John Bartlett is the Director of Retirement Services at CFS Investment Advisory Services, LLC, where he partners with plan sponsors to strengthen fiduciary oversight, improve plan outcomes, and enhance the overall participant experience. John has been with CFS since 2012, joining the firm after interning there while earning his BA in Finance from Rutgers University.

John works closely with corporate and institutional retirement plan committees to help navigate an increasingly complex retirement landscape. His retirement plan consulting work focuses on the areas plan sponsors care most about—fiduciary governance, plan cost management, investment oversight, vendor benchmarking, and participant engagement. He is known for helping committees translate fiduciary responsibility into practical, repeatable processes that support better decision-making and long-term plan success.

John is a Certified Financial Planner professional and holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor (CPFA) designations. He has been recognized as a PLANADVISER Emerging Leader and serves as a member of the Retirement Advisory Council (RAC), reflecting his commitment to continued professional development and leadership within the retirement plan industry.

Tim Byrd is the Vice President of Retirement Benefits and Education at State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) in Raleigh, North Carolina. He leads the credit union’s retirement plan committee and personal finance professionals, overseeing the design, administration, and enhancement of SECU’s total retirement offerings for over 10,000 active and retired employee plan participants.

Byrd has more than 15 years of experience in financial advisory services with a focus in financial planning and advising and managing retirement plans and tax-advantaged accounts.  Current professional designations and licenses include CFP, RICP, AFC, Series 7, Series 66, Series 24, NC life and Health, NC Personal Lines, and NC Medicare/Long Term Care.

Kevin Crain is an accomplished and highly respected Retirement Services and Financial Wellness Expert with more than 40 years of experience in roles of progressively more significant influence and impact in the Retirement Services industry, driving strategic growth, enhancing client engagement, and delivering top-tier retirement research solutions. With broad leadership experience across all business areas, he is an influential adviser, board member, thought leader, industry events speaker, and public policy advocate in employee financial wellness, retirement savings, retirement public policy, employee benefits utilization trends, and longevity.

Kevin is currently the Executive Director of the Institutional Retirement Income Council, a Senior Advisor with McKinsey, a Senior Advisor with the Milken Institute, a Council Member with the Global Coalition on Aging Advisory Council, and a Visiting Executive for the Gerontological Society of America. He is also an Honorary Member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and a Member of its Public Policy Committee.

Until August 2023, Kevin was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch for nearly 20 years in senior leadership positions in the Retirement Services sector, culminating in the role of Head of Retirement Research.

Elizabeth is a thought leader in the stable value and retirement income arena who brings significant experience, including product development with a strong focus on the participant experience in the retirement income arena.

At Micruity, Elizabeth is responsible for helping connect retirement income product manufacturers with recordkeepers, ensuring an efficient and reliable connection that will support the delivery of an outstanding participant experience.

Elizabeth spent a total of 24 years with Fidelity Investments in a variety of sales, marketing, investment consulting, product development and participant experience and education roles. Most recently her primary focus was working with plan sponsors and their advisers to understand and utilize investment solutions that include annuity/insurance features as a part of their plan investment line up and plan design rules.

Elizabeth spent two years with Hueler Companies as the Managing Director of Business Development and the Income Solutions platform where she was responsible for growing overall business, creating new initiatives, and ensuring a robust client-facing capability that advocates for and delivers personalized lifetime income to individuals.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Elizabeth worked in the employee benefits and compensation areas at Northwestern University and First Colonial Bankshares. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa, is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist and a Certified Financial Planner.

Kathleen Kelly is a Founding and Managing Partner of Compass Financial Partners, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC Company, and a 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, specializing in the areas of retirement plan consulting & investment advisory services for qualified retirement plans and executive benefit planning. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Wake Forest University. Kelly has achieved the Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist (CRPS) designation, and the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA).

In recognition of Kathleen’s leadership within the retirement plan consulting community, she has been selected to serve on the Defined Contribution Institutional Investor Association (DCIIA) RIA Advisory Council, Empower Advisory Board, Nuveen Retirement Leadership Council, Principal Financial Professional Advisor Council, the Prudential Advisor Council, the MassMutual Retirement Partners Council, the Transamerica Retirement Solutions RIA Advisory Board, the JP Morgan DC Advisor Council, the Fidelity Workplace Investing Advisor Council (inaugural member), the T. Rowe Price Retirement Client Advisory Board, the EY Innovation Studio and the Retirement Advisor Council. 

Sean Kelly serves as a financial adviser and holds the position of Vice President at Heffernan Financial Services. With a career spanning 17 years in the retirement plan investment advisory business, Sean has become a trusted expert in group retirement plans across private, public, and nonprofit sectors. His dedication lies in helping organizations craft and sustain robust retirement plan benefits for both the company and its employees.

Sean takes pride in delivering genuine independent investment advice and fostering a consultative relationship with each client. As a committed advocate, he guides them through every step of the process, ensuring the best outcomes. Together with his team, Sean manages a portfolio of just over $1 billion in assets, distributed among 47 valued clients.

Sean pursued his education at The University of California, Santa Barbara, earning a BA in Business Economics.

Drew Maresca is Vice President of Research for the DCIIA Retirement Research Center. He collaborates with the RRC’s Executive Director to manage the RRC portfolio and directly lead and execute projects alongside the research team.

Drew has an extensive, 17-year history in the retirement industry. He spent 10 years at Corporate Insight, ultimately serving as Director of Research and Content for Retirement, Asset Management, and Insurance and has also worked in thought leadership roles at UBS, LIMRA, Northern Trust, and Bank of America.

Tim has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry mainly within retirement services of large mutual fund companies. For the past 25 years Tim has worked with major plan sponsors in state and local governments, corporations, Taft-Hartley plans, nonprofit hospitals, colleges and universities. Over his career Tim has worked with Voya Financial, Fidelity Investments, ICMA Retirement Corporation and The Vanguard Group.

Tim is a former President of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators’ Industry Board and a graduate of Villanova University.