Robert E. Lesser, ESQ.
Founder & CEO
Rob has been practicing law for over 35 years. For 25+ years, he has focused his practice on representing company sponsors and institutional trustees of ESOPs. During that time, he has participated in approximately 375 ESOP transactions. Because of his experience defending trustees before the Department of Labor (DOL), Rob fully understands the processes the DOL requires ESOP trustees to follow in exercising their fiduciary duties. Specifically, Rob played a key role in negotiating and developing with the Department of Labor the Sierra Aluminum Guidelines, the protocols to which all ESOP trustees should adhere. Rob received his BA in Humanistic Studies from the Johns Hopkins University and his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Rob co-founded Aegis with the express purpose of utilizing his vast ESOP experience to protect and advance the interests of ESOP participants.
Howard R. Smolin, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Howard, a cofounding and former member of Aegis, currently serves the Company in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer. Howard is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of New York. He was a partner in a CPA firm located in New York City and spent 28 years practicing public accounting. His experience includes auditing, taxation and management consulting services for a diversified group of privately-held companies. Howard was instrumental in the formation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan for one of his clients. In 2009, he left his public practice to become the company’s President. Howard has gained hands-on experience working closely with financial advisors, trustees, attorneys, valuation companies and a third-party administrator who are all integral parts of an ESOP. Howard has experience serving as a trustee for both inter vivos and testamentary trusts.
Maureen S. Cosgrove, ASA
Senior Vice President
Prior to joining Aegis, Maureen served as Senior Vice President for a large institutional trustee. She has 17 years of experience as a valuation professional. She served as the Managing Director of ESOP Advisory Services at a regional CPA firm and is constantly in front of current issues that the ESOP community faces. Maureen holds a BA in Mathematics from Central Connecticut State University.
Laura Kelley
Valuation Specialist
Laura began her career in business valuation in 1999 with a regional CPA firm. She has extensive experience valuing both privately held entities as well as publicly traded companies as a portfolio analyst in the hedge fund industry. Most recently she started and sold a business in the portable storage industry. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science-Finance degree from the University of Maine.
Jeremy M. Crystal, Esq.
Vice President and General Counsel
Jeremy has been a practicing attorney since 2012. He has extensive experience in business transactions, M&A, and finance. Furthermore, Jeremy has served as General Counsel for several companies in the Los Angeles area. During his time at Aegis, he has participated in approximately 57 ESOP transactions. In addition to serving as Aegis’s General Counsel, he is a member of Aegis’s fiduciary committee and is also a Client Relationship Manager for Aegis’s clients on the West Coast. He obtained his BA in Political Science from the University of Miami in 2009 and his JD from the George Washington University School of Law in 2012. He is currently admitted to practice in the state of California and the District of Columbia.
Susan m. Longmire, CRSP
Vice President of Fiduciary Administration
Susan Longmire has more than 20 years experience in retirement plan trust administration and joined Aegis Fiduciary Services, LLC in 2018. She has extensive experience as a human resource professional, holding positions such as human resource manager and benefits/compensation manager.
In her role at Aegis, Susan manages trust administration to include conversion of existing plans to our platform, onboard new plans post-transaction, process contributions/trust disbursements and provide support to clients for required annual plan audits. Additionally, she works with plan record keepers to obtain the necessary reports to perform the annual trust accounting of cash activity, plan assets and plan liabilities, resulting in the yearly certified trust statement. Her previous experience as a plan administrator allows her to be a subject matter resource to all our clients regarding plan administration.
Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, with a major in finance and a minor in accounting. She also holds the national designation of Certified Retirement Services Professional and has completed the ASPPA Employee Stock Ownership Plan Administration Course (ESOP-A).
Kristina Kasloff
Trust Administrator
Kristina has over 25 years’ experience in the area of corporate finance and operations. Most recently, she held a position as the controller of a multi-location retail business for 10 years. Prior to that, she spent 16 years in the role of a senior buyer. Kristina brings a valuable employer-based perspective to the Trust Administration team with her accounting, customer service, and human resources background.
Julie Bennett
Client Relationship Manager
Julie has participated in approximately 100 ESOP transactions over the past 13 years. She is a member of Aegis’s fiduciary committee and is a Client Relationship Manager serving Aegis’s clients located throughout the country. Julie is a member of the ESOP Association and serves as the VP of Programing for its New South Chapter. Prior to joining Aegis, Julie worked for eight years as a legal assistant at a law firm that represented both ESOP plan sponsors and institutional trustees.
Ginny Machamer
Client Relationship Manager
Ginny is a Client Relationship Manager at Aegis Fiduciary Services having previously spent 24 years as an institutional corporate trustee. She is responsible for maintaining relationships for Aegis’s ongoing ESOP clients throughout the country. At her prior firm, Ginny served on the ESOP Fiduciary and Management committees and currently serves on Aegis’s Fiduciary Committee.
Ginny holds a Bachelor of Science - Finance degree from the University of Delaware and is a member in both the ESOP Association and National Center for Employee Ownership. She has also held a membership in the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries.
Ellen Crystal
Director of Marketing
As Director of Marketing for Aegis, Ellen is responsible for the planning, management, and execution of all marketing initiatives as well as increasing awareness and visibility of the Aegis brand. She is responsible for cultivating business opportunities and performing all day-to-day marketing functions of Aegis to ensure that all strategic marketing objectives are being met. In addition to her marketing role at Aegis, she also maintains the lead role in assisting Aegis’s general counsel with the due diligence process for all ESOP transactions.
Prior to joining Aegis, Ellen had performed business development work with a business consulting firm specializing in acquisitions and divestitures. Ellen also has experience as a Producer for a branded entertainment national talk show, where she was responsible for contributing and developing programming for brand integration within the programming calendar, including identifying brands and raising capital for that brand integration.
Susan Uva
Compliance Officer
Susan has an extensive background in the creation and implementation of audit programs for all facets of retail operations. Susan’s background includes working as a regional loss prevention manager, with a focus on developing, implementing, training and enforcing procedures to reduce inventory shortages. As our Compliance Officer, Susan will continue to review and refine our internal processes, and ensure that these processes are adhered to in all of our client transactions. Susan has a Bachelor of Arts from Fairfield University and a Certificate from Meredith’s Post-Baccalaureate Paralegal Program.
Regina (Gina) Martin
Administrative Assistant
Gina is the Administrative Assistant at Aegis Fiduciary Services, LLC. She previously worked at a law firm for over 20 years serving as an administrative assistant and a paralegal. Aside from her clerical duties, Gina assists in Aegis’s due diligence process in connection with ESOP transactions.
Wolfgang Ferro
Assistant Client Relationship Manager
As Assistant Client Relationship Manager at Aegis, Wolfgang provides support services to the relationship manager team. He also assists in the due diligence effort for companies that retain Aegis as transaction trustee. Wolfgang has over 15 years’ experience in customer service involving the management of multiple companies. He also formerly served as lead supervisor for a multiple crew construction company. Prior to joining Aegis, Wolfgang worked for three years providing customer service support for an ESOP-owned company.
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