Mark D. Mensack, LLC.
Independent Fiduciary Consulting
Mark D. Mensack is an independent fiduciary consultant with expertise is in the areas of fiduciary best practices, 401k hidden fees and ethical issues particularly in the retirement plan marketplace. Mark began his financial services career in 1995 and spent fourteen years working for Wall Street firms. Prior to 1995, he was a Commissioned Officer in the US Army where he served in the United States and South Korea. While he spent most of this time as a helicopter pilot, his final assignment was an instructor of Philosophy and Ethics at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Mark has earned a Bachelor’s from the University of Scranton and a Master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philosophy. His fiduciary designations includeAccredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA®) through the Center for Fiduciary Studies; Global Financial Steward (GFS®) through the Leadership Center for Investment Stewards; and the Certificate in Fiduciary Governance through the Walker Center of Global Entrepreneurship.
Mark was elevated into the national spotlight when he blew the whistle on a Morgan Stanley pay-to-play 401k sales scheme and subsequent loss at FINRA arbitration. Mark’s proceeding has been compared to that of the Stanford Ponzi scheme whistleblower and described as a “Kangaroo Court” in coverage by Forbes, Dow Jones, Bloomberg and in the recently published In Bed with Wall Street by Larry Doyle. The pay-to-play scheme is now the basis of a class action, Skin Pathology v Morgan Stanley.
Described as an “outspoken fiduciary advocate” and “gadfly author,” Mark is a well-published critic of FINRA, its mandatory arbitration and its impotent regulation of Wall Street, particularly regarding the retirement plan industry. He has written the 401k Ethicist column for the Journal of Compensation & Benefits and two of his articles are required reading for the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist course taught at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a contributor to the Paladin Registry & InvestorWatchdog.com, and is co-author of the Fiduciary Handbook for Understanding and Selecting Target Date Funds. Mark is currently working on a new chapter for the Employee Benefits Handbook on the ethics of 401k administration.
Mark regularly speaks to national and state organizations on fiduciary and professional ethics issues, which, along with his publications earned him a spot on 401kWire’s 2013 Top 100 Most Influential People in Defined Contribution list.