Real Estate: Supporting Global Macro-trends Through Niche Subsector Investments
Joe Griffin, Foster & Foster Consulting
Piotr Krekora, Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company
Eric Atwater, Aon

Joe Griffin is a Senior Consulting Actuary with Foster & Foster, Inc.  Joe has 23 years of experience serving governmental retirement plans, including topics such as actuarial valuations, plan redesign studies, accounting under GASB standards, plan experience studies and assumption/method recommendations, actuarial audits, and forecast/budgeting.  Joe has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Georgia State University with concentration in Actuarial Science.  He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary under ERISA, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.  Joe is a former president of the Atlanta Actuarial Club and is a frequent speaker at both national and regional conferences. Joe currently serves on the Education Committee for the Georgia Association of Public Pension Trustees and has been drafting model education sessions for the new education requirements in the State of Georgia.  He most recently spoke at conferences for the Georgia Association of Public Pension Trustees (GAPPT), Georgia Government Finance Officers Association (GGFOA), Florida Government Finance Officers Association (FGFOA), Florida Public Pension Trustees Association Conference (FPPTA), the Louisiana Trustee Educational Council Investment Education Symposium, and the South East Public Employee Retirement Systems Forum.

Piotr Krekora is a Senior Consultant in GRS’ Fort Lauderdale, Florida office. Piotr has more than 15 years of actuarial and consulting experience.

Piotr is a member of the GRS Office of the Chief Actuary. In this capacity, he provides strategic thought leadership to public sector clients as well as ensuring that service is being provided at the highest level by all GRS employees.

Piotr’s actuarial expertise covers all aspects of public sector pension and retiree health plan design and operation, including pension and OPEB valuations, pension and retiree health care studies, cost analyses of proposed plan changes, liability and contribution projections, and asset simulation and cash flow studies.

Additionally, Piotr is experienced in designing and implementing cash balance plans as well as other alternative designs. He has a working knowledge of Florida Statutes governing operations of municipal pension plans, and group insurance plans offered by public sector employees.

Eric J. Atwater is a Partner and co-leader of Aon’s Public Sector Retirement practice. In his role as practice leader, he is responsible for client servicing, development of innovative solutions, thought leadership and adherence to professional and overall quality assurance standards. Eric serves, or has served, as consulting actuary and/or account executive to a variety of public entities and specializes in funding and non-traditional solutions for public Pension and Other Post Employment Benefit (OPEB) plans.

Mr. Atwater graduated with honors from Georgia State University in 1998, where he received a BBA with a concentration in Actuarial Science. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. He  has also passed the first two levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam and is in the process of becoming a charter holder to further his expertise of Pension and OPEB plan assets.

He is a former board member for International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA) and has worked with Atlanta Public Schools to increase awareness of the actuarial profession.  Mr. Atwater is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has been quoted in pension‑related articles in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and several local newspapers. He is also in the process of completing the requirements for the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and is a Level III candidate June 2021.

He’s a youth basketball coach and routinely volunteers for a variety of organizations including 7 Bridges to Recovery. He and his team helped prepare, and deliver, over 300 lunches for the homeless.