Team

Mr. Ross is President of The Ross Companies and directs the firm's diversified practice in executive compensation, retirement benefits, actuarial services, employee benefits, and estate and personal financial planning for high net worth individuals and families.

He is an advisor to CEOs, boards of directors, and compensation committees of a wide range of business entities, both public and privately held. He is also a co-author of the book Executive Employment and Compensation.

Clients value Mr. Ross's experience in conceptualizing complex factual situations, balancing competing objectives, and marshaling and then managing the requisite professional talents to reach optimal solutions to difficult problems. He assists clients with implementing solutions and monitoring their progress to ensure success.

Under his leadership, the firm's practice has grown in size and scope in response to client needs for new and expanded services. An innovator, Mr. Ross has also kept the firm on the cutting edge in the many fields that comprise its practice, assisting clients in solving a multitude of business problems, rationalizing business and personal considerations, preserving capital, and facilitating intergenerational transfers of wealth.

For example, he designed one of the nation's early employee stock ownership plans and continues to establish ESOPs for clients and advise on their use in raising corporate capital and structuring leveraged transactions as well as in succession planning.

Mr. Ross contributes to business publications on the topic of executive compensation and innovative ways to use insurance to solve business and personal financial problems.

Mr. Ross is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Please read more

Mr. Ross is Vice President of The Ross Companies. He designs and implements life, disability, and long-term care insurance programs for business and estate planning clients. In this role he coordinates the efforts of lawyers, financial advisors, and accountants to ensure that all of the client's needs are satisfied.

He is also a member of The Ross Companies' management team, which sets strategy and corporate direction for the firm.

Mr. Ross is a member of the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters, the Million Dollar Roundtable, the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting, Yale Insurance Study Group and the Society for Financial Services Professionals. He is also a member of the Planned Giving Advisory Council of New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is a contributor to professional journals and a presenter at conferences.

Mr. Ross received his B.A. from Denison University. Please read more

Mr. Foight is a senior consultant in the firm’s specialty consulting and senior management consulting groups. He advises clients on employment and compensation arrangements for senior executives, and retirement plan design and administration.

His services include design and implementation of executive compensation programs to advance the sponsor’s business strategy, board compensation programs, and qualified and nonqualified retirement plans. In addition, he has experience in financial planning, outsourcing services, group benefits and life and health insurance.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies Mr. Foight spent 25 years with KPMG in various capacities: member of the firm’s Pension Committee and Actuarial Practice Committee; Northeast regional practice leader for the retirement plans and actuarial services practice, and practice leader for the New Jersey compensation and benefits consulting practice. He also led the firm's investment supervision consulting practice and was managing partner of the employee financial counseling practice.

He is a certified public accountant (retired). He received a B.S. degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University, with a concentration in finance. Please read more

Mr. Fiore is a senior consultant in The Ross Companies’ senior management consulting group. He works closely with corporate executives, and with boards of directors and compensation committees, in designing performance-driven compensation programs for senior management and competitive programs for directors.

He is an expert in equity compensation plans and was an early proponent of stock ownership guidelines for management and boards. He draws on his extensive experience in finance and accounting to implement incentive-driven, pay-for-performance annual and long-term compensation plans that reward earnings growth, and stock appreciation and other performance measures.

Mr. Fiore’s broad business background includes 25 years with KPMG, as an audit partner in the firm’s New York office and a member of the office’s operating committee. Additionally, as an audit partner in KPMG’s Paris office, he coordinated the services that the firm’s European offices provided to several multinational corporations.

Mr. Fiore received a B.B.A. in accounting from St. Bonaventure University and is a graduate of the corporate finance management program of the Harvard Business School.

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute and a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Please read more

As Vice President of Group Operations, Mr. Broderick directs the group health and benefit practice, supervising the design, funding, implementation, and monitoring of a full range of group benefit programs.

Mr. Broderick is a seasoned group benefits and insurance executive, with 30 years of consulting and carrier experience. His knowledge encompasses large and small group markets, with expertise in alternative funding, including minimum-premium and self-insured arrangements. Clients have included public and private employers, among them nonprofit organizations, school boards, and pharmaceutical companies.

Mr. Broderick’s expertise provides clients with an innovative approach to their organizational and technical group insurance needs. His experience reflects his understanding of carrier operations and services, while emphasizing communication with all concerned parties and balancing clients’ short- and long-term needs. Matching client needs with quality service providers is the cornerstone of the service that The Ross Companies provides our group benefit clients.

He earned his B.S. in social science from St. John’s University. Please read more

Mrs. Armstrong is a senior consultant in the firm’s senior management consulting group. She advises senior management, and boards of directors and compensation committees, of a range of companies on senior executive employment arrangements and compensation, board organization and remuneration, and corporate governance.

Her professional experience includes service as a lawyer in private practice with Cravath, Swaine & Moore and the Law Offices of Joseph E. Bachelder and as counsel with three major corporations. She was also director of research and information services, for consultants and clients, for the human resources consulting practice of KPMG, LLP.

She received her B.A. from Radcliffe College (Harvard University), M.A. from Columbia University and J.D. from Harvard Law School. She writes and speaks on governance issues and on compensation and benefits and other human resources topics. She is co-author of Executive Employment and Compensation.

In 1999 Mrs. Armstrong completed a six-year term as a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University, serving during her last year as president of the board. From 1994 to 1996 she was president of the Harvard Law School Association. More recently, she chaired two university visiting committees, each for five years: to Harvard Law School and to the university’s human resources function.

Mrs. Armstrong currently chairs the board of the American Farm School in Greece and serves on the boards of the English-Speaking Union of the United States, the Royal Oak Foundation, the American Trust for the British Library, and the National Institute of Social Sciences. Please read more

Mr. Barone is a senior account executive for group health and benefit services, assisting companies in the evaluation, design, and implementation of employee benefit programs. He counsels clients on plan design and appropriate funding vehicles, and provides administrative, technical, and compliance support for a wide range of benefit plans.

Mr. Barone has more than 20 years of experience in numerous capacities with insurance carriers, as well as extensive experience in employee benefits brokerage and consulting for mid- to large-size companies.

Before joining The Ross Companies, Mr. Barone worked at GHI in the group underwriting department and, previously, at Progressive Plan Administrators-USI, where as a vice president he was account leader on several prominent mid- to large-size accounts.

Earlier, Mr. Barone served as director of group insurance for North Atlantic Life Insurance Company, with overall responsibility for group department operations and profitability, including financial reporting, product development, compliance, underwriting, claims and administration. Additionally, Mr. Barone worked at New York Life in the group underwriter-national accounts department.

Mr. Barone earned his B.A. in business management from Hunter College of the City University of New York. Please read more

Ms. Buckley is a senior account executive in the firm’s consulting group. She works on a wide range of projects in the areas of executive compensation, retirement plans, and group benefit services, as well as special projects. In group health and benefits, she assists clients in the design, implementation and servicing of group benefit programs. She evaluates alternative funding vehicles and provides administrative, technical, and compliance support for a wide range of benefit plans.

In the executive compensation area, Ms. Buckley assists clients with the administration and monitoring of executive compensation programs of all types. She also works on the design, modification and amendment of long term compensation plans, defined benefit retirement plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans. In addition, she assists with the implementation of Outsourcing Retirement Services.

Before joining The Ross Companies, Ms. Buckley worked in various capacities with insurance carriers and employee benefits brokerage and consulting firms, focusing on mid-to large-size companies. As a group representative at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and a regional director at Travelers Insurance Company, she sold group insurance and pension accounts to mid-size companies and Fortune 500 clients, and also serviced this business. As manager of pensions and benefits for Southcorp Holdings, Inc. she was responsible for design, management, and administration of pension plans and group insurance for 2,500 employees, including labor negotiations strategy and due diligence for acquisitions and divestitures.

Ms. Buckley earned a B.A. in history from Hofstra University. Please read more

Mr. Freedman, a senior consultant, is responsible for marketing of The Ross Companies’ services.

He consults on special projects and in group health and benefits -- the primary area of his expertise -- including life, medical, dental, disability and integrated benefits, as well as workers compensation programs. His client consulting has been concentrated among Fortune 100 companies along with public and private medium-to-larger firms.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies, Mr. Freedman served as a Senior Consultant at Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby; Eastern Region Leader for Strategic Client Relationship Managers at Mellon Human Resources (Buck Consultants); National Practice Leader for Integrated Benefits at Aon; and Managing Director of Professional Services at Alexander & Alexander Consulting, where he was also National Practice Leader for Health & Welfare and Workers Compensation.

Mr. Freedman received his B.A. in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and M.B.A. in management from the Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University. Please read more

Mr. Glaser’s responsibilities include advancing The Ross Companies’ sales efforts.

For engagements in which he is personally involved, he manages client relationships to assure needs are met to the client’s satisfaction. In this latter capacity, he meets regularly with key client executives to keep current on their business changes and how they impact compensation and benefit programs. In turn he draws on the firm’s consultants as appropriate to address individual client situations. Please read more

Ms. Gorelick is a senior account executive for group health and benefit services, assisting clients in the design and implementation of employee health and welfare benefit plans. These include the full range of group benefit plans, from traditionally insured plans to self-funded programs and managed care plans.

Ms. Gorelick joined The Ross Companies after a 14-year career at Progressive Plan Administrators-USI, where as a vice president she administered all types of employee benefits plans, including group medical, dental, disability, long-term care, life insurance, and 401(k) plans. Earlier Ms. Gorelick was a sales associate at Oxford Health Plans. She began her career as a public and community relations officer for the University of Michigan Hospitals.

Ms. Gorelick earned a B.A. in psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an M.P.H. in public health from the University of Michigan. Please read more

Mr. Gundlach manages defined benefit services and outsourcing for the firm’s retirement plan services group, directing design, implementation, and administration of defined benefit plans and post-retirement medical plans. He also prepares ESOP emerging liability analyses.

Mr. Gundlach has more than 35 years of experience, across a wide range of industries, in group insurance and employee benefits and with all aspects of qualified and non-qualified programs and systems. His extensive background includes benefits design, cash flow and tax analysis, non-cash and financial reporting issues, employee communications, and development of systems to meet and exceed employers’ strategic business plans and financial performance goals. In addition to design and implementation of programs, his experience includes their termination, as employers’ circumstances dictate.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies in 1998 Mr. Gundlach was a principal with KPMG, heading the qualified plan consulting practice in the New Jersey office.

Mr. Gundlach obtained his B.A. in mathematics from Dartmouth College. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. Please read more

Mr. McAuliffe is an analyst in the firm’s business and estate planning group, where he designs complex life insurance programs tailored specifically for the planning needs of each client. He coordinates his efforts with those of the client’s accountants and attorneys to produce a program that is sensitive to the client’s total needs and objectives.

Mr. McAuliffe identifies changes in taxation and law that affect life insurance in general and estate planning in particular. He monitors trends in the insurance industry, especially related to pricing and underwriting changes that translate into cost savings for our clients.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies, Mr. McAuliffe headed the executive benefits group at Frank Crystal Benefits, structuring life insurance programs for emerging and established Wall Street firms. He began his insurance career with The Equitable Life Assurance Society as representative and later district manager.

Mr. McAuliffe is a registered representative with the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York State Insurance Department.

He received a B.A. in economics from DePauw University. Please read more

Mr. McCabe is director of defined contribution services in the firm’s retirement plan services group. In addition to business development and strategic planning for the group, his responsibilities include consulting on the design, implementation, and administration of defined contribution plans.

Mr. McCabe’s broad experience encompasses all aspects of defined contribution plans, including regulatory issues, investment trading platforms, analysis of administrative service agreements, and administrative systems and processes.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies, Mr. McCabe was a senior consultant at Coopers & Lybrand, where he supervised a recordkeeping team and consulted on special projects.

Mr. McCabe earned a B.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Please read more

Mr. Sebeck is a senior consultant in the firm’s senior management consulting group, concentrating on employment and compensation arrangements for senior executives.

His experience of more than 20 years in executive compensation encompasses advice to clients in a wide range of industries and in complex business situations. Since joining The Ross Companies in 1997, he has counseled senior management and compensation committees of private and publicly held companies in different industries on compensation issues.

Earlier he was employed by Warner-Lambert Company as an internal executive compensation consultant, designing competitive compensation programs for executives and employees of the company. Previously he was a compensation analyst at The Bank of New York, surveying competitive industry practices and designing compensation programs for employees at all levels. He began his career with The Wyatt Company, providing support to consultants on a variety of compensation issues.

Mr. Sebeck received a B.A. in psychology and sociology from William Paterson University and an M.A. in industrial/organizational psychology from New York University. He is a member of the American Compensation Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership. Please read more

Mr. Steinberg is a senior consultant in the firm’s business and estate planning group, designing and implementing life insurance, long-term care, and disability programs for businesses and key executives.

With more than 40 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mr. Steinberg has an extensive background in underwriting and risk evaluation. At The Ross Companies, he established the firm’s highly successful long-term care marketing program.

Prior to joining The Ross Companies, Mr. Steinberg served as vice president and marketing officer for The Travelers Insurance Company, both in New York City and at the home office in Hartford, Connecticut. Additionally, he served as regional vice president for the eastern general agency region of the United States, with responsibility for 110 offices and 1,400 agents.

Mr. Steinberg is a registered principal of the National Association of Securities Dealers and a member of the International Association of Financial Planners.

He received a B.S. in industrial management from New York University and has a Certified Insurance Consultant designation from the state of Connecticut. Please read more