Employee Benefit Plans Conference (VIRTUAL)

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

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

Erin Breit

Erin is a principal at BDO USA and a member of the BDO ERISA Services Practice. She is a member of the AICPA EBP Audit Quality Center Executive Committee and a past member of the AICPA EBP Expert Panel. Erin began her career in public accounting in 2004 and quickly specialized in employee benefit plan audits, including their 401(k), 403(b), ESOP, SEC 11-K reporting, defined benefit, 409A, and defined contribution plans. She works closely with her clients to help them navigate complex issues, including service provider changes, plan mergers, spinoffs, terminations, and plan compliance issues and reporting requirements.

Michael Belonio

Michael is a principal at BDO USA. He is a seasoned public accounting professional with 20 years of experience specializing in financial statement audits for employee benefit plans. His expertise spans multiemployer and single employer plans, including health and welfare, defined benefit, 401(k) and 403(b) plans. He serves as principal serves public traded and privately held plan sponsors. Michael also helps clients resolve complex benefit plan accounting and compliance issues, providing tailored solutions to meet their unique needs.

Michael shares his expertise through speaking engagements at industry conferences and conducts trainings locally and nationally for the firm, helping educate professionals and stay ahead of industry developments.

Stephen Michaels

Stephen has been providing guidance and expertise on retirement plans and personal finances for over 23 years.

Stephen specializes in Fiduciary Liability, Retirement Plans and deferred compensation planning – providing owners, executives, retirement plan sponsors and participants with a personal touch that distinguishes Smith Brothers broad scope of services from direct providers. Stephen assists plan sponsors in assessing their Key Personnel, designing comprehensive retention and succession plans, assessing retirement plan needs, reviewing plan documents, monitoring performance, and consulting on plan sponsor fiduciary responsibilities.

Stephen and his team also work diligently to educate owners and employees, navigating them through the complexities of their compensation packages and retirement plan benefits. Stephen’s consistent and long-term involvement in each phase of the process allows business owners and employees to spend less time worrying about retirement benefits and more time ensuring the success of their business and financial wellbeing.

An avid Soccer Coach, Boy Scout Leader, and competitive Swimmer, Stephen currently lives in Glastonbury, CT with his wife and 4 sons.

David Beck

David Beck is a Senior ERISA consultant for Summit. He has been involved in plan consulting, plan design, and administration of retirement plans for more than 20 years. As a CPA, David spent time in public accounting with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and later with a regional firm responsible for auditing 401(k) plans. Prior to joining Summit, he was a partner with a third-party consulting firm.

A recognized leader in his field, David is known for his strategic insight and deep technical expertise across a wide spectrum of retirement plans, including 401(k), Profit Sharing, 403(b), 457(b), 457(f), Deferred Compensation (409A), SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs. His comprehensive knowledge enables him to tailor plan structures and provisions that align precisely with each client’s goals.

David’s leadership is defined by a client-first philosophy and a passion for delivering results. He thrives on solving complex challenges and is highly regarded for his process-driven approach, meticulous attention to detail, and proactive client engagement. His work often involves managing large, intricate plans and navigating corrections under the IRS’s Employee Plans Correction Resolution System (EPCRS).

Whether collaborating with clients on plan design or leading them through regulatory complexities, David’s expertise and commitment make him an invaluable partner in achieving long-term retirement plan success.

David is an active member of the Connecticut Society of CPA’s Employee Benefits Committee and is a frequent presenter at their annual conference. David is also an active member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and is licensed to represent his clients before the IRS (Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent).

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.

William Gassel

William (Bill) Gassel is a partner and the National Director - Monitoring & Remediation at CohnReznick. Bill focuses on the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of quality management systems. Bill leads all aspects of monitoring for the firm including internal inspection of engagements (in process and completed engagements), external inspections oversight, quality management monitoring, audit quality indicator reporting and monitoring, collective and root cause analysis, and firm continuous improvement initiatives. Bill also facilitates the firm’s risk assessment process which drives the focal points for monitoring.

Bill has over 35 years of public accounting experience and has extensive experience in all aspects of monitoring for public accounting firms including deep expertise in firm level systems of quality management, including ISQM 1, SQMS 1, and QC 1000.

Before joining CohnReznick, Bill was the Ongoing Monitoring Leader for a Big Four firm and the Global Quality Management Monitoring Leader for the network. Bill consulted regularly with the network firms on the design and implementation of quality management systems. Bill also worked at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and was a Deputy Director in the Division of Registration and Inspections. Prior to joining the PCAOB, Bill worked in assurance client service for a Big Four firm.