Dan Doonan
Executive Director
National Institute on Retirement Security

Presentation Slides

Dan Doonan is the executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security. With the Board of Directors, Doonan leads the organization’s strategic planning, retirement research and education initiatives.

Doonan has more than 20 years of experience working on retirement issues from different vantage points including an analyst, consultant, trainer and even a plan trustee. In these various roles, the consistent theme has been his belief that Americans have a shared interest in creating and maintaining a resilient retirement infrastructure that provides adequate financial support in an efficient manner.

He comes to NIRS after serving as a senior pension specialist with the National Education Association. There he co-authored Characteristics of Large Public Education Pension Plans, a detailed report this is considered to be a definitive resource of information about large public education retirement plans.

Doonan began his career at the Department of Labor as a mathematical statistician. He then spent seven years performing actuarial analysis with Buck Consultants in their retirement practice. His experience also includes positions as a research director and labor economist.

Doonan holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Elizabethtown College and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Mark Meyer
FPPTA Education Committee

Mark D. Meyer, JD, FSA, is a Partner and co-leader of Aon’s Public Sector actuarial practice. His primary responsibility is building the national practice into a premier provider of actuarial service in the Public Sector. He also serves as a client relationship manager and strategic consultant to public sector organizations. Mark has over 30 years of consulting experience in pension and employee benefits in both the public and private sector. Mark has dedicated himself to improving the sustainability of public sector pensions by helping organizations develop a meaningful pension funding strategy. Some public sector clients during his career are Minneapolis Fire Relief Association, City of Fargo (General, Police and Fire), City of Minnetonka, Minnesota State Retirement System, North Dakota Public Employees Retirement Systems, Minneapolis Police Relief Association, Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, Indiana University and Purdue University. He has spoken at numerous events, including a recent presentation of Public Sector Pension Funding Policy at the national Government Finance Officers Association. He has also spoken at Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS), Conference of Consulting Actuaries, National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems, Financial Executives Institute and the Minneapolis Certified Employee Benefit Specialists chapter.

Mark strives to be a valued actuarial advisor who is strategic and persuasive. He is committed to explaining complex actuarial concepts in language that policy makers can use to draw their own conclusions. He combines his legal and actuarial skills to solve problems in unique and innovative ways. Mark graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with a degree in mathematics and actuarial science. He also graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and an Enrolled Actuary (EA). He is also a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association and a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS).

Valentine James Link, Jr. CEBS (Jim)
Managing Director
PFM

Presentation Slides

Jim has been a managing director at PFM since 2008. He is head of the Multi-Asset Strategies Group and co-head of the Center for Retirement Finance at PFM.  He works collaboratively with colleagues across PFM to help clients solve complex financial challenges and to deal with long-term liabilities.  In particular, he has been instrumental in helping state and local government pension plans and their municipal sponsors to improve the health of the plans.  In his time at PFM, he has led several efforts including organizing the firm’s new business ventures, leading marketing efforts including an organizational rebranding, and creating and distributing multiple investment products.  Jim serves as a Board Member for the PFM operating company that is focused on financial modeling, PFM Solutions LLC and previously served on the Board of PFM Advisors UK Limited.

Jim is active in the retirement industry in the U.S. He has authored or co-authored several publications and has been an active presenter and moderator at industry conferences on U.S. state and local government retirement plan issues.  Additionally, Jim has held Board positions and advisory roles for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration (CORBA) and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA).

Jim is a graduate of Texas A&M University.  In his down time, Jim travels, plays golf, and enjoys food and wine.  Jim is known around the offices of PFM for his collection of bow ties.

Ronald J. Ryan, CFA
Ryan ALM, Inc.

Presentation Slides

CEO and founder of Ryan ALM, Inc. in 2004. Ryan ALM provides a turnkey system for pensions that reduces cost and risk including:

ASC 715 Discount Rates
Custom Liability Index
Liability Beta Portfolio

The index division of Ryan ALM also provides custom indexes for ETFs.

Prior to creating Ryan ALM, Mr. Ryan founded Ryan Labs, Inc. in 1988 which became one of the largest Enhanced Bond Index Fund managers in America. In 1982, he founded the Ryan Financial Strategy Group (RFSG) which was a fixed income quantitative firm focused on helping bond managers outperform bond Indexes. At RFSG, he and his team created many unique financial models and index innovations. Mr. Ryan is the former Director of fixed income research at Lehman Bros. Kuhn Loeb from 1977–1982 where he designed most of the popular Lehman bond indexes. Prior to Lehman, he was the head of fixed income for the First in Dallas from 1973-1977, the largest bank holding company in Texas. From 1966-1973 he was a security analyst at Pan-American Life Insurance company, the largest institutional investor in Louisiana.

Mr. Ryan has many index and financial model innovations in his career. He was awarded the William F. Sharpe Indexing Lifetime Achievement Award, the MML lifetime Achievement Award, the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award and the Capital Link Most Innovative ETF Award. He authored the book “The U.S. Pension Crisis” which won the IP best financial book award in 2014.

Mr. Ryan has a CFA degree, and a MBA and BBA from Loyola University.

Dave West, CFA®
Consultant
AndCo Consulting

Presentation Slides

Dave West is a Consultant at AndCo. He has over 35 years of financial industry experience. He provides all aspects of the Firm’s consulting services. His consulting experience encompasses work in both strategic and tactical asset allocation strategy, process development and oversight, and policy documentation for public and private pension, operating, and foundation clients.  He offers a well-grounded knowledge of practical LDI portfolio construction.

Dave is a founding Member of the Bogdahn Group Partnership and has recycled his ownership units back into AndCo Consulting for the next generation of owners.   As one of the initial partners, he was an instrumental collaborator in the development of the early philosophies and deliverables of the organization. He is also a founding member of the Firm’s Investment Policy Committee. During his tenure, Dave served in multiple capacities including Chairman to the Committee, CIO, and Consultant.

Dave brings diversity of experience encompassing a dual career path in institutional client consulting, and in portfolio management of institutional client assets as a former buy side investment manager.

Dave first started his career as an investment manager, his buy side portfolio management experience includes portfolio management under both equity and fixed income disciplines, as well as in strategic asset allocation management. Dave served as both co and lead portfolio manager on multiple mutual fund strategies earning coveted Morningstar rankings, as well as on separate account mandates for institutional clients across the country. His mutual fund experience includes several prospectus level fund formations, including originations and portfolio management of Fixed Income strategies, and of Target Date Fund strategies for Defined Contribution investment programs.

Dave is a frequent conference speaker. He has provided over a decade of service to the  Advisory Board, and Education Committee for the Florida Public Pension Trustees Assoc.

Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance, Stetson University

CFA® Charterholder

FBA Trust School Graduate

Mark Meyer
FPPTA Education Committee

Mark D. Meyer, JD, FSA, is a Partner and co-leader of Aon’s Public Sector actuarial practice. His primary responsibility is building the national practice into a premier provider of actuarial service in the Public Sector. He also serves as a client relationship manager and strategic consultant to public sector organizations. Mark has over 30 years of consulting experience in pension and employee benefits in both the public and private sector. Mark has dedicated himself to improving the sustainability of public sector pensions by helping organizations develop a meaningful pension funding strategy. Some public sector clients during his career are Minneapolis Fire Relief Association, City of Fargo (General, Police and Fire), City of Minnetonka, Minnesota State Retirement System, North Dakota Public Employees Retirement Systems, Minneapolis Police Relief Association, Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund Association, Indiana University and Purdue University. He has spoken at numerous events, including a recent presentation of Public Sector Pension Funding Policy at the national Government Finance Officers Association. He has also spoken at Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS), Conference of Consulting Actuaries, National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems, Financial Executives Institute and the Minneapolis Certified Employee Benefit Specialists chapter.

Mark strives to be a valued actuarial advisor who is strategic and persuasive. He is committed to explaining complex actuarial concepts in language that policy makers can use to draw their own conclusions. He combines his legal and actuarial skills to solve problems in unique and innovative ways. Mark graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with a degree in mathematics and actuarial science. He also graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and an Enrolled Actuary (EA). He is also a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association and a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS).

Bradley R. Heinrichs, FSA, EA, MAAA
President & CEO
Foster & Foster Consulting Actuaries, Inc.

Mr. Brad Heinrichs has been the President/CEO of Foster & Foster since 2005. He has grown the Company from 5 consultants to nearly 70 during this time, and Foster & Foster is now a national brand. F&F’s mission is to provide actuarial consulting services to clients who serve the greater good in a way that makes them feel as though they are our only client. Brad is considered an industry expert and innovator in retirement plan design and is one of a few thousand actuaries worldwide who is both a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary per ERISA. Mr. Heinrichs is a frequent speaker at national and state pension conferences, and a key consultant to lawmakers and unions in evaluating proposed legislation regarding pensions. Mr. Heinrichs received a B.S. in both Actuarial Science and Economics from the University of Iowa and has over 20 years of experience as a consulting actuary. He has experience consulting as a lead actuary for clients ranging in size from 50 to 250,000 participants.