Pension Resource Institute promoted Annie Messer to President as part of a broader leadership and team expansion that includes Haley Erickson’s appointment as Chief Compliance Officer at affiliated pooled employer plan firm Group Plan Systems (GPS) and Jason Benham’s addition as a full-time associate at Fiduciary Law Center (FLC).
The San Diego-based firm said the appointments are part of a two-year plan to expand leadership and capabilities across PRI, GPS and FLC.
Messer joined PRI in 2023 after 14 years leading retirement and fiduciary initiatives at Cambridge Investment Research and previously served as PRI’s President of Member Relations. PRI said her promotion readies it to support member firms as more wealth management enterprises develop retirement plan capabilities.
“Haley’s and Annie’s appointments are the culmination of a two-year plan to create an integrated model of legal and operational fiduciary expertise across our ecosystem,” said Jason Roberts, Founder and CEO of PRI and Managing Partner of GPS.
Erickson, who joined GPS two years ago, will lead the firm’s move from plan-by-plan execution to a more integrated service structure.
Benham has over two decades of retirement plan industry experience, including 14 years at LPL Financial and more than eight years at Independent Financial Group, where he led the firm’s retirement plan division.
FLC, a boutique law firm serving retirement plan sponsors and service providers, offers legal services at a discount to PRI member firms, according to PRI.
Steve Niehoff, previously Chief Operating Officer at GPS and related PRI businesses, will step back from daily operations effective Aug. 1 and continue in a controller capacity as an independent contractor.
PRI, founded in 2010, said it supports more than 70 member firms and roughly 50,000 financial professionals with ERISA compliance and practice management services for retirement plan businesses.
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