FIRMA peer groups are comprised of FIRMA members who are interested in networking with other members. The groups are organized in some cases by geography (eg: east coast), discipline (eg: audit), business covered (eg: personal trust), or randomly. Most of the peer groups meet by phone several times per year. FIRMA began offering peer groups to members in 2016 as a benefit of membership. Peer groups range in size from five or six members to 15 or 20. The peer group leaders decide how they wish to organize and how many members they would like to have. FIRMA populates the peer groups with members who express interest in joining. If you would like to join a FIRMA peer group either as a leader or a member, please contact us at info@thefirma.org.
Peer Groups Coordinators:
Michael Bridgeman, CFP, CFIRS
Trust Company of the South
Raleigh, NC
Holly Bailey
Northern Trust
Chicago, IL
General Focus Groups
David Charvat, CPA (Fifth Third Bank, AVP and Compliance Officer)
--Meets quarterly
--Mostly smaller organizations
--Accepting new members
Donn Lassila, CFIRS (Peak Trust, CCO)
--Meets bi-monthly in even months
--Wealth departments range from $220MM to 30B
--Not accepting new members
Holly Bailey (Northern Trust, SVP, Manager-Global Fiduciary Risk Mgt)
--Meets quarterly, varying organization sizes
--Mostly larger organizations
--Accepting new members
Kimberly Breithaupt, CFIRS (Argent Fiduciary Consulting Service, Chief Audit Executive) - Audit & Compliance Focus
--Meets quarterly
--Wealth departments range from $500MM to $400B
--Accepting new members
Michael Bridgeman, CFP, CFIRS (Trust Company of the South, Chief Compliance Officer)
--Meets quarterly
--Varying organization sizes
--Not accepting new members
Valerie Nielsen, CTA (Longview Leader Corporation)
--Meets quarterly
--Varying organization sizes
--Accepting new members
Subject-Specific Groups
Senior Auditors of National Trust Banks
Patrick Renaud, CPA (Glenmede Trust Company, General Auditor)
--Meets quarterly
--Not accepting new members
Audit – Any Level
Rachel Saxon, CFIRS (Horizon Bank, VP Internal Audit Manager)
--Meets quarterly
--Not accepting new members
Trust-Affiliated RIAs (SEC)
Casey Tuxhorn, CBA, CFIRS (First National Bank of Omaha, Director, Wealth Risk Management)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members
Regulators/Examiners
Nanna Goodfellow (OCC, Supervisory NBE, Asset Mgt Expert)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members
Enterprise Risk Management
Brent Baker (Fifth Third Bank, ERM Manager) and Jeannie Woods (Raymond James Trust, Director-Compliance)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members
Retirement Services
Danny McHale (Straight Arrow Solutions LLC, President)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members
Senior Auditors, Large Organizations
Keith Bujalski (JPMorgan Chase, Managing Director, Audit Dept)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Not accepting new members
Second Line of Defense
Deb Austin (MUFG Union Bank, Fiduciary Compliance Director)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members
Operations
Robert (Rob) Port, CTOP™, CSOP (United Community Bank, Managing Director, Wealth Operations)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members
State-Chartered Non-Depository Trust Companies
Alex Hendler (Brown Advisory, Head of Fiduciary Oversight)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members
Emerging Professionals
Stephen Cantrell (Onpoint Community Credit Union, Chief Audit Officer)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members