The Corporation is aided by a seven-member Advisory Committee appointed by the President of the United States to represent the interests of labor, employers, and the general public. ERISA outlines several specific responsibilities for PBGC's Advisory Committee, including advising on policies and procedures for PBGC's investments, the trusteeship of terminated plans, and on other matters as determined by PBGC.
Robin L. Diamonte
Chair of the Committee
Robin L. Diamonte is the chief investment officer for United Technologies Corp., where she oversees $51 billion in global retirement assets. Prior to that role, she spent 13 years with Verizon Investment Management as managing director of Global Investments. Diamonte is the former chair and currently serves on the board for the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA), representing more than 100 of the country's largest private sector retirement funds on fiduciary and investment issues in Washington. Diamonte was appointed as a corporate board member for Morningstar in 2015. She is trustee of the Independent Day School in Middlefield, Connecticut where her two daughters attend elementary school. Diamonte earned a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of New Haven. In 2013, Ms. Diamonte was appointed to the Advisory Committee; reappointed for a second term in 2016. She was appointed Committee Chair in January 2017.
Henry C. Eickelberg
Committee Member
Henry Eickelberg is an adjunct professor of law and faculty advisor for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act certificate program at the Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to that, Eickelberg was the Vice President of Human Resources and Shared Services for General Dynamics Corporation. While at General Dynamics, he oversaw the design and administration of the company’s defined benefit pension plans, 401(k) plans, and health and welfare programs. Eickelberg served as Chairman of the American Benefits Council as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the ERISA Industry Committee. A certified public accountant, he has a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from DePaul University and a Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws from John Marshall Law School. In 2016, Eickelberg was appointed to the Advisory Committee.
Joyce M. St. Clair
Committee Member
Joyce M. St. Clair is an Executive Vice President and Chief Capital Management Officer and a member of the Northern Trust Executive Management Group, responsible for establishing a strong governance framework to oversee all capital management initiatives. Prior to joining Northern Trust as a Vice President in August 1992, Ms. St. Clair was an Associate Partner in Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) Financial Services Group in Chicago, where she was named Senior Vice President in July 1996 and an Executive Vice President in October 2003. Ms. St. Clair received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Ms. St. Clair is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Chair of the financial membership committee for The Chicago Network, and serves on the Dean’s Council at Indiana University. Ms. St. Clair was appointed to the Advisory Committee in July 2016.
Experts and Consultants to the Advisory Committee
Donald J. Butt
Consultant
Donald J. Butt serves on the Board of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association, and is active with the Committee for the Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA). Prior to his current engagements, Mr. Butt worked for 40 years at Qwest Communications, retiring as the vice president for operations and defined contribution plans for Qwest Asset Management Co. in 2010. While at Qwest, he was responsible for the design, investment management, and selection of investment options in the company's $3 billion 401(k) plan. He was also part of the senior leadership team responsible for the investment and management of $10 billion in additional employee retirement assets. Mr. Butt has a Bachelor of Science from Metropolitan State College in Denver and an MBA from the University of Denver. In 2014, Mr. Butt was appointed to the Advisory Committee. In February 2017, at the expiration of his appointment, he was invited by PBGC and the Advisory Committee to serve as a consultant to the Committee.
Babette Ceccotti
Consultant
Babette Ceccotti is a retired partner from Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP in New York City, where she focused on employee benefits and bankruptcy. She joined the firm in 1983 as an associate and became a partner in 1990. Ms. Ceccotti represented labor organizations and employee benefit plans in numerous bankruptcy cases in the airline, automotive and other industries. She was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Bankruptcy Review Commission from 1995 to 1997. Ms. Ceccotti is also a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Clark University and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School. In 2016, Ms. Ceccotti was appointed to the Advisory Committee. In February 2017, at the end of her appointment, she was invited by PBGC and the Advisory Committee to serve as consultant to the Committee.
Regina T. Jefferson
Consultant
Regina T. Jefferson is a professor of law at the Catholic University of America (CUA), where she teaches courses in Federal Income Taxation, ERISA: Pensions Tax Policy, and Partnership Taxation. She joined the CUA faculty in 1992, and served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2000 to 2001. Ms. Jefferson has written extensively on the re-distributional impact of the private retirement system, the tax and actuarial aspects of the funding limitations of defined benefit plans, and the risks of defined contribution plans. She is a member of the Pension Rights Center Board of Directors, the BNA Pension & Benefits Reporter Advisory Board, and the National Institute on Retirement Security Academic Advisory Board. Ms. Jefferson has a Bachelor of Science from Howard University, a law degree from George Washington University, and a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University. Ms. Jefferson was appointed to the Advisory Committee in 2015. In February 2018, she was invited by PBGC and the Advisory Committee to serve as consultant to the Committee.