The U.S. Labor Department has appointed Sanford Koeppel to the 2008 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans.
Koeppel, vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs at Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J., will represent the insurance industry on the council, which is commonly known as the ERISA Advisory Council.
The 15-member council advises Labor Department officials on issues affecting benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Koeppel has represented the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, at a 403(b) hearing on Capitol Hill, and he also has been active in the Stable Value Investment Association, Washington.
Koeppel is one of 5 new ERISA Advisory Council members. All will serve 3-year terms.
The other new appointees are David Evangelista of Stony Point, N.Y., who will represent the accounting industry; Mary Nell Billings of Memphis, Tenn., who will represent employers; Marc LeBlanc of Alexandria, Va., who will represent employee organizations; and Kevin Wiggins of Clarksburg, W.Va., who will represent the general public.
Wiggins, an ERISA lawyer, will be the 2008 council chairman.
The council vice chair will be Patricia Brambley, president of Resources for Retirement Inc., Newtown, Pa., a unit of National Penn Bancshares Inc., Boyertown, Pa.
Brambley’s firm sells investment advisory services to sponsors of midsize retirement plans.