History
In 1961, William A, a Bill Halvorson, a renowned consulting actuary who would later go on to serve as president of both the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries, moved to Milwaukee from California to open and oversee the first Midwest office of Milliman & Robertson, Inc. (today Milliman Inc.). Prior to relocating, Mr. Halvorson had attended meetings of the Western Pension Conference, which maintained active chapters in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. For eight years after relocating to Milwaukee, Mr. Halvorson and some of his colleagues attended meetings of the Midwest Pension Conference, which met in Chicago.
The Midwest Pension Conference meetings, however, took place in Chicago during the evenings, and the distance between the two cities made it difficult for Milwaukee professionals to attend regularly.
In January of 1969, Mr. Halvorson wrote a letter to several colleagues to put in writing a proposal that had been the prior subject of discussion among the community of Milwaukee retirement and benefit plan professionals.
Although there seemed to be little interest in starting a Milwaukee Chapter of the Midwest Pension Conference, in part because the Pension Conference rules regarding membership were considered somewhat restrictive, it was thought that there might be some interest in forming a more open pension discussion group among those who made a living servicing pension and related employee benefits plans in the Milwaukee area.
To test that interest, Mr. Halvorson invited professionals from the following Milwaukee-area companies to a Dutch-treat dinner at the Pfister Hotel on February 10, 1969:
First Wisconsin Trust Company
Marine National Exchange Bank
Marshall & Ilsley Bank
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Whyte, Hirschboeck, Minahan, Harding & Harlan
Michael Best & Friedrich
Shea, Hoyt, Greene, Randall & Meissner
Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren & Norris
Foley, Sammond & Lardner
Quarles, Herriott, Clemons, Teschner & Noelke
Brady, Tyrrell, Cotter & Cutler
Goldberg, Previant & Uelman
Milliman & Robertson, Inc.
Actuarial Benefit Consultants, Inc.
Hewitt Associates
Arthur Stedry Hansen, Consulting Actuaries
By late March, 1969, a letterhead mock-up, a membership application form, Articles of Incorporation, and By-Laws were all being circulated among the initial board members for approval for the formation of Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals, Ltd. (WRPPL). By May, the initial programming committee had met and documented its approach to planning informative and informal meetings.
The invitation to the first substantive program, mailed to members on printed logo letterhead, announced a November 25, 1969 meeting on the topic of The Role of the Investment Counselor at the Steak Knife Restaurant at 11703 West Blue Mound Road. WRPPL has facilitated the regular occurrence of similar meetings ever since.
In February 2009, 40 years after sending out the invitation to the meeting that resulted in the formation of WRPPL, Mr. Halvorson commented that WRPPL was an inter-professional phenomenon waiting to happen, and a uniquely Wisconsin organization of which he is very proud.
The dedication, interest, and sense of community among Milwaukee's retirement plan professionals has contributed to the organization's longevity and promises great things to come in the future.
In 2019 WRPPL celebrated its 50th year!