Employee Benefit Plans Conference

An auditor within the Office of the Chief Accountant at EBSA, Jennifer has over 16 years of public accounting experience. She focused her time exclusively on performing employee benefit plan compliance audits, including audits of 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, defined benefit plans and money purchase plans. Jennifer supervised and reviewed the work performed by employee benefit plan engagement teams, served as employee benefit plan resource to the firm and actively participated in and facilitated the firm’s continuing education programs to stay informed on the latest developments as they affected GAAP, GAAS, Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service rules and regulations. Jennifer has been within the Office of the Chief Accountant for 7 years.

Jennifer graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Jennifer also obtained a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation sponsored by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and Wharton School of Business.

As a leader of Kennerly Montgomery's pension and employee benefits practice, Kathy D. Aslinger assists public and private employers, plan fiduciaries, trustees, third party administrators, and advisors maneuver through the complex world of employee benefit plan design, implementation, and compliance. Additionally, she uses her experience and knowledge to assist companies in the following areas: due diligence and benefit considerations during merger and acquisitions; controlled group and affiliated service group analysis; executive compensation; audits; fiduciary liability issues; multiple employer and multiemployer benefit plan issues; DOL and IRS compliance; HIPAA; COBRA; ERISA and state law obligations; and Affordable Care Act compliance.

For an ERISA attorney, Kathy has an unusual background. She spent the first 11 years of her career as a government attorney and prosecutor. During that time, she worked as a judicial clerk for judges on the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, as an appellate attorney for the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, and as an Assistant District Attorney. She has tried cases before judges and juries and handled approximately 200 appeals before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She credits the research, writing, and advocacy skills she gained during these years for her continued success in the realm of employee benefits, and while she works hard to keep her clients out of the courtroom, she is grateful that she has the experience and ability to assist them in the courtroom if needed.

In addition to her ERISA practice, Kathy serves as the Managing Shareholder of the Firm. This role enables her to lead, mentor and guide the Firm in a positive direction.

Steven is the EVP, Financial Advisor with Tower Circle Partners of Janney Montgomery Scott. Steven and his team Joined Janney Montgomery Scott from Avondale Partners, where he was a founding member of the advisory business for the Nashville TN. investment banking boutique. He brings more than 25 years of experience working with institutional investors including defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, endowments and foundations, as well as corporate cash mandates.

Steven has been recognized by PLANADVISER magazine as one of the nation's "Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisors" for multiple years and was named to the Financial Times "Top 401" Retirement Plan Advisor" List every year since its inception. The team also routinely is recognized by the National Association of Plan Advisors as a "Top Advisory Team" including for 2024. Forbes recently named Steven and his team to the "Best-In-State" wealth advisors 2024, for their work with individuals and families.

Steven received his bachelor's degree in finance from Auburn University and his MBA from the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designee. He holds the Accredited Investment fiduciary (AIF) designation and also earned the CPFA (Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor) designation through the National Association of Plan Advisors. Steven completed the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation (CEPA) and applies the planning methods taught by the Exit Planning Institute for owners of closely held family businesses.

His team at Janney works with plan sponsors overseeing more than $9 Billion of institutional retirement assets.

Janet is a Managing Director in the LBMC Audit and Advisory practice. She audits and helps clients address employee benefit and ERISA matters related to 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and defined benefit pension plans. Her experience includes both ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) audits and non-ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) audits for benefit plans of public companies, privately-held companies, and schools. In addition to the accounting and audit aspects of qualified employee benefit plans, Janet is well versed in operational compliance violations in regard to the IRS and Department of Labor regulations. Janet keeps current on the latest literature applicable to the requirements of ERISA, IRS and Department of Labor related to qualified employee benefit plans in order to develop training and perform pre-issuance and quality control reviews of employee benefit plans for LBMC.

With 16 years of public accounting experience, Anne specializes in employee benefit plan and not-for-profit audits and currently serves as the leader of Windham Brannon's Employee Benefit Plan Practice. As the practice leader, Anne is committed to helping clients ensure that they are in compliance with reporting requirements and advising clients on plan operations and giving recommendations on process and administrative improvements.

She works closely with clients during the planning phase of an audit in order to identify potential issues as early as possible, thereby ensuring that the process is effective, efficient, and completed in a timely manner. She regularly communicates with her clients to help them answer any questions that may arise during the course of the year.

Anne enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience with others. She is currently serving on the Task Force for the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants Employee Benefit Plan Conference and has been a frequent speaker at the AICPA National Employee Benefit Plan Conference. Additionally, Anne is regularly invited by the Board of Directors of her clients to present findings from their audits as well as other industry specific topics.

She joined Windham Brannon in 2001 after graduating from Auburn University with a Bachelors of Science in Accounting. Anne then completed her Masters of Accountancy in 2003 from Kennesaw State University.

Anne is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants, Women in Pensions, and the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. She is also a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP).

Randy joined HHM in 2011 as a quality control partner in the Accounting and Assurance Department. He leads the firm in many initiatives including the peer review practice and employee benefit plan audit niche, in addition to providing technical reviews for clients in multiple industries such as auto dealerships, nonprofits, construction and manufacturing.

He is a nationally recognized employee benefit plan audit specialist and leads discussions for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) in this area. His skills as a discussion leader have deemed him an eight-time winner of the AICPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award. His teaching pursuits include instructing the Audits of 401(k) plans webcast since 2014 and teaching various employee benefit plan audit courses since 2006.

As the captain for approximately 50 peer reviews each year, he helps other CPA firms raise the bar of quality for accounting, auditing and attestation services. He has been on the peer review committee of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) since 2013. In addition, he is an approved Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) audit subject matter expert for the AICPA enhanced oversight project.

Jeff is a vice president and retirement plan consultant with the Retirement & Investment Solutions practice of CBIZ, Inc. He works with plan sponsors to help them meet their organization's retirement plan goals and manage the personal liability associated with being a fiduciary to a qualified plan. He provides consulting services to private and public companies, as well as not-for-profit organizations.

Jeff has been featured in several regional publications including the Memphis Business Journal and the Mississippi Lawyer Journal.

Jeff is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA) and a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS).

Alicia has over 18 years of experience and joined our team as a Senior Manager. She focuses on assurance services for employee benefit plans, including defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, and 403(b) plans. Alicia’s expertise in employee benefit plans provides in-depth knowledge of reporting requirements and experience assisting with operational issues that may impact them.

Prior to Elliott Davis, she worked as an audit manager at a top regional accounting firm, serving multiple employee benefit plan customers, not-for-profit organizations, and local governments, and served as a team member on peer reviews.