Jennifer Eller is a principal in Groom’s Retirement Services Practice Group and Fiduciary Practice. She’s been with the firm since 1998, beginning as a law clerk, and has been a practicing attorney at Groom since 2000.
Jenny advises financial institutions on the design and delivery of products and services to the retirement plan marketplace, and advises large corporate and public plan sponsors on all aspects of ERISA fiduciary compliance.
More broadly, Jenny is a high-level provider of regulatory and strategic solutions for clients operating in an exceptional complex, fast-moving and highly regulated industry. She’s a true trusted advisor, often operating as a de facto outside member of executive and legal teams around the country grappling with the intricate issues the design and operation of retirement plans implicate. Her approach is to understand the client’s goals and objectives, then recommend a specific solution to a problem rather than presenting a menu of options. Clients want to know not what they could do, but what they should do. They rely on Jenny to tell them.
This typically means working with legal, human resource and finance teams facing issues connected with how plans are operated, governed, and concerning compliance with federal pension regulations. Within this field, she has particularly deep experience working with fiduciaries on ERISA compliance issues. The consequences for errors or omissions in the governance of retirement plans can be severe, particularly for large plans. Jenny helps her clients both forestall this, and manage the full spectrum of regulatory and legal issues that can arise.
She also counsels financial institutions who are in the process of developing product to ensure compliance with both ERISA and applicable regulations.
Jenny is both a recognized subject-matter expert and a leader within the firm. She’s held a number of leadership roles, including membership in the Executive Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, and co-chair of the firm’s Retirement Services Practice. She was also part of the team that launched the firm’s women’s initiative.
Outside the firm, she writes and speaks frequently on fiduciary issues, appearing at conferences held by the Fiduciary Risk Management Association, the Practising Law Institute, and the ALI CLE among others. Most recently, she has spoken at the Investment Advisors Association Compliance Conference, and the Institute of Risk Management.
Outside of the office, Jenny’s life is something of a tragic whirlwind. A whirlwind because she lives with her partner and four kids. Tragic because she a baseball fan, which means following her beloved Washington Nationals.
“I am always confident that she offers the strongest and most current advice. Her advice is always practical, too.” – Client
