PSNC 2020: Lessons to Improve Plan Committees and Governance

Summer Conley guides companies through the complicated legal landscape surrounding employee benefits. She advises on qualified plan, health and welfare and executive compensation issues related to: Retirement plan committee fiduciary responsibilities, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) correction procedures, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Section 125, Health care reform, Alternative plan investments. Summer helps companies comply with HIPAA privacy regulations and health care reform rules, and she assists plan sponsors and fiduciaries in complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. Summer drafts various plan documents, including summary plan descriptions and employee communications, and she counsels clients on establishing, changing and terminating benefits programs and on entering into benefits services agreements.

As a Principal and Consultant at Innovest, Gordon provides institutional consulting services to committees and boards of retirement plans. With his expertise in retirement plan design and management and in-depth understanding of IRS Code and DOL rules and regulations, his responsibilities include consulting on plan design and features, plan health and retirement readiness, fiduciary responsibilities and protection, plan benchmarking, vendor search analysis, and investment menu design and implementation. Gordon has more than 20 years of retirement plan industry experience. Gordon is a graduate of Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Gordon is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Colorado. Additionally, Gordon has received the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA), Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) and Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) designations from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA). The CPC designation is the highest non-actuarial designation available from ASPPA and requires in-depth understanding of IRS Code and DOL regulations and an extensive working knowledge of plan features and design. CPCs generally work alongside employers to formulate, implement, administer, and maintain qualified retirement plans. Gordon is also an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA). The ERPA designation allows the designee to represent clients before the IRS on certain retirement plan matters. He is a member of ASPPA, the Denver Chapter of the Western Pension and Benefits Conference and a founding Board member of the Colorado Public Plan Coalition.

Cliff serves the Firm as investment consultant, joined the Firm as a partner in 2008, and has been in the financial services industry since 1991. In this role at the Firm, Cliff advises plan sponsors and their committees on capital markets trends, investment policy statement, retirement plan design and governance practices, investment manager searches, investment performance monitoring, and other ERISA compliance issues. Previously he was a Vice President at a national mutual fund company where he provided consulting services to professionals in the financial services industry serving both corporations and individual investors. Advice included 401(k) plan design, development of investment policy statements, and creation of model portfolios using modern portfolio theory. Cliff holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and earned a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Illinois Wesleyan University.