2018 Featured Speakers

Presented in alphabetical order.

John Elliot

NEPC

John is a partner at NEPC. He is a highly-respected and popular leader in the defined-benefits pension world. Since joining NEPC in 2003, he has spoken at many national conferences on the subject of Taft-Hartley plans. Prior to joining NEPC, he was the western regional director for the Marco Consulting Group, where he succeeded in developing a West Coast presence for the firm in the Taft-Hartley market.

Stanley Izeman

American Realty Advisors

Stanley is chairman and CEO of American Realty Advisors. He is responsible for the strategic planning and direction of ARA’s investing and operational activities. ARA is a private equity real estate firm with more than $9.3 billion of assets under management in equity, debt and preferred equity investments throughout the United States. Stanley is a noted speaker on real estate investment and has authored articles on related issues for real estate, pension and legal industry publications.

Michael Kahn Ph.D

NCPERS

Michael is director of research at NCPERS and president of the Institute on Public Pension Solutions. He has more than 30 years of experience in public pensions and state and local tax and economic policies. Michael has graduate and post-graduate level training in economics, geography and sociology. He holds three master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from the universities of Hawaii and North Carolina and Catholic University of America.

Hank Kim

NCPERS

Hank is executive director and counsel for the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), the largest public trade association in the United States. Prior to joining NCPERS, Hank served for six years as a governmental affairs representative for an international public-sector union, working on benefits, appropriations, homeland security and health care issues.

Jacques Loveall

UFCW Trust

Jacques is president of UFCW 8-Golden State and chairman of UFCW Trust, which funds pension and health care benefits for 125,000 active workers, dependents and retirees in the food and drug industries. He is a vice president of the UFCW International Union and a vice president of the California Labor Federation. He is also chairman of the Loveall Foundation for Children, a nonproﬁt charity dedicated to giving children an opportunity for a better life and enabling them to reach their full potential.

Jeff MacLean

Verus

Jeff is CEO of Verus. He has more than 28 years of investment and consulting experience, working with all asset classes for a range of clients including corporate defined-benefit plans, public institutions, multi‐employer trusts, endowments and foundations. Jeff volunteers for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and he serves on the advisory board for the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

John Marco

Segal Marco Advisors

John is a senior vice president at Segal Marco Advisors. He has more than 12 years of investment consulting experience. He consults to defined benefit, defined contribution, and health & welfare plans. John also leads Segal Marco Advisors’ western U.S. team. He started his career at the Marco Consulting Group as an investment manager analyst where he developed expertise in both traditional and alternative asset classes.

Steve McCourt

Meketa Investment Group

Steve is managing principal of Meketa Investment Group. He serves as lead consultant for several institutional funds with public, Taft-Hartley, endowment, non-profit and corporate plan sponsors. He also leads the firm’s Global Macroeconomic Working Group. He sits on the steering committee of the University of California, San Diego Economics Roundtable.

James Meketa

Meketa Investment Group (Retired)

James founded Meketa Investment Group in 1978 to provide a broad range of strategic investment advisory services to institutional clients. He has more than 40 years of experience advising Taft-Hartley, public funds, corporate and endowment plans in investment policy design, global asset allocation, and analysis of manager and fund performance.

Tim McCusker

NEPC

Tim is chief investment officer at NEPC, where he oversees investment research and strategy development. In 2015, he topped CIO magazine’s rankings of the world’s most influential investment consultants, and in 2016 he was listed again by the magazine as one of the world’s most influential investment consultants. Tim earned his B.A. in mathematics from Colgate University.

Ron Peyton

Callan Associates

Ron is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Callan Associates. He joined Callan in 1974 and actively serves on committees which encourage minorities, women and disabled-owned managers at the firm. Ron also serves on the board of the United Way in California’s Bay Area and is chairman of the CFA Institute Asset Manager Code of Professional Conduct Advisory Committee. He earned his MBA from Indiana University.

Jason Russell

Segal Consulting

Jason is a senior vice president and actuary with Segal Consulting. He works primarily with multiemployer pension plans, assisting trustees in developing strategies for sustainability, as well as in restructuring financially distressed plans. Jason chairs the American Academy of Actuaries Multiemployer Pension Plans Committee, and in that capacity he has been actively involved in discussions related to multiemployer pension reform and legislation.