NAFA Annuity Leadership Forum Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Paul Begala is a political commentator, a professor of public policy, an author and a political strategist. He is a commentator for CNN, where he is part of the political team that has won both an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award. In addition to appearing on-air, Paul writes commentary for CNN, which is the world’s most-read news organization website. Over the years, he has also been a frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO and has authored six books about politics, several of which were New York Times bestsellers. In the 1990s, he helped his friend John F. Kennedy, Jr. launch the political magazine George and wrote the “Capitol Hillbilly” column.
Begala served in 1992 as a senior strategist for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign and as Counselor to the President in the White House, helping coordinate policy, politics and media. Before working for Pres. Clinton, Begala worked on Capitol Hill and advised campaigns across America. In 2012, he played a crucial role in the Obama-Biden re-election campaign. He has also done campaign work overseas, including in Israel, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Stephen F. Hayes is CEO and editor of The Dispatch, a conservative digital media company he started with Jonah Goldberg and Toby Stock in 2019. He is the author of two New York Times best sellers: The Connection: How al Qaeda’s Collaboration with Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America and Cheney: The Untold Story of America’s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President. Hayes is also currently an NBC News contributor and was part of CNN’s “Best Political Team on Television,” which won a Peabody Award for its coverage of the 2008 elections.
Hayes worked at The Weekly Standard magazine for nearly two decades, first as a reporter/writer and eventually as editor-in-chief. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Reason, National Review and many other publications. Hayes has written extensively about national politics, international affairs and the country’s current political leadership.
Featured Speakers
Gina Alsdorf has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, working on complex issues involving ERISA, employee benefit plans, banking, securities, annuities, privacy, and related tax law matters. Her past clients include trustees, plan committees, benefit plans, consultants, registered investment advisors, broker dealers, banks, insurance companies, third party administrators, and recordkeepers to ERISA and non-ERISA, qualified and nonqualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts.
For more than a decade prior to joining Carlton Fields she held various in-house counsel roles advising senior executives in all aspects of operations, product development, sales, and marketing for retirement investment platform providers. She has dealt with regulators including the SEC, DOL, IRS, state departments of insurance, OCC, and FINRA. In addition, Gina has past experience as a former investigator for the Employee Benefits Security Administration at the DOL. She draws on her first-hand experience to deliver strategic technical guidance, creative problem-solving, and practical business advice for her clients in a rapidly changing regulatory environment.
Cliff Andrews has more than 20 years of political experience as a federal legislative strategist and advocate. He heads CapCity Advocates, LLC, a federal government relations business that he started in 2004. He offers extensive experience in legislative issues management and coalition management for trade associations and corporations. In particular, he consults with clients on advocacy plans, legislative and regulatory conferences and fly-ins, policy paper and testimony preparation, policy issue monitoring, grassroots and grasstops development, PAC strategy, and building strategic relationships with third-party groups.
In the past, Cliff served as the Director of Government Relations for Butera & Andrews, a Washington D.C. law firm, and at one time was a staffer for Senator Harry Reid. He also worked in the financial services sector for Equitable and New York Life, where he secured investments and insurance for small businesses and families.
Chuck DiVencenzo is the President and CEO of NAFA, overseeing the association’s efforts to promote and expand the utilization of fixed and fixed index annuity products through independent distribution. His work on advocacy at the state and federal levels, thought leadership, consumer education efforts and commitment to industry best practices have aided product acceptance and industry growth.
Prior to joining NAFA, Chuck was vice president at Allianz Life of North America, where he served as a national spokesperson on topics including taxation, retirement, social security, asset protection and other relevant issues. He also worked closely with the actuarial, sales and legal departments to develop content and product, and to deliver thought leadership to wholesalers and distribution partners. Formerly, he served as the COO/CMO of Paradigm Capital Management and senior vice president in Hartford Life’s Investment Products Division. Chuck has also held positions in academia, practiced tax and ERISA law, and began his career as a consultant with Ernst & Young.
Tom Roberts has more than 25 years of experience in advising insurance and annuity providers, banks, and other financial institutions on ERISA fiduciary and related legal matters involving retirement product and service offerings.
Tom has a broad and deep background in the retirement services industry, having spent much of his career prior to joining Groom as in-house counsel to a major annuity and recordkeeping services provider. Tom has played a key role in helping to shape the regulatory landscape through written comments and testimony and has held leadership positions in a number of industry trade associations. He is a frequent speaker on the ERISA-related developments and other regulatory changes that affect retirement services providers.