Plan committees make dozens of decisions each year—from selecting investments to approving plan amendments—but few have documented processes for how those decisions should be made. This lack of structure creates inconsistent outcomes, potential compliance gaps, and unnecessary fiduciary risk. Join us as we explore how leading plan sponsors establish clear, repeatable decision-making frameworks that satisfy ERISA's prudent process requirements.
About the Speakers
Will Hansen, Executive Director, PSCA
Will Hansen joined the American Retirement Association (ARA) in January 2019 in the new role of Chief Government Affairs Officer. In this position, Will oversees all advocacy activities at the federal, state, and local levels on behalf of the five trade organizations within ARA. In addition, Will is the Executive Director of Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) as of January 2020. PSCA, founded in 1947, has been on the forefront of protecting the American retirement system, and is committed to improving workers’ retirement security by providing advocacy, insights, and education to plan sponsors. Hansen, an attorney with an LLM in Employee Benefits from The John Marshall Law School, joined ARA from The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), where he was the Senior Vice President of Retirement and Compensation Policy. He joined ERIC from the Holland America Group where he served as Senior Manager of Global Employee Benefits overseeing employee benefit programs for five cruise brands under the Carnival Corporate umbrella. Hansen previously served as the Executive Director of the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, as well as Legislative Counsel for Senator Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA), advising the Senator on tax, pension, budget, and social security issues, and as Legislative Director for Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). He also has experience as an employee benefits attorney with McDermott Will & Emery LLP, where he focused on qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.
Gretchen Harders, Pensions and Employee Benefits Practice Chair, Cohen & Buckmann, P.C.
Gretchen is known as the lawyer that other lawyers ask for advice on employee benefits, pensions and executive compensation. Gretchen represents a varied list of clients, including financial service companies, entertainment industry clients, and tax-exempt organizations, and also actively represents individual executives in executive compensation matters. She also advises multinational employers on designing and implementing equity-based compensation packages to incentivize top-level executive. Gretchen chairs the firm's Pensions and Employee Benefits Practice, which advises on all types of qualified retirement plans, including pension plans, 401(k) plans and ESOPs, as well as Section 403(b) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Some of her focus areas include:
Executive Counselling, Contracts and Negotiations
Fund Carried Interests and Profits Interests
Law Firm Partner Benefits and Retirement Planning
Qualified and Non-Qualified Retirement Plans
Tax Exempt Organizations: Executive Compensation & Retirement Plans
Health and Welfare Plans
M&A Transactions: Employee Benefits Advice
Gretchen is a frequent speaker on various employee benefits issues and developments. She authors articles on timely ERISA and employee benefits law topics. Additionally, Gretchen is a trustee of the Helene Fuld School of Nursing and an officer in the Rotary Club of the Palisades. Her interests include reading, playing piano, and coaching youth soccer.
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