BPAS announces division leadership change

Benefit Plans Administration Services, Inc. (BPAS) recently announced a change in leadership as longtime president of its actuarial and pension services (APS) division Vincent Spina steps down from the role. Jason Disco will take on the position and continue to lead the APS division through what has been a period of growth. “I’ve stepped down from management responsibility and financial reporting responsibility,” Spina tells CNYBJ. He joined BPAS in 2003 when the company acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where Spina served as a partner and market leader for the PwC Global Human Resource Solutions Syracuse office. He served as president of BPAS Actuarial and Pension Services from 2003 until this year.

Spina remains a practicing actuary and will continue to work at BPAS in that capacity. “Jason is the perfect person to take the reins to get us to the next level,” he says. Disco began his career at BPAS in 2015 and has served as director of defined benefit sales, VP of actuarial and pension sales, senior VP of pension sales and consulting, and most recently as both practice leader of BPAS Creative Plan Design Services and senior VP of pension sales and consulting.  Disco has helped APS integrate several acquisitions during his tenure and is looking to continue that growth as the division’s new president.

The APS division — as well as BPAS as a whole — generated record revenue in 2024, and the goal now is to continue that growth. Disco sees the growth coming both organically and through strategic acquisitions. His goals include maintaining fiscal responsibility by controlling costs, fostering employee engagement, and implementing technology responsibly. “We’ve really put an emphasis on making this fun,” Disco says of APS’s efforts to boost employee engagement. The goal is to create a culture where everyone feels responsible and invests in the company’s fiscal health and the role they play in it. Some initiatives to foster a strong corporate culture include a new employee recognition portal that managers can use to recognize key contributions and efforts from team members. Those employees receive a public “shout out” as well as points that can be redeemed for gifts. Technology is a big topic this year, especially artificial intelligence (AI), Disco says. “AI is a great thing,” he notes. Thoughtful implementation of AI will help with many tasks, which will free employees up to tackle other things. But technology doesn’t come without risks, and the company will have to remain on top of cybersecurity concerns, he adds. When it comes to growth, BPAS is one of the top 15 providers, but only makes up about 1 percent of the market, Spina says. The firm remains committed to staying and growing in upstate New York. The APS division has 130 employees, including 34 credentialed actuaries. BPAS is a provider of employee-benefits administration, trust services, collective investment-fund administration, and actuarial consulting services to customers on a national scale. It is a subsidiary of Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU), a DeWitt–based banking and financial services company whose Community Bank, N.A. unit is among the nation’s 100 largest banks.