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Leadership

Judith Kermans, EA, FCA, MAAA

Judith Kermans is the President & CEO of GRS. She is located in GRS’ Southfield, Michigan office. In this capacity, Judith is responsible for overall client service operations and the professional development of all GRS actuaries and consultants.

As a Senior Consultant, Judith serves many state and local plans. She has more than 30 years of actuarial and benefits consulting experience with state and local public sector clients in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Virginia. Her focus is on the design and funding of defined benefit and hybrid public employee retirement systems covering teachers, general employees, and public safety plans.

 

Judith’s extensive experience with benefit designs unique to the public sector include Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROPs), multiple DB benefit tier design, Hybrid (DB/DC) and variable annuity plans. She is also a subject matter expert on Early Retirement Incentive Plans (ERIPs) and has substantial experience with governmental plan compliance including IRC section 415 and reporting disclosures for public plans including GASB accounting standards.

Judith has a goal of providing consulting to public employee retirement system boards and plan sponsors that will guide them towards benefit designs that encourage benefit adequacy paired with fiscal sustainability. For example, she is particularly adept at advising pension plans and plan sponsors that are confronting severe fiscal distress or even bankruptcy proceedings.

Professional Designations
  • Enrolled Actuary
  • Fellow, Conference of Consulting Actuaries
  • Member, American Academy of Actuaries
Presentations and Publications

Judith has served as a speaker at many national and local conferences, such as, the National Conference on Teacher Retirement (NCTR), National Council of Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), and Michigan Association of Public Employees Retirement System (MAPERS). Her presentations have covered topics such as the GASB accounting standards, pension plan design, funding policy, and pension risk management.

Education

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, Michigan Technological University