Fiduciary Group of Washington, DC, has purchased Fiduciary Counselors Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aon Corporation, in a management-led buy out. Nell Hennessy, former Deputy Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), will continue to head the company. In the past five years, Fiduciary Counselors has acted as independent fiduciary in transactions involving pension and 401(k) plan assets totaling more than $4 billion, including high-profile cases such as US Airways and United Airlines.
(PRWEB) July 2003 - Fiduciary Group of Washington, DC, has purchased Fiduciary Counselors Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aon Corporation, in a management-led buy out. Fiduciary Counselors (formerly Aon Fiduciary Counselors) is an SEC-registered investment advisor that acts as an independent fiduciary for pension plans in the US. Nell Hennessy, former Deputy Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), will continue to head the company. Terms were not disclosed for the transaction.
Recent lawsuits over retirement plans sponsored by Enron and other highly publicized business failures have alerted corporate officers and directors that they may have unexpected personal liability when they serve as fiduciaries for plans that hold company stock. At the same time, many companies facing sudden increases in pension funding are looking to contribute company stock or other non-cash assets to their defined benefit plans. As a result, companies are increasingly looking to outsource investment responsibility for company stock and other assets that may involve potential conflicts of interest" Ms. Hennessy said. "Fiduciary Counselors is well positioned to help, since we have acted as independent fiduciary for a wide variety of plans."
In the past five years, Fiduciary Counselors has acted as independent fiduciary in transactions involving plan assets totaling more than $4 billion, including a number of high-profile cases involving employer stock in 401(k) plans, ESOPs and defined benefit plans. Recent engagements include plans of USAirways, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Federal-Mogul Corp. Fiduciary Counselors also conducts fiduciary due diligence reviews, provides training for in-house fiduciaries and corporate boards and handles communication with plan participants and beneficiaries.
Fiduciary Counselors senior leadership team includes:
· Nell Hennessy, who has been President of Fiduciary Counselors since its formation in 1999. While at PBGC from 1993 to 1998, Ms. Hennessy represented the agencys interests in negotiations with major corporate pension plan sponsors in a wide range of industries, including airlines, steel and auto manufacturing. Working closely with the Department of Labor, she negotiated an agreement with General Motors Corporation which permitted GM to the make the largest contribution of employer stock to its hourly plan in U.S. history, forming the basis for a ground-breaking prohibited transaction exemption from the Department of Labor and allowing GM to subsequently spin off its EDS subsidiary. She also negotiated the restructuring of TWAs debt to PBGC and Carl Icahn, allowing TWA to successfully reorganize in 1996. Prior to her government service, as a benefits partner in a major Wall Street law firm, she was involved in a wide variety of fiduciary transactions.
· Christopher Capuano has joined Fiduciary Counselors as Vice President and General Counsel. Mr. Capuano previously served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Dimension Data North America (formerly Proxicom, Inc.) where he had both strategic and operational responsibilities in the areas of client and technology partner business development, mergers/acquisitions, and international expansion. Mr. Capuano helped lead Proxicom from its initial venture funding in 1996 through its successful Initial Public Offering of stock in 1999 and its acquisition by Dimension Data (LSE: DDT) in 2001. He was also responsible for developing, implementing and operating all of Proxicoms employee plans, including serving as a trustee of the 401(k) plan. Prior to joining Proxicom, Mr. Capuano was a member of the National Tax Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Washington, DC, an adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center where he taught a course on pension law, andan attorney in the Washington, D.C.office of a with a major Wall Street law firm.
· Vicki Dungan will be Vice President of Communication for Fiduciary Counselors. Ms. Dungan has worked as a consultant in the employee benefits field in the area of participant and beneficiary communication for more than 20 years, most recently as President of Dungan Resouce Group. She was a founding member of The Adobe Group LLC, and a senior consultant with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Towers Perrin and Meidinger Inc. Her work in savings, investment and stock options education for clients including Fidelity Investments, PepsiCo and MediaOne has been recognized with awards of excellence from Business Insurance magazine, the International Association of Business Communication (IABC), and several film and video organizations. She bagan her career in employee benefits on the staff of the Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans (APPWP, now known as the American Benefits Council).
· Caroline Klam is Chief Operating Officer of Fiduciary Counselors. Ms. Klam has a strong background in training and operations, having served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for LXR, Inc., a biotech start-up working in the area of stem cell technology and storage. She also served as Senior Director of Operations and Director of Administration for the National Tissue Services of the American Red Cross where she was responsible for operations across the US and led the human resources, financial administration, strategic planning, information systems and public relations functions, including centralization of 36 field units into six area offices.
###
|
