Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors

A panel discussion of approaches used to calculate and report pension liabilities and the potential dangers of relying on them. Using a hypothetical example the panel will illustrate how the amount of a pension liability changes depending on assumptions used and the purpose of the calculation.

Moderator:

Mark M. Feldman, CIRA, CDBV is president of Cold Spring Group, Inc., an advisory firm that specializes in representing parties to restructurings and providing litigation support. He has represented, chaired, and served on creditors committees, and he has represented debtors and served as chief restructuring officer. He has regularly dealt with pension accounting issues in the course of his practice, most notably as chair of the creditors committee in the chapter 11 proceedings of LTV Aerospace & Defense and as financial advisor to a mutual fund family that unexpectedly became a significant shareholder in numerous debtors in the auto parts industry. He is a member of the New York Bar and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) with a Certificate in Distressed Business Valuation (CDVB). He has a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Panelists:

Nancy S. Heermans is a member of Arent Fox’s Litigation Group. Her expertise encompasses titles I and IV of ERISA, litigation and bankruptcy. Prior to joining Arent Fox, Ms. Heermans was the associate chief counsel for litigation at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). As associate chief, she was primarily responsible for the agency’s complex litigation in all federal courts. Her work included representing the PBGC in large bankruptcies such as United Airlines, Enron, US Airways and Raytech, as well as in other litigation involving such issues as pension fraud. Ms. Heermans received her J.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Laura Rosenberg, CIRA is Senior Vice President, Finance, at Fiduciary Counselors Inc. She has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance and pensions and is a frequent author and speaker on financial and pension matters, is widely quoted as an expert. Prior to joining Fiduciary Counselors, Inc., Ms Rosenberg served for twelve years with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) where she was a manager in the Corporate Finance and Negotiations Department. She was a principal architect of the Early Warning Program and successfully negotiated and restructured over $18 billion in pension debt in more than 100 transactions including such high-profile cases as General Motors spin-off of EDS; RJR Nabisco Holdings spin-off of RJR Tobacco ($490 million); and TWA Airlines bankruptcy ($244 million). She also served as the PBGC’s appointee on creditor’s committees and as an expert witness in key litigation cases. Prior to serving at the PBGC, Ms. Rosenberg was Capital Markets and Cash Manager at MCI Communications Corporation. Ms. Rosenberg has an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Analyst (CIRA).

James M. Lukenda, CIRA is a founding Managing Director and Practice Leader of Huron Consulting Group’s Corporate Advisory Services practice specializing in corporate turnaround situations, loan workouts and bankruptcy. Over his 27-year career he has worked in a variety of industries and assisted clients ranging from small privately held businesses to large multinational corporations. His experience spans numerous industry categories including the construction and contracting, communications and publishing, energy, consumer products and distribution, transportation, real estate, hospitality, retailing, and electronics industries. Mr. Lukenda received his BSBA, cum laude, from Georgetown University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor (CIRA). He is a director, past chairman, and past president of the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), a past director of INSOL, the international organization of insolvency professionals, and a director of the New Jersey chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. Jim also serves as the treasurer for Adoptive Parents Committee-New Jersey, an adoptive parents’ advocacy and education organization.