From the Leadership Council

We are nine months into our leadership terms and it has certainly been a busy and exciting year for both leadership and our volunteers. With the restructuring of the organization and the formation of the American Retirement Association, ACOPA has been going through changes to adapt to the new structure.

The ACOPA Government Affairs Committee was restructured to be aligned with the changes to the organization. The committee is responsible for the content of any actuarial issues that are of primary concern to ACOPA members. In addition, we also have had several task forces working on comment letters on the Actuarial Standards of Practice (Risk, Modeling and QDROs). Those comment letters can be found here. 

In May, we had the opportunity to participate in the first American Retirement Association Government Affairs meeting. This was our first opportunity to see the restructuring at work. It was clear from this meeting that overall we are a much stronger organization in the wake of the restructuring. Being among the leadership of our sister organizations really highlighted the level of expertise that we have in all facets of the industry.

The level of respect for the organization was evident as we joined with the ASPPA Government Affairs committee leadership to meet with the IRS. It was apparent that our concerns and issues were heard. In addition, several ACOPA members met with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to discuss issues that are creating concern among our members, such as the new PBGC 501 distribution documentation and the new mortality table.

ACOPA is also responsible for providing actuarial content to ASPPA and ACOPA publications and providing educational programs. In 2015 we launched the inaugural Los Angeles Advanced Pension Conference, which had both an actuarial track and an advanced defined contribution track. The conference was quite a success and was well received by attendees. The committee is already busy working on the 2016 conference — please mark Jan. 21-22, 2016 on your calendar; this is a conference you will not want to miss. More information on the 2016 Los Angeles Advanced Pension Conference will be available once the agenda is finalized. 

When members are asked about ACOPA, the first thing that often comes to mind is the ListServe. While the ListServe is an invaluable resource to our members, there is more to ACOPA membership. Our challenge is to not only heighten awareness among our members on the value proposition of ACOPA membership, but also to be able to articulate that value proposition beyond our membership.

We have started this process by focusing on our Strategic Plan and taking a hard look at our core values and strategic goals:

The Executive Committee has been tasked with developing the Strategic Plan for review by the Leadership Council for approval. You will be seeing more on the Strategic Plan in months to come.

Lastly, we are excited about the launch of the ACOPA Monthly as a way to highlight the value of ACOPA membership. We want to thank Norman Levinrad for taking on the role of Executive Editor in bringing this benefit to our members.