A Prominent Syracuse Actuarial Company Celebrates 20 Years

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BPAS Actuarial and Pension Services (APS) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. APS is a division of BPAS, a leading national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts. BPAS APS provides actuarial, consulting, and plan administration services to corporations, not-for-profit organizations, small-business owners, and professional services groups across the nation.

A spin-off of the former PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Human Resources Solutions division in Syracuse, BPAS APS today is named as one of the top 20 retirement plan actuarial practices in the U.S. The organization has 70 employees - including 30 actuaries -servicing hundreds of pension plans for businesses ranging from one to more than 20,000 employees.

It all started thanks to the quick thinking of two Upstate New York-based CEOs: Vince Spina and former BPAS CEO (retired) Barry Kublin. The two met fifteen years before PwC became APS when Spina was working with Community Bank (the parent company of BPAS).

"I was at Coopers and Lybrand, which became PwC," said Spina, who remains president of BPAS APS to this day. "It was February of 2003, and we had a law change: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The essence of it meant that we at PWC were going to be precluded from serving as actuaries on clients where we were also their auditor. We were going to have to step away from a lot of work. Barry caught wind of that, called me on a Friday morning, and said, 'Vince, I understand because of Sarbanes you might not be able to keep all your staff. And if that's the case, we would have a home for some of them at BPAS.'" BPAS was based in nearby Utica.

"I said to Barry, 'Well, why not take the whole Syracuse office?' And he paused and said, 'I'll get back to you.'"

Kublin called back that Monday morning and started negotiating for BPAS to take ownership of the PwC Syracuse operations. The deal closed on August 1—less than six months later. "It was lightning fast, which is kind of unheard of," added Spina.

"Just to give you some perspective," noted Spina. "At the time, BPAS had maybe $5 million in revenue, and we had maybe $4 million in our Syracuse office. So together, in the first full year of 2004, we did about $10 million in business, which was great." This past year, the company did more than $115 million.

"What does that mean, beyond the impressive increase in dollars? It means that we're growing," said Spina. "For twenty years now, we've been making things happen and getting it done."

Coincidentally, BPAS is celebrating its own 50^th anniversary this year.

The range of services provided by APS is impressive: the group covers more than 200 individual-employee businesses (and sometimes their spouses). BPAS APS now has clients in 33 states and Puerto Rico.

Oswego Health, located about 45 minutes north of the BPAS office in Syracuse, has been a client since 1998. "The BPAS APS team has been an integral partner in navigating the challenging regulatory reforms in retirement benefit plan offerings for our employees," said Eric Campbell, CEO of Oswego Health. "I always trust their advice. This relationship has always allowed us to focus on the core healthcare needs of our community."

While satisfied clients are a priority, it's the company's thriving culture of hard work and honest service, along with a long-serving employee base, that makes Spina smile.

BPAS APS "is a relationship-driven organization," noted Spina. "It's not just about the numbers. We recognize that developing relationships over long periods of time transcends the work."

His sentiments are reflected in the words of just a few of the company's long-term employees.

Sarah Dam, Senior VP, has been with the company for 20 years. "What's great about this organization is that it's large enough to get exposure to a variety of clients and opportunities, but small enough to work closely and develop relationships with colleagues," said Dam. "Looking back, seeing how much we have grown, not just in numbers but in expertise, I'm proud to say that we have worked as partners with our clients, providing guidance and suggesting solutions as the employee benefit landscape and their own businesses have changed."

Amy Kemp, VP, Consulting, joined the Syracuse office of PwC five years before the branch spun off into BPAS APS. "We've all been through so much change," she stated. "When I first started in the New York office nearly 37 years ago, people didn't have computers on their desks. Everything was done on paper. If you needed to put a spreadsheet together, you went to a computer room with about six computers in it, and printed the results on paper! Navigating so much change, along with the many updates in pension rules through the years, has been one of our biggest strengths. It makes all the difference to be a part of a group of intelligent and dedicated people who are always trying to do our best for our clients."

It is that spirit and culture of excellence that Spina believes will carry the company forward throughout whatever changes come next. "With the growth of A.I., the new hybrid culture of work-from-home opportunities, and more, the landscape for actuarial and pension services will continue to change at a rapid pace," he added. "But I think our history shows well that those who have strong relationships will survive the inevitable ups and downs and ebbs and flows of business cycles."

About BPAS
BPAS is a national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts. We support 4,500 retirement plans, $110 billion in trust assets, $1 trillion in fund administration, and more than 620,000 participants. Since 1973, we've made it our mission to simplify the complicated by delivering benefit plan services that solve client challenges without the need to engage multiple providers.

The BPAS family of services includes Workplace Retirement Plans, Actuarial & Pension, Health Benefit Consulting, IRA, VEBA HRA, Health & Welfare Plans, Fiduciary, Collective Investment Funds, Fund Administration, and Institutional Trust.

As a solutions-oriented national practice, we are committed to "Solving Tomorrow's Benefit Challenges Today." Visit bpas.com for more information

Media Contact:
Nicole Ossevoort
315-418-0003 | [email protected]

SOURCE BPAS Inc