Press Release

PBGC Announces Leadership Appointments

Issued by PBGC [Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation]

Feb. 23, 2022

Reorganizes Office of Negotiations and Restructuring

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation announced four appointments to its leadership team in the Office of Negotiations & Restructuring (ONR) and the Office of General Counsel. 

The Office of Negotiations & Restructuring works with companies, both in and out of bankruptcy, to preserve their pension plans by monitoring, conducting financial, legal, and actuarial analysis, and negotiating protections. ONR has created two additional departments — Plan Compliance Department (PCD) and Negotiations & Restructuring Actuarial Department (NRAD) — to allow the agency to better address resource needs and enhance operational efficiencies.  

• Deputy Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring – John Hanley

John Hanley has been named Deputy Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring, where he will assist in managing the agency’s interactions with plan sponsors and pension practitioners, and Multiemployer and Single-Employer Program operations. 

Hanley has been with PBGC since 2005, most recently as Director of Negotiations and Restructuring Policy. Earlier in his career, Hanley held executive management positions at both Citicorp/Citibank and The Chase Manhattan Bank, as well as serving as CEO/Executive Director of the North American Securities Administrators Association.  

Hanley graduated magna cum laude from St. Lawrence University, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He also studied at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland .

Hanley replaces Ross Marcelin, who is now the Director of Plan Compliance in ONR. 

• Director, Plan Compliance Department – Ross Marcelin 

Ross Marcelin has been named Director of the newly formed Plan Compliance Department (PCD). He is responsible for managing PBGC’s Multiemployer Insurance Program, standard termination activities, and ensuring plan compliance with PBGC regulations and ERISA. 

Marcelin has been with PBGC since 2014, most recently as Deputy Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring. Earlier in his career, he served as an audit manager in KPMG’s New York Financial Services practice.

Marcelin is a certified public accountant, and graduated magna cum laude from St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, NY, with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. 

• Director, Negotiations & Restructuring Actuarial Department – Jim Donofrio

Jim Donofrio has been named Director of the newly formed Negotiations & Restructuring Actuarial Department (NRAD). He is responsible for supporting the Single-Employer and Multiemployer Insurance Programs by addressing the risk to the security of pensions in the private sector. 

Donofrio has been with PBGC since 2010. Earlier in his career, he spent over 30 years as a pension consultant, primarily to corporate pension plan sponsors. Donofrio is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an Enrolled Actuary. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in math from Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

The Office of the General Counsel (OGC) provides legal advice and counsel for the Director and PBGC departments on all legal matters. OGC’s Bankruptcy, Litigation, and Terminations Department (BLTD) oversees and directs comprehensive legal services to PBGC relating to enforcement of PBGC’s ERISA programs as relates to bankruptcy, litigation, and terminations. 

• Deputy General Counsel, Bankruptcy, Litigation, and Terminations Department – Craig T. Fessenden 

Craig T. Fessenden has been named Deputy General Counsel for the Bankruptcy, Litigation, and Terminations Department. He oversees and directs comprehensive legal services to PBGC relating to enforcement of PBGC’s ERISA programs as relates to bankruptcy, litigation and terminations, and to support the General Counsel. 

Fessenden has been with PBGC since 2005, most recently as an Assistant General Counsel. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and philosophy from Boston College.

He replaces Charles Finke, who recently retired from PBGC.

About PBGC

PBGC protects the retirement security of over 33 million American workers, retirees, and beneficiaries in both single-employer and multiemployer private sector pension plans. The agency’s two insurance programs are legally separate and operationally and financially independent. PBGC is directly responsible for the benefits of more than 1.5 million participants and beneficiaries in failed pension plans. The Single-Employer Insurance Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Insurance Program is financed by insurance premiums. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer money.

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