2025 Western Benefits Conference

Fred Reish, Partner/Chair, Financial Services ERISA Team, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

C. Frederick Reish is a partner in Faegre Drinker’s Benefits & Executive Compensation practice group, the Investment Management group, and the Financial Services ERISA Team. His practice focuses on fiduciary issues, prohibited transactions, tax-qualification and retirement income. He works with both private and public sector entities and their plans and fiduciaries; represents plans, employers and fiduciaries before the governing agencies (e.g., the IRS and the DOL); consults with banks, trust companies, insurance companies and mutual fund management companies on 401(k) investment products and issues related to plan investments and retirement income; and represents of broker-dealers and registered investment advisers on issues related to fiduciary status and compliance, prohibited transactions and internal procedures.

Fred serves as a consultant and expert witness on ERISA litigation and FINRA arbitration, with a focus on cases involving broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, financial service companies and other service providers. Fred’s experience includes advising insurance companies and investment managers of the development of products and services that are consistent with ERISA’s fiduciary standards and prohibited transaction restrictions, including retirement income investments and guarantees.

Phyllis C. Borzi, The Honorable, Former US Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA)

The Honorable Phyllis C. Borzi, JD, MA, retired as the US Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in 2017. She was confirmed by the US Senate in 2009. During her tenure, EBSA oversaw nearly 708,000 private-sector retirement plans, approximately 2.8 million health plans and a similar number of other welfare benefit plans that are covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and that provide benefits to approximately 150 million workers and their families.

Ms.Borzi led the Department's efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and other health and pension laws. She also represented the Secretary of Labor on several governmental boards, including the Board of Directors of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which the Secretary chairs, and as Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds.

Kyle N. Brown, Former Deputy Benefits Tax Counsel, Department of the Treasury

Kyle Brown retired in 2025 from his position with the Treasury as Deputy Benefits Tax Counsel. Previously, he served as IRS Division Counsel for the Tax-exempt and Government Entity Division Counsel organization, in which role Kyle managed all enforcement and litigation for the IRS relating to tax and qualification requirements for retirement plans. Prior to that position, Kyle served as a Special Counsel managing qualified retirement plan guidance projects for the organization within IRS Chief Counsel now known as Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes (EEE).

For most of his career, Kyle worked for Watson Wyatt (currently known as Willis Towers Watson), holding different positions including Director of Legislative Affairs and manager of the team providing legal services to the US benefits practice. Kyle has also been an adjunct professor teaching taxes and employee benefits at the University of Maryland, the George Washington University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

Matthew J. Eickman, Chief Legal Officer, Fiduciary Law Center

Matthew Eickman is the chief legal officer of Fiduciary Law Center (FLC). For more than 20 years, he has maintained a law practice that focuses exclusively on fiduciary responsibilities, defined contribution and defined benefit plans, and executive compensation programs. In 2023, he was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.

Prior to joining FLC, Matthew was the national retirement practice leader at a national RIA with more than 850 retirement clients and approximately $16 billion in retirement plan assets under advisement. He served as a lead investment consultant in ERISA 3(21) or 3(38) relationships and was a member of the firm’s Investment Advisory Board. He also launched the firm’s advisor managed accounts program, oversaw the firm’s financial wellness program, conducted fiduciary training and ongoing education, maintained clients’ investment policy statements and committee charters, and collaborated to develop and launch an in-plan retirement income solution.

Matthew is active in the Tax Section of the American Bar Association, having served as Chair or Co-chair of the Defined Contribution Plans Subcommittee for more than a decade and serving as a Vice Chair of the Lifetime Income Subcommittee. He is a frequent speaker at retirement plan and fiduciary conferences.

Matthew received his B.S.B.A in Finance & Economics from the University of Nebraska and his J.D. from Baylor Law School, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Baylor Law Review and was a member of National Mock Trial and Moot Court teams. He is licensed to practice in Nebraska and Kansas.

Lisa Gomez, Founding Member, LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions LLC

Lisa Gomez is the founding member of LMG Collaborative Consulting Solutions, a consulting firm providing services in all areas related to employee benefit plans. Lisa has served as assistant secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the United States Department of Labor. Previously, she was a partner and chair of the management committee at the law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP. Lisa has deep technical and practical experience in employee benefits law and has spent almost three decades representing various types of plans. As the head of the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), she was responsible for leading an agency with approximately 850 full-time employees nationwide and a budget of approximately $191 million and was charged with the safeguarding of the job-based retirement, health and other welfare benefits for more than 153 million American workers and retirees and their families. Through her leadership, EBSA oversaw approximately 2.6 million job-based health plans, 801,000 retirement plans, and 548,000 other welfare plans, with combined assets of nearly $12 trillion, in addition to the oversight of the federal Thrift Savings Program. Lisa has also served as a co-chair of the board of senior editors of the Bloomberg BNA treatise Employee Benefits Law. She also served in various leadership positions with the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Labor and Employment Law. She was a member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance. Lisa was inducted as a Fellow of The American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Inc. in recognition of her decades of practice in employee benefits law and her contributions to the field. Lisa was also a member of the advisory board of The Peggy Browning Fund. She previously served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and as a volunteer mediator for the New Jersey state courts. She was a guest lecturer for the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Hofstra University School of Law on employee benefits. She was named as a Super Lawyer for Employee Benefits on the Super Lawyers New York Metro Annual Lists for 2021 and 2022. Lisa earned her law degree from the Fordham University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Hofstra University.

Brad Huss, Partner, Trucker Huss

Brad Huss is a Director in the San Francisco office of Trucker Huss, APC, which practices exclusively in the fields of ERISA and employee benefits. Brad concentrates his practice on ERISA litigation, fiduciary responsibility matters, Department of Labor investigations and qualified retirement plans. Brad has spoken numerous times on these topics throughout the country and has testified before the United States Senate Finance Committee concerning retirement security issues. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Bar Association Retirement Fund and a Charter Fellow and a former member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Brad is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, a former chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the Section of Tort Trial and Insurance Practice of the American Bar Association and a past President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council.

Frank Pyles, Managing Director, Nationwide

Frank has been in the Financial Services field for over 20 years and in the Retirement Plan area for more than 10 years. He joined Nationwide in 2024 and is responsible for business development in 401(k) and 403(b) plans, with over $25 million in plan assets.

Frank holds a BA from California State University – Los Angeles and an MBA from St. Joseph’s University. He currently maintains the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Series 7, 24, 63, 65 registrations along with the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation. Frank grew up in California, but moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2000 and resides there currently with his wife and three children.

Upcoming Deadlines

Early Bird Deadline - July 31 (Increases by $100)

Room Block Deadline - August 6 - $299/night

Western Pension & Benefits Council Membership

Program Schedule

A summary of this valuable and economical conference:

Choose Your Registration Fee

MEMBER RATE

$545 Early Bird

NON-MEMBER RATE

$765 Early Bird

SPONSORSHIPS

Opportunities ranging from $1,500 - $12,000

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