Evolution of Plan Cost Structures: Adding Value in the Fee Disclosure Era (Employee Benefit Plans Conference)

Roman Leshak, Jr., CPA
Director, Audit & Accounting
Employee Benefit Plans Specialty Area Leader

Roman specializes in employee benefit plan engagements and has a wide range of experience providing audit and advisory services to all types of retirement plans including defined contribution and defined benefit plans, ESOPs, multi-employer plans and health and welfare plans. He has worked with small single employer plans, large corporations with multiple types of plans, and large multi-employer plans. Roman also educates plan fiduciaries and plan administrators to help them understand their responsibilities and he provides assistance with plan compliance issues and best practice recommendations. He is responsible for developing and providing firm wide training in the employee benefit plan area and attends both national and local conferences.

Background

Roman joined Kreischer Miller in 2004. Prior to joining Kreischer Miller, he worked as a senior accountant at a local public accounting firm, where he provided accounting, audit, and tax services for a diversified client base of closely-held companies and employee benefit plans. He also served as accounting manager at SunGard, the largest privately held software and services company headquartered in Wayne, PA.

Professional and Business Affiliations

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants – Member, member of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center
• Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants – Member, member of the Employee Benefits Plan Committee

Education and Certifications

• Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania
• B.S. – Accounting, Shippensburg University

Ben Hall, VP & Managing Director, JKJ Retirement Services
Ben began his career in financial services in 1999, where he worked for 5 years in the practice that today is branded as JKJ Financial Services.  Ben re-joined JKJ in 2013 to head the JKJ Retirement Services (“JKJRS”) practice, and became a partner in the firm in 2014.
In leading JKJRS, Ben remains laser-focused on employer-sponsored retirement programs, with breadth of knowledge across multiple plan types.  He leads the firm initiatives around plan design strategy, participant education, investment review analytics, vendor selection, cost benchmarking & fee negotiation, and ultimate account oversight & advocacy, operating as a fee-based co-fiduciary.
In the decade from 2003 through 2013, he held positions of ever increasing responsibility for a pair of Fortune 500 financial services firms.  Most recently, prior to re-joining JKJ, he completed a successful & fulfilling tenure with The Principal Financial Group, where he served as Regional VP responsible for the oversight of all executive benefit & nonqualified deferred compensation endeavors in the mid-Atlantic & northeastern regions.
Ben graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.S. in Engineering, and went on to complete his MBA at Villanova University.  He has continued his professional education by earning his Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), Charted Financial Consultant (ChFC), and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).  He lives in Wallingford with his wife & 2 daughters both under the age of 5.