Audits of Employee Benefit Plans Conference (E1505260)

As the Chief Accountant, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Mr. Auerbach is responsible for managing the resources of the Office of the Chief Accountant and implementing various comprehensive, nationwide enforcement programs relating to certain provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He also provides ERISA related accounting and auditing technical expertise within the Employee Benefits Security Administration and is the liaison with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and other professional organizations. Mr. Auerbach provides executive oversight and leadership for EBSA’s fiduciary oversight program for the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The TSP is the largest defined contribution plan in the world, with assets of in excess of $500 billion and 5.0 million participants.

Mr. Auerbach is a certified public accountant and earned his B.S. in accounting, from the University of Maryland.

David R. Dacey, CPA, is the partner in charge of Withum’s Technical Resources Group, the group which oversees A&A quality within the firm. Dave is based in the firm’s New Brunswick office and has over 30 years of professional accounting and auditing experience. Dave is a certified public accountant in the state of New Jersey. Dave also heads Withum’s accounting and auditing policy CPE committee and is responsible for researching and disseminating updates on technical accounting and auditing pronouncements to the Firm’s professional personnel. His experience spans many industries, including various aspects of manufacturing, wholesale and distribution, and service industries including the legal and medical professions, construction and retail.

Dave received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Rutgers University, Newark. Before joining Withum, Dave worked with a large regional firm, and with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He is a member of the AICPA, where he has participated in various task forces of the SEC Practice Section Peer Review Committee. He is also a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA) and is a frequent presenter at various NJCPA educational seminars, including their annual ERISA conference for 2010 through 2017. Dave resides in Somerset County, NJ.

Kriste Naples-DeAngelo is a Partner in the firm’s Pension Services Group. With more than 25 years in the public accounting profession, she is responsible for managing numerous employee benefit plan audits and consulting with plan sponsors. She is integral in the design of continuing education courses and the training of the firm’s staff on employee benefit plan audits. She is instrumental in the design and maintenance of the master engagement templates used firm-wide. She has extensive knowledge of accounting and technical reporting standards, and has assisted clients with their annual audit and reporting requirements for both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Her management skills, coupled with her auditing and employee benefit plan experience, provide clients with superior service, organization and knowledge. She works with plans for both public and private company plan sponsors and assists public companies with all aspects of SEC reporting, compliance and filings, including 11-Ks.

She has gained a reputation as an expert speaker on employee benefits and frequently presents on national webcasts, regional teleconference calls and seminars, and Continuing Professional Education courses. In addition, she has written articles, blogs and presented to various professional groups on a variety of employee benefit plan topics.

She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and serves on their Employee Benefit Plan Expert Panel. In addition, she is a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA), American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the New Jersey Chapter of the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network (WEB Network) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Mrs. DeAngelo graduated from Kean University with a B.S. in Management Science and earned her M.B.A. from Centenary College. She has also been an instructor of financial services for the Small Business Development Center at Raritan Valley Community College, which is directed towards entrepreneurs, start-ups and established businesses, and has been an Adjunct Professor at Centenary College teaching undergraduate accounting courses.

Jodi Brown is a Senior Manager with SaxBST. Since joining the firm in September 2005, she has been actively involved in the firm’s Employee Benefit Plans niche and the Manufacturing & Distribution service group. Ms. Brown has been instrumental in developing training programs for the firm’s Accounting and Auditing department. She also conducts technical as well as new processes training for all levels of employees at the firm. She is a Certified Public Accountant in New York. She graduated from the University of Richmond, where she earned a B.S. degree in Business with a concentration in Accounting and a minor in Chemistry. She was also a member of the university’s lacrosse team and was team captain her senior year.

Elizabeth Harper (Liz), Member of the Firm, joined SobelCo in the fall of 2009 to assume the role of Quality Control Senior Manager. In 2014 she was promoted to Director with responsibility for reviewing all of the financial statements and service organization control (SOC) reports issued by the firm along with client correspondences ensuring that the highest quality standards are met and that the reports are in accordance with the established authoritative standards. Liz is dedicated to ensuring that the firm complies with its internal quality standards. This includes involvement with the engagement teams during all phases of the work, personnel training and development, and monitoring of engagement quality. Liz is also responsible for client service of SOC, employment benefit plan (EBP) engagements and other audits.

In 2016 Liz was given the additional role as Director of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Group and in 2017 was elected as a Member of the Firm. Liz brings insights gained based on her previous experiences at a "Big Four" firm and a local CPA firm to all of the roles she plays at SobelCo.

While at a local firm, Liz had a wide variety of responsibilities across a range of industries, which she draws on daily at SobelCo. From her years at KPMG, Liz is able to leverage the knowledge she gained managing financial and internal control audits, quarterly reviews and agreed upon procedures, with well-known clients ranging from Philips Lighting to Ricoh Corporation. This global exposure adds value to the current SobelCo regional environment and it will be a critical component of future growth as the firm continues to expand, serving national and international clients in the coming years. By combining her perspectives from private industry and public accounting, she can provide meaningful solutions to SobelCo's clients.

David currently serves as a senior vice president and financial advisor. He serves as the lead consultant for a broad range of clients, including defined contribution plans, pension plans, endowments, and foundations. His primary responsibility is advising investment committees on all phases of their fiduciary duties. David joined CAPTRUST from Portfolio Evaluations, Inc., where he served as a senior investment consultant for the firm. He has extensive experience with all aspects of fiduciary oversight including investment policy statements, performance evaluation, investment manager due diligence, and fee benchmarking. David holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and has been in the industry since 1999. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College and a Master of Business Administration from Seton Hall University.

Jennifer Moroz joined SaxBST in 1997 and has more than 16 years of industry experience. She serves the firm’s manufacturing and distribution clients in addition to providing employee benefit plan audits. She began her career at SaxBST as a junior accountant and quickly rose through the company’s ranks as senior accountant, supervisor and manager before being named principal in 2013.

Lisa Snyder, CPA, M.B.A., is Director - Professional Ethics at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Ms. Snyder oversees the activities of the Professional Ethics Division including its ethics enforcement and standard-setting. The Division is also responsible for interpreting the Institute’s Code of Professional Conduct and provides guidance to membership, state CPA societies, and other interested parties on ethics and independence issues (e.g., via the ethics hotline). She also serves as liaison to the Professional Ethics Executive Committee, the Independence/Behavioral Standards Subcommittee and the Technical Standards Subcommittee. Prior to joining the AICPA, Ms. Snyder was an Auditor Manager at Deloitte & Touche, LLP working primarily with manufacturing clients. She is a certified public accountant in the state of New Jersey and a member of the AICPA and New Jersey Society of CPAs, and has an M.B.A. in Professional Accounting from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, Newark, New Jersey.