< The 2015 Pension 40: The Long Climb
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Hank Kim
Executive Director and Counsel / National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
Last year’s rank: Not ranked
Hank Kim’s job defending and promoting public sector pensions, which invest some $9 trillion in assets in 50 states and many more municipalities, keeps him busy. But in 2010, Kim, executive director and counsel for the Washington-based National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), was drawn to the private sector workforce, where half of full-time workers lack access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. In 2011, Kim launched the Secure Choice Pension, a multiple-employer cash-balance plan that could be offered at the state level via payroll deductions. States including Arizona, California and Illinois showed interest, but after financial industry opposition mounted, they opted to keep the Secure Choice moniker while changing the design to an individual retirement account. “The future still is possible for pensions,” Kim says. “The critics can contend that they are dinosaurs and underfunded, but the one thing they consistently fail to do is offer a plausible alternative, and that’s why we have these state initiatives.” Kim earned a JD from Indiana University, then returned home to New Jersey and a staff job with then–U.S. senator Bill Bradley. After working on tax and health care issues for Bradley, Kim moved to the International Association of Fire Fighters union. He is now working on a code of conduct for vendors to public pensions.
The 2015 Pension 40
1. Bruce Rauner 2. John & Laura Arnold 3. Chris Christie 4. Randi Weingarten 5. Phyllis Borzi |
6. Kevin de León 7. Alejandro García Padilla 8. Laurence Fink 9. Rahm Emanuel 10. Sean McGarvey |
11. John Kline 12. J. Mark Iwry 13. Damon Silvers 14. Jeffrey Immelt 15. Joshua Gotbaum |
16. Robin Diamonte 17. Mark Mullet 18. Terry O’Sullivan 19. Raymond Dalio 20. Ted Wheeler |
21. Thomas Nyhan 22. Karen Ferguson & Karen Friedman 23. Randy DeFrehn 24. Robert O’Keef 25. Caitlin Long |
26. Kenneth Feinberg 27. Orrin Hatch 28. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend 29. Ian Lanoff 30. Joshua Rauh |
31. Ted Eliopoulos 32. Edward (Ted) Siedle 33. Teresa Ghilarducci 34. Denise Nappier 35. W. Thomas Reeder Jr. |
36. Hank Kim 37. Paul Singer 38. Bailey Childers 39. Amy Kessler 40. Judy Mares |
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