Executive Summaries & Bios

Day 1: Monday, May 23, 2011

 

 

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GAUTAM BHARDWAJ – Email: gbspeaks@gmail.com

Gautam Bhardwaj is director of Invest India Economic Foundation (IIEF). In 2000, he co-authored the OASIS Report that provided the blueprint for India's current pension reform. Over the last decade, he has served as an advisor to the Indian Ministry of Finance on pension policy, legislative, regulatory and implementation issues. Between 2006 and 2008, he advised the Government of Nepal in developing its national pension policy and is also advising the Asian Development Bank on fostering regional cooperation on pension policy formulation and implementation issues among countries in South Asia. Gautam is also a co-founder of Invest India Micro Pension Services -- the only independent agency in South Asia focussed entirely on enabling and encouraging low income informal sector workers to achieve a dignified retirement through thrift and self-help using a unique "micro-pension" model.

 

 

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MICHAEL CHAAYA – Email: michael.chaaya@corrs.com.au

Michael is a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, an Australian law firm and a member of the Financial Services Industry Sector Leadership Team.  He provides regulatory and commercial advice to Australia’s leading financial services entities, including fund managers, superannuation funds, life insurers, banks, administrators and custodians.  He is at the forefront of Government reforms and industry developments.  He also has a strong involvement in community activities and was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2003.

 

JANE MARSHALL – Email: jane.marshall@macfarlanes.com

Jane is a partner in the employment, pensions and benefits team of Macfarlanes LLP, a London-based law firm. A pensions specialist, Jane acts predominately for companies and trustees on all aspects of UK and cross-border pensions law, including corporate transactions, reorganisations and scheme mergers, industry-wide schemes, funding negotiations, conflicts and project management. She has considerable experience of clearance and other regulatory procedures, including funding disputes before the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator.

 

PEGGY McCALLUM (Coordinator) – Email: KBarton@fasken.com

Peggy McCallum is the partner in charge of the Pension and Benefits Law Group of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. She has practiced pension and employee benefits law exclusively since her call to the Ontario Bar in 1985. Peggy has a wide range of experience in private practice as well as in the regulatory and industry sectors. Prior to joining Fasken’s in 1997, she was counsel to the Pension Commission of Ontario for several years. Peggy is an editor of Pension Planning and a member of the Sponsors Committee of the Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology Pension Plan. She is the former Chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s Pension and Benefits Section, and a member of the International Pension and Employee Benefits Lawyers Association, the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute, the Association of Canadian Pension Management, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, and the American Bar Association. Peggy has a B.A. (Hons. Journalism) and an LL.B. from the University of Western Ontario.

 

DEBORAH McPHAIL – Email: dmcphail.fsco.gov.on.ca

Deborah McPhail is Senior Counsel for the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto, Canada. Her employer is the regulator for the pension sector in the Province of Ontario. Deborah represents the regulator in pension matters before the Financial Services Tribunal, the Superior Court of Justice, and the Court of Appeal. She has appeared three times in pension cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. Deborah was the recipient of the Libby Slater Award from IPEBLA in 2009.

 

 

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CAMILLA BARRY (Coordinator) - Email: camilla.barry@macfarlanes.com

Camilla Barry is a partner at Macfarlanes LLP.  She has specialised in pensions law since 1997 and joined Macfarlanes in 2007.   
Camilla advises on all aspects of pensions law, including contentious and non-contentious.  She regularly advises corporate groups, private equity houses and trustees in matters requiring the involvement of the Pensions Regulator.  She has substantial experience of transactions with an international element, including international relocations and cross-border pension arrangements.  
Camilla is a member of the International Sub-committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers and a regular speaker at events organised by the Association of Pension Lawyers. Camilla is a contributing author of Pension Scheme Deficits: Practical Solutions by Globe Law and Business.

 

MICHEL BENOIT (Coordinator) - Email: mbenoit@osler.com

 

DAVID W. POWELL – E-mail: dwp@groom.com

David W. Powell is a Principal with the Groom Law Group, Chartered, in Washington, D.C.  Groom is the top-ranked Employee Benefits firm in Washington D.C. according to Chambers USA, and represents primarily public companies and financial institutions.  David is a CPA as well as an attorney, a past President of the Washington Employee Benefits Forum, a member of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the IPPC/OECD, and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Employee Benefits in Washington, D.C.

 

DOUGLAS RIENZO – E-mail: drienzo@osler.com

Douglas is a partner in the Pensions and Benefits Department at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt in Toronto Canada.  Osler has one of the largest groups of full-time pension and benefits law practitioners of any Canadian law firm.  Douglas practises exclusively in the area of pensions and employee benefits, with a particular focus on pension surplus issues and family law issues related to pensions. His article “Trust Law and Access to Pension Surplus” was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Buschau v. Rogers Communications.

DAVID SAUNDERS – Email: david.saunders@sackers.com

David is a partner at Sackers, the UK’s leading specialist pensions law firm.  He has experience of a wide range of UK pension law issues, advising trustees and employers of pension schemes, large and small. 

His work regularly involves advice in relation to pension scheme re-organisations and David has recently supported a major client with the establishment of a segregated master trust arrangement encompassing 9 previously separate defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes.

 

MICHAEL WOLFE (Coordinator) - Email: michael.wolfe@williamfry.ie

Michael Wolfe is a partner and heads the Pensions Group in William Fry.  William Fry is a top 5 law firm in Ireland.  Michael practices exclusively in pensions and advises prominent Irish and multinational employers and Irish scheme trustees.  He is a former secretary of the Association of Pension Lawyers in Ireland and a member of the Winding Up Committee of the Irish Association of Pension Funds.  Michael has written and spoken on various aspects of his practice and is listed in the Legal 500 EMEA and Chambers Europe.

 

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HAROLD ASHNER (Coordinator) – Email: haroldashner@keightleyashner.com

Harold Ashner is a partner at Keightley & Ashner LLP, a boutique law firm focusing on Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation matters. He served as PBGC’s Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulations until early 2005.  Mr. Ashner is active in the American Bar Association, is a Fellow and Member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, and is routinely retained by major law firms and employers to deal with PBGC‑related issues.

 

HAMISH DUNLOP – Email: hdunlop@morneausobeco.com

Hamish is a Principal in the Regulatory Consulting practice of Morneau Shepell Ltd., the largest Canadian-owned pension and benefits consulting firm.

Hamish leads a group that is responsible for assuming the administration of pension plans of insolvent employers and the ultimate wind up of those plans.  He has been involved with some of the largest insolvencies in Canada.  He is also responsible for the administration of class-action settlements.  He is a frequent speaker on pensions and sponsor insolvency issues.

Prior to his current position Hamish had been the Vice-President of a major public sector pension plan, and was a senior policy advisor on pension issues to the Ontario Ministry of Finance, where he was involved in pension issues in the context of corporate restructurings, particularly in the steel industry.                                                                                                       Hamish has a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a MBA from the University of Toronto.

 

EDWARD JEWITT – Email: ejewitt@mayerbrown.com
Edward Jewitt is partner at Mayer Brown in London.  He deals with all aspects of pension law with particular emphasis on investment management and custody issues for pension schemes, including advice on implementation of LDI.  He also deals with the full range of advisory and documentation work for pension schemes including scheme mergers and demergers, wind-ups and liability reduction exercises of all kinds.  He has recently handled several matters relating to the UK Pension Protection Fund. 

 

JOACHIM LIEBERS – Email: joachim.liebers@hengeler.com

Dr. Hans- Joachim Liebers is partner of Hengeler Mueller. His law firm is one of the prominent international German law firms. Hans-Joachim's primary focus is on providing legal advice in his specialty areas with respect to M&A and restructuring transactions.  

Specialization: Labour, employment, benefits and pensions.

Publications: Employment Law Aspects of Restructuring, IBA, Employment and Industrial Relations Law Journal, March 2001, 4 et seq,; Co-Author: Munich Labour Manual, "Change in Operations", 2nd ed. 2009; Editor and Co-Author: "Standard Forms Handbook for Labour Law", 2001.

 

 

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PHILIP BENNETT (Coordinator) – Email: philip.bennett@slaughterandmay.com

Philip Bennett has been a partner in Slaughter and May since 1986.  He has a wide-ranging pension practice. His experience includes some of the largest scheme mergers and restructurings, repayments of surplus and management of deficit issues (including benefit design changes and consultations with employees and their representatives over these changes). Philip’s experience also includes advising on unit linked investment policies for pension funds and bulk annuity policies (buy-ins and buy-outs) for pension funds, common investment funds, pension fund pooling vehicles, cross-border pension fund investment vehicles.

With the move to liability driven investment strategies for pension funds, he has also advised on the legal issues for pension funds arising out of currency forward contracts, interest rate swaps, inflation swaps, longevity swaps and other derivatives.

Philip is a past chair of the Steering Committee of the International Pension & Employee Benefits Lawyers Association and a Member of the International Sub-Committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers (the "APL"). He is also a former member of the main Committee of the APL and a past chair of the APL’s Legislative & Parliamentary Sub-Committee.

Philip is the author of 'Pension Fund Surpluses', published by Longman. He has spoken at conferences both inside and outside the United Kingdom on pension topics.

DAN BRANDENBURG (Coordinator) – Email: dbrandenburg@saul.com

Dan Brandenburg has advised clients on numerous aspects of employee benefits matters, including retirement plans, health and welfare plans and executive compensation. Prior to joining Saul Ewing, Mr. Brandenburg was the Managing Shareholder of Washington, DC-based Sanders Schnabel & Brandenburg PC, a firm well known for counseling clients nationally and abroad on employee benefits and tax-qualified pension plans. Mr. Brandenburg has extensive experience in and knowledge of pension and welfare plans, executive compensation (including stock-based plans and plans for tax-exempt organizations) and executive employment matters. He also has substantial experience with association-sponsored member service programs, representing both employers and individuals. He represents clients regularly before the IRS, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), and helps clients with the IRS and DOL voluntary compliance programs, and to respond to audits and investigations initiated by IRS, DOL and PBGC. Mr. Brandenburg is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.

MARK CERCHE – Email: mark.cerche@aar.com.au
Mark Cerché is a Partner with Allens Arthur Robinson an Australian law firm.  He has considerable experience in superannuation law and has presented at many IPEBLA Conferences.  Mark acts for major Australian funds.  He is Chair of the Corporate Superannuation Association and a Member of the Law Council of Australia's Superannuation Committee.  Mark has advised the Australian Government, the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Thailand on their pension systems.

 

CARL JOHAN RUNDQUIST - Email: carljohan.rundquist@spp.se

 

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LISA BUTLER BEATTY (Coordinator) - Email: Lisa.Butler@utas.edu.au / Lisa.Butler@SlaughterandMay.com

Lisa is a legal academic at the University of Tasmania.  More recently she has taken a sojourn from academia and after a stint at an offshore firm in Bermuda & London, she is now working as an Associate at Slaughter and May in London (although returning to Australia later this year). Lisa has served on the IPEBLA Steering Committee for four years and has been particularly involved in the Comparative Survey and the IPEBLA journal. She also serves on the Superannuation Committee of the Law Council of Australia.

 

JEREMY COOPER - Email: jcooper@challanger.com.au

Jeremy Cooper is Chairman, Retirement Income at Challenger Limited, a listed Australian investment manager and leading issuer or annuities.

In 2009, Jeremy was appointed by the Australian Government to chair a wide-ranging review of Australia's superannuation (pension) system, completed in June 2010.

Jeremy was deputy chairman of Australia's corporate, financial services and markets regulator: the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for five years from mid-2004. Prior to his term at ASIC, Jeremy was a partner of Australian law firm, Blake Dawson.

JANE DALE – Email: jane.dale@slaughterandmay.com

Jane Dale is an associate in the pensions team at Slaughter and May in London, UK.  She advises company and trustee clients on a wide range of pensions matters, both domestic and international.  Jane has been an IPEBLA member since 2003, and from 2007 to 2009 was a member of the Steering Committee, with responsibility for organising the association's Teleconference Programme.

 

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JANET DOWNING (Coordinator) – Email: janet.downing@towerswatson.com

Janet Downing is a Senior Consulting Lawyer with Towers Watson in Toronto, Canada.  She received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor in 1980, and after articling with the Ontario government, was called to the Bar in 1982.  Previously employed by The Canada Trust Company in the personal trust division, Ms. Downing has been employed by Towers Watson since 1987, providing legal consulting services in the human resource, pension and employee benefits areas to a wide variety of public and private sector employers.  She also acts as a Canadian resource to the Towers Watson global General Counsel’s office.

Ms. Downing is Editor-in-Chief of “Pension Planning”, a Federated Press publication, and has been a contributor to numerous other publications including Pension & Tax Reports.  She is a former instructor at the Centre for Employee Benefits at Humber College, and has been a frequent speaker at, and organiser of, conferences and seminars, including Canadian sessions sponsored by the Law Society of Upper Canada, Osgoode Hall, the Canada Pension and Benefits Institute, and the International Foundation for Employee Benefits; and international sessions sponsored by the South African Pension Lawyers Association and the American Bar Association.  A former member of the executive of the Pension and Benefits Section of the Ontario Bar Association, Ms. Downing is the Past Chair of the Steering Committee of the International Pension and Benefits Lawyers Association (IPEBLA), and Past Chair of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) Continuing Legal Education Institute Committee.

 

HANNE FREDERIKSEN – Email: hf@pensam.dk

Hanne Frederiksen is Deputy Chief Officer for Legal Department, PenSam in Denmark. PenSam is a financial group. The core services of PenSam are the provision of labour pension as well as insurance and banking services. PenSam manages occupational pension schemes for approximately 340,000 wage-earners employed in Danish municipalities and regions and in private organisations.

 

IRA GUTTENBERG – Email: Ira.Guttenberg@towerswatson.com

Ira Guttenberg is a lawyer and is a Senior Consultant in the Retirement Solutions practice of Towers Watson.  Her main focus is the consulting of national and international clients regarding employment, tax and social security law issues in the area of company-sponsored pension schemes.  She is experienced in the redesign of pension plans, Mergers & Acquisitions and also in other integration projects focusing on the analysis and amendment of existing pension schemes. Ira Guttenberg holds a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics. She also holds an MBA of the ESCP Europe.

 

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ONNO BLOM – Email: onno.blom@ofblomadvocaten.nl

Onno is a senior partner of Onno F. Blom Advocaten, a Dutch law firm specialising in pension law. He typically advises companies, pension funds, participants and works councils, or associations of pensioners. Onno is a pension lawyer since 1984. He has published regularly, teaches (post graduate) pension law and has spoken at several pension law conferences. He served as Secretary of the Dutch Association for Pension Law and as Chairman of the Dutch Bar Association Pension Fund. He is a member of the Dutch Circle of Pension Specialists (KPS). He tries pension cases in Disputes Committees and arbitrations and is a deputy justice in the Court of Appeals in The Hague.

 

ELISE LAEREMANS – Email: elise.laeremans@stibbe.com

Elise Laeremans is a pension lawyer working for Stibbe Belgium. Stibbe Belgium is the largest Belgian full service law firm and is associated with Stibbe Netherlands, Herbert Smith and Gleiss Lutz. Elise gives legal advice regarding occupational pensions to companies, pension funds and insurance companies.

MAJA MARIC (Coordinator) - Email: m.maric@dnb.nl

Maja Maric is supervisor-lawyer for the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). She works at the expert centre material compliance and supervision. DNB exercises prudential and material supervision of financial institutions, amongst others, Dutch pension funds.

 

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RUBY MENON (Coordinator) - Email: rmenon@rgrdlaw.com

 

DARREN ROBBINS – Email: pilarc@csgrr.com

 

JONATHAN SERES – Email: jonathan.seres@sackers.com

Jonathan is a former senior partner of Sackers, and retired at the year end 2010, remaining active in other spheres.  He advised on the first major M&A clearance from the UK Pensions Regulator in 2005, and in 2007 obtained from the Regulator the appointment of independent trustees to a multi-billion pound plan. He has just established for plan trustees the legal aspects of an innovative derivatives investment strategy. Appointed to Steering Committee IPEBLA 2009.  Authored several pensions books.  Regular conference speaker.

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Please click here to download Executive Summary.

 

CAMILLA BARRY (Coordinator) - Email: camilla.barry@macfarlanes.com

Camilla Barry is a partner at Macfarlanes LLP.  She has specialised in pensions law since 1997 and joined Macfarlanes in 2007.  
Camilla advises on all aspects of pensions law, including contentious and non-contentious.  She regularly advises corporate groups, private equity houses and trustees in matters requiring the involvement of the Pensions Regulator.  She has substantial experience of transactions with an international element, including international relocations and cross-border pension arrangements.  Camilla is a member of the International Sub-committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers and a regular speaker at events organised by the Association of Pension Lawyers. Camilla is a contributing author of Pension Scheme Deficits: Practical Solutions by Globe Law and Business.

 

MICHAEL BEATTY - Email: michael.beatty@bluefingroup.co.uk

Michael Beatty is an international consultant at Bluefin Corporate Consulting Limited based out of London, United Kingdom . Michael’s area of expertise is within the international benefits area and he advises international companies on pension benefits, other international employee benefits and deferred compensation. Michael has experience within the trust and banking industry, the pension regulatory industry, and as in-house employee benefits and pension counsel.  Michael has a law degree and an MBA.

 

VOET DU PLESSIS - Email: DPlessJV@ufs.ac.za

Voet du Plessis is professor in Mercantile Law at the University of the Free State and also departmental chair of the Department of Mercantile Law.  He is also involved in pension matters as a board member of the Institute of Retirement Funds in SA and Chairperson of the Pension and Provident Funds of the University of the Free State.  His field of specialization is Labour Law.  (He has a doctoral degree in Labour Law and publish regularly on the subject).

 

HYWEL ROBINSON - Email: hywel.robinson@cliffordchance.com

Hywel Robinson is a partner in the pensions group at Clifford Chance, as well as the Chairman of the International Sub-Committee of the Association of Pension Lawyers. He advises on all aspects of pensions law (UK and cross-border) including ongoing scheme advice, mergers and acquisitions, investment and products (including multinational products such as asset pools).

 

CAROLYN TRENDA - Email: ctrenda@mcguirewoods.com

Carolyn Trenda is an attorney with McGuireWoods LLP in its Chicago, IL office.  She advises public, private and non-profit employers on a range of employee benefits topics, including tax-qualified retirement plans (defined benefit and defined contribution plans), deferred compensation plans, profit sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). She also helps clients with health and welfare plan matters as well as non-qualified, stock option and fringe benefit plans.

 

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Please click here to download Executive Summary.

 

JEREMY FORGIE (Coordinator) – Email: jeremy.forgie@blakes.com

Jeremy Forgie is a partner with Blakes LLP in Toronto.  Jeremy practices in the pension and employee benefits and tax groups.  His practice includes advising some of Canada’s largest public companies on executive compensation matters.  He is recognized by Chambers Global:  The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2011, The Best Lawyers in Canada 2011  and in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2011 as a leading practitioner in the pension/compensation sector.

 

MARK IFE - Email: Mark.Ife@herbertsmith.com                                                                  Mark Ife is a partner in the Employee Incentives group at Herbert Smith LLP, a leading and international full service law firm advising clients from a network of offices across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  Mark focuses on the establishment and continuing operation of a variety of cash- and share-based incentive arrangements for both listed and private companies.  In addition, he advises on incentives taxation and the share scheme aspects of corporate actions.

 

JIM KLEIN – Email: james.klein@pillsburylaw.com

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Please click here to download Executive Summary.

 

DAN BRANDENBURG – Email: dbrandenburg@saul.com