Toni Brown is an expert in investment and fiduciary oversight of both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) retirement plans.
With over three decades of experience, Ms. Brown specializes in the design and evaluation of qualified default investment options (QDIA), such as target date, balanced, and managed accounts. Her expertise also encompasses investment plan governance; investment policy strategy; asset allocation; investment manager research and selection; strategic plan design; and ongoing oversight of returns, risk, and fees.
Ms. Brown has been retained as an expert witness and has provided testimony on issues related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), fiduciary decisions, and oversight. She has experience with corporate plans, higher education plans, healthcare company plans, and multiple employer plans (MEPs).
Before starting her own independent consulting firm, Ms. Brown served for nearly ten years as head of retirement strategy at Capital Group/American Funds, providing subject matter expertise and external support for plan sponsors, consultants, and advisors. Previously, she held senior roles at Mercer Investment Consulting as director of U.S. client consulting and U.S. defined contribution leader. In those positions, Ms. Brown developed long-term strategy for both DC and DB retirement plans, focusing on investment structure, investment policy statements, monitoring, communications and disclosures, and committee fiduciary responsibilities.
Ms. Brown worked for close to twenty years at Callan Associates, one of the largest independently owned investment consulting firms in the U.S. She served as executive vice president and director of investment strategy, functioning as a lead senior consultant responsible for institutional retirement plans, foundations, and endowments.
At the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), of which she is a founding member and former chair, Ms. Brown serves as a senior fellow at the DCIIA Retirement Research Center, conducting research on the future of retirement income, supporting both non-guaranteed and guaranteed solutions.
Chief Investment Officer (formerly AI-CIO) has recognized Ms. Brown among the “World’s 25 Most Influential Consultants.”