The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries honored Rich Hochman with the prestigious Harry T. Eidson Founders Award during the Oct. 20 opening session of the 2019 ASPPA Annual Conference in National Harbor, MD.
Hochman is the Director of Retirement Plan Services at Actuarial Systems Corp. (ASC). An industry veteran with more than three decades of experience, he is a Past President of ASPPA and was the recipient of ASPPA’s Educator of the Year Award in 2012. Prior to joining ASC, Rich was Managing Director of the McKay Hochman Co., Inc. He is a frequent speaker at industry forums, authors articles on retirement plan issues, and provides practitioner input to the IRS.
ASPPA established the Eidson Award in 1995 to honor the memory of its founder, Harry T. Eidson. His belief in the importance of the employer-sponsored retirement system in the United States and in having an organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing such a system was the inspiration for the formation of ASPPA in 1966. Each year, ASPPA honors one or two individuals for their contributions to the industry. Recipients can be members of ASPPA or from outside the association’s membership.
Educator’s Award
The 2019 Educator’s Award was presented to Stephen Forbes, JD, LLM.
An ERISA attorney and educator with 33 years of experience practicing and teaching in the retirement plan area, Forbes is currently completing a book on retirement plan corrections. Previously he was Vice President of SunGard Relius in charge of Relius Education. At SunGard, he taught seminars, conferences and web seminars on retirement plan compliance, design, and correction. Forbes came to SunGard in the acquisition of Pension Publications of Denver (PPD), where he served as Vice President.
Forbes was the author of all of the editions of The Form 5500 Filing Guide and the co-author of The Pension Library. He also wrote articles and technical updates on all aspects of retirement planning. Before joining PPD, he was a Tax Law Specialist in the Employee Plans Division at the IRS National Office, where he worked with master/prototype plans, trained IRS employees, wrote IRS Notices and Revenue Rulings, and participated in several Treasury regulations committees. He holds a law degree from Willamette College of Law and a Masters of Law degree in Taxation from the George Washington Law School.
The Educator’s Award was established in 1997 to recognize and honor outstanding educators. It is awarded to an ASPPA member who has made a significant contribution to retirement plan education.
Martin Rosenberg Academic Achievement Awards
ASPPA honored three industry professionals with the 2019 Martin Rosenberg Academic Achievement Award:
- Kathryn Stone, QKA, a Retirement Plan Services Representative at Capital Group, Inc., for her outstanding performance on the 2018 DC-2 examination;
- Kim Thompson, a Plan Administrator with Blue Ridge ESOP, for outstanding performance on the 2018 DC-1 examination;
- Matthew Regan, a Defined Contribution Analyst with The Benefit Practice, for outstanding performance on both the 2019 DC-1 and DC-2 examinations.
The Martin Rosenberg Academic Achievement Awards are presented in honor of the late Martin Rosenberg, a Fellow of ASPPA, and are designed to recognize top performing examination candidates based upon their total score as well as their overall exam performance. ASPPA established the award in 1990.
PenChecks Trust/ASPPA QKA Scholarship Endowment
Six PenChecks Trust/ASPPA QKA Scholarships were awarded to individuals interested in pursuing ASPPA’s Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) credential. The scholarships will cover the QKA exam registration fees, related exam publications and the awardee’s first year of membership dues. The 2019 scholarship recipients are:
- Mark Abbonizio, Tycor Benefit Administrators
- Kimberly Nowicki, Fiduciary Wise, LLC
- Kristi Dailey, CRI TPA Services, Inc.
- Anthony Kranz, Pension Plan Services, Inc.
- Cristian Wisner, Hilb Group of New England, Inc.
- Ivan Gonzalez, Independent Retirement
Edward E. Burrows Distinguished Achievement Award
At the annual ACOPA Actuarial Symposium in August, longtime ACOPA member Kevin Donovan was presented with the 2019 Edward E. Burrows Distinguished Achievement Award. Donovan is the managing member and founder of Pinnacle Plan Design. He is a leading actuary in the pension field, specifically in the area of cash balance plan design and administration. He has been a frequent speaker at national pension conferences for the past 25 years and has served in many leadership roles in the profession.
The Burrows Award is presented annually to a pension actuary who has, by his or her actions, set an example for other pension actuaries. This is an actuary who has gone above and beyond in forwarding ethics, education, beneficial legislation or regulations (or such other actions as the selection committee deems appropriate) that enhance the private pension system or the professionalism of enrolled actuaries within the private pension system. Burrows was a beacon in this regard, and ACOPA honors him by presenting an award that recognizes those who follow in his path.
- Log in to post comments