As Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer, Kent oversees Veratis’ employer support efforts, which include ERISA consulting, retirement plan design, service provider due diligence, monitoring regulatory changes, and proactively working with existing service partners to deliver a unified and efficient service arrangement to the firm’s clients.  His entire 25 year career has been focused on helping employers design, implement, communicate, and manage highly effective employee benefit programs that are subject to ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974).

Kent has experience with all types of qualified plans including profit sharing and 401(k), as well as defined benefit plans and cash balance plans.  His knowledge of record-keeping providers, trading platforms, and custody arrangements enable him to assist plan sponsors in identifying the true costs of their plans and making prudent, informed decisions, leading to the development of successful retirement plan programs.  He is a member of the American Society of Pension Actuaries (ASPA) and has earned the designation of Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) from that organization.

Kent stays abreast of the legislative changes affecting the retirement plan industry and assists clients in determining the applicability of such changes to their individual situations.  As a member of the American Society of Pension Actuaries’ congressional lobbying team in Washington, DC during the mid 1990’s, he actively lobbied for Pension Simplification.  Kent’s public speaking engagements have included such topics as “The Proliferation of the Mutual Fund Industry’s Entrance into Daily Valuation”, “Understanding Employee Stock Ownership Plans”, and “Pension Simplification”, just to name a few.

Kent received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1985 from Illinois State University.  He started his career at a Bloomington, Illinois based insurance company and three years later accepted the position of Trust Officer at a $2 billion regional bank in Northern Illinois, where he managed assets held in trust for qualified retirement plans and high net worth individuals.  He then spent 10 years with a national public accounting firm where he first served as Pension Consultant, then started and managed consulting practices in Illinois and Wisconsin.  In 1997, he accepted the position of Senior Manager in the firm’s Mid-Atlantic Region, and relocated to Raleigh, NC.  It was with this firm that he and Steve Simpson began working together to serve the needs of clients in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Kent then joined the asset management firm that employed Steve and they started a division focused on qualified retirement plans.  Kent, Steve and Peggy Brinn then acquired that division and co-founded Veratis in 2001.