The World of Multiemployer Benefit Funds Podcast

Diversity, equity, and inclusion expert, Nicole Lee, joins Traci Dority-Shanklin for the third and final installment of their conversation about talking to your kids about racism, Black Lives Matter, and the controversies around "skin tone agnosticism."

• 01:08 - Teaching Children About Race
• 03:16 - Being Polite: Growing Up in a Post-Civil Rights Society
• 05:03 - How Children Pick-up Meaning
• 08:51 - Skin Tone Agnosticism
• 12:12 - The Cultural Issues of the Melting Pot Theory
• 15:58 - Having the Hard Conversations

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Educator and human rights advocate, Nicole Lee, joins Traci and shares her strategies around equity and inclusion in the workplace and the pitfalls of meritocracy.

• Introducing Nicole Lee and Her Work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Diversity: Is it Really a Numbers Game?
• How Does Your Company’s Diversity Report Card Fare?
• The Research is In! Diverse Teams are More Collaborative
• Folks Are Not Interested in Platitudes
• Room for Growth: When Companies Admit, They Don’t Do a Good Job
• Don’t Fall for the Meritocracy Trap
• Luck is Not Meritocracy
• The Real Issues: Qualifications, Access Points, Recruiting, & Retention

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategist, Nicole Lee, joins Traci for the second part of their diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation where they discuss the nuts and bolts of the Black Lives Matter movement and why elections matter.

• 01:21 - What is Black Lives Matter?
• 03:26 - Mike Brown’s Death in Ferguson
• 05:17 - The Movement For Black Lives
• 06:57 - Misguided Beliefs: What Black Lives Matter Really Stands For
• 09:04 - People Are More Important Than Property
• 13:40 - Voter Education and Civic Engagement
• 14:32 - Local Elections Matter!

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Wendell Young IV, UFCW Local 1776 president and International Foundation president, joins Traci Dority-Shanklin for the second and final part of their conversation. Wendell opens up about his tenure as president of the International Foundation and the problems facing pension funds due to Covid-19.

• 02:04 – What Is the International Foundation?
• 04:51 – The Benefits of the International Foundation
• 06:44 – The Economic Upheaval of Covid-19
• 09:50 – It Ain’t Over Yet and Here’s Why
• 12:49 – On the Front Line with the UFCW
• 18:36 – The Benefit of Collective Bargaining
• 19:42 – JBS: A Coronavirus Success Story 
• 23:02 – The UFCW Leads the Way: Why Education Matters

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Wendell Young IV, UFCW Local 1776 president and International Foundation president, joins Traci for a lively discussion about diversity and his presidency. Wendell shares his life growing up in the labor movement with his father during the Civil Rights era and how watching those challenges prepared him for today with Black Lives Matter, TimesUp, and the coronavirus.

•  01:21 – The Beginning: The Wendell Young IV Story
• 04:27 – Growth: From Philadelphia to Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Beyond
• 05:26 – Diversity: From Food Processing to Cannabis and Alcohol
• 08:15 – A Woman’s Place is in Leadership at the UFCW
• 11:23 – The 60’s & Today: Rallies, Protests, & Picket Lines
• 13:19 – On the Frontlines with Covid-19
• 15:40 – Before Black Lives Matter and TimesUp: Has Anything Really Changed?
• 20:22 – The Proactive Approach to Diversity
• 24:19 – The Story of Aunt Sylvia

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Meet Stephen McCourt, Managing Principal and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Meketa Investment Group. Steve serves as the lead consultant for several institutional, public, Taft-Hartley, endowment, and non-profit funds.   

This episode is packed with a lot of essential thoughts as we all navigate the economic and business disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights include:

• How multiemployer plan trustees are handling yet another economic crisis.
• Steve's insights on how this disruption is shifting the execution of multiemployer plans meetings and reporting.
• The adoption and future reliance on technology solutions for all fund business.
• The likely shift in the way multiemployer plans will be conducting the funds business going forward.  
• And much more!

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Meet Jason Russell, senior vice president and actuary with Segal who works with multi-employer pension plans across the country. Jason deals with a wide range of benefit plans, both healthy and distressed, in various industries.

Our conversation is about the immediate need to reform Defined Benefit Plan regulations. Jason explains the various proposals that could provide much-needed aid to sustain multi-employer plans. Not surprisingly, the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has heightened the need to include these plans in one of the proposed stimulus packages.  

Before the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there was 130 plan in critical-declining status with another 200 in critical condition. Jason explains the potential macroeconomic impact due to the strain on social safety nets in America if too many of these plans go insolvent. For additional information on the macroeconomic impact visit:

NCCMP: Cost of doing nothing

https://nccmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Multiemployer-Pension-Crisis-The-Cost-of-Congress-Doing-Nothing-Updated-March-7-2019.pdf

Central States economic impact

https://www.voicesforpensionsecurity.com/economic-impact

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Increasingly, plan sponsors are redefining their investment consulting relationships by affording the consultant discretionary authority over investment decisions.  This concept is known as Outside Chief Investment Officer or OCIO.  As this is a relatively new development within the Taft-Hartley sector, we have asked Brian Schroeder of OCIO Monitor to provide some background on the trend and talk about how to evaluate the services provided by the consultant.

For a list of OCIO search providers, email Traci at [email protected]

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

While our podcast usually focuses on fund trustees and professionals, we thought it would be useful to get insight from someone working directly with plan participants on a daily basis.  Trevor Shanklin, union representative for UFCW Local 8, talks about how plan benefits are helping members cope with the financial challenges we all face today.  We hope you will listen in to hear this unique perspective.

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com

Is it right just because everybody is doing it?  How much is too much?

Ron Surz, President of Target Date Solutions, has a long and distinguished career in institutional investment management and consulting. We asked Ron to participate in the Multi-Employer Benefit Fund Podcast to share his unique perspective on target date funds and the glide paths that various firms are using today.  Ron’s research suggests that the amount of risk these portfolios are exposed to around the time participants are retiring (both before and after) should be of great concern to plan sponsors and participants.  He provides compelling information to support his assertion and we think it deserves attention and discussion among trustees and their advisors.

You can also gain valuable insights and education about target date funds through the resources listed below.
Articles are available at:
https://targetdatesolutions.com/fiduciary-corner.html includes Ron's Metamorphosis book
https://targetdatesolutions.com/AgeSageHome.php https://info.glidepathwm.com/blog

Articles on investment manager due diligence are available at:
http://ppca-inc.com/WhitePapers/white_papers.htm

Books:
An Understanding & Selecting TDFs is available on request from me [email protected] or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Fiduciary-Handbook-Understanding-Selecting-Target/dp/1633180115/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=surz&qid=1569251675&s=books&sr=1-1

Metamorphosis book is also available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Remarkable-Metamorphosis-Target-Date-Funds/dp/6202314788/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=surz&qid=1569251821&s=books&sr=1-5

Support the show

Contact:
[email protected]
www.sisupartnersllc.com