Trump Names PBGC Advisory Committee Members

President Donald Trump has appointed seven members to serve on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporations’ Advisory Committee. They are Henry Eickelberg, Jeanmarie Grisi, Babette Ceccotti, Guy Pinkman, Donald Butt, Regina Jefferson, and Jackson Millerda.

The committee advises the agency on investment policy and other matters related to PBGC’s mission. Many of the appointees are familiar faces, as Eickelberg, Butt, Ceccotti, and Jefferson were previously on the committee.

“These are excellent appointments who represent plan sponsors, participants, and the public,” said PBGC Director Gordon Hartogensis in a statement. “I am looking forward to working with them.”

Eickelberg, who will serve as chair and will represent the interests of employers, is an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and was previously appointed to the committee by President Barack Obama. He is the faculty advisor for the ERISA certificate program in Georgetown’s advanced legal program, and teaches a comprehensive ERISA practicum class.

Eickelberg is also employer co-chairman of trustees for both the IAM National 401(k) Fund and IAM National Pension Fund, for which he is responsible for providing oversight of strategic direction, administrative, and investment programs, and compliance with government regulations. And according to Georgetown Law, he holds a US Top Secret clearance. His appointment is set to expire Feb. 19, 2022.

Grisi is CIO, pension investments, at Nokia, and is responsible for the oversight of investments and accounting for the Nokia global pension and post-retirement benefit trusts, which total over $37 billion. She serves on the national board of the Girl Scouts of the USA, is a director of Vantage Trust Company, and is a current member and past treasurer and board member of the Committee on Investment in Employee Benefit Assets Inc. Grisi was also treasurer for the Carnegie Corporation of New York for 15 years. Like Eickelberg she will represent the interests of employers, and her appointment is also set to expire Feb. 19, 2022.

Ceccotti is a retired partner from Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP in New York City, where she focused on employee benefits and bankruptcy. As part of the firm’s bankruptcy practice, Ceccotti represented labor organizations and employee benefit plans in numerous bankruptcy cases in a wide range of private sector industries. And as part of the firm’s employee benefits practice, she represented unions and employee benefit plans in pension, health, and other employee benefit matters. She will represent the interests of employee organizations, and her appointment is set to expire Feb. 19, 2020.

Pinkman served as acting chief and captain/paramedic for the Lincoln Fire Rescue Department, and has served as a trustee on the Lincoln Police and Fire Pension Fund for over 10 years. He is an expert on pensions including funding status, fiduciary responsibilities and numerous other pension issues, according to the PBGC. He will represent the interests of employee organizations, and his appointment will expire Feb. 19, 2020.

Butt serves on the board of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association and is active with the Committee for the Investment of Employee Benefit Assets. He retired as the vice president for operations and defined contribution plans for Qwest Asset Management Co. He will represent the interests of the general public, and his appointment will expire Feb. 19, 2020.

Jefferson is a professor of law at the Catholic University of America, where she teaches courses in federal income taxation, ERISA, pension tax policy, and partnership taxation. She will represent the interests of the general public, and her appointment will expire Feb. 19, 2021.

Miller retired as vice president for General Motors Asset Management in New York and served on the investment committee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Prior positions include vice president relationship management at J.P. Morgan Investment Management, vice president of investments at Philip Morris, and director of investments at Eli Lilly. Miller will represent the interests of the general public, and his appointment will expire Feb. 19, 2022.

Tags: Donald Trump, PBGC, PBGC Advisory Committee, Pension