2010 Conference Audiocast Schedule

Pension Funding Relief
September 14, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD/EA Core 1.5
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Cosponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries.

Special Registration Rates for This Audiocast
CCA Members - $165*
SOA or Academy Members - $180*

Tonya B. Manning, FCA, FSA, MAAA, EA - Consulting Actuary
Maria M. Sarli, FCA, FSA, MAAA, EA - Towers Watson

PRA 2010 provides welcome funding and benefit restriction relief for sponsors of single employer defined benefit plans. As with any new pension legislation, some aspects appear relatively straight-forward while other provisions raise a plethora of questions to (hopefully) be addressed by future regulatory guidance. Our panel of presenters will first cover the basics of the funding relief options, then move on to address issues related to plans with PPA delayed effective dates, the complexities of the “cash flow rule” that may limit the relief available to certain employers, the impact on certain benefit restrictions and the notification requirements for plan sponsors electing relief. The session concludes with a discussion of the consulting considerations for actuaries working with their clients to evaluate the relief options available to them.

Ellen L. Kleinstuber, FCA, MAAA, EA, ASA, MSPA has over 15 years experience in the pension and actuarial field. Her specific expertise includes ERISA and Internal Revenue Code compliance for single employer plans, Pension Protection Act defined benefit funding and administration issues, retirement plan design and communications, and defined benefit plan terminations. She is also experienced in defined benefit funding and accounting valuations, pension plan administration, nondiscrimination testing and annual compliance filings.

As a member of the ERISA compliance practice, Ellen provides research and consulting support to the actuarial and pension administration outsourcing practices, and assists with the development, review and maintenance of the firm’s standard reports and compliance documents. She is also responsible for the training and continuing education programs for the firm’s professional staff and serves as the editor of the Savitz client newsletter, For Your Benefit.

Ellen is a frequent speaker at the annual Enrolled Actuaries meeting, as well as the annual meetings of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, Society of Actuaries, and the SOA’s Employee Benefits Spring Meeting. She is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Pension Committee and the Pension Section Council of the Society of Actuaries, where she serves as the chairperson of the Pension Section’s Continuing Education Committee. Ellen is also a member of the planning committee for the EB Spring Meeting and a member of the Board of Directors of the ASPPA Benefits Council of the Delaware Valley.

Before joining Savitz in 2009, Ellen was a vice president for a national actuarial consulting firm where she served as a member of the chief actuary’s thought leadership and technical resource group as well as a lead consultant and valuation actuary for a wide variety of clients.

Tonya B. Manning, FSA, MAAA, FCA, EA is a retirement actuary and consultant based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her professional expertise is the modeling, analysis and design of postretirement employee benefits (pensions, health and life insurance).

Ms. Manning has over 20 years of consulting experience in the areas of plan design, governance, compliance and pension risk management for private and public sector employer and employee groups. In addition, she has experience in assisting other actuaries with quality assurance and compliance with actuarial professional standards.

Ms. Manning is active in several professional organizations. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Society of Actuaries, currently serving as Vice President. Prior to that, she was chair of the Society’s Pension Section Council. She is currently a member of the Pension Council and the Volunteer Resource Committee for the American Academy of Actuaries and the Pension Committee for the Actuarial Standards Board. In addition, she is a member of the planning committee for the Enrolled Actuaries Meeting.

A frequent speaker, Ms. Manning has made many presentations regarding pension law at conferences and seminars to both peers and plan sponsors.

Ms. Manning is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary under ERISA, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

Maria M. Sarli, FCA, FSA, MAAA, EA is a consultant in Towers Watson's Atlanta office and a member of Towers Watson’s actuarial leadership team.

Maria serves as Towers Watson’s resource actuary. In this role, she is a national resource for Towers Watson consultants, providing consulting and technical review of client projects, analyzing laws and regulations in coordination with research lawyers, developing research materials, delivering training on a variety of actuarial and regulatory issues, and helping develop and implement standards, practices and systems for Towers Watson’s Retirement line of business.

With over 25 years of consulting experience, she has provided pension, DC, postretirement medical, executive benefits and other related benefit consulting and administration services to a wide range of public companies and professional service organizations, and she has deep expertise in benefit design, compliance, valuation, accounting and administration. She is a frequent speaker at meetings of professional organizations and a member of various professional committees which work with the IRS, PBGC and DOL. She is currently on the Gray/Green/Blue Book Committee, EA Meeting Planning Committee and EA Exam Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining Towers Watson, Maria was a principal with a global HR outsourcing and consulting firm.

Maria holds a B.A. in mathematics from Rutgers University and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an enrolled actuary.

Carol Zimmerman has been working in Employee Plans and Ruling Agreements with the Internal Revenue Service for approximately 5 years, following 25 years of pension consulting with national firms. In her current position, she is involved in a number of activities including reviewing ruling requests, participating in several regulation projects, and assisting practitioners and IRS personnel with technical questions.

Carol currently serves as the Chair of the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She has also been active in the actuarial profession, serving on the Academy of Actuaries’ Pension Committee and speaking frequently at actuarial meetings.

International Issues Subject
October 13, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5 (EA TBA)
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How Have the New ASOPs Changed Your Practice?
November 10, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EST
Credit: CPD/EA Core 1.5
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Rather than walking through the requirements of the Actuarial Standards of Practice (ASOPs) such as 4, 27, 35, 44, etc.; the speakers at this session show how actuarial practice has evolved in response to the ASOPs.

Accounting Hot Topics (Employee Benefit)
December 1, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EST
Credit: CPD 1.5 (EA TBA)
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Qualification Standards and “New” JBEA Regs
December 15, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EST
Credit: CPD/EA Core 1.5
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Presenters:
Jay A. Yager - Hewitt Associates
Patrick McDonough - Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries

A refresher/practicum on the Qualification Standards and a discussion of the JBEA regulations to be effective in January 2011.

Public Plan Issues - Update on GASB Project
February 10, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EST
Credit: CPD/EA Noncore 1.5

Presenters:
Paul Angelo, FSA, FCA, MAAA, EA - The Segal Company
James J. Rizzo, ASA, FCA, MAAA, EA - Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is in the throes of an extensive review of their project to consider the possibility of improvements to the existing standards of accounting and financial reporting for postemployment benefits -- pension and OPEB -- by employers and by the trustees, administrators, or sponsors of pension or OPEB plans. Paul and Jim have attended many recent GASB meetings and hearings and have been principal authors of various comments to the GASB.

William B. (Flick) Fornia is Senior Vice President, human resource consultant and actuary for Aon Consulting, specializing in public sector retirement plans.

Flick has nearly 30 years of actuarial and consulting experience, primarily in the areas of retiree pension and healthcare benefits. He managed the Denver Retirement Practice of a major consulting firm and has served nationally as a Senior Consultant specializing in public pensions. He joined Aon in 2006 as the national public pension resource for Aon, and leads their public pension plan practice.

Flick has expertise in all retirement-related areas, including financing, plan design, bond analysis, asset-liability studies, retiree healthcare and legislative testimony. His career includes serving as corporate actuary for The Boeing Company, and as consultant for numerous multinational corporations in Brazil and Argentina.

He has performed actuarial services for statewide retirement systems in Alaska, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming. Other clients have included the US Department of State, IBM, US WEST and Ford Motor Company.

Flick is an author and frequent speaker at organizations such as the Pension Research Council, the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR), the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA), the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, the Western Pension and Benefits Conference, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, The Conference Board, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), and the Brazilian Association of Pension Plans (ABRAPP). Articles and speeches have addressed all aspects of retirement programs including retiree healthcare plans, and the challenges of public sector defined contribution plans. He co-authored “A Better Bang for the Buck – The Economic Efficiencies of Defined Benefit Plans” with the National Institute of Retirement Security in 2008.

Flick earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at Whitman College. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Enrolled Actuary, Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. He currently serves on the steering committee of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries Public Pensions Subcommittee, and is on the faculty of the Society of Actuaries Fellowship Admissions Course.

James J. Rizzo, ASA, FCA, MAAA, EA is a Senior Consultant and Actuary with Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company --- A national firm specializing in actuarial and benefits consulting for the public sector.

Mr. Rizzo has over 30 years of experience in virtually all aspects of pension, health and retiree medical plans for governmental entities, working directly with elected officials, trustees and directors at both state and local levels.

He has a national reputation as an expert in public sector pension and retiree medical plans. He has written articles and papers and is a frequent speaker at national, state and local conferences.

Mr. Rizzo serves on various national committees of the American Academy of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and has served on three advisory committees to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

He keeps one foot in the world of actuarial and advisory services to pension and OPEB plans, and the other foot in the world of accounting and financial reporting on such plans.

From the beginning, Mr. Rizzo has been intimately involved in the Post-Employment Benefit project currently on GASB’s agenda, including drafting comments, testifying, presenting at a formal Board workshop, and numerous informal discussions with Staff.

The news is full of stories on employers that have frozen their defined benefits plans. Actuaries and other pension professionals are more likely than ever to come into contact with a frozen plan on a regular basis. The presenters on this audiocast address several topics related to frozen plans such as:

Presenters:
Thomas Toale, Assistant Vice President, U.S. Pensions, MetLife

Daniel Ransenberg, FSA, Director, BlackRock Multi-Asset Client Solutions

Thomas Toale, Assistant Vice President, U.S. Pensions, MetLife, has worked with qualified pension plans and institutional annuity products for over 35 years. He joined MetLife in 2008 after nearly 20 years with Aon Investment Consulting, where he was Senior Vice President responsible for AIC's annuity placement practice. In that role he worked as a co-fiduciary with plan sponsors and their counsel, actuaries, and investment consultants to implement annuity arrangements for terminating plans as well as partial (FAS 88) settlements for ongoing plans. He also served as consultant to the independent fiduciary responsible for purchasing termination annuities for defined benefit plans sponsored by several large employers.

Prior to his career at AON, he was in a similar role with Mercer Investment Consulting. Tom began his career in the Group Pension Department of New England Life (now a unit of MetLife). Tom is a frequent speaker at industry seminars and co-author of several articles and white papers covering a range of topics dealing with pension risk solutions.

He received his BA Magna Cum Laude from Boston College and an MBA from Georgia State University. He is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia and the CFA Institute

Daniel Ransenberg, FSA, is a member of the BlackRock Multi-Asset Client Solutions (BMACS).

The BlackRock Multi-Asset Client Solutions (BMACS) group, which is responsible for developing, assembling and managing investment solutions involving multiple strategies and asset classes. Within BMACS, Dan is part of the Client Strategy team where he advises our strategic clients on holistic investment solutions including asset allocation, liability driven investment solutions, and manager structure.

Mr. Ransenberg's service with the firm dates back to 2007, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, he was a member of the Client Advisory Team responsible for analyzing and structuring optimal portfolios of managers and asset classes for clients. Prior to this, he dedicated six years of time consulting with pension plans as an actuary and as an investment consultant in the United States, England, and Germany.

Mr. Ransenberg was qualified as a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in 2006. He earned a BA degree, with honors, in mathematical science from the John Hopkins University in 2000, and an MS degree in financial engineering from the University of California in 2007.

Considerations for an Insurance Consulting Actuary to Apply the ASOPs
April 7, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5

Gary Rose, FSA, MAAA, CLU, Lewis & Ellis, Inc.
Max J. Rudolph, FSA, CFA, CERA, MAAA, Rudolph Financial Consulting, LLC
Russel Sutter, FCAS, MAAA, Towers Watson

Insurance consulting actuaries deal with some professionalism issues that are common to all actuaries and other issues that are related to their work with the insurance industry. This audiocast will attempt to cover the spectrum, with emphasis on those concerns that are unique to insurance consulting actuaries.

The presenters will bring three different perspectives to this broad category of consulting actuaries.

1) The life practice area has many ASOPs that apply to it, and these practices have evolved over time as technology improves, products change, and new tools become available. This section of the audiocast will discuss some practical issues to implementing the standards of practice in today's environment.

2) Professionalism issues related to ratemaking and reserving in the property & casualty area will be discussed, and how the ASOPs come into play in these core actuarial areas. The ASOPs that will be covered are those that directly relate to these areas as well as others that are more general in nature (e.g., data quality and communications).

3) Enterprise risk management is an emerging practice area within the actuarial profession. How do the standards of practice and code of conduct fit into work done in this type of situation? A short case study will expose some of the issues and potential solutions to these questions.

Gary Rose, is President of Lewis & Ellis, Inc. Actuaries & Consultants in their Kansas City office, found online at www.LewisEllis.com. As a life consultant, he has responded to clients' needs for over 30 years. By now he pretty much has seen it all from pricing and projections to acquisitions and valuations. He has provided testimony as an expert witness and learned the differences between statutory and GAAP accounting. Gary is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Chartered Life Underwriter.

Max J. Rudolph, is the founder of Rudolph Financial Consulting, LLC, found online at www.rudolphfinancialconsulting.com. He focuses on risk management tools that help organizations make better decisions. He specializes in using common sense and communicating risk management practices to external stakeholders. Over 25 years of financial modeling expertise have led to best practice strategies related to asset liability management (ALM), enterprise risk management (ERM), liquidity, capital management and emerging risks. Max routinely produces articles and newsletters, along with presentations, covering risk management and investment topics. He has helped small and mid-sized life and health insurers implement an ERM process, reviewing current practices and suggesting ways to meet specific stakeholder needs. A major focus with clients has been to help them communicate current practices to stakeholders such as rating agencies. He has served the actuarial profession through volunteering with the SOA, AAA, and CCA, including the SOA Board of Governors and chair of the ERM Symposium. Max is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, CFA charter holder, Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst, and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Russel Sutter, is a consulting actuary at Towers Watson and a member of the firm's professional standards committee, found online at www.towerswatson.com. His consulting experience has included recommendations of annual funding levels for self-insured entities, analysis of risk financing alternatives for hospital and medical professional liability programs, development of pricing and underwriting strategies for personal lines property/casualty insurance products, valuation of property/casualty insurance agencies for acquisitions, and evaluation of required reserves for all lines of property/casualty insurance. Russ serves on the American Academy of Actuaries Committee on Professional Responsibility. Russ is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He received a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Update on Healthcare Reform Legislation
April 21, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5

Jointly sponsored by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. Cosponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries.

Special Registration Rates for This Audiocast
CCA/SOA/Academy Members - $165*
Non-members - $195*
Group Registration - $330*

This is the first in a series of presentations jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries, and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries on the "new" national healthcare reform legislation. With bills passed by congress and signed by the President, this series provides a discussion of the key initiatives and impact on all stakeholders. Topics may include:

Presenters:
Frank McArdle - Hewitt Associates LLC
Karl Madrecki - Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association

He chaired the 2000 Technical Review Panel of three actuaries and three economists appointed by the Medicare Board of Trustees to review the financial methods and assumptions of the Medicare program. Dale has testified before Congress on the topic of health care and Medicare reform. Dale was one of four senior health actuaries who reviewed the Administration’s pricing of the Health Security Act premium estimates for the American Academy of Actuaries. He served on the Board of Governors of the Society of Actuaries (2000-2005) and the Board of Directors of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries (1999-2005 and 2006-present). Dale has also published several articles on the subject of group benefits, including a textbook (Fundamentals of Retiree Group Benefits), and has delivered speeches at a number of professional actuarial and industry meetings.

Dale is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and an Enrolled Actuary under ERISA. He holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Nebraska.

Frank McArdle is a Principal and manages the Washington, D.C. Research Office of Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services firm. Frank consults with large employers on issues and developments in public policy and in the marketplace that directly or indirectly influence the design, costs and administration of their benefit programs. In particular, Frank has been intensely focused on health care reform policies and their potential impact on employer plans and the overall market, working actively with policymakers as needed

Prior to joining Hewitt, Frank was Director of Education and Communications at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Preceding that position, Frank was a professional staff member at the U.S. Senate, Special Committee on Aging. Previously, he held several positions with the U.S. Social Security Administration, among them, as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Social Security.

Frank is a lead author of two recent reports on health reform for the influential Business Roundtable, published in the latter half of 2009. He is also the lead author of eight reports for The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation on trends in retiree health benefits and their interactions with potential Medicare and other health reforms. He has had many of his articles and papers published in Health Affairs and elsewhere and he serves as a Hewitt resource for the media.

Frank was invited to attend the June 2008 Senate Finance Committee Health Reform Summit, and has been an appointee to the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education and participates on the Coordinating Committee of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Medicare Education Program. He has ongoing discussions with congressional and administration staff and has been invited to testify before key congressional committees and the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. Frank was a congressionally appointed delegate to the 2002 National Summit on Retirement Savings and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, and received his B.A. Summa cum Laude from Fordham University. Frank was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar.

Karl Madrecki is a Senior Actuary at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. His experience has included a diversity of operating, actuarial, marketing, and management responsibilities in the health insurance industry. In his current role, Karl interacts with the 39 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans that collectively provide healthcare coverage for almost 100 million members in the United States.

Karl is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Karl is currently serving on the Academy Health Practice Council, Federal Health Committee, and Regulatory Capital Requirements/Solvency Task Force. He has previously served on the Academy Board of Directors.

Healthcare Reform Legislation – Medicare Topics
May 12, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5

Jointly sponsored by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. Cosponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries.

Presenters:
Paul I. Spitalnic - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Stuart H. Alden - Towers Watson

This is the second in a series of presentations jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries, and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries on the "new" national healthcare reform legislation. The series provides an in depth discussion of the key initiatives and impact of the Act on all stakeholders. This second presentation focuses on Medicare issues that may include:

Dale H. Yamamoto, is the founder and President of Red Quill Consulting, Inc. He has over 30 years of professional actuarial and consulting experience and has been the national health actuarial resource for two major consulting firms (Hewitt Associates and Towers Perrin). Dale has also held positions as the corporate actuary for a Fortune 50 company and as an actuary for two major insurance companies.

He chaired the 2000 Technical Review Panel of three actuaries and three economists appointed by the Medicare Board of Trustees to review the financial methods and assumptions of the Medicare program. Dale has testified before Congress on the topic of health care and Medicare reform. Dale was one of four senior health actuaries who reviewed the Administration’s pricing of the Health Security Act premium estimates for the American Academy of Actuaries. He served on the Board of Governors of the Society of Actuaries (2000-2005) and the Board of Directors of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries (1999-2005 and 2006-present). Dale has also published several articles on the subject of group benefits, including a textbook (Fundamentals of Retiree Group Benefits), and has delivered speeches at a number of professional actuarial and industry meetings.

Dale is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and an Enrolled Actuary under ERISA. He holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Nebraska.

Stuart H. Alden, FSA, MAAA, FCA is a senior consultant and actuary in the Philadelphia office of Towers Watson. He has over 25 years of experience consulting to large employers, and he specializes in the design, pricing, accounting and funding of health, life, and disability plans. In addition to his client work, Stu leads a group of senior actuaries within the Health and Group Benefits (HGB) practice of Towers Watson; this group is responsible for actuarial hiring, training and professional development, production of intellectual capital, technical support, adherence to actuarial policies and guidelines, and interfacing with other organizations on actuarial matters.

Stu is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Fellow and past Director of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and past president of the Actuaries’ Club of Philadelphia. He holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.A. from the University of Michigan.

Paul I. Spitalnic is the Director of the Parts C & D Actuarial Group in the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. His group is responsible for the review and audit of Part C (Medicare Advantage, or MA) and Part D (prescription drug) plan bid pricing submission forms. In addition, PCDAG performs actuarial evaluations, analyses and projections of program expenditures under current law and under proposed modifications to these laws as well developing the Medicare Advantage payment ratebook. He has 7 years of actuarial service with CMS including leading the actuarial efforts for implementing the new Part D program. Prior to joining CMS, he worked as a consulting actuary for ten years focusing on retiree health insurance issues. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and has a B.A. in Mathematics from Binghamton University.

Healthcare Reform Legislation – Insurance Market Reforms
May 19, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5

Jointly sponsored by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. Cosponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries.

Presenters:
William R. Lane – Heartland Actuarial Consulting, LLC
George B. Wagoner - Mercer

This is the third in a series of presentations jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries, and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries on the "new" national healthcare reform legislation. The series provides an in depth discussion of the key initiatives and impact of the Act on all stakeholders. This third presentation focuses on the impact of health care reform on health plans and on active employer plans and what health plans should be doing now in order to best position themselves for the challenges ahead. Specific issues may include:

William R. Lane, FSA (1978), MAAA (1980) founded Heartland Actuarial Consulting, LLC in 1997 and continues to serve as its Principal. Prior to 1997, Bill served as the chief Group Actuary for four different companies. Bill works with the complete spectrum of medical products in all phases of pricing, underwriting, experience analysis, product development and market strategy.

Bill was Chair of the Health Section Council of the Society of Actuaries in 2007. He has also chaired the Continuing Education team for the SOA Health Section and the SOA Health Research Committee for a number of years. He served on the Health Benefit Systems Practice Advancement Committee for ten years, and has written a number of articles on pricing medical insurance for the Health Section newsletter.

George B. Wagoner is a Partner in the Richmond Office and the Chief Actuary of Mercer’s National Health & Benefits practice. He works with clients nationwide in employee benefits and human resources strategic planning, managed care, consumer directed health care, long-term care, disability, dental, prescription drug, vision and life coverages.

Before joining Mercer in 1985, George worked for a regional insurance company and a major non-profit health insurance company as a chief group actuary. George has over 30 years of experience in the group life and health actuarial field. On both a company- and industry-wide basis, he has served on task forces dealing with health care and group benefit issues such as managed care, consumer directed health care, postretirement medical and life, health care data analysis, health care strategy and health care reform. George has authored numerous articles and is a frequent speaker regarding a wide range of health and welfare topics.

George received his BS degree in mathematics from Davidson College. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. George is a member of the board of directors of The Health Project, which presents the C. Everett Koop National Health Awards honoring cost-effective health promotion and disease prevention programs.

Healthcare Reform Legislation – Other Perspectives
June 2, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: CPD 1.5

Jointly sponsored by the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. Cosponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries.

This is the fourth in a series of presentations jointly sponsored by the Society of Actuaries, and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and co-sponsored by the American Academy of Actuaries on the "new" national healthcare reform legislation. With healthcare reform legislation passed by congress and signed by the President, this series provides a discussion of the key initiatives and impact on all stakeholders. The fourth presentation addresses other perspectives on healthcare reform. Topics may include:

The impact of health care reform on states’ Medicaid and CHIP programs related to changes:

Changes in how the other markets (individual, small, large group) are impacted by the changes in the Medicaid and CHIP markets.

Michelle L. Raleigh is a Managing Member and Senior Actuary at schramm•raleigh Health Strategy (srHS), a consulting firm established to assist publicly-sponsored health and welfare purchasers understand, quantify, and develop strategies to manage the development, risk, financing, implementation, and monitoring of their insurance programs. Michelle has spent 20 years as a consulting health care actuary working with employer groups and public programs (Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)). Over the last several years, Michelle has concentrated in areas to reform health care by improving the way it is delivered, monitored, and reimbursed.

Mrs. Raleigh is an Associate in the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Fellow in the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and a Member of the Uninsured Work Group of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Mrs. Raleigh is also a published author and speaker on capitation rate development, the uninsured/underinsured, and health care reform initiatives. Mrs. Raleigh received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus in actuarial science and risk management/insurance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Will Fox is a principal and consulting actuary with the Seattle office of Milliman. Mr. Fox focuses on improving the provider contracting analytics for both insurers and hospitals. Will developed the HECS^TM (Hospital Evaluation and Comparison System) so that clients can create their own reports to benchmark their contracts on a case mix and severity adjusted basis and benchmark the results vs. operating costs and Medicare allowables. Will believes that insurers and hospitals can work together to reduce the cost of healthcare. He has authored several research reports on provider contracting and is a frequent speaker on the subject for a variety of organizations.

In addition, Will has significant experience and proficiency in medical underwriting, rate setting and underwriting process improvement. Will developed the RenewalMUGs software to help health plans improve their renewal underwriting process and has worked with many clients to automate some or all of the underwriting process.

Mr. Fox is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and worked for a major insurance company prior to joining Milliman in 1992. He received his BS, with honors, in Mathematical Sciences from Oregon State University.

Derek Guyton is a Partner in Mercer Health & Benefits’ Chicago office. With 30 years in the health and welfare field, his experience includes product design and development, pricing, experience monitoring, actuarial valuations, financial statement analysis, forecasting and expense controls.

Before joining Mercer, Derek was an actuary and manager in the group pricing department of a large insurance company, involved with experience analysis and rating procedures. Derek graduated cum laude from Drake University with a degree in actuarial science. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.

PPA Updates: PPA Today, Where it's Headed and How it Relates
June 16, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Credit: EA Core 1.5, CPD 1.5

Eric A. Keener, MAAA, FSA, EA, Hewitt Associates LLC
Susan L. Breen-Held, EA, CPC, MAAA, Principal Financial Group

A look on where PPA is today, what we have learned and where it appears to be headed and how it relates to how pension actuaries’ work is changing. We’ll try to answer some “unanswered questions.”

Eric A. Keener, FSA, EA, MAAA is a Principal and Consulting Actuary in Hewitt Associates' Retirement Consulting practice. Located in Hewitt's Norwalk, Connecticut office, he consults with clients on a broad range of issues related to the design, financing, and administration of defined benefit, defined contribution, and postretirement welfare plans. In addition, he is a member of Hewitt's National Resource Actuary group, responsible for developing internal continuing education content and serving as a technical resource for other consultants on complex issues related to the accounting and funding of employee benefit plans.

Eric has been a speaker at numerous professional society meetings and other forums. He is a member of the Blue, Gray, and Green Book Committee for the annual Enrolled Actuaries Meeting, a member of the Society of Actuaries' Pension Section Council and Pension Section Research Committee, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries' Pension Accounting Committee.

Susan L. Breen-Held, EA, CPC, MAAA is a Consulting Actuary in Principal Financial Group’s Retirement Actuarial Consulting practice. Located in the Des Moines, Iowa office, she consults with clients on a range of issues related to the design and funding of defined benefit plans. As Principal’s research actuary for qualified DB plan issues, she develops continuing education content and anchors workgroups that develop new tools, processes and consulting communications for Principal’s actuarial and administrative staff and clients. She is also heavily involved in supporting Principal’s legislative efforts in Washington, through review, modeling, and lobbying for pension proposals.

Sue has been a speaker at numerous professional society meetings and client forums. She is also a regular contributor to Principal’s client magazine, Benefit Edge. A member of the Enrolled Actuaries Meeting Committee, she will serve as Vice-Chair for the 2011 meeting, and is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

Did you know when actuaries need help with thorny professional problems, they can ask an ABCD member for informal advice? In addition to considering cases involving possible violations of the Code of Professional Conduct, the ABCD provides guidance to actuaries who ask for help in interpreting the Code and/or actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs). During this 75 minute audiocast, ABCD members discuss the Request for Guidance (“RFG”) process and respond to a series of simulated RFG’s.

John W. Robinson FSA, FCA, MAAA is currently Chief Actuary for the Capital Region BOCES in Albany, NY. In this capacity, he provides post-retirement medical valuations to school districts throughout the state of New York. He started his actuarial career with the actuarial consulting firm R. Watson & Sons in Kingston, Jamaica, where he spent three years and earned his ASA. This was followed by 23 years in life insurance financial reporting at Nationwide Financial in Columbus, OH, F&G Life in Baltimore, MD, Loyal American Life in Mobile, AL and Hartford Life in Simsbury, CT.

John regularly volunteers to grade exams for the Society of Actuaries, and was a contributing author to the first edition of the Society’s FAP modules. He currently serves as president of the International Association of Black Actuaries.

He holds a B.Sc. (Special) in Mathematics from the University of the West Indies and a M.S. in Statistics from Florida State University.

Robert J. Rietz recently retired from being a Director in the Detroit office of Deloitte Consulting LLP, and led the Total Rewards practice in Deloitte’s North Central region. He was their Chief Pension Actuary from 2006 to 2009, and has over 30 years of experience in the employee benefits consulting arena. He was the General Director of Rewards for a large health insurance company for three years.

Mr. Rietz is a member of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline, a former President of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a former Vice President of Professionalism for the American Academy of Actuaries, and was appointed by Governor John Engler to serve as the public representative on the board of the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement system, serving from 1995 to 2001.

Mr. Rietz was awarded the John Hanson prize in 1998 for the best paper on employee benefits, and is an occasional contributor to Contingencies magazine. He is a frequent speaker at annual meetings of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Enrolled Actuaries meeting on topics such as professionalism, communications and accounting for pension and retiree medical plans.

He is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries and is an Enrolled Actuary.

Mr. Rietz is a graduate of Michigan State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.

Carol R. Sears, FSPA, MAAA, FCA, CPC, EA is a Principal of Actuarial Consulting Group, Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm. Ms. Sears has over thirty years of experience in the employee benefits consulting field. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Actuarial Science and Finance. Ms. Sears is a Fellow of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, a Fellow in the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Certified Pension Consultant and an Enrolled Actuary.

Ms. Sears has previously served as the President and Vice President of the American Society of Pension Actuaries (ASPPA), and as ASPPA’s Technical Education Consultant. She served on the Education and Examination Committee for 12 years, most notably as the General Chair. Ms. Sears served as a member of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Board of Directors. She was also a member of the Advisory Committee for The Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries of the United States Department of Labor and The United States Department of Treasury for several years.

Ms. Sears is the current chair of the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD). The ABCD was formed to serve the five US-based organizations representing actuaries to consider complaints and questions concerning possible violations of the Actuarial Codes of Professional Conduct.

Ms. Sears is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA). The mission of the Conference is “The Conference – Where leading consultants collectively advance actuarial practice”. She serves as chair of the Benefits Task Force which recently analyzed and redesigned staff benefits programs.

Ms. Sears is a frequent local and national speaker on topics relative to retirement plans and other employee benefit programs. She has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee about the pension industry. She was a speaker at the National Women’s Small Business Summit, chaired by six U.S. Senators, discussing pension and retirement issues. ASPPA selected Ms. Sears as the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Educator’s Award, in recognition of her leadership and outstanding contributions to educating the retirement industry.

GASB Preliminary Views - Advanced Topics
August 25, 2010
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT

Presenters:
Paul Angelo, FSA, FCA, MAAA, EA - The Segal Company
James J. Rizzo, ASA, FCA, MAAA, EA - Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board's "Preliminary Views (PV)" is in a crucial stage in their comprehensive review of pension and OPEB accounting and financial reporting standards for public employers and systems. Since the PV document was issued in June there has been a considerable amount of work by the CCA's Public Plans Committee and other groups developing and evaluating possible responses to the GASB PV. This presentation is an advanced discussion of those alternatives, targeted toward individuals and organizations considering responding to the PV.

Topics will include the following, identifying the open issues and possible responses:

Overview of GASB's Preliminary Views document
Cost of services: funding vs. accounting
Pension liabilities on the Balance Sheet
Measurement Issues: projections, discount rate, cost method
Pension expense for liability changes: amendments, gain/loss, assumption changes
Pension expense for asset changes: smoothing and corridors
New rules for Cost Sharing employers
Frequency and Timing of Measurements
Submitting comments and next steps.

William B. (Flick) Fornia is Senior Vice President, human resource consultant and actuary for Aon Consulting, specializing in public sector retirement plans.

Paul Angelo, FSA, MAAA, FCA, EA joined The Segal Company’s San Francisco office in 1998 as a Vice President and Actuary. He was promoted to a Senior Vice President in 2006.

Mr. Angelo currently serves as valuation actuary for fourteen major California county and city retirement systems and associations, as well as the University of California Retirement Systems. His assignments for these systems have included DROP valuations, funding policy design and review, pension obligation bond issues, and consulting to bargaining parties on benefit design. Most recently Mr. Angelo has completed a variety of studies of contribution volatility management following the recent market turmoil.

In 2007 Mr. Angelo served as a staff consulting actuary to the California Public Employee Post Employment Benefits Commission. Mr. Angelo is currently a member of the GASB Postemployment Accounting and Financial Reporting Project Task Force and of the California Actuarial Advisory Panel.

In addition to his consulting activities, Mr. Angelo is also active in national actuarial organizations. He is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries Pension Committee, and has served as chair of its Public Plans Subcommittee. He currently serves as founding chair of the Public Plans Committee of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. He is the past chair of the Pension Section Council of the Society of Actuaries and recently concluded his service on the program committee for the annual Enrolled Actuaries Meeting in Washington, D. C.

Mr. Angelo is an active speaker on retirement topics. He has made frequent presentations to California’s statewide retirement associations (SACRS and CALAPRS), the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA), NASRA and NCTR. Recent presentation topics include Liability Driven Investing, asset smoothing methods, the GASB’s Postemployment Benefits project and the ongoing debate regarding financial economics and public sector plans. Since its inception, Mr. Angelo has participated as faculty in the new trustees' course presented by CALAPRS at Stanford University.

Mr. Angelo is also a frequent speaker on public pension topics and financial economics at conferences sponsored by the at the American Academy of Actuaries, the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries.

Mr. Angelo has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame, and an Master of Arts degree in Mathematics from Harvard University. He also holds a Master of Actuarial Science degree from the University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration.

Mr. Angelo is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and an ERISA Enrolled Actuary.