The Governing Board of the Western Pension & Benefits Council invites you to register for the following webinar:
Only the Basics: Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Nuts & Bolts
Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM PDT
Speakers
Jeff Swerdlow, Managing Director
Brennan Rittenhouse, Managing Director
Alvarez & Marsal
Continuing Education:
1 Hour of CE for the following:
AIF (pending), ASPPA, CA CPA, CA MCLE, CEBS, CFP (pending), ERPA, JBEA, NIPA
Registration:
$50 for active members of a WP&BC chapter
$65 non-members
Members, please login to get member rate. Contact your chapter for login credentials if needed.
Description
Join us as we walk through the basis of nonqualified deferred compensation. What it is, how it is different from “qualified deferred compensation” and what unique rules apply. We’ll focus on what third-party administrators need to know in order to avoid traps and pitfalls and be able to answer general questions from participants and clients that may arise.
Learning Objectives:
- Understanding what makes something deferred compensation
- Learning the basic rules of deferral elections, including timing, form, and distribution requirements
- Leaning the basic tax rules that apply, including rates, timing, and reporting
- Gaining awareness of situations that can cause inadvertent issues and consequences
Speakers
Jeff Swerdlow
Managing Director
Jeff Swerdlow is a Managing Director with A&M Tax, LLC group in Denver. He brings experience assisting public, privately held, private equity and non-profit organizations as an executive compensation consultant and attorney.
With more than 14 years of experience, Mr. Swerdlow focuses primarily on assisting clients in evaluating, designing and administering compensation programs and incentive plans. In addition, he assists clients with Internal Revenue Code sections 409A, 280G,162(m), and various payroll tax matters as they arise in the development and administration of compensation plans.
Mr. Swerdlow designs compensation programs that incentivize employees without putting companies at risk for unsustainable compensation costs when market conditions are no longer favorable. His experience administering plans on an employee level gives him insight into what benefits employees truly value, as well as the practical administrative impact of design decisions. His work with management has helped him better understand what benefit costs are sustainable, while providing direct links to company growth and profitability. Mr. Swerdlow uses these experiences to better design and implement compensation plans that motivate employees while aligning with company performance goals and avoiding unnecessary administrative complexity.
Mr. Swerdlow earned a bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania; a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law; and an LLM in taxation from the University of Denver. He is admitted to the Florida and Colorado Bars.
Brennan Rittenhouse
Managing Director
Brennan Rittenhouse is a Managing Director with A&M in Denver, Colorado, specializing in compensation and benefits planning and consulting.
He brings an expertise in all areas of Senior Leadership, independent director, and broad-based compensation consulting. Some of the areas in which he has significant experience include compensation benchmarking, peer group formation, designing and implementing both short- and long-term incentive plans, creating salary structures, completing pay equity analyses, and transaction related due diligence and integrations.
Mr. Rittenhouse has worked closely with Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, consulted on various aspects of 401(k) plans, assisted in all aspects of health and welfare plan design and setup, and performed compliance reviews of both qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, and health and welfare plans.
He is also a subject matter expert in all areas of equity plan design, implementation, and administration, including cost modeling, systems implementation, accounting, reporting, and tax.
Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Rittenhouse was a Managing Director with Compensation & Benefit Solutions, a leading provider of compensation and benefit services based out of Denver. Previously, he served as the Head of Compensation for Vista Outdoor, a publicly-traded company outside of Salt Lake City, UT, where he oversaw the entire compensation function, including coordinating several M&A transactions, designing a compensation structure for approximately 50 unique consumer brands, running the executive compensation function, and managing the equity administration department. He also previously worked in the federal tax group at the accounting firm Grant Thornton, LP.
Mr. Rittenhouse is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver’s College of Law Graduate Tax Program, teaching a course on executive and nonqualified deferred compensation.
Mr. Rittenhouse earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida, his law degree from Florida State University College of Law, and his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Denver.
Thank you to our webinar sponsor!
