James LaFleur

Sentinel is the only employee benefits provider who makes it EASY: easy for your people; easy for your business; and easy for you. Whether you need help with retirement plans, group health insurance, reimbursement accounts or financial planning —we’ve got you covered. At Sentinel, we enjoy connecting with you and understanding your unique needs and future plans. We take pride in using our expertise to talk about benefits and finances in a simpler way, making it easier to understand, and helping you make the important decisions. We’re people people—we make your business our business, because it’s all personal. That’s why people choose us. Senior Advisor responsible for the investment consulting and overall plan/portfolio consulting (fiduciary training, fee analysis, participant plan data reviews, etc.) to retirement plan sponsors for their defined contribution (401(k), 403(b), 457) plans, defined benefit (cash balance and traditional) plans, and insurance portfolios. Serve as the primary relationship manager for these clients. Member of the Sentinel Pension Advisors (SPA) Investment Committee, as well as working groups for Managed Accounts and Retirement Income.

P/E Investments is a global macro/absolute-return oriented (FX) currency (long/short) and other currency-related investment strategies investment manager with ~$15B in AUM. The strategies are liquid, transparent and usually uncorrelated to traditional beta markets. P/E utilizes a Bayesian statistical model. Direct outreach efforts resulted in meetings with over 60% of the top corporate DB plans in the US, including prominent firms like Delta, Kodak, GE, and Kaiser. We extensively researched and recorded over 300 plans in their CRM, enabling targeted engagement and presenting opportunities for contact with key buyers. Assisted in the launch, development, and business development of PE's mutual fund, PEIEX

Liquidity Budgeting 2015: https://vimeo.com/134345125 Big Data 2016: https://vimeo.com/172403564 Responsible for Mercer's three largest clients by revenue: NADART, ABA RF, & CAIS Addressed cost concerns and content alignment with Mercer's investment conferences, developed customized "Mercer Day" events at client-selected locations, increased client satisfaction, surpassed their expectations, and secured new mandates worth $500k to $1MM annually. By 2019, the cofounded Wealth Management (WM) segment had grown to over 50 clients, increasing revenue by $5MM, approximately 10% of total US revenue, and led to creating a new consulting segment in Boston within 3-4 years. Led the Boston Office Business Development team to substantial success, achieving consistent year on-year sales growth and significantly boosting office revenue by approximately 20-30% per year over 3-4 years. The regular brainstorming and strategy meetings, infused with team building and enjoyable elements, fostered a positive atmosphere and generated fruitful new business opportunities. Focused on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), becoming an industry expert, drafted the first comprehensive research white paper that covered both the investment and tax aspects of HSAs. The paper gained recognition as it was republished in two trade magazines, establishing Mercer's expertise and enabling consulting services and expert insights to clients in need. Established a specialized team dedicated to researching Stable Value products to address previous struggles successfully, improving efficiency and centralized expertise for consulting with its largest clients, resulting in enhanced advice, better performance, cost reduction, and client retention.

Implemented a 5/15 prospecting approach for consultants in the Northeast market, increasing 120% prospect meetings, improving morale, an 80% increase in call logs, a 60% rise in RFPS, a 30% growth in closed business for new mandates, and widespread adoption of the scorecard nationally by the second year. The approach provided consultants with a flexible framework, actively managing a list of 5 "hot" prospects and 15 ongoing prospects while earning points for traction, updates, and adherence to the rules. Developed an innovative alternative framework categorizing alternatives into three main categories and several subcategories, supported by a comprehensive explanatory paper and graphic. This framework was adopted globally, aiding clients in allocating to hedge funds, private equity (P/E), venture capital (VC), and other alternative investments.

Conducted a comprehensive asset allocation study to improve investment performance, showcased a dynamic and diversified approach aligned with the organizational vision, resulted in lower fees, and incorporated new investment management ideas. Streamlined the manager roster from 11 to 6, generating lower, optimized fees, improved performance, simplified oversight and reporting, enhanced presentation quality, and higher active share. The NADART Fund consistently outperformed its globally diversified benchmark on a trailing one-, three- and five-year time horizon while providing its investors a lower risk (standard derivative).