Consulting Staff
Arthur J. Assantes, President and Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow
of the Society of Actuaries
Fellow
of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Member
of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled
Actuary
Experience
Art has extensive experience in actuarial consulting, providing services to
Fortune 500 companies, international corporations, municipalities, and non-profit
organizations. His expertise includes qualified and non-qualified defined benefit
and defined contribution plans, risk/return asset allocation models, and asset
liability models. He was responsible for the research and development of consulting
tools to help actuaries improve the delivery of client services. Art is also
an accomplished speaker and recognized authority on pension matters, having
provided illustrations and advice to U.S. Congress and Senate legislative staffs
seeking input on proposed retirement legislation.
Art joined Hooker & Holcombe after 20 years at CIGNA Corporation as a consulting actuary, a practice manager and a senior advisor in the Advisory Services Unit. He spent 10 years at The Travelers where he managed the Actuarial Pension Service Unit.
Education
Art earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut
and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from Seton Hall University. Art is
also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an academic honors society for business students.
Shirley F. Assantes, Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow
of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Defined benefit plan consulting and administration are Shirley's specialties. She is responsible for reviewing and analyzing client retirement programs, conducting
valuations and communicating their results, and working with clients on mergers and acquisitions. She has assisted plan sponsors with plan design and cost estimates,
early retirement windows, benefit certifications and compliance consulting. Her clients include mid-sized employers and municipal plans.
Shirley has 25 years of experience with pension issues. She came to Hooker & Holcombe in 2000 after seven years as a pension consultant with Milliman & Robertson. She also served as Assistant Director of the Group Pension Department while at the Travelers.
Education
Shirley received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from the University of Hartford.
Arthur L. Gaither, Senior Vice President and Defined Contribution Consultant
Experience
Arthur consults on many of our clients' 401(k) and defined contribution plans. He has a leading
role in the marketing and development of our firm's defined contribution products, services, and systems.
He also has responsibility for developing and maintaining various alliance relationships for bundled
defined contribution services.
Arthur joined Hooker & Holcombe in 1987. His professional experience includes 12 years of pension experience at Connecticut General Life Insurance Company.
Education
Arthur is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Sociology.
Professional Affiliations
Arthur serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Institute of Pension
Administrators (NIPA). He is also a Corporator of the Middlesex Health Care Corporation.
Stuart H. Herskowitz, Senior Vice President and Benefit Consultant/Client Relations
Professional Qualifications
Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC)
Experience
At H&H Stu is responsible for implementing new client engagements and setup of the consulting team.
Servicing multi-tiered client projects is also a key responsibility. Stu is one of the people who leads
the effort to find quality solutions and answers to clients' problems.
Stu has worked in the retirement plan business for over 15 years. He has provided retirement plan assistance and consulting to large and midsize U.S. and foreign-based organizations, endowments, health care organizations and manufacturers. His areas of expertise include defined benefit and defined contribution services as well as non-qualified executive benefits.
Stu is also an Investment Consultant with Hooker & Holcombe Retirement Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hooker & Holcombe, Inc.
Education
Stu earned his degree in Chemistry from William Paterson University and did undergraduate
work at Rutgers University.
Rodger K. Metzger, CFA
Chief Investment Officer of Hooker & Holcombe Investment Advisors, Inc.
Rodger is Chief Investment Officer of Hooker & Holcombe Investment Advisors, Inc. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and heads the HHIA team of professionals who furnish advisory services to clients. Rodger provides institutional clients with investment consulting services, asset management services, asset allocation studies and investment evaluations.
Experience
Rodger joined Hooker & Holcombe Investment Advisors, Inc. in the middle of 2005
as Chief Investment Officer. He has added to the existing investment capabilities
through his institutional money management experience and has brought an increased
sophistication to the fund selection and monitoring process. Prior to joining HHIA,
Rodger was with Hartford Investment Management Company, a subsidiary of Hartford
Financial Services Corporation (HIG). He was a Vice President and Equity Portfolio
Manager with the Equity Investment Group where his responsibilities included:
- Large and Midcap Value Equity Portfolio Manager with $750 million in assets under management
- Liaison to the Hartford Mutual Fund Board of Directors with $50 billion in assets under management
- Portfolio Manager for Hartford Fire Retirement Plan with over $1 billion in assets
- Equity Index Fund Portfolio Manager with over $3.5 billion in assets under management
Education
Rodger earned a BA in Economics from St. Lawrence University and an MBA with a
concentration in Finance from the University of Hartford. Rodger earned his Charter
from the CFA Institute in 1994.
Professional Affiliations
Rodger is a member of the CFA Institute and a member of the Hartford Society of
Financial Analysts.
Timothy A. Ryor, Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Fellow of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Tim has over 17 years of experience in the pension consulting area. Tim’s consulting experience includes qualified & non–qualified defined benefit and defined contribution plans for both corporate and municipal clients. He is responsible for pension valuation work, discrimination testing, FASB and GASB reporting, as well as plan design work.
Prior to H&H Tim was associated with The Heintzberger Company in Portland, Oregon where his management functions included supervising and reviewing the work performed by the actuarial unit. He was also involved in development of continuing education programs. Prior to this time Tim was employed by Independent Actuaries, Inc. and William M. Mercer, Inc.
Education
Tim earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with honors from the University of New Mexico.
Professional Affiliations
Tim currently is a member of the Pension Committee of the Actuarial Standards Board which is responsible for drafting the professional standards of practice applicable to pension actuaries.
Ronald O. Schlee, Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Ron provides a broad range of consulting services to our clients. These include the review
and communication of actuarial valuation results, analysis of plans' funding position, consultation
and costing for labor negotiations, and problem-solving for retirement plan issues. He has 25
years of actuarial experience. Both corporate and municipal plans in the State of Connecticut
have benefited from his pension expertise.
Ron assists clients with early retirement windows, cost estimates, and retirement adequacy studies. His responsibilities also include management of the firm's professional and technical staff, who provide consulting, actuarial, and administrative services to clients.
Prior to joining H&H in 1982, Ron was associated with State Mutual Life Assurance Company in their Individual Policy Pension Trust area for four years. He also spent two years with the actuarial firm Charles G. Bentzin Associates, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Education
Ron is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College with a B.S. in Actuarial Science.
Richard S. Sych, Senior Vice President and Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Rich has an extensive background and experience with defined benefit plans, including cash
balance plans. His defined benefit plan expertise includes benefit certification software design,
retirement income studies, plan design work, and plan terminations. He performs defined benefit
plan valuations, both qualified and non-qualified; monitors nondiscrimination requirements; performs
benefit calculations; and consults with clients on spinoffs and mergers.
Rich joined Hooker & Holcombe in 1995 after eight years of pension consulting experience with Kwasha Lipton. At Kwasha, he provided consulting services to several Fortune 500 companies.
Education
Rich received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
in 1985 and his Masters in Applied Mathematics from Rensselaer in 1986.
Elizabeth J. Willard, Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Since joining the pension consulting field in 1995, Liz has developed many strong relationships with her various corporate, not-for-profit, utility, and municipal clients through the wide range of services that she has provided. These services include communication of actuarial valuation results, consultation regarding both FASB and GASB financial statement accounting issues, and assistance with plan redesign and retirement income studies. In addition, Liz has helped clients deal with a variety of plan administration issues, enhancing her ability to provide a well-rounded approach to client service.
Liz has an in-depth understanding of the technical aspects of her work, including topics such as the complex nondiscrimination testing requirements for pension plans. Strong communication skills complement Liz’s technical capabilities, enhancing her ability to provide effective, pro-active consulting.
In addition to her experience with defined benefit pension plans, Liz also has worked extensively with non-qualified executive retirement plans, corporate and municipal postretirement welfare plans (including funded VEBA arrangements), and target benefit plans.
Prior to joining Hooker & Holcombe, Inc. in 1997, Liz worked for two years at Hewitt Associates.
Education
Liz graduated from Brown University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics.
Evan W. Woollacott, Jr., Consulting Actuary
Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries
Enrolled Actuary
Experience
Evan (“Bill”) has over 25 years of actuarial experience and recently joined H&H after serving as a consulting pension actuary
with a national actuarial firm. He has experience dealing with both public sector and corporate clients. His areas of expertise
include nondiscrimination testing, union negotiations, DROP plans, pension plan design, annuity purchases, FASB and GASB reporting.
Bill published solutions to the enrolled actuary exams for six years and has been a past pension chairman of the Hartford Actuaries Club. He has also been a speaker at the Enrolled Actuaries Meeting and has taught a class in pension fundamentals for ASPA.
Education
Bill graduated from Butler University in 1978 with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics. In 1985, he graduated from the University of Connecticut with a
Master’s degree in Actuarial Science.
Professional Affiliations
Bill is a member of the US Government Finance Officers Association and the CT Government
Finance Officers Association.
