Summary of the 2014 Summit & Crystal Globe Awards

A broad coalition of pension experts gathered at the 2014 CORPaTH Summit and Crystal Globe Awards in December to share ideas and honor three champions for the cause of protecting, promoting and perpetuating defined-benefit pensions.

“People who work hard all their lives deserve a reliable, guaranteed income throughout their sunset years,” said Ron Auer, executive director of CORPaTH, as he opened the Summit.

“Unfortunately, we are witnessing an unprecedented assault on the promise of lifetime pension security. Millions of people are being forced to fend for themselves with defined-contribution plans that are poorly funded and inadequate for their needs.

Related

• Meet the 2014 CORPaTH Champions
• See who spoke at the Summit
• CORPaTH thanks its gracious sponsors

“CORPaTH is bringing together the best minds of the pension world to focus on reversing this trend for the sake of retirees and the world’s economy, which relies on trillions of investment dollars coming from pension funds.”

Participants in the 2014 CORPaTH Summit and Crystal Globe Awards included pension fund managers, investment advisors, trustees, attorneys, analysts, labor leaders and political office holders. Presentations and panel discussions addressed such topics as the economic impacts of defined benefit plans, responsible investments, engaging the public, good governance practices and legislative strategies.

Randy DeFrehn, executive director of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP), introduced the first panels of CORPaTH’s evening session, which was a precursor to the full slate the following day.

Hank Kim, executive director and counsel for the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), presided at CORPaTH’s Crystal Globe Awards, which concluded the 2014 Summit. The event honored North America’s Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey, TEXPERS Executive Director Max Patterson and UFCW International President Marc Perrone.

Topics, presenters and panelists at the 2014 CORPaTH Summit included:

• “Economic Impact of Defined-Benefit Pensions”: Michael Kahn Ph.D., Institute on Public Pension Solutions, and Richard Sims Ph.D., Sierra Institute for Applied Economics

• “Responsible Investing”: Doug Cogan, MSCI/GMI, and Keith Mestrich, Amalgamated Bank

• “On the CORPaTH: Click it. Like it. Tweet it. Stream it.”: Jacques Loveall, UFCW Trust / UFCW 8-Golden State.

• “Leadership and Engagement”: moderated by Gregg Hymowitz, EnTrust Capital, with panelists Sean McGarvey, North America Building Trades Unions; Max Patterson, TEXPERS; and Marc Perrone, UFCW International Union

• “Protecting Defined-Benefit Pensions: What is the Role of Investment Consultants?”: moderated by Jay Youngdahl, Harvard University, with panelists John Marco, Marco Consulting Group; Jeff MacLean, Wurts & Associates; Asad Ali, Alan Biller & Associates; John Elliot, NEPC; Steve McCourt, Meketa Investment Group; and Chris DeMeo, Nu Paradigm Investment Partners, LLC

• “Investment Guidelines and Responsibilities”: moderated by CORPaTH Executive Director Ron Auer, with panelists Peter Palandjian, Intercontinental Real Estate; Darren Robbins, Robbins, Geller, Rudman & Dowd; and Ed Smith, Ullico

• “Global Challenges and Proactive Response”: David Blitzstein, Blitzstein Consulting, LLC, and Larry Brown, NUPGE Canada

CORPaTH is an international alliance bringing pension fund decision-makers together for sound investments, good governance, social responsibility and a rational policy for economic growth. CORPaTH is a network affiliate of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN-PRI).