An entrepreneur to the core, Vince founded 401(k) Advisors in 2000, after 20 years of successful ventures in the 401(k) and employee benefits industry. The company has since grown to one of the leading retirement consulting and advisory organizations in the U.S., with billions in assets under advisement.
In 2004, he also founded 401(k) Producer Services, an outsource practice management platform for other 401(k) advisory firms. In 2008, Producer Services rebranded to Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG), which today represents the largest practice management platform in the U.S. for qualified and non-qualified advisors. Vince has authored a number of articles and is a frequent speaker at industry events.
Nick leads the 401(k) Advisors team in relationship management and business development. He manages execution of best practices to better serve plan sponsors and participants, and sets consultant standards for mid-sized to large plans. He also manages 401(k) Advisors’ sister company, Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG), which enables advisors to leverage its practice platform to grow their companies.
Before joining 401(k) Advisors in 2004, Nick built a decade-long track record in the qualified plan industry—notably, as Regional Vice President for one of the largest retirement plan service providers in the United States. A frequent speaker, Nick often addresses trade conferences including the Association of Independent Financial Analysts, Center For Due Diligence, Mid-Sized Pension Management and the Society of Human Resource Management. He has been quoted in PLANSPONSOR.com and Investment News.
An accomplished executive with 20 years’ experience in the employee benefits field, Jami manages the firm’s internal systems, technology infrastructure, human resources and, importantly, financial results. With 401(k) Advisors since its inception, Jami has developed the firm’s service processes from the ground up. In addition, Jami has managed several intensive technology enhancements to the firm’s ScorecardSM System and e401k ProposalTM System. Prior to her time with 401(k) Advisors, Jami worked at The Principal Financial Group.
Jeff joined the company in 2003 and leads the investment department with a focus on manager research/analysis and asset allocation. He developed the proprietary quantitative and qualitative ScorecardSM System for the company, offering fiduciaries a documented process in achieving their fiduciary duties while allowing enhanced investment opportunities for participants. Jeff is a veteran in institutional investments, ten years of which were spent at Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and Trust Company of the West (TCW). He is a CFA charterholder and has served as former president and active member of the CFA Society of Orange County.
Veronica, with more than fifteen years industry experience, manages client service, plan consulting, conversion and participant education/advice departments. She works closely with clients in plan design, investment due diligence and fiduciary Best Practices. In 2007 Veronica was named among Institutional Investors’ prestigious “Top 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisors” under the age of 40. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors in 2000, she served with Great-West Retirement Services.
Joel Shapiro is Vice President of ERISA Compliance. A formerly practicing ERISA attorney, Joel is charged with assisting plan sponsor clients with technical issues such as legislative, regulatory and plan document interpretation, governmental compliance and fiduciary responsibilities. Joel came to 401(k) Advisors in February 2006 from Hewitt Associates with over 10 years of technical experience related to 401(k) plans and ERISA issues. Prior to this he practiced law with the law firm Fennemore Craig, P.C. in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2008 Joel was named among Institutional Investors’ prestigious “Top 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisors” highlighting the nation’s top advisors under the age of 40. Joel is a frequent speaker at industry events and often hosts webinars to offer his pragmatic perspective to complex compliance subject matter.
Preston Barnes is a Plan Consultant. Preston joined 401(k) Advisors in 2006. In his current capacity, Preston delivers investment reviews and plan design analyses to help ensure ongoing best practices. His ability to explain complex retirement and investment subject matter to plan sponsors and to participants of various levels of comprehension has proven critical to the 401(k) plan’s success. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors Preston worked as a plan consultant with AUL One America. Prior to this he worked as an education specialist at Diversified Investment Advisors.
Jeff Cullen is Managing Director-Chicago. He is a specialist in investment due diligence processes and fiduciary best practices, with deep experience in delivering customized employee education services to help promote more positive retirement outcomes. Prior to founding Cullen Financial Group in 2001, Jeff worked for several years in the field of human resources and payroll outsourcing. He earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from The Center for Fiduciary Studies and has passed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Exam.
Craig Dewey is Managing Director. Craig joined 401(k) Advisors in 2007 bringing with him over 30 years of experience in the retirement plan industry. He currently represents our Mid-Atlantic office located in Williamsburg, Virginia. Craig holds his Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies and is a member of the American Society of Pension Professional Actuaries (ASPPA).
Bret Dudl is a Senior Plan Consultant. His primary responsibilities include developing the firm’s diverse client base while delivering consulting service in the areas of investment due diligence, fiduciary compliance and plan design. Bret brings to the position over a decade of experience in the retirement planning arena, most recently serving as the Vice President of Retirement Plans for Intercare Insurance Solutions in San Diego. Earlier in his career, he worked for Lincoln Financial Advisors as the Managing Director of Retirement Plans. He has earned his Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies.
Steven Faggiolly is a Senior Plan Consultant in the San Francisco office. Steven joined 401(k) Advisors in 2011 and has over a decade of retirement plan industry experience. With a profound understanding of plan sponsor fiduciary responsibility, Steven helps clients with retirement plan consultation, portfolio strategy, management and design. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors, Steven was a founding partner at Ascent Wealth Management Group, LLC in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Michael E. Falcone is Senior Plan Consultant and Director of the Eastern Region From his office in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Mike consults to plan sponsors and participants with an emphasis on mid-sized plans. He joined 401(k) Advisors in 2007 with 25 years of in-depth experience in qualified plan design, administration, funding and participant communication. A former retirement consultant for Aon Consulting, Mike is also an accomplished trainer and popular speaker; he leads the full-day tutorials on Fiduciary Best Practices for the company.
Neil Garrett is Managing Director. Neil has over 18 years experience in the retirement plan industry. Most recently, he served as a Principal with HRH Retirement Plan Consulting where he was responsible for overseeing vendor searches and relationship management. Prior to this he worked in Atlanta Georgia at INVESCO for seven years as an account and project manager. With proven experience on the consulting and provider side of the retirement plan business, Neil brings with him an intense passion for the industry and client relationship management.
Greg Gaynier is a Managing Director for the South/Central Texas region. In this capacity Greg delivers investment consulting services and support to existing plan sponsor clients while advocating ongoing fiduciary best practices. He started in the investment business in the early 80s, spending time at both Merrill Lynch and Dean Witter (now Morgan Stanley). He then worked as a retirement plan wholesaler for more than a decade, including posts with John Hancock (at the time, Manulife) and The Standard. In 2005, Gaynier crossed over to consulting, starting his own firm, Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC, before joining 401(k) Advisors in 2011.
Austin Gwilliam is a bi-lingual Senior Plan Consultant. Austin joined the firm in 2005 and is responsible for delivering an enhanced “participant experience” through comprehensive and meaningful education and advice strategies. Additionally, he consults plan sponsors regarding ongoing best practices and fiduciary investment reviews. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors Austin worked as a Retirement Services Representative at Securian and an Enrollment Specialist for Pan-American. Austin is fluent in the Spanish language both written and verbal.
Susann Haas is a Senior Plan Consultant. She has 20 years experience in working with qualified plans. With the firm since 2001, Susann provides ongoing service to clients and counsels them on developing and maintaining effective due diligence practices, meeting their fiduciary requirements and consulting on plan design and compliance issues. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors, Susann served as an account manager with Transamerica servicing the Orange County and San Diego areas. Previous to working at Transamerica, Susann spent her time at CNA Trust as a Pension Administrator.
Todd Hoppock is a Senior Plan Consultant. Todd has over 15 years experience in the qualified retirement plan industry. He joined 401(k) Advisors in 2005 as a Senior Plan Consultant. In this capacity, Todd specializes in implementing and maintaining Investment Due Diligence processes as well as consulting on plan design and Fiduciary Best Practices. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors, he served as a Senior Account Executive at Diversified Investment Advisors specializing in servicing plans with $75 million to $500 million in assets. He has an extensive background in working with large employee populations, as well as working with clients who use multiple plans. Todd has worked in a similar capacity with Scudder Investments and T. Rowe Price during his career.
Jason Jeskey, a former practicing ERISA attorney, joined 401(k) Advisors in 2011 as a Senior Plan Consultant and ERISA Specialist. In this capacity, Jason is responsible for servicing clients and providing technical expertise related to plan design, legislative and regulatory issues and other fiduciary matters. Jason brings to the position a diverse background in ERISA law, serving most recently as an associate attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck in their Las Vegas office. As an associate at Brownstein, Jason represented various multiemployer Taft Hartley trust funds and governmental trusteed plans in employee benefit matters including qualified and tax exempt retirement plans (both defined benefit and defined contribution plans). Prior to this he practiced law with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, located in Washington D.C.
John Livingston is Senior Plan Consultant for 401(k) Advisors Southcentral office located in Dallas, Texas. He is responsible for developing new relationships for 401(k) Advisors and delivering strategic retirement plan consulting services to new and existing clients in the areas of investment due diligence, plan design, plan management and employee communications. John joined 401(k) Advisors in 2009, bringing with him 20-years of experience. Prior posts include a Principal with Mercer, a global leader in benefits consulting and outsourcing, and a Vice President with Diversified Investment Advisors, a national plan service provider.
Todd Lohman is Managing Director. Representing the Midwest Region, Todd joined 401(k) Advisors in 2007 bringing with him over 18 years of industry experience in sales, marketing, consulting and client relationship management. His primary responsibility is developing new relationships for retirement plan business. Todd is located in Des Moines, IA.
Michael T. McGuire is Director of Client Planning Services. Michael is a key member of the client service team with special focus on building high-trust relationships with national institutional and private plan sponsors with plans valued at a billion dollars in assets. He works closely with senior management to ensure consistent client satisfaction in design, investment and administration of qualified retirement plans. Mike joined 401(k) Advisors in 2004, having worked with The Principal Financial Group, Minnesota Mutual and Pan American Life in his 20-year career.
Ryan Marayag is a Financial Consultant. With the firm since 2007, Ryan is responsible for assisting plan participants in creating a healthy financial picture. Leading the growth and development of the firm’s burgeoning financial consulting team, Ryan brings deeper value to plan sponsor relationships as an additional, and key, resource to further enhancing the participant experience. Ryan previously worked for CalNational as a Senior Investment Specialist and then joined New York Life (NYLIFE Securities) where he and his business partner formed RGL Group, Insurance and Financial Services (RGL).
Dan Mullarkey is Director of Investment Research. His quantitative and qualitative analysis helps plan sponsors meet their fiduciary obligation while enhancing investment opportunities for participants. Dan was instrumental in the development and release of the Asset Allocation scoring system as well as the Specialty Funds analysis (using the Scorecard System). Dan joined the firm in 2005 with prior experience at Trust Company of the West (TCW), which included investment research, portfolio analysis and asset allocation work in the high net worth investment management industry.
Jeremy Pomer is a Plan Consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area office. He is a Chartered Retirement Plan SpecialistTM, with almost a decade of experience in the retirement plan Industry. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors he worked for one of the largest 401(k) recordkeepers in the country, as well as a retirement plan consultant for Ascent Wealth Management Group, LLC. Jeremy specializes in 401(k) plan reviews, including total cost analysis, fee and performance benchmarking, as well as Fiduciary Due Diligence. He has passed the CFP Certification Examination and currently maintains the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist (CRPS) designation.
Kyle Posvistak is Investment Advisor Representative. Kyle joined the firm in 2007 to assist the RFP/Benchmarking team, conducting DC searches from $1 million to $900 million in plan assets. Today, Kyle is charged with prospecting and tradeshow coordination, and generating leads via direct marketing and other strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the firm, Kyle worked for A. G. Edwards and assisted in the management of their internship program, as well as prospecting for the firm’s fourteen annual 401(k) conferences.
Paul Powell is Managing Director for the Southeastern Region. Paul joined 401(k) Advisors in 2006 bringing with him over 10 years of industry experience. Paul earned his Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies of Pittsburg in 2003, the first year of its availability. Paul is located in our Dothan, Alabama office. Paul earned the Plan Sponsor Retirement Professional (PRP) designation from the Plan Sponsor Institute and the Professional Plan Consultant (PPC) from Financial Service Standards.
David Rinehart is a Plan Consultant, dedicated to providing investment due diligence and fiduciary plan review services to the firm’s East Coast clientele. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with nearly fourteen years experience in portfolio management, client service and investment consulting. David joined the firm in 2011 and had previously worked as an investment analyst for a registered investment advisory firm, as well as spending several years as a research analyst focusing on attribution analysis and manager searches. At the start of his career he worked at Legg Mason as an account specialist.
Brian Roberts works as a Director for the Mid-Atlantic regional office, serving plan sponsors and participants to help ensure successful retirement outcomes. He brings to the position nearly 25 years of industry-related experience, including a combined 17 years at American Funds with both the corporate retirement sales and investment research divisions. Earlier in his career he spent time at Merrill Lynch as a retirement consultant and analyst. Brian is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
John L. Scott is Managing Director. Representing our Scottsdale, Arizona office John joined 401(k) Advisors in 2007 with almost three decades of experience providing mission critical solutions to fulfill the 401(k) development and servicing needs of plan sponsors. He has earned his Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies as well as the PRP (PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional) designation from Plan Sponsor.
Phillip Senderowitz is senior plan consultant and heads up the firm’s Florida office, where he services both new and existing clients with focus on fiduciary best practices, investment due diligence reviews and vendor benchmarking. With more than a decade of industry experience, Phillip has served as chief investment officer for Chepenik Financial, private advisor at SunTrust Bank and team manager at Charles Schwab. Phillip is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Financial Planner Practitioner (CFP), and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF). He is a strong adherent to the guidelines of the Center for Fiduciary Studies; a regular speaker at industry conferences, and actively serves on the board of several community organizations.
John Spach is the Managing Director for the Los Angeles office. John’s responsibilities include sales, marketing, consulting and servicing qualified retirement plans. He joined 401(k) Advisors in February 2007 bringing with him over 12 years of industry experience. John maintains an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Auditor (AIFA) credential from the Center for Fiduciary Studies of Pittsburgh.
David W. Stecher is the National Practice Leader—Executive Benefits Consulting. His focus is to drive efficiencies for both non-qualified plan sponsors and participants in four key areas 1) best practices in plan design, 2) plan funding, cost controls and value generation, 3) education and communication and 4) fluid integration across the administrative platform. Before joining the firm in 2010, Dave served as Executive Vice President for Retirement Capital Group, tax and auditing accountant for KPMG, EVP and head of West Coast operations for AXA Advisors’ Executive Benefits Group, specializing in mid-sized companies.
Orlando Torres is an Employee Communication Specialist. Orlando joined 401(k) Advisors in 2007 and conducts English and Spanish education and investment presentations for employees. As a bilingual consultant, his primary objectives include motivating employees to enroll in the plan, increase salary deferrals, and to be properly diversified. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors Orlando worked for The Principal Financial Group as a sales and service specialist.
Michael Viljak is a Senior Plan Consultant. He has over 30 years experience in the employee benefits field and qualified plan consulting field. With 401(k) Advisors since 2002, Michael provides ongoing service to clients and counsels them on developing and maintaining effective due diligence practices. Michael authors many of the firm’s articles on 404(c) and other fiduciary-related topics. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors, Michael worked for Great-West Retirement Services for more than 25 years as a retirement plan consultant.
Deniz Usbug is Director of Marketing. She is responsible for the development and execution of all corporate marketing materials and internal communications. Deniz has over 13 years of marketing communications experience in the financial services field. She joined the firm in 2003 from The 401(k) Company (acquired since by Charles Schwab), where she assisted with RFPs and other sales and marketing initiatives.
Julie Ward is Vice President, Consulting. Julie joined 401(k) Advisors in 2001, bringing with her over 15 years experience in the financial services and employee benefits industry. She currently leads our Vendor Benchmarking and Analysis Department, assisting plan sponsors and fiduciaries with important plan provider decisions through the delivery of detailed fee, service and investment analysis. Within this role she also transitions clients to the Conversion Team if/when clients decide to change vendors. Julie is also responsible for generating the firm’s prospect and sales activity. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors she was with the Principal Financial Group for eight years as a sales and pension consultant.
James L. Worrell, JD, PRP, AIF is a Managing Director located in Providence, Rhode Island. Jamie has twenty years experience in the retirement plan industry. Most recently, he served as a Vice President at Financial Architects Partners where he was responsible for investment and retirement plan clients. Prior to this he worked at John Hancock Funds for seven years as a Retirement Plan Director. In February, 2007, Jamie started his own Pension Consulting firm, GPS Investment Advisors, LLC, proud member of 401(k) Advisors. With proven experience on the consulting, investment analysis, employee education and provider side of the retirement plan business, Jamie brings with him an intense passion for the industry and client relationship management.
Pamela Watson is a Plan Consultant. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with nearly twenty years experience in portfolio management, client service and investment consulting. She joined the firm in 2010 to consult plan sponsor clients with ongoing fiduciary best practices and investment due diligence. Prior work experience includes time at a wealth management company and several years as an investment analyst for an options trading company.
Todd White is a Senior Plan Consultant in the San Francisco office. Todd joined 401(k) Advisors in 2011 with nearly a decade of industry experience. His primary responsibilities include developing new client relationships and servicing existing clients with an emphasis on retirement plan benchmarking, fiduciary best practices, and in-depth investment consulting issues. Prior to joining 401(k) Advisors Todd was a founding partner at Ascent Wealth Management Group, LLC. He is a Certified Financial Planner.
Peggy Whitmore is Managing Director for the firm’s New York office and has an extensive financial background with a 20+ year focus on the retirement segment of the industry. She began her career at Oppenheimer Management Corporation, and also spent several years at Chase Manhattan Bank, where she developed and implemented the bank’s first multi-managed 401(k) plan. Peggy is an active member of ASPPA and the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America and a recognized speaker at leading industry forums focusing on retirement and investment planning.