Meet the Team

About

Brian’s broad experience as an ERISA attorney and senior executive for several leading retirement plan service providers makes him ideal in supporting PenChecks’ evolution to a fintech services business. His primary role consists of leading the company’s strategic direction by identifying business opportunities and working with product management, marketing, sales and executive leadership to implement the opportunities that best align with PenChecks’ long-term objectives.

Prior to joining PenChecks Brian served as Director of 401(k) Education at Employee Fiduciary, a leading provider of low-cost 401(k) plans for small to medium-sized businesses. Before that he served as Director of ERISA Services for Wolters Kluwer’s ftwilliam.com, a provider of cloud-based employee benefits software and services to plan service providers. He was responsible for ensuring its retirement, welfare and non-qualified plan documents and software were compliant with legal, regulatory, and procedural changes. Brian has also been an ERISA attorney for GrayRobinson, P.A., representing clients in handling their plan-related fiduciary duties and operations, government agency inquiries or litigation, and providing technical advice and consulting to service providers.

Brian holds Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) and Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) designations from ASPPA. He started his career by performing daily administration tasks for qualified plans as well as annual nondiscrimination testing and governmental reporting for a third party administration division of KeyBank, N.A.

Executive Profile

Brian Furgala is one of those unique individuals with a broad background and specialization in several areas. He combines extensive experience in product/services strategy development with in-depth knowledge of ERISA legal issues involving employee benefits, labor and employment, and technology. Brian also has the skills and values that match PenChecks and its strategic goals.

In addition to his experience as an ERISA attorney and TPA executive, Brian worked for a financial software company that created software products for retirement plan service providers. His role included making sure the documents were legally compliant, the software was easy and intuitive for its customers to use, and efficient for plan sponsors. At PenChecks, his ability to see the big picture and design strategies to get companies where they want to go will play an important role in positioning PenChecks as a leading fintech services provider in the finance industry.

Think Outside the Box and the Industry

Brian was attracted to PenChecks for several reasons, including the company’s family culture and the challenge of solving problems for clients. What really got his attention was PenChecks’ willingness to consider new ideas and move forward with them. 

“I feel fortunate to join PenChecks at this time,” says Brian. “Management is focused on facilitating the transition from distribution processing to fintech partner, and the company is on the cusp of doing great things over the next five years. I like figuring out what the future will hold, what it will look like, and helping integrate that with the rest of the team. 

“I also applaud PenChecks for their recent hires from outside the industry. People like that can see things differently, which can create opportunities to do things differently. My goal is to help mold those opportunities in a way that we have a carefully considered strategy around everything we do.”

Solving Problems Feels Good

Many of Brian’s endeavors will take place behind the scenes, such as strategy development or helping the marketing team create specialized and thought leadership content. When asked how his role will impact customers and the industry, Brian gives a classic PenChecks response – helping them solve problems. 

“I’ve always enjoyed working with clients to identify and resolve their pain points, and not just giving a technical answer but what will it look like on the practical side,” he says. “Whether it’s helping individual clients or the industry as a whole streamline mundane activities and become more efficient, it feels good to help them move forward and do more than they could before.”

Life Is a Journey – Enjoy It!

Brian resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife and three sons. He loves being involved with their activities, and coaches soccer for his two younger boys. When it comes time for some relaxation, Brian finds it in an activity he has enjoyed since high school – running. Four times a week he sets out early in the morning to be alone with his thoughts and keep in shape. 

Best piece of advice received: Life is a journey, not a destination, so make sure you enjoy the journey. Stay in the moment and you’ll keep the memory for the rest of your life.

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