Breakout Session Descriptions

Breakout Session I

Communications Breakout Session
Successful Strategies to Engage Members on Their Health and Wellness Journeys

Moderator:   Terry Mencel, Director Marketing and Communications, ELCA Board of Pensions
The Mayo Clinic may well be the world's most trusted source of health information.  For this reason the educational information they provide can reach members in ways that insurance company content cannot.  Kurt Hobbs, Health Management Strategy Consultant to the Mayo Clinic, will address how strategic planning with communications experts can create tailored campaigns that serve member well-being and drive participant change.

Health Benefits Breakout Session I
Results of the Health and Well-Being Survey, Phase I

Moderator:  Noreen F. Orbach, PhD, Managing Director, Health and Welfare Services, The United Methodist Church
The session will provide the results of ten denominations that have participated in the survey on “Health and Well-Being”.  The survey measured self report health and well being indicators, religious formation and job characteristics including stress related to being either a clergy person or a lay worker of the church.  The self report survey data has been aligned where available with pharmacy claim data.  These results should cause us to further examine the health of the workers of the Church with findings that appear to be quite distinctive to this population.
Keith G. Meador MD,ThM, MPH, from the Duke University Medical Center,  will present the results, their implications and how this survey will allow discussion on  possible interventions.

Investments Breakout Session I
Expert Panel on Investment Markets

Moderator: Vic Raskin, Chief Investment Officer, YMCA Retirement Fund
Panelists: Bill Gross, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, PIMCO; Luis Maizel, Senior Managing Director, LM Capital Group; Walter Scott, Chairman, Walter Scott and Partners
The session will provide the opportunity to hear from three eminent professional investors and their views on markets and investing. The session will be conducted using a moderated question and answer format with both pre-selected questions and an invitation for questions from the audience.

Retirement Benefits Breakout Session I
Defined Benefit Plans

Moderator:  David G. Adams, VP, ELCA Board of Pensions
This session will focus on issues of interest to sponsors of defined benefit plans. Topics will include further discussion of benchmarking and 2006 pension legislation, plan design issues, funding adequacy and compliance issues.

Breakout Session II

CEO Breakout Session
Church Benefits Association CEO’s only

Moderator:  Barbara A. Boigegrain, CBA Planning Committee Immediate Past-Chair, CEO and Secretary, The United Methodist Church
Interactive conversations with CEO’s.

CFO Breakout
Church Benefits CFO’s only

Moderator:  Louis P. Barbarin, CFO and Treasurer, Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board
Interactive conversations with CFO’s

Investments Breakout Session II
Roundtable Discussion

Moderator: David Zellner, Chief Investment Officer, The United Methodist Church
The session will be conducted as a roundtable discussion where participants will discuss various investment topics of interest to those involved in managing and administering investment programs to support retirement plans. Topics will include asset/liability management, legal matters affecting alternative investments, investment manager selection, alternative investments, participant fund options, and various other investment topics of interest to those attending the discussion.

Retirement Benefits Breakout Session II
Defined Contribution Plans

Moderator:  David G. Adams, VP, ELCA Board of Pensions
This session will focus on issues of interest to sponsors of defined contribution plans. Topics will include further discussion of benchmarking and 2006 pension legislation, record keeping services and plan design issues.

Health Benefits Breakout Session II
Consumer Directed Healthcare

Moderator:  James F. Sanft, Exec. VP and CEO, Lutheran-Church Missouri Synod
Industry expert David Batson from Towers Perrin will discuss current trends in consumer directed healthcare including actual case studies.

Legal Breakout Session II

Moderators:  Robert H. Rydland and Jewelie A. Grape, VP and General Counsel, ELCA Board of Pensions
This session will examine hot legal topics affecting church benefits plans. Learn about the impact of recent regulatory guidance (including the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and final 403(b) regulations (if released)) on church pension plans, and current developments in the ever changing legal arena.