Ethan Aris

ETHAN ARIS

** ***** **********, *** *****, NY ***06 § *******@***.*** § residence 631-***-**** § cellular 631-***-****

PENSION & BENEFIT PLAN SPECIALIST

Expertise in

Development, Marketing, and Administration of

Benefit Plans to Institutional and Corporate Clients

Key Qualifications

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)® + MBA + Former Accountant

Years of Experience in Evaluating and Offering Financial Products

Accomplished in Regional Sales Management

Excellence in communicating complex financial information to plan administrators and general audiences

*Recognized as a Top Sales Performer, 2009*

Professional Experience

METLIFE, Jericho, NY 2008 – Present

Financial Advisor-Institutional Specialist

Recruited to MetLife to manage and grow premier relationships with significant institutional clients (Nassau County government, LIJ/North Shore Healthcare System, and Stony Brook University/Stony Brook University Medical Center). The scope of my position encompasses pension plan offerings/customization, policies and regulatory communications, plan administration, and expansion of business into other benefits areas and wealth management products.

Consultative Institutional Sales

§ In a consultative sales role, confer with Plan Administrators to share fund performance, availability of investment vehicles on the platform, administrative costs, and participant issues (terminations, new hires, and beneficiary designations). Conceptualize, write, and present customized financial plans.

§ Renew and initiate new plan contracts. In an economic climate where organizations seek every possible cost-cutting measure, convinced clients to renew existing plans without trimming benefits to their employees.

§ Attend and actively participate at pension board meetings to discuss relevant information with attorneys and union representatives.

§ Conduct multiple seminars for thousands of employees. These seminars serve to explain investment directions, additional benefits, and hardship provisions. In addition, a broader range of products (individual life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, commodities, treasury, TIPS, and municipal bonds) are explained, offered, and sold.

§ Identified and successfully capitalized on opportunities to retain business by securing rollover IRA business from approximately 150 laid off employees.

Business Development Initiatives

§ Achieved inroads at an institution previously dominated by a competitor’s offerings. Called on key decision marketer and secured commitment for seminars to introduce MetLife pension and other financial products to new hires.

§ Utilize extensive competitive knowledge to effectively compare and contrast plans and products.

§ Personally tackled and up-ended a previously unconquerable situation with one of the largest employers on Long Island. Successfully challenged a long-standing off-limits policy toward financial advisors on campus, thereby potentially opening the door to substantial business for MetLife.

§ Initiated internal dialog regarding strategic sales endeavor with MetLife SVP. Proposed extensive expansion of new insurance product offerings to current institutional clients. The offering could capture millions of dollars of new business with approximately 10,000 employees. It is currently under review.

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TIAA-CREF, New York, NY+ Charlotte, NC 1993 – 2008t

Project Lead, Internal Audit (2006 – 2008)Manager, Corporate Projects & Accounts Payable (2004 – 2006)Manager, Financial Operations (2001 – 2004)Accounting Administrator (1998 – 2001)Senior Accountant/Accountant II, Accountant I (1993 – 1998)

Tackled significant operational challenges for this group of companies including The Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America, College Retirement Equities Fund, and numerous affiliates. TIAA-CREF is a Fortune 80 investment, insurance, and financial services firm which manages $400 billion in defined contribution pension assets and services 18,000 institutional clients and 3,000,000 participants.

Client Relationship Management

§ Managed relationships between TIAA-CREF internal constituents, institutional benefits administrators, insurance carriers, and retirees.

§ Represented company in the establishment of a service offering and implementation of a defined-benefit program at Harvard University.

§ Led 14 direct reports in the coordination of tax operations, disbursements, and treasury functions for more than $15 billion in incoming monies.

§ Approved and administered over $400M in monthly pension payments to retirees.

§ Directed administration of health insurance benefits for 3500 retirees at 25 institutions, while substantially raising customer service levels.

Process Operations / Corporate Projects

§ Led internal audits to unearth and ameliorate operational deficiencies and inconsistencies. The importance of this project was based on concern for the erosion of business from key client s (higher-education institutions), which contributed $30M-$40M/year in pension and retirement plan premiums.

§ Through discussions with CFOs, VPs of Administration, and Benefits Administrators at institutions such as Harvard, Yale, NYU, State University of NY, City University of NY, and the University of Chicago, ascertained client requirements for improved account management and reporting.

§ After intensive evaluations of procedures and processes in the departments of Asset Management, Actuarial, Corporate Compliance, and Finance, delineated a strategy to improve, correct, and in some ways overhaul the way the firm managed its records through the implementation of important IT initiatives.

§ Championed an enterprise-wide project to implement a new record-keeping system which would expand investment options for clients’ retirement plans. Mapped premium and disbursement models. Facilitated the resolution of legal, operations, sales, and third-party administration (TPA) issues. Selected plan trustee, reviewed legal contracts, and managed corporate workflows including employee training.

§ Tapped by senior VP to lead a team of six consultants in evaluating internal fraud vulnerabilities and producing a solution to offset such risk. (Ultimately, a new department was created, trained, and staffed.)

§ Managed a team across two sites (NYC & Charlotte) to develop disaster-recovery plans in support of billions of dollars in treasury (premiums dollars) and infrastructure at 82 locations. Recruited, trained, and cross-trained staff to handle a multitude of activities including the set up of alternative bank accounts, lock boxes, bank wire and electronic funds transfer routes. Additionally, managed a similar build-out of treasury, accounts payable, disbursement, and premium collection operations in Denver.

§ Participated in SOX analysis and testing. Prioritized situations in need of attention based on legal, reputational, or compliance risk.

§ Credited with recapturing $1M annually by discovering an error in the way policyholders’ premium contributions were credited. This finding was so significant that the legal department was engaged and the corporate prospectus underwent an important revision.

§ Recommended consolidation of the insurance and pension disbursement systems and treasury windows, the result of which was to save FTEs through the merging of administrative functions.

§ Revised/rewrote 1000-page Corporate Office Manual providing framework and details of all organizational policies.

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Accounting Administration

§ Directed preparation of financial reports, general ledger maintenance, cash management, account reconciliation, and funds disbursement.

§ Managed audit engagements with internal and external examiners.

§ Re-engineered cash balancing process resulting in improved timeliness and accuracy of reconciliations.

§ Credited with a strategy that allowed for reclaiming $2.5M annually, in perpetuity, which was historically escheated as unclaimed.

§ Supervised 14 accounting professionals.

Early Career Experience

Staff Accountant, 1989 – 1990. ZIFF DAVIS PUBLISHING, New York, NY

Accountant, 1988 – 1989. TRACHTENBURG AND PAULKER CPAs, Woodbury, NY

Education, Professional Development & Licensure

MBA, Finance, 1993. Long Island University / C.W. Post Campus, Brookville, NY

BA, Business Administration & Accounting, 1988. Bethany College, Lindsborg, KS

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)® 2008. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards

Series 7 & 66 Licensure ¡ NYS Life & Health Insurance License

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