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Principals and Advisors - The DBK Design Group

Mike Hughes, J.D. is a veteran ERISA and employee benefits lawyer with a wide range of experience in all aspects of regulated employee benefits. Mike entered the employee benefits world in 1975 when his first job as a newly minted lawyer from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law was with an actuarial and benefits consulting firm in Pittsburgh.  The ink on the new ERISA law was barely dry when Mike started learning, interpreting and applying the new law. After a year with the consulting firm, during which he amended and restated hundreds of defined benefit pension plans, Mike joined the Pittsburgh law firm now called Houston Harbaugh and spent many years as a partner in that firm as head of its employee benefits practice. Since 1994, when he and his family moved to Albuquerque, NM Mike has had several key employee benefit positions with large and small law firms in New Mexico and Pennsylvania and maintained a law practice concentrating on employee benefits as a sole proprietor in both states.  Mike now lives and works in St. Petersburg, FL. In 2010 he will celebrate his 35th year as a practicing employee benefits lawyer and his 40th wedding anniversary!

Mike has always believed in and supported the the defined benefit approach to workplace retirement security and has bemoaned the shift to the employer/provider-centric defined contribution world - especially since the advent of the 401(k) platforms in  the late seventies and early eighties. With the legislative authority for the DBK plan on the near horizon, there is a chance that balance can be restored to retirement plan policy and that, once again, retirement plans can be installed and operated "solely in the interest of plan participants and beneficiaries."

Mark K. Dunbar,  M.A.A.A., M.S.P.A.

As an Enrolled Actuary, Mark possesses broad experience as a pension consultant, spanning over 30 years in the employee benefits field. His responsibilities have encompassed all phases of the retirement planning process, from the development of new business to plan design and technical research. Mark has specialized in the design options available under qualified retirement plans. Mark is a frequent speaker at seminars in both western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

A life-long Pittsburgher, Mark is a 1976 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.A. degree in Mathematics. Mark is President of Dunbar, Bender & Zapf, Inc.  In addition to his duties at Dunbar, Bender & Zapf, Inc., Mark is on the Board of Directors of Bethlehem Haven, a shelter for homeless women in downtown Pittsburgh. Mark is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), and an Enrolled Actuary. Mark was elected to ASPPA's Board of Directors in 2006.


John S. Agatston, FSA, EA, MAAA, MSPA  A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, John is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and the American Society of Pension Actuaries. Prior to forming his own company, John was a VP for Halliwell & Associates, Inc. and Chief Actuary & Senior Consultant for Johnson & Higgins. In 1981, John testified at the hearing on pension expense before the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). At the request of the Chairman of the FASB he wrote a paper entitled “The Effect of Plan Design and Actuarial Methods and Assumptions on Pension Costs and Liabilities.” Several concepts from that paper were incorporated into the SFAS 87 (Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 87). Recently, John has been asked to serve on a seven member document subcommittee for the 2005 ASPPA Government Affairs Committee.

Richard N. Carpenter, CPC, CEBS - President and Founder of USVI Pensions and Consulting. Richard is the founder of the Technical Answer Group, Inc (TAGdata.com), now owned by Wolters Kluwer Law and Business. In the 10 years he operated TAG, he developed over 2,000 customer relationships with accounting firms, law firms, insurance companies, mutual fund companies and more than 1,500 third party administration (TPA) firms.  Prior to founding TAGdata.com, Richard was formerly the Senior Manager in charge of the Florida employee benefits consulting practice for Deloitte & Touche.

Richard entered the pension business in 1978. Richard drafted a white paper describing the opportunities available with the pending legislation of section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. When section 401(k) was added as part of the Revenue Act of 1978, the firm was in a strategic position to be one of the first in the 401(k) marketplace. He installed his first 401(k) plan in November of 1981, two weeks after the issuance of the first proposed 401(k) regulations. His clients have included Price Waterhouse, Office Depot and Alamo Rent A Car.

Amy Cavanaugh, CPC- Amy is an independent consultant with over 30 years of experience in the area of qualified retirement plans.  Throughout her career she has worked for industry giants including Corbel (now Sunguard), the Technical Answer Group, Inc., now owned by Wolters Kluwer Law and Business and AccuDraft (now part of Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting) as well as Towers Perrin and Milliman, USA. She is a well known industry author, educator and resource.

Amy’s areas of expertise include practice management, plan documents and prevailing wage programs as well as other specialty plans such as qualified plans under the Puerto Rico Tax Code, 403(b) Plans, 457 Plans, governmental and church plans and DB-K combination plans.

 

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