Peer Groups

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 one of the Coordinators or the appropriate peer group leader..



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) - 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
--Accepting new members
 

Trust-Affiliated RIAs (SEC)
Maria Sturges, CTFA (Piedmont Trust Company, Chief Operating Officer)
--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)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members
 

Retirement Services
Mark Nicholas (PAi Trust Company, Chief Compliance Officer)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members

 

Senior Auditors, Large Organizations
Keith Bujalski (JPMorgan Chase, Managing Director, Audit Dept)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members

 

Second Line of Defense
Deb Austin (MUFG Union Bank, Fiduciary Compliance Director)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members

 

Emerging Professionals
Mark Gray (Synovus Trust Company, Sr VP, Compliance Manager)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members

 

Operations
Robert (Rob) Port, CTOP™, CSOP (Washington Trust Bank, Director, Wealth Management Operations)
--Meets quarterly
--Accepting new members

 

State-Chartered Non-Depository Trust Companies
Alex Hendler (Brown Advisory, Head of Fiduciary Oversight)
--Meeting frequency TBD
--Accepting new members