Leadership Team
Daniel Fries
SVP, National Market Director
dfries@sibson.com
Mr. Fries joined the New York office in 1988 and has held such leadership positions as Vice President, Senior Vice President, Co-Head of the New York office, Chief Operating Officer, Member of the Board, and Member of the Board's Compensation and Audit Committees. He is currently National Market Director.
Mr. Fries has special expertise in qualified and non-qualified plan design, deferred compensation funding strategies, defined benefit and defined contribution retirement and group health and welfare benefits.
Before joining the Company, Mr. Fries worked as a senior benefits consultant for a major insurance company and large global money management organization where he provided technical consulting services for pension, defined contribution and deferred compensation arrangements. Prior to this, he worked as a registered investment advisor for a private investment firm specializing in fixed-income investments for pension plans.
Mr. Fries has lectured on benefits compliance issues, non-qualified plan design, deferred compensation and funding options for several leading benefits and human resource management forums. He has been quoted in several business publications and has taught classes for the American Medical Association and other organizations as part of their credential programs.
John Asencio
SVP, East Region Leader
jasencio@sibson.com
Mr. Asencio is an expert in health and welfare benefits strategy and planning. He specializes in the design, procurement, and pricing of health plans, as well as the return on investment (ROI) from health, employee assistance and work-life programs. One of his focuses is health and productivity.
Mr. Asencio has nearly 20 years of experience in health care and consulting. He has consulted with a broad spectrum of clients in industries ranging from professional services and banking firms to state and local municipalities.
Mr. Asencio is the head of Sibson's National Health Consulting Practice and a member of the firm-wide leadership team. In that role, he assists the company in developing and implementing its people and go-to-market strategies.
Prior to joining Sibson in 2002, Mr. Asencio served in a variety of consulting capacities with Arthur Andersen, Watson Wyatt, and KPMG. Prior to consulting, he served as a Vice President at Merit Behavioral Care where he was responsible for pricing, account management, and sales. Prior to Merit, Mr. Asencio was the Chief Underwriter at Group Health Incorporated, a large PPO in New York.
Mr. Asencio has spoken at a variety of conferences and seminars including the Wharton Council on Employee Relations, World at Work, Council on Employee Benefits, Financial Executives Institute, and a variety of WEB seminars. Topics he has addressed include benefits strategy, consumer-driven health, ROI on health and reward programs, Health Savings Accounts, HIPAA, and health and productivity.
Joseph DiMisa
SVP, Sales Force Effectiveness Practice Leader
jdimisa@sibson.com
Mr. DiMisa works with leading companies to develop and implement sales strategies and sales effectiveness programs that drive profitable growth. He specializes in the design and implementation of sales management solutions to increase sales and profits for clients.
Mr. DiMisa has over fifteen years of experience providing thought leadership and expertise to many large corporate organizations including AT&T, Coca-Cola, Cisco Systems, Allstate Corp., Southern California Edison, Equifax, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Mr. DiMisa's areas of responsibility include direct sales planning and management, sales operations, sales compensation and quota setting, sales channel and strategy planning, sales partner and agency management, outbound and inbound telephone sales, and various marketing disciplines. He has led sales and marketing organizations in the corporate area and is currently Head of the Sales Force Effectiveness Practice at Sibson Consulting.
Mr. DiMisa is a well known contributor to many business periodicals including the Wall Street Journal, WorldatWork publications, Selling Power magazine, Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) publications, and Sales & Marketing Management magazine. He is also author of a best selling business book entitled The Fisherman's Guide to Selling: Reeling in the Sale - Hook, Line and Sinker (Adams Media 2007). Additionally, Mr. DiMisa writes many white papers and speaks frequently on best practices and strategies for optimizing sales channel performance.
Mr. DiMisa is a certified trainer for WorldatWork's "Elements of Sales Compensation" and "Competitive Market Pay: Pricing Critical Sales Roles" certification courses. He has recently devoted much of his time to identifying sales and marketing trends and issues across large global organizations. His findings are regularly distributed through survey briefings, readouts, and presentations.
Michael Eck
VP, eHR Practice Leader
meck@sibson.com
Mr. Eck is the practice leader for the eHR practice. He focuses on assisting clients in developing strategies that use process improvement, technology and automation to improve the productivity of their workforces. He works with clients on both long-term, big picture strategic HR planning, as well as on day-to-day operational requirements for HR administration and process improvement.
Mr. Eck has worked with many large and small-sized clients across multiple industries and disciplines. In 2001, he joined The Segal Company with over fifteen years of experience in process improvement and information technology, specializing in aligning administrative systems with human resource technologies and processes. He has expert knowledge and practice in full life cycle program management, HR outsourcing, HR system and service vendors, development and implementation of worldwide enterprise applications, web development and HR application deployment. Mr. Eck has held various strategic and management roles including program manager for PeopleSoft and SAP deployments, HR Data warehouse architect, data center manager and application development/product director.
Mr. Eck's research and thought leadership on human resources technology, process improvement and outsourcing has been profiled in Business Insurance, HR World, HR Executive, CFO, and the IHRIM Newsletter. He has been a speaker for the New York Business Group on Health, Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, Colleges and Universities Professional Association - HR, and the Worldwide Employee Benefits Network.
Dean C. Hatfield, CEBS
SVP, Health Practice Leader
dhatfield@sibson.com
Mr. Hatfield joined Sibson's New York office in 2008 as a Senior Vice President and Health Practice Leader. He has over 22 years of experience working with employers on a wide range of employee benefit services including benefit strategies, funding and plan management. Mr. Hatfield's current responsibilities include providing consulting advice to clients regarding plan design, vendor management, compliance, M&A due diligence, benefit integration, data analytics, and financial management. He also serves as an international benefits resource for his global clients.
Prior to joining Sibson, Mr. Hatfield accumulated over 22 years of specialized consulting expertise. Most recently, he served as Northeast Regional Vice President of UnitedHealthcare, where he focused on strategy and market development. Mr. Hatfield also spent over 17 years with another major consulting firm, where he managed their largest health care practice and acted as lead consultant for several of their premier accounts.
Mr. Hatfield is frequently interviewed and quoted in publications such as Business Insurance, Crain's New York Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, LA Times, SF Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, he co-authored a WorldatWork article in the May 2004 issue titled, "Controlling Health Care Costs Through Administrative Efficiencies: Little Pain, Much Gain."
Mr. Hatfield received a BA in Mathematics and Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also earned The International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (CEBS) designation from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Myrna Hellerman
SVP, Midwest Region Leader
mhellerman@sibson.com
Ms. Hellerman helps companies improve business results through the design and implementation of innovative, effective, and sustainable people strategies. She frequently serves Board Compensation Committees as an Independent Advisor.
Ms. Hellerman has particular expertise with the human capital management and governance challenges that are precipitated by a major financial transaction (e.g., IPO, spin-off, merger, private equity buy-out). She has served over 100 publicly traded and privately held organizations from a wide variety of industries, including insurance, brokerage, financial services, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, health care, hospitality, retail, technology and manufacturing.
Prior to joining the company in 1994, Ms. Hellerman was the Chief Human Resource Executive for Hyatt Corporation, an international corporation with more than 50,000 employees. At Continental Bank, she was the Vice President responsible for the global compensation and benefits functions. At Hewitt Associates, she led both domestic and international total compensation assignments. Ms. Hellerman's professional background also includes several faculty appointments.
Ms. Hellerman received an MBA from the University of Chicago, and an MA and a PhD in Spanish and Portuguese from Stanford University. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Science and Mathematics from the University of Michigan, was a Fulbright scholar in Peru, and completed academic studies in Mexico and Argentina.
Ms. Hellerman has authored articles and commentary published in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Business Finance, Forbes.com, the Handbook of Business Strategy, Human Resource Executive, Financial Executive, and the WorldatWork's Workspan.
Among the venues at which Ms. Hellerman has been invited to present are: the national and regional conferences of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), WorldatWork, Beyster Institute for Employee Stock Ownership, the Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS), the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), the Human Resource Association of Chicago (HRMAC), and the Chicago Compensation Association (CCA).
David Insler
SVP, West Region Leader
dinsler@sibson.com
Mr. Insler joined Sibson Consulting in May 2005. His primary consulting expertise is in organization performance, executive and incentive compensation, and sales force effectiveness. His experience includes both consulting and corporate roles in middle market as well as Fortune 100 companies. Specific consulting projects include executive compensation strategies, sales and employee group incentives, salary management programs, performance systems design, organizational and human resource strategies, and human resource functional/ operational reviews. Mr. Insler’s work in incentive design runs the continuum from EVA or value-based executive compensation to blue collar and knowledge worker productivity/gainsharing group incentives as well as sales force compensation.
Mr. Insler has been involved in organization effectiveness consulting, including the design and implementation of human resource strategies, compensation plans, and performance management processes across a variety of industries for more than 30 years. Mr. Insler’s corporate experience includes several senior-level human resource roles in the financial services, aerospace, electronics and transportation industries.
Before joining Sibson, Mr. Insler was a principal in the Western Region Human Capital Advisory Services of Deloitte & Touche, where he was Practice Leader for HR Strategies and developed the national SFE service offering.
Previously, he held corporate positions as VP Organization Effectiveness for Edwards Lifesciences and Senior Vice President and Director, Compensation and Benefits for Security Pacific Corporation. In the latter position, he was responsible for the design and administration of executive compensation as well as qualified and non-qualified benefit and retirement plans and the design and review of salary and incentive plans for the bank and all subsidiaries and global locations. Mr. Insler was also responsible for the merger organization and HR integration between Bank of America and Security Pacific. He also spent more than six years with TRW Electronics & Defense as Director, Compensation and Benefits for the largest sector of the company.
Mr. Insler received a BA from Pennsylvania State University. His post-graduate work includes the Bucknell Executive Management Program in Banking and the Southwestern University School of Law.
Jim Kochanski
SVP, Performance and Rewards Practice Leader
Jkochanski@sibson.com
Mr. Kochanski works with leaders to develop people strategies for their organizations. He works extensively with companies experiencing talent or performance gaps. Mr. Kochanski has developed proven approaches for upgrading the level of talent in organizations, improving performance and reward systems, and managing large-scale organizational change. He leads Sibson's Performance and Rewards Practice, which focuses on organization effectiveness, talent management, performance management, and rewards strategies.
Mr. Kochanski has more than 20 years of consulting and corporate experience. He has worked with clients in healthcare, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and financial services. He has also worked to optimize the effectiveness of corporate staff groups, including information technology, human resources, and finance.
Mr. Kochanski has managed many large-scale organizational change initiatives, including:
- Alignment of business and people strategies that enable significant business growth
- Creation of talent strategies to significantly upgrade the quality and stability of staff
- Performance management to improve alignment of goals, improving results and aligning rewards
- Contemporary succession, career, and development systems
- Comprehensive redesign of reward systems, including base pay, incentives, and recognition programs
- Organizational restructuring to achieve business and customer requirements
- Talent planning and workforce retention
- Organizational assessment and operational improvement
Prior to joining Sibson, he held senior HR positions at Nortel Networks, The Quaker Oats Company and the Kellogg Company.
Nenette Kress
SVP, Communications Practice Leader
nkress@segalco.com
Ms. Kress is a Senior Vice President and Leader of Sibson's Communications Practice with national responsibility for benefits, HR, and organizational communications. She has provided consulting on a full spectrum of communications issues and media to such clients as Becton Dickinson, Emdeon, the National Basketball Association, Schlumberger, BellSouth, Loyola University, Southern California UFCW, Northern California UFCW, Realogy, Retail Brand Alliance, and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Prior to joining Sibson, Ms. Kress was a partner and global practice leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has more than 25 years of experience in the creation and management of communications functions and in-house agencies in consulting firms and service and consumer products companies. Her experience in both consulting and corporations has helped her develop a unique, customer-focused approach to communications services and client management.
Stewart D. Lawrence
SVP, National Retirement Practice Leader
slawrence@sibson.com
Mr. Lawrence joined Sibson Consulting's New York Actuarial Department in 1977. He became a Benefits Consultant in 1978, a Vice President in 1982, and a Senior Vice President in 1985. Mr. Lawrence was named Manager of the company's Corporate Consulting Practice for the New York region in 1988. In 2006, he became the National Retirement Practice Leader. Prior to assuming that position, Mr. Lawrence was Director of the company’s Corporate Practice, a member of its Office of the President, and a member of the Board of Directors. He has special expertise in the design of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans. After the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA ‘86), Mr. Lawrence developed executive compensation indemnity (ECI) policies to protect senior executives’ unfunded and unsecured non-qualified benefits.
Mr. Lawrence has a history of maintaining long, mutually rewarding relationships with his clients regardless of proximity. He serves as the Consultant and Principal Account Officer for many of Sibson's largest clients.
Mr. Lawrence is a 1970 graduate of Queens College with a BA in Mathematics. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. He is a former Chairperson on Financial Executive International’s Committee on Benefits Finance, and former member of the board of directors for the Council on Employee Benefits. Mr. Lawrence has written numerous articles about employee benefits and currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Financial Executive magazine.