Compliance March 5, 2024

5 New Members Appointed to ERISA Advisory Council

The 15-member panel comes from the retirement and investment industry and advises the Department of Labor on ERISA-related issues.

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The ERISA Advisory Council has appointed five new members to its 15-member council as part of its staggered three-year term cycle.

The council advises the Department of Labor on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The members represent different interest groups and industries related to retirement and investing: three each representing employers, employee organizations and the general public; and one each for accounting, actuarial counseling, corporate trust, insurance, investment counseling and investment management.

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The new members are:

  • Regina T. Jefferson (general public) is a professor of law at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law with more than 30 years of experience teaching ERISA and tax-related courses;
  • Kathleen McBride (investment management) is the founder and president of FiduciaryPath LLC and an accredited investment fiduciary analyst;
  • Anusha Rasalingam (employee organizations) is a partner in Friedman and Anspach, Attorneys at Law and has 20 years of experience in employee benefits law. She advises on health care and retirement benefits issues for single and multiemployer plans and counsels on compliance with multiple areas of ERISA;
  • William E. Ryan III (corporate trust) is the head of defined contribution for investment consultant New England Pension Consultants LLC; and
  • Charles B. Wolf (employers) is a retired shareholder in the law firm Vedder Price PC and teaches employee benefits law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Additionally, current council member Mayoung Nham will become council chair in 2024; she is a principal in the Slevin & Hart law firm. Current member Shaun C. O’Brien will become the vice chair and is a policy director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The new members will be replacing:

  • Megan Broderick (employers), retired, senior director for global retirement plans and financial wellbeing, PepsiCo;
  • Dave Gray (corporate trust), head of workplace retirement platforms, workplace investing, Fidelity Investments;
  • Marcelle J. Henry (employee organizations), partner and chairperson of the ERISA/Employee Benefits Group at Pitta LLP;
  • Mercedes D. Ikard (general public), director of integrated benefits operations, the Walt Disney Co.; and
  • Edward A. Schwartz (investment management), president, Schwartz & Co. in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The council’s first meeting of 2024, which will be open to the public, will take place on May 14.

Deals & People March 5, 2024

Aptia Announces Jeff Williams as US President

Williams will oversee Aptia’s benefits administration services book of business.

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Aptia Group Ltd., a health, benefits and pensions administrator, announced on Tuesday the appointment of Jeff Williams as U.S. president and CEO, based out of Aptia’s U.S. headquarters in Boston.

In the newly created role, Williams will be responsible for Aptia’s benefits administration services book of business and will report directly to Bala Viswanathan, Aptia’s founder and Group CEO.

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Williams previously served as vice president of enterprise and HR solutions at Paychex, an HR and benefits company, a HR and benefits company, where he “drove record revenues in the company’s mid-market line of business and for its global operations centers,” according to Aptia’s announcement.

Prior to Paychex, Williams held positions at Alight Solutions, Aon Hewitt, ADP Inc. and companies acquired by Rogers and Vodafone, leading business growth, operations, sales, marketing and client relationship teams.

 “We are excited to welcome Jeff to Aptia as he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the North American benefits administration industry,” Viswanathan said in a statement. “With his strategic vision and proven track record, we are confident in Jeff’s ability to elevate our capabilities, drive innovation, and deliver exceptional value to our clients, their employees, and their retirees.”

Aptia, launched in January after private equity firm Bain Capital LP backed the acquisition of the U.S. health and benefits administration and U.K. pension administration businesses of Mercer, a subsidiary of Marsh McLennan.

The transaction included more than 3,500 employees across the U.K., U.S., India and Portugal, with 1,100 global clients to support more than 7 million people with health and wealth administration.

In the U.S., Aptia offers administrative services to companies of all sizes, encompassing benefits administration, retiree group benefits administration, retiree individual health insurance solutions, retiree health guidance, dependent eligibility verification, operations support and total rewards statements.

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