Greater Philadelphia Area
About Us
In the Philadelphia area, we have brought together six outstanding firms as Alera Group Philadelphia. This includes Pentra, HealthFirst, Somerset Capital, Vantage Point, Perspective Financial Group and HR inTune. Recently, Lamb Benefits – Employee Benefits Division joined our team. Every owner of each firm remains an equity partner in Alera Group. Our mission is to enhance our clients’ experience in tangible and measurable ways by building on the foundation of each firm. We strive to deliver the best possible outcomes—positively impacting our employees, clients, communities and the lives of people we serve.
There is a level of excitement at Alera that our clients experience through daily interactions with our team. We care about our people, our clients, our client relationships and making a difference.
Meet Our Team
People you can count on. People you can trust.
Shauna Amador
Benefit Consultant
Shauna serves as a Benefits Consultant. She works closely with clients to establish strong, active relationships and provides proactive and consultative services. Her experience managing benefits for a client company provides invaluable insight into understanding client needs.
She demonstrates a high level of proficiency in benefit administration, compliance, and employee communication. Her commitment to managing projects from the initial stage to completion, along with her attention to detail, contributes to her success at Alera Group.
Shauna holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Penn State University and has over 6 years of experience in the industry.
What is your favorite city? Santorini, Greece – the most beautiful place I have ever been.
First thing you do when you go home from work? Hug my daughters.
Favorite sports team? Penn State Football
Most adventurous experience? A helicopter ride through the mountains in Kauai, Hawaii.
Favorite movie quote? “What’s coming will come, and we’ll meet it when it does.” Hagrid; Harry Potter
Dana Ayre
Senior Benefit Consultant
Dana joined in 2004, and she serves as a Senior Benefit Consultant. With over 20 years of benefits experience, she is responsible for providing strategic health and welfare plan management and consulting services, with a focus on maintaining strong client relationships. Based on each client’s specific needs, a customized strategic plan is developed to provide ongoing review, analysis and solutions to achieve their goals. Dana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from West Chester University, Group Benefits Associate (GBA) designation from IFEBP and PA Life, Accident and Health License.
Best advice you’ve ever received? Never listen to anyone who says you can’t do something.
What’s your favorite TV show? Always Sunny in Philadelphia & The Office
Favorite movie? Good Will Hunting
Dan Bauwens
Senior Partner
Dan is a Senior Partner. He is responsible for growth and all phases of client delivery including financial analytics, plan design and payroll contribution strategies, employee engagement programs and cost reduction initiatives.
Prior to joining The Alera Group, Dan founded VantagePoint Benefit Strategies, an employee benefits brokerage and consultancy located in greater Philadelphia. Dan also founded VantagePoint Human Resources which provides outsourced human resources services on a project and retainer basis. Both companies were merged into The Alera Group on September 1st, 2018.
Dan has held senior management positions with United Healthcare and Oxford Health Plans in which he was responsible for product development, pricing, sales and account management. He began his career with U.S. Healthcare as a sales executive in 1988.
Most adventurous experience? My most adventurous experience was heliskiing on a Canadian glacier with four of my buddies. It was spectacular views, pristine conditions and pretty intense at times.
Dream car? My dream car is a 1967 Corvette Coup with split rear window. When I was a kid my friend and I used to build model Corvette cars and paint them in his basement. This was my favorite model and owning the real thing would take me right back to my childhood.
Favorite Book? I have a guilty pleasure of picking up Clive Cussler books on the Oregon series every time I’m in the airport. The story line is always the same with this elite team of recurring characters saving the world and beating the bad guys. It allows me to get in my own world, relax and not think about anything else while traveling.
Favorite Movie? I have to say Top Gun only because I watched it a ridiculous amount of times. In college it was always on in our fraternity house and there would be a group of guys watching. If you sat down with the group you didn’t get up till it was over.
Maria Blaney
Marketing & Client Services Associate
Maria Blaney has been in the insurance and financial services industry for over 25 years. Starting out at Connecticut Mutual, she quickly began working with one of the company’s top agents, Richard W. Ledwith, CLU®. His practice focused on Trust and Estate Planning with high net-worth individuals. Soon thereafter she was promoted to office manager of The Ledwith Insurance Corporation and completed her studies to obtain her Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) degree.
In 1996 she joined Sedgwick Noble Lowndes as Assistant Manager of the Employee Benefits department. In addition to overseeing the office functions and workflow, she was responsible for the Company’s Top Executive’s Retirement Plan. She continued her studies and received her Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC® ) degree in 1997.
She joined Marsh & McLennan in 1999 with her primary focus in the estate planning area. In 2001 she continued her career as an insurance and retirement planning consultant for several organizations.
She joined Perspective Financial Group in 2017 along with Richard W. Ledwith, CLU, her role is to assist Rick with servicing his many clients while merging his business with Perspective Financial Group. In 2018 she took on a more active role at Perspective Financial Group as the Marketing and Client Services Associate.
Maria resides in Harleysville, PA with her daughter. In her spare time she enjoys acting and has held several minor acting roles in various movies and commercials.
Rules to live by? Have a positive mindset
Where did you grow up? Grew up in South Philly
Where is your favorite place to eat? My mom’s kitchen
Favorite place to visit? The Beach, any beach
Most adventurous experience? Jumping out of a burning car on the highway
Resources
Success Stories (downloads)
Captive Refesability Study for Fortune 500 Company
THE CHALLENGE Alera Group was requested to undertake a captive refeasibility study for an U.S. based multinational manufacturer of appliances with...
Enhancing a Healthcare Captive
THE CHALLENGE A non-profit multi-state health system with 35,000 employees wanted to conduct a feasibility study to determine if captive funding...
Quarry Faces Environmental Liability Query
THE CHALLENGE A large quarry operation owned a dig site that had been filled with a profusion of waste material following a mineral extraction....
An Alera Group member company based in Southern California was asked by the board of directors of a 400-unit condominium building to provide a bid...
Complicated Commercial Real Estate Portfolio
An Alera Group member company based in Southern California was retained by a commercial real estate property manager to review the insurance policies...
Persistence Secures an Infant’s Life Sustaining Treatment
An Alera Group member company that provides services focused on customized, comprehensive employee benefits, HR technology solutions, and wellness...
Start Up Benefits for a Start Up Company
Alera Group was contracted by a start-up national credit counseling company to assist with maintaining employee health benefits offerings while...
An Alera Group company that serves as a multidisciplinary employee benefits and risk management consultancy was approached by a company in the...
THE CHALLENGE Alera Group was the benefits broker for an employer that was working with two affiliated health insurance companies, “Company A”...
Our Community
Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region
For over 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region has been positively impacting children and communities in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties in PA and NJ. They don’t create potential in a child, they just foster and protect it.
Buck County Children’s Advocacy Center
The Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) provides a safe and child-friendly environment in which CAC staff, law enforcement, child welfare, prosecution, victim advocacy, medical and mental health professionals collaborate to implement effective, coordinated investigations of suspected child abuse.
With more than 2,500 reports of child abuse in Bucks County each year, the Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center provides a setting in which children can receive timely, collaborative services from agencies mandated by law to investigate reports of child abuse. The predominant approach to child abuse investigations at the Children’s Advocacy Center is the multidisciplinary team model. This approach supports enhanced communications between the various agencies that respond to allegations of child abuse.
The Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center strives to transform the system by providing a child-friendly setting where a skilled team of professionals come together under one roof to investigate serious child abuse allegations, conduct forensic interviews to aid in the prosecution of offenders and connect children and families with therapy and victim assistance services — always keeping the best interest of the child in mind.
Eluna Network
The mission of Eluna is to support children and families impacted by grief or addiction. Their innovative resources and programs address the critical needs of children experiencing powerful, overwhelming and often confusing emotions associated with the death of someone close to them or substance abuse in their family. No child should have to face these struggles alone, and our unique programs bring kids together to ease their pain and provide the tools to help restore hope.
Children affected by grief or addiction can feel isolated and alone. Circumstance puts them at increased risk for depression, suicide, poverty, anxiety and behavior problems. Children living in a home with addiction are also at four times the risk of developing an addiction of their own. Eluna’s programs come alongside children and their families to provide vital support helping to prevent complications that arise from unaddressed childhood bereavement and to help break the cycle of addiction in the next generation.
Eluna is dedicated to energizing new research and inspiring political advocacy that will lead to higher standards of care and positive outcomes for children in the fields of bereavement and addiction prevention. By raising awareness for these issues, Eluna reduces stigmas, improves understanding, and makes healing possible for children in need.
Alfred I. du Pont Hospital / Nemours Foundation
A gift of toys, games, books, or crafts can do wonders to brighten a child’s life while they are in the hospital or clinic waiting room. The Child Life programs at Nemours offer activities designed to help children cope with their hospital stay.
Child Life specialists in the hospitals are trained to work with children who have serious illness or are recovering from surgery — often using toys, games, and crafts to allow them to express their fears and hopes and regain a sense of mastery and control.
New, cuddly stuffed animals, hand-held video games, books, and music CDs can help to pass the time and provide a distraction from the hospital routine or clinic visit.
Manna
Manna uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. By providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education, we empower people to improve their health and quality of life.
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
Setting Your Strategy for the New Year: Alera Group's 2025 Employee Benefits Market Outlook
Our experts will highlight key results from Alera Group’s "2025 Employee Benefits Market Outlook" and explain how these trends can impact your benefits program this year.
January 16, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
The Value of Voluntary Benefits
In this session, our experts will showcase the value of voluntary benefits, from financial savings to improved retention to addressing the specific needs of their employees.
March 20, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
Balancing Cost and Care: Could Captive Insurance Be the Solution?
In this session, our experts will discuss how Captive Insurance works and what you need to consider for your own group’s needs.
April 17, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
State of the Market for Employee Benefits in 2025
What are the needs and priorities of those in the workforce and the employment market? What are rival businesses offering to attract and retain the best the market has to offer? And what shifts are taking place in the market that employers should anticipate and prepare for? Alera Group’s 2025 Employee Benefits Market Outlook, scheduled for release on January 16, provides answers to those essential questions.
December 19, 2024
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Employee Benefits
Don’t Forget About Your Gag Clause Attestations
When the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) was enacted on December 27, 2020, it included a provision that prohibits group health plans and health insurance carriers from entering into certain agreements that, either directly or indirectly, restrict the release of certain information related to provider networks and de-identified encounter data, among other things. Such restrictions are commonly referred to as “gag clauses.” The CAA also requires plans and carriers to attest annually that their agreements do not include such impermissible gag clauses.
November 20, 2024
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Avoiding an Employee Lawsuit Over a Tobacco Surcharge Claim
Tobacco surcharges on health insurance premiums for employees who use tobacco products are attractive options for employers looking to keep their workforce healthy while lowering their organization’s healthcare costs. But surcharges can go too far, and many employers may be unaware of the limitations. Alera Group's new whitepaper on tobacco surcharges is designed to assist employers in complying with federal regulations.
November 19, 2024
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Q4 Considerations: New HIPAA Privacy Considerations
Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Final Rule titled HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy.
November 15, 2024
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