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 ConsultantShauna 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 ConsultantDana 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 PartnerDan 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 AssociateMaria 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
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
Meeting the Needs of an Aging Workforce
Our experts will provide tips and insights about how to incorporate Medicare, menopause benefits, retirement, communications best practices and other hot topics for older workers into your program successfully and without breaking the bank.
October 17, 2024 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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When Captive Insurance Makes Sense
In this session, our experts will talk about how captives work, the advantages and disadvantages and what you need to know to determine whether they make sense for your organization.
November 21, 2024 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Q4 Compliance Update
Alera Group's quarterly employee benefits compliance roundup will help you stay current on the latest national regulatory developments impacting employers.
December 3, 2024 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Insights
Employee Benefits
Webinar: Meeting the Needs of an Aging Workforce
Why is recognizing and addressing the priorities of older workers an imperative? Because, as Bain’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data determined, workers 55 and older will exceed a quarter of the workforce among G7 nations, including the United States, by 2031. Older workers typically have different priorities and needs compared to their younger colleagues, as Alera Group will examine and discuss on October 17 during the next event in our Engage series of employee benefits webinars, “Meeting the Needs of an Aging Workforce.”
October 3, 2024
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Wellbeing Fair Sessions — When and Where You Like
Themed “Live for Tomorrow,” Alera Group's 2024 Employee Wellbeing Fair is now available online, where you can access all eight sessions, select which ones you want to view and watch them at your convenience.
October 2, 2024
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Preparing for 2025: Creditable Coverage, Enrolling in Medicare and HSA Contributions
With significant changes coming in 2025 to creditable coverage determinations, employers and employees may have questions on what that means for them, whether they make the decision to enroll in Medicare Part D or continue to have coverage under their group health plan.
September 5, 2024
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Webinar: Better Benefits Administration and Lower Costs
If you don’t have expert assistance to guide you and your organization in the in using a sophisticated benefits portal, you’re wasting a lot of the money your business has invested — and probably frustrating the employees you mean to serve. Working with a brokerage that offers not only a leading-edge benefits portal but also year-round support and services enables your employees to seamlessly access, understand and navigate the portal, creating a positive benefits experience.
September 5, 2024
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