Western Pension & Benefits Council - San Diego

We are very thankful to have such a great Topic and speaker to kick of our 2024 year. Please Join us!

We are very happy to announce that we will continue meeting at the offices of Pillsbury Winthrop located at 11682 El Camino Real,?Suite 200?| San Diego, CA 92130-2092! We hope you have found this location to be comfortable and convenient. Parking is free! We have a spectacular line up of speakers.?Some of the top professionals in the pension benefits arena will present on topics that are important and relevant to a pension professional like yourself. The time to renew your 2024-2025 membership is now! Our first lunch meeting will be held on?Tuesday,?September 24th?at the offices of Pillsbury Winthrop.?Sherrie Boutwell, Boutwell Fay, will present on DC Plans: 2024 Update and Hot Topics for 2025.? If you are not a member, we are writing to personally invite you to become a member of our great organization. As a member of the Western Pension & Benefits Council, San Diego Chapter, you receive the resources needed to keep you up-to-date in the retirement plan industry. Our sole purpose is to provide education, information, and foster sound principles of benefit plan governance to our membership within the employee benefits industry. Our guest speakers are well known and respected in the employee benefits field and gladly share their knowledge and experience so you can better serve your clients.?? The advantages of membership are: 6 monthly luncheon meetings?featuring?locally and nationally renowned speakers. Meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of the month, except for September and November. Monthly Meetings September 24, 2024 October 15, 2024 November 19, 2024 January 21, 2025 February 18, 2025 April 15, 2025 Continuing Education credits for MCLE, ASPPA, NIPA, CPA, ERPA and JBEA Bring a Plan Sponsor Guest to our lunch meetings for free (some restrictions apply) Membership Appreciation Event Reduced pricing for on-going WP&BC Governing Board Webinars Reduced registration fees and hotel rates to attend the Western Benefits Conference Excellent opportunity to meet or reconnect with other benefits professionals in our community Monthly gift card drawing at each meeting Membership dues for 2024-2025 are: Prepaid:??????????$350?(includes all lunch meetings) Pay As You Go:???????$150 initial membership and?$65?per?meeting *Registration for each meeting is still required To become a member, go to www.wpbcsandiego.org.?Select “Membership” from the menu and choose your level of membership.?If you need any assistance with this process, please contact our Chapter Administrator, Lori Mason, at (619)405-3874 or [email protected].

Chapter Members - The 2024 Western Benefits Conference is taking place next month, September 26-27 in San Francisco. An exciting line-up of speakers (including government speakers, plan sponsors, and industry leaders) has been planned. Space is becoming limited at the host hotel (the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental on Nob Hill), so you are encouraged to register as soon as possible. This promises to be a terrific event. Details and a registration link are below. 2024 Western Benefits Conference 2024 Western Benefits Conference Website Member Rate - $525 Non-member Rate - $750 The 2024 Western Benefits Conference is set for September 26-27, at the Mark Hopkins InterContinental in San Francisco, CA. Check out the Mark Hopkins InterContinental Thursday, September 26 10:00am - 11:00am Check In 11:00am - 12:00pm IRS Update Panel Eric Slack, Director of IRS Employee Plans Tax Exempt & Government Entities, Director of Employee Plans Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Lou Leslie, Technical Advisor to the Director, Employee Plans Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 12:00pm - 12:30pm Sponsored Food Break 12:30pm - 1:30pm Litigation Update/Fiduciary Rule Brad Huss, Partner Trucker Huss Kirsten Scott, Partner Renaker Scott 1:30pm - 1:45pm Break 1:45pm - 2:45pm AI/Cybersecurity Stephanie Aliaga, Global Market Strategist JP Morgan Asset Management 2:45pm - 3:15pm Sponsored Food Break 3:15pm - 4:15pm Plan Sponsor Panel Grace Chen, Assistant General Counsel Genentech Archie Ford, Senior Benefits Program Manager Reddit Scott Knowles, Senior Manager, Global Benefits Cisco Systems 5:00pm - 7:00pm Reception Sponsored by Gallagher & Trucker Huss Sincerely,

Court is Now in Session! ERISA Litigation Update 2023/2024 Meeting description:? Litigation is expensive and time-consuming, but the parties often leave the courthouse with hard-won lessons for the future (and lighter wallets). Fortunately for us, the spectators, the experiences reflected in the pages of the Federal Reporter are available for all to see, and we can use the cautionary tales they tell to minimize the risks to our clients – and ourselves – as we navigate the complex and evolving legal requirements that apply to employee benefit plans and the people who work with them. ERISA has been fertile ground for litigation for years, and 2023 did not mark a change in that regard. The Supreme Court is considering major changes to the operation of Federal agencies – including the IRS, DOL, PBGC, and HHS – and these changes may substantially impact how future guidance is developed. The Court is also facing some of the consequences of its Dobbs decision, and the direction it takes is likely to further impact health plans and their sponsors. The lower courts are fully in on the action as well, dealing with developing fee and cost claims for both retirement and health plans, changing what we thought we knew about prohibited transactions, investment governance and fiduciary responsibility, ERISA preemption, and worker classification, among many other things. Hope you didn’t have any vacations planned this year! To keep you up-to-date about developments in the courts during 2023 and to give you a preview of coming attractions in 2024, we will discuss these and other emerging ERISA litigation issues for plan sponsors, fiduciaries, and vendors. Come join us as we learn from the mistakes of others and discover a few new ways to help our clients avoid ending up on the wrong side of the “versus” in a case caption About our?speaker:? Timothy G. Verrall is a shareholder in the Houston office of Ogletree Deakins where he advises a diverse range of clients on a wide variety of employee benefit plan issues arising under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, and related federal and state laws including employee benefit plan design and administration, executive and incentive compensation, controversies and litigation, plan investments and health care privacy. Tim is a past president of the Orange County Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Conference and is a frequent speaker on employee benefits topics for industry organizations. Date: Tuesday, April 16th?(registration deadline: April 12th) Speaker: Tim Verrall, Ogletree Deakins Networking: 11:30 to Noon Program: Noon to 1 pm ?Location: Pillsbury 11682 El Camino Real,?Suite 200?| San Diego, CA 92130-2092 Meeting Fees: Pay As You Go Member $65//Non-Members $75// ? Prepaid Members no charge, but a reservation is still required?

An Introduction to ESOPs Date: Tuesday, March 19th?(registration deadline: March 15th) Speaker: Sheryl C. Bayani-Alzona, Employee Benefits Law Group, PC? Networking: 11:30 to Noon Program: Noon to 1 pm Meeting Fees: Pay As You Go Member $65//Non-Members $75 ? Prepaid Members no charge, but a reservation is still required? Location: Pillsbury 11682 El Camino Real,?Suite 200?| San Diego, CA 92130-2092 Meeting description:?The different ways an ESOP can be used as a tool for succession planning and exit planning by the shareholder of a corporation will be discussed.?In addition, we will learn about the various ESOP transaction structures and the benefits and tradeoffs of each structure. The speaker will discuss how to determine if an ESOP will be right for a corporation. About our?speaker:?Sheryl C.?Bayani-Alzona is a shareholder of Employee Benefits Law Group, PC with over 12 years of?experience as an ESOP attorney and 13 years of experience as?an administrator for ESOPs and other retirement plans.?She guides companies, shareholders, and internal and?independent trustees through all aspects of Employee Stock?Ownership Plan transactions, compliance, and operations. She?works with clients when they are considering a liquidity event, a?business succession plan, or a plan to share equity with their?employees. In the event of inquiries from the Department of Labor and the?IRS, Sheryl is an excellent line of defense, coordinating with?CPAs, TPAs, and attorneys to minimize liability for income and?excise taxes, interest and penalties. Bring a guest to any of our lunch programs—a client, a colleague, a co-worker—for FREE! They will get to enjoy the professional networking, the lunch, our top-notch speaker presentations and continuing education credits, and you will be able to introduce them to the organization and act as their host—for FREE! Continuing Education Credit:?ASPPA, NIPA, CPA, MCLE, ERPA and JBEA. This meeting qualifies for one (1) hour of continuing education credit. If?you have any questions about the program or require assistance with our website, please contact: Lori Mason, Chapter Administrator? Western Pension & Benefits Council San Diego Chapter P.O. Box 600302 San Diego, CA?92160-0302 (619) 405-3874 [email protected]

DOL, Audits & Enforcement WP&BC would like to remind you of our new meeting location at the offices of Pillsbury, 11682?El Camino Real,?Suite 200,?San Diego, CA 92130-2092.?Parking is easy and completely free. Date: Tuesday, February 20th?(registration deadline: February 16th) Speaker: James Goldstein, DOL, U.S. Department of Labor Networking: 11:30 to Noon Program: Noon to 1 pm Meeting Fees: Pay As You Go Member $65 Non-Members $75? Prepaid Members no charge, but a reservation is still required? Meeting description:?The?following topics will be discussed: EBSA’s enforcement program with respect to the Mental Health Parity and Equity Addiction Act EBSA’s Terminated Vested Participants Project.?TVPP investigations of defined benefit plans focus on plans that appear to have systemic issues with plan administration, particularly issues related to keeping track of terminated vested participants and beneficiaries, and timely distributing benefits EBSA’s focus on cybersecurity issues in our investigations About our speaker:?James Goldstein?is a Senior Technical Advisor with the?US Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Los Angeles Regional Office. During his two-decade career with the agency, he has worked on many large civil and criminal investigations involving single-employer and multi-employer sponsored health and retirement plans. Mr. Goldstein is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where he received an American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law and earned a JD with honors. In 2012 he served as an adjunct professor at Southwestern Law School, where he co-taught a course in employee benefits law sponsored by the Department of Labor. Mr. Goldstein frequently speaks on EBSA’s enforcement program before various industry groups. He is a member of the California Bar. When you register online, you can pay with a credit card, or you can mail in a check with the invoice you will receive via email. No matter what method you choose, please be sure to register by the deadline. Bring a guest to any of our lunch programs—a client, a colleague, a co-worker—for FREE! They will get to enjoy the professional networking, the lunch, our top-notch speaker presentations and continuing education credits, and you will be able to introduce them to the organization and act as their host—for FREE! Continuing Education Credit:?ASPPA, NIPA, CPA, MCLE, ERPA and JBEA. This meeting qualifies for one (1) hour of continuing education credit.

WPBC OC is hosting one of my favorite annual events! Very inexpensive way to get CE. Amazing resources. Incredible information and a way to get an incredible deeper dive into retirement plans.

Happy New Year from Western Pension & Benefits Council, San Diego Chapter! We are a little less than half way through our program year with in-person meetings. Our?membership has been enjoying the new meeting space located at the offices of Pillsbury Winthrop located at?11682 El Camino Real,?Suite 200,?San Diego, CA 92130-2092! New menu items are being offered as well as free parking!?For those of you who have not yet signed up for membership, WP&BC, San Diego would like to offer you a deal:?Enroll now for half the cost of a full year of membership! Pay-as-you-go Membership??$150?now $75! Prepaid Membership (includes the cost of lunch meetings)?$295?now $147! https://lnkd.in/g-xNPWAM