Meet Our Team
Isaac Guerrero
Analyst, Employee Benefits
Isaac has a strong background in data and insurance. Before joining Alera Group, he spent several years in data analyst roles at Ubisoft and Kaiser Permanente and worked as an underwriting assistant for Liberty Mutual. He is responsible for proposal evaluation and renewal support for our group employee benefits clients, bidding on the appropriate markets, and preparing documents for renewals and proposals.
Isaac graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Applied Mathematics. He lives in Pierce County. He enjoys playing video games, going for walks on sunny days, and spending time with his family.
Kerry Hartz
Consultant, Employee Benefits
Kerry has professional experience in nearly every facet of the health insurance industry and employer groups of all sizes and types. He began his career more than 35 years ago at the precursor to Regence Blue Shield and worked with various brokerage firms and third-party administrators before moving to Alera Group.
The longtime holder of a Washington insurance license, Kerry has earned three course certifications from the National Association of Health Underwriters as well: Consumer Directed Healthcare, Benefits Account Manager, and Advanced Self-Funded. He enjoys the team-oriented atmosphere in our office and serving as the primary point of contact for the clients he supports.
Kerry is married with a son; he likes working in the yard, maintaining the family cars, riding bicycles, playing with the family pets, occasionally being part of a trivia-contest team, and going to the health club.
Kerry is not registered as an investment advisor representative and cannot offer advisory products or services in that capacity.
Chérie Hendrix
Employee Benefits Lead Consultant, National Accounts
With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Chérie leads our teams for large groups and self-funded plans—providing benefits program strategy, healthcare reform guidance, financial analysis, and account management. Certified as an Advanced Specialist for self-funded plans by the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), she works with clients including native corporations, public employers, nonprofits, professional firms, and many others.
Before joining the team in 2015, Chérie spent 16 years at Mercer as a principal and senior consultant. There, she focused on mid-sized to large employers in a variety of industries, with benefit plans ranging from 200 to over 15,000 employees.
Chérie, who holds life and disability insurance licenses in several states, is a member of the Employee Benefits Planning Association, International Foundation of Employee Benefits, NAHU, Alaska Association of Health Underwriters, Western Pension & Benefits Association, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and other professional organizations. She has presented at the State of Reform Health Policy Conference in Anchorage as well as events for the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association, SHRM, and the Alaska Chamber of Commerce.
A graduate of Seattle University, Chérie has a degree in French with a minor in business. She volunteers at Catholic Social Services and has previously volunteered for the French American School of Puget Sound.
Cherie is not registered as an investment advisor representative and cannot offer advisory products or services in that capacity.
Ismail Kljucanin
Account Manager, Retirement Plan Services
Ismail provides vital support and service to our retirement plan advisors and their clients, helping analyze plan performance, participation, and contributions. His industry background includes three years with KeyBank as a financial consultant; he also earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Oregon.
A resident of Gresham, Oregon (about 30 minutes outside of Portland), Ismail was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. when he was a child. He’s fluent in Bosnian and volunteers in the community with Islamic Bosniaks Educational & Cultural Organization (IBECO). When he’s not serving clients or volunteering, he loves to travel, watch and play sports, and spend time with friends and family.
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
Benchmarking That Drives Decisions: Why Averages Mislead — and What Best-in-Class Data Reveals
A clear, data-driven view of the 2026 employee benefits landscape grounded in benchmarking results.
June 16, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Register Here
Employee Benefits
GLP-1s at Scale: Why Weight-Loss Drug Decisions Are Now a Financial Strategy
A GLP-1 decision framework plus scenarios.
July 21, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Register Here
Employee Benefits
Open Enrollment That Works: Why Employees Do Not Engage — and How Modern Communications Drive Better Choices
Practical communication strategies to strengthen open enrollment effectiveness and employee decision-making.
August 18, 2026 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
Legal Alert: IRS Releases 2027 HSA Contribution Limits and Other Limits
In Rev. Proc. 2026-24, the IRS released the inflation adjusted amounts for 2027 relevant to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs). The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits.
June 3, 2026
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Employee Benefits
Legal Alert: PBM Transparency Coming Soon
Two recent movements on the federal level have paved the way for greater pharmacy benefit manager (“PBM”) transparency for group health plans.
May 22, 2026
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Why is umbrella liability getting so expensive?
While most commercial insurance pricing has softened in 2026, umbrella liability has not. In fact, it’s moving in the opposite direction.
May 4, 2026
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Property and Casualty
AI Isn’t Liable for the Mistake. You Are.
Artificial intelligence is powerful. It’s also wrong more often than people want to admit.
If you use AI to support or deliver professional services, any mistake it makes is still your responsibility. Not the software’s. Not the vendor’s. Yours.
April 1, 2026
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