Deals and People January 8, 2021

Retirement Industry People Moves

Wagner Law Group appoints partner; PCS Retirement acquires ABGRM; and BNY Mellon announces new additions. 

Reported by
Art by Subin Yang
Art by Subin Yang
Art by Subin Yang

Wagner Law Group Appoints Partner

Kim Shaw Elliott has been appointed to the position of partner for the Wagner Law Group.

Elliot, an ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] investment lawyer engaged in a multi-disciplinary practice, helps clients navigate the intersection of ERISA, securities law, broker/dealer regulations and tax regulations. She also offers estate planning as an additional resource to financial advisers and their clients.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

Having previously served as general counsel, chief compliance officer and in other executive roles for broker/dealers and investment adviser firms, she brings a business-leader perspective to the practice of law. Wagner Law Group says Elliot has navigated extensive claims litigation, multi-state regulatory actions and errors and omissions disputes, and presents actionable plans and guidance for compliant sales, operations, product development and customer service.

Elliot is a member of the Southeastern Women in Financial Services (SWIFS) advisory board, Women in Pensions Network (WiPN) chapter committee and National Association of Pension Advisors (NAPA) and is a frequent speaker on employee benefits and planning-related topics.

PCS Retirement Acquires ABGRM

PCS Retirement LLC has acquired Alliance Benefit Group–Rocky Mountain (ABGRM).

Together with ABGRM, PCS Retirement partners with financial advisers and third-party administrators (TPAs) to provide conflict-free recordkeeping services to more than 19,000 plans with 850,000 eligible participants representing over $26 billion in assets under administration (AUA).

With offices in Salt Lake City and Denver, ABGRM provides a comprehensive, independent and conflict-free retirement plan platform for financial advisers, TPAs, plan sponsors and participants.

“ABGRM and PCS Retirement share a common vision to provide professionals, companies and individuals with an independent and transparent qualified savings platform,” says Chris Mautz, CEO of ABGRM. “We look forward to joining forces and, with access to PCS’ resources, we will continue to provide our financial advisers and plans with industry-leading, full-service recordkeeping solutions.” As part of this transaction, ABGRM management will join the PCS management team.

“ABGRM shares our vision of offering best-in-class retirement plan service and has assembled a very talented team of professionals,” said Mark Klein, CEO of PCS Retirement. “With the addition of ABGRM, we take another step toward our goal to be the go-to firm for advisers who want to offer sophisticated and transparent workplace retirement plans designed to enhance financial security for their clients.”

BNY Mellon Announces New Additions

Neal Chansky has joined BNY Mellon as global head of consultant relations, where he will partner with consultants to develop and implement asset servicing solutions for mutual clients.

Chansky, who will be reporting directly to Christine Gill, head of commercial development for asset servicing at BNY Mellon, has over three decades of industry experience and joins the group from Olmstead Associates, a consulting firm dedicated to helping investment managers plan for, select and implement solutions. Prior to this, Chansky spent over 30 years in multiple roles at State Street, including as relationship executive for many of the firm’s largest and most strategic clients.

Amos Rogers has joined BNY Mellon as director, business development – alternatives. He is responsible for business development initiatives across the real assets industry, a rapidly growing area of strategic focus.

Amos, who will be reporting to Brian McMahon, global head of credit and debt fund services, BNY Mellon, has over 25 years of real estate industry experience and has been a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM), the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Amos joins BNY Mellon from State Street, where he was a managing director responsible for leading business development efforts for the firm’s real assets fund administration and fund services business. Prior to this, Amos served as a principal and portfolio manager at The Tuckerman Group, a real estate fund manager in partnership with State Street Global Advisors where he oversaw a $10 billion portfolio of real estate investment trust (REIT) investment funds.

 “The asset servicing industry is rapidly evolving and clients are looking for ways to win and sustainably grow in this new environment,” Gill says. “Both Neal and Amos bring significant industry experience to the firm, which will prove invaluable to clients as we work with them on optimizing their operating models and focusing on growth, and to our asset servicing business as we continue to drive client-centric and global solutions.”

Compliance January 8, 2021

Parties Reach Settlement Over Funding of St. Joseph Health Services Pension Plan

The lawsuit alleged that after the plan no longer qualified as a ‘church plan,’ it failed to be funded according to ERISA standards.

Reported by

A settlement has been reached in litigation claiming that the St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island Retirement Plan had not been adequately funded.

Plaintiff Stephen Del Soto, in his capacity as receiver for and administrator of the plan, appointed by the Rhode Island Superior Court, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plan and its participants. He alleged that, at some point, the retirement plan failed to be a “church plan” as defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and entities administering or associated with the plan hid this to keep from adhering to ERISA funding rules.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, $30 million will be paid to the plan by the hospital’s parent company, Prospect Chartercare, and other defendants. The lawsuit says “the settling parties recognize that the claims released herein are disputed and uncertain,” and it notes that it was reached amid a “desire to settle such claims so as to avoid the cost, risk and uncertainty of litigation, and acknowledge that no party is admitting any fault or liability in entering into this settlement agreement.”

Prospect Chartercare is a limited liability company (LLC), which directly and through its 100%-owned subsidiaries owns and operates health care facilities in Rhode Island, including but not limited to two hospitals, Roger Williams Hospital and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, having acquired them with an asset sale that closed on June 20, 2014.

Also named are Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Delaware; St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island (SJHSRI), which prior to the 2014 asset sale owned Fatima Hospital; and Roger Williams Hospital (RWH), the survivor of a merger in 2010 with Roger Williams Medical Center, sometimes doing business under that name. There are a number of other named defendants in the suit.

According to the lawsuit, since the 2014 asset sale, SJHSRI no longer operates a hospital or otherwise provides health care. Instead, SJHSRI’s business consists of defending lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims, collecting certain debts and receivables, paying or settling certain liabilities which were excluded from the 2014 asset sale, and, until the receiver was appointed, administering the plan. The same is true of the business of RWH.

The case concerns an insolvent defined benefit (DB) retirement plan, the St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island Retirement Plan, with more than 2,700 participants. The participants learned in August 2017 that the plan had not been adequately funded. The disclosure occurred when the plan was placed into receivership by SJHSRI, with the request that the Rhode Island Superior Court approve a virtually immediate 40% across-the-board reduction in benefits.

The lawsuit inspired legislation in Rhode Island. In June 2018, Governor Gina M. Raimondo signed legislation aimed at helping members of the St. Joseph’s Health Services pension plan reach settlements in their multiple class action lawsuits. The legislation helps protect defendants who settle lawsuits from claims from co-defendants.

In addition, Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner joined retired members of the St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island pension plan to propose new transparency requirements for pension plans managed by religious organizations.

In a statement about the settlement agreement, Magaziner said, “I’m pleased to hear the positive news that Chartercare and other defendants have agreed to help make St. Joseph’s Hospital and Fatima Hospital retirees whole again after mismanagement allowed their retirement system to become underfunded. While we are still reviewing the specifics of this settlement agreement, this is positive news for these workers. All Rhode Islanders deserve retirement security, particularly health care retirees who have spent their careers caring for others.”

«