as well as benefit plan administrators

Notice

By registering for this program and, accordingly, receiving the eMaterials, you’re acknowledging that you understand both the copyright restrictions on your eMaterials and the CTCPA cancellation policy.

Tuesday, May 20

General Session

- DOL Update

Marcus Aron, Chief, Div. of Accounting Svcs, U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Admin.

Marcus Aron

Mr. Aron has over thirty years of experience with EBSA working with audits of ERISA-covered plans. As the Chief, Division of Accounting Services, Mr. Aron’s responsibilities include implementation of EBSA’s CPA Firm Inspection Program, providing technical assistance to plan filers and plan professionals, and providing ERISA-related accounting and auditing expertise within EBSA.

Mr. Aron is a certified public accountant and holds a B.B.A. degree with a major in accounting from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Jason Newman, Partner, CohnReznick

Jason Newman

Jason D. Newman, CPA, is a partner with CohnReznick with 28 years of public accounting experience in areas including auditing and strategic business planning. Jason is the Assurance Practice Leader for New England and also co-leads the efforts of our Firm’s Employee Benefit Plan Practice in New England, where he performs audits of defined contribution and defined benefit plans, and is a member of the Firm’s Capital Markets and SEC Practice, where he provides services to a variety of closely held businesses and public companies.

Utilizing his expertise in these areas, Jason has actively developed continuing education and professional resources for the Employee Benefit Plan Practice, including the creation of templates that aid in financial reporting, the performance of control assessment engagements for service organizations, the audits of investment vehicles, and consultation on various employee benefit plan issues.

In his role with the Firm’s Capital Markets and SEC Practice, Jason serves a variety of public and private entities, including private equity partnerships, broker-dealers in securities, SEC registrants, investment advisors, real estate entities, third party administrators, and insurance operations. Jason has gained additional expertise in providing technical accounting support to the firm’s litigation support practice and in providing business advisory services for a variety of closely-held businesses

Presented by: Marcus J. Aron, CPA, CGMA - Chief, Division of Accounting Services, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor

Jason D. Newman, CPA - Partner at CohnReznick LLP

Join Marcus Aron and Jason Newman for their annual look at the ongoings of the DOL’s Office of the Chief Accountant:

Highlights:
• Office initiatives for the current audit season
• A discussion of the most problematic audit areas and how to avoid them
• A look at how plan administrators can best navigate the office’s enforcement process
• Valuable insights to ensure audits meet professional and regulatory standards

Credits: 2.4 - Auditing

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Accounting & Auditing Update

Corey Kohnle, Audit Director, Grant Thornton LLP

Corey Kohnle

Corey is a Director in the New England Employee Benefit Plan Practice with over ten years of public accounting experience. Corey’s responsibilities on engagements have included the supervision and review of work performed by senior associates and junior staff; leading communications between the audit team, firm specialists, and clients; reviewing financial statements for conformity with U.S. GAAP; and identifying control deficiencies, as well as preparing recommendations for improvement to management. Corey’s auditing experience includes investments, contributions, benefit payments, claims, post-retirement benefit obligation, asset transfers, plan mergers, plan spin offs, annuity buyouts, and ERISA compliance. Corey has led and performed financial statement audits for various industries, with a variety of Employee Benefit Plans including full scope audits and ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) audits of 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit plans and health and welfare plans as well as 11k audits.

Jason Eddy, Managing Director, Grant Thornton, LLP

Jason Eddy

As the Practice Leader for Grant Thornton’s National Employee Benefit Plan Practice, Jason is responsible for providing services to some of Grant Thornton’s most complex employee benefit plan engagements across the U.S.

Jason has extensive experience in dealing with reporting and disclosure issues related to benefit plans. Jason serves as a technical resource for his firm on employee benefit plan auditing, accounting and reporting issues.

Jason is also responsible for delivering training to audit team members to support the overall National Employee Benefit Plan Practice. Jason is actively involved with the ongoing process of updating Grant Thornton’s employee benefit plan audit methodology, innovation tools and practice aids, and serves as a program leader and developer for the firm’s nationally developed employee benefit plan training programs. Prior to joining Grant Thornton in 2019, Jason was a Director within a Big Four accounting firm’s National Employee Benefit Plan and Asset and Wealth Management Practices.

Jason has over 20 years of experience leading large employee benefit plan engagement teams. He also has experience performing both peer reviews and internal inspections for other employee benefit plan engagements.

Presented by: Jason Eddy - Managing Director, National Practice Leader - Employee Benefit Plan Practice at Grant Thornton, LLP

Corey Kohnle - Director, Audit at Grant Thornton, LLP

This session will discuss recent audit and accounting standards which impact employee benefit plan audits as well as overall hot topics, common pitfalls and best practices. Also, there will be discussion about relevant tools and resources which can be used to assist in identifying and applying recent guidance.

Credits: 0.6 - Auditing

Credits: 0.6 - Accounting

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Navigating Fiduciary Waters: Key Insights on Governance and Litigation

Ryan Gardner, Managing Partner, Senior Consultant, Fiduciary Investment Advisors

Ryan Gardner

Ryan has been serving defined contribution plan clients for more than 20 years, assisting plan fiduciaries with governance oversight and education, plan design analysis and implementation, fee benchmarking and analysis, vendor search and selection, and performance measurement. Ryan served on the firm’s Defined Contribution Business Council and is the Chair of the Defined Contribution Strategic Oversight Committee. Ryan helped to establish Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC in 2006, which combined with Fiducient Advisors in 2020.

Prior to co-founding the firm, he was with the PRIME Asset Consulting Group at UBS Financial Services Inc. Ryan is a member of the Pension Committee of the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association, which administers the pension plan for professional women tennis players. Ryan is also a member of the Palmetto Society for Human Resource Management in North Charleston, SC. Ryan received his BSBA from the University of Hartford Barney School of Business, where he also served on the Board of Visitors.

In his free time, Ryan enjoys attending sporting events for his kids and spending time with his family at their home in Charleston, SC.

Paige Thompson, Consultant, Fiducient Advisors

Paige Thompson

Paige services institutional clients by providing counsel and guidance on fund menu design, manager selection, vendor due diligence, investment policy statements and performance monitoring. She joined Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC in 2015, which combined with Fiducient Advisors in 2020. She earned her MBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Connecticut and a BA at Fairfield University. Paige serves as Chairwoman of the Salvation Army’s Greater Hartford Advisory Board. Her personal interests include traveling, writing poems, reading and staying active.

Presented by: Ryan Gardner - Managing Partner, Senior Consultant at Fiducient Advisors

Paige Thompson - Consultant at Fiducient Advisors

Ryan and Paige will explore the intricacies of fiduciary governance and the legal landscape surrounding fiduciary duties. This session will cover common breaches of fiduciary duty, such as conflicts of interest and prohibited transactions, and the legal consequences of these breaches. They will also discuss best practices for fiduciaries to mitigate risks and ensure compliance with evolving governance standards. Attendees will leave with actionable insights into maintaining robust fiduciary practices and navigating potential litigation scenarios.

Credits: 1 - Specialized Knowledge

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Peer Review Update: What Peer Reviewers are Looking For (and Finding) in ERISA Audits

Randy Dummer, Owner/Member at HHM CPAs

Randy Dummer

Randy Dummer joined HHM in 2011 as a quality control partner in the Accounting and Assurance Department. He leads the firm in many initiatives including the peer review practice and employee benefit plan audit niche, in addition to providing technical reviews for clients in multiple industries such as auto dealerships, nonprofits, construction and manufacturing.

He is a nationally recognized employee benefit plan audit specialist and leads discussions for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) in this area. His skills as a discussion leader have deemed him an eight-time winner of the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award. His teaching pursuits include instructing the Audits of 401(k) plans webcast since 2014 and teaching various employee benefit plan audit courses since 2006. He serves as the audit partner for audits of 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, ESOPs, Defined Benefit Pension Plans, and Health & Welfare Plans.

As the captain for approximately 50 peer reviews each year, he helps other CPA firms raise the bar of quality for accounting, auditing and attestation services. He has been on the peer review committee of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) since 2013. In addition, he is an approved Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) audit subject matter expert for the AICPA enhanced oversight project.

Presented by: Randy Dummer, CPA - Owner/Member at HHM CPAs

This session will give a brief overview of the peer review process and identify the key areas that peer reviewers are looking for in ERISA audits.  Also covered will be items identified in recent peer reviews in this area.

Credits: 1.2 - Auditing

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Secure Act 2.0: Looking Back at 2024 and Previewing What’s Next

Leslie Whitney, Partner, Senior Consultant, Fiducient Advisors

Leslie Whitney

As a Partner and Senior Consultant in our Maine office, Leslie services institutional clients by providing advice and counsel on all areas of fund oversight including policy, asset allocation, manager research, portfolio structure, portfolio rebalancing, performance monitoring and overall investment policy. She focuses on retirement plans for corporate and nonprofit organizations. Leslie joined Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC in 2014, which combined with Fiducient Advisors in 2020.

Prior to joining the firm, she founded a regional advisory firm providing consulting and advisory services to defined contribution plans and their committees. Leslie earned her BA from the University of Denver. She served on the committee responsible for developing the Financial Literacy Program for United Way of York County, Maine. In her free time, Leslie enjoys skiing, live music and travel.

Presented by: Leslie Whitney - Partner, Senior Consultant at Fiducient Advisors

Leslie will explore the impact of the Act on retirement plan operations for plan sponsors and recordkeepers. This session will cover items in the Act that created change and/or decisions for plan sponsors in 2024, and the most common items on Secure Act 2.0 roadmaps in 2025 and beyond. The discussion will cover certain mandatory provisions of the Act and the optional provisions that interested plan sponsors most. Attendees will leave with an understanding of common changes to retirement plans in 2024 as a result of Secure Act 2.0.

Credits: 1 - Specialized Knowledge

This session is available to registrants only.

General Session

- Legal Update

George Kasper, Partner, Pullman & Comley, LLC

George Kasper

George J. Kasper is a partner in the Labor, Employment Law and Employee Benefits practice where employers and plan fiduciaries seek his counsel on all types of employee benefit plans, including defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) and 403(b) plans, multiemployer plans, medical benefit plans, cafeteria plans, and disability plans.

Pulling from many years of diverse experience, George designs retirement and health care programs to meet the needs of today’s employers and their workforces. He has substantial experience with executive compensation issues and drafts non-qualified deferred compensation plans, supplemental executive retirement plans, severance plans, change-in-control agreements and stock-based compensation plans.

Employers seek George’s advice to work with them to manage the transition of employees and their benefits during and after a merger or acquisition, as well as ERISA issues stemming from investing in and structuring private equity and similar investments. He is sought after for his advice to employers and administrative committees on the fiduciary oversight of ERISA plans, including retirement plan investments, appropriate plan expenses, claims for benefits, self-funded health plans, and other plan administration issues. George has significant experience representing employers on IRS and Department of Labor audits and enforcement actions.

Presented by: George J. Kasper, Esq. - Partner at Pullman & Comley LLC

Session details coming soon!

Credits: 1.2 - Business Law

This session is available to registrants only.

Non-Member Price $439.00

Member Price $314.00