SPEAKERS
Since 1996 Pension Focus has had the industry's best speakers...
2010 Speaker Bios
James M. Delaplane, Jr.
Partner
Davis & Harman LLP
Washington, DC
Since joining Davis & Harman LLP as a partner in 2002, Mr. Delaplane has represented various financial institutions, employers and public policy organizations on employee benefits, tax and financial services matters before the U.S. Congress and the federal executive branch agencies. A retirement and savings policy specialist, Mr. Delaplane devotes particular time to legislation and regulation affecting defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
Previously, Mr. Delaplane was Vice President, Retirement Policy for the American Benefits Council (ABC), which is the national association representing the employee benefits interests of major U.S. employers. At ABC, Mr. Delaplane oversaw the development of Council policy concerning retirement, equity compensation and investment issues and served as chief lobbyist and media spokesperson.
Mr. Delaplane’s legal and policy work has been widely recognized. He has been named by 401kWire as one of the 100 most influential people in the defined contribution plan industry for three years running (2007, 2008, 2009). In 2002, Business Insurance named him one of 35 "Rising Stars" in the commercial insurance and benefits management industry. In 1998, Pensions & Investments recognized him as one of the "25 People to Watch" in the pension and investment community—the only federal government official among those named.
Mr. Delaplane earned his B.A. and J.D., both cum laude, from Harvard University.
Bradford P. Campbell
Of Counsel
Schiff Hardin LLP
Washington, DC
Bradford P. Campbell is a nationally recognized figure in employer-sponsored retirement, health and other welfare benefit plans. From 2006 to 2009, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits, the head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). As ERISA's former "top cop" and primary federal regulator, Mr. Campbell now provides his clients at Schiff Hardin LLP with insight and knowledge across a broad range of ERISA-plan related issues.
During Mr. Campbell’s tenure, EBSA’s investigations garnered $2.6 billion in monetary results on behalf of plans and participants, and led to the criminal indictments of more than 200 persons for crimes against employee benefit plans. The plans under his agency’s jurisdiction provided benefits to more than 150 million Americans, and held as much as $6 trillion in assets.
While in public service, Mr. Campbell played a key role in every significant ERISA retirement and health plan reform effort of the past ten years, and his regulatory and policy decisions had a fundamental impact on the structure and operation of ERISA plans. Mr. Campbell orchestrated implementation of the most sweeping changes to pension regulations in 30 years, issuing nearly 30 regulations and major guidance documents, including final regulations establishing Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIAs) to facilitate automatic enrollment in defined contribution plans, requiring electronic disclosure of more transparent plan expense and fee information, and improving participant access to professional investment advice.
Mr. Campbell was listed in 401kWire’s “401(k) Industry’s Most Influential” in 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Campbell received his JD, cum laude, from Georgetown, and his AB from Harvard.
James W. Paulsen, Ph.D.
Chief Investment Strategist
Wells Capital Management
San Francisco, CA
Jim Paulsen is the chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management. An investment management industry professional since 1983, Jim develops investment strategies that assist in the management of separate institutional account assets as well as mutual and collective investment funds. He joined Norwest Investment Management, Inc., which later became part of Wells Capital Management, as chief investment officer in January 1997. Previously, he was the senior managing director and chief investment strategist for Investors Management Group in Des Moines, Iowa. Earlier, he was president of SCI Capital Management in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jim is nationally recognized for his views on the economy. BusinessWeek named him Top Economic Forecaster for 2001. BondWeek has twice named him Interest Rate Forecaster of the Year. For more than 25 years, Jim has published his own commentary assessing economic and market trends through his newsletter, Economic and Market Perspective. Money named his newsletter one of “101 Things Every Investor Should Know” in March 2004. He earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Iowa State University.
Eric S. Namee
Member
Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm LLC
Wichita, KS
Mr. Namee’s primary areas of practice include employee benefits, taxation, and tax litigation. He has been with the firm since its founding in 1987 and heads its taxation, employee benefits, and employment law practice group. He has practiced in employee benefit matters for more than 23 years and represented clients before the IRS for more than 25 years. Namee is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a former president of the Kansas Bar Association Tax Section. He is a member of the Gulf Coast IRS TE/GE Employee Benefits Council and the Kansas Society of Certified Public Accountants Tax Cabinet. As director of the Virginia H. Farah Foundation, Namee coordinates grants for charitable projects around the world.
Andrew Zuckerman
Director EP Rulings and Agreements
Internal Revenue Service
Washington, D.C.
Mr. Zuckerman is Director of Rulings and Agreements in IRS Employee Plans. With his selection in October 2006, he brings to his new position a wealth of pension experience. He worked in IRS Employee Plans Technical during the early years after ERISA and then returned to Employee Plans after 19 years as an attorney and consultant in the private sector. While in the private sector he specialized in tax, ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employment tax law. He also served as the Director of TE/GE Federal, State and Local Governments before he went into the IRS Executive Development (XD) program. After graduating from XD, Andy served in IRS Wage & Investment Division as the Field Director for Accounts Management for the IRS Philadelphia Campus, and the Assistant to the Director of Pre-Filing and Technical Guidance in IRS Large & Mid-Size Business Division.
Steve Eischen
Regional Director
Department of Labor/EBSA
Kansas City, Missouri
Steven R. Eischen was appointed as Director of the Kansas City Regional Office of the Department’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) effective June 12, 2004. In that capacity, he is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act as it relates to private sector employee benefit plans in 11 states.
From November 2001, he served as Regional Director of the U. S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration office in Dallas, Texas. There, he supervised the Enron investigation, one of the largest and most significant cases ever undertaken by the agency.
During his long service with EBSA, Mr. Eischen has frequently been called upon for special assignments. For example, he provided technical assistance on enforcement issues to the governments of Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia as those countries worked to establish private pension systems. He also made a presentation on enforcement issues to representatives of 17 countries at a pension reform seminar sponsored by the World Bank in Budapest, Hungary. For six years, he served as a fiduciary law instructor for EBSA’s basic training course for new investigators.
Brian D. Allen, CFP®, QPA
President
Pension Consultants, Inc.
Springfield, Missouri
Brian Allen CFP®, QPA is the chief executive and president of Pension Consultants, Inc. Since founding the firm in 1994, Allen has earned the reputation as a pioneer in the retirement plan industry from plan sponsors. As the chief executive, Allen is responsible for overseeing all activities of the firm, which include ERISA Services, Investment Services, Participant Services and Vendor Services and Operations. Mr. Allen is also the Chairman of the Investment Committee for the firm, which makes co-fiduciary recommendations to the firm’s clients regarding their investments. He is also Chairman of the Board for Pension Focus, a non-profit corporation dedicated to educating retirement plan sponsors. As Vice President of the board for The Kitchen, Inc., a progressive innovator for meeting needs and addressing root cause of poverty and homelessness, Allen serves on the property management committee and the strategic planning committee. Prior to founding Pension Consultants, Inc., Allen provided consultation to institutions and retirement plan sponsors.
Allen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Missouri State University. He is a Certified Financial Planner® and a Qualified Pension Administrator. Under FINRA regulations, he is also the firm’s Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction manager.
