Paul McEwan
CPA, MTax, AIFA
Principal, Director of Benefit Plan Services
New Philadelphia, OH
Resident of New Philadelphia, Ohio
Rea Team Member Since 1989
- Paul leads the firm's retirement plan consulting and administration services team. He's responsible for consulting with clients on fiduciary best practices related to their qualified retirement plans. Helping clients improve the retirement readiness of their employees through effective plan design. Partnering with investment advisors to build their retirement plan practices. Helping clients keep their retirement plans in compliance with federal requirements.
Topics or areas of expertise that Paul can talk about (even in his sleep):
- Retirement plan fiduciary issues.
- Plan design issues.
- Plan compliance and reporting issues.
- Plan benchmarking services.
- Plan service provider search services.
- Trends in the retirement plan market.
How we know he knows what he's doing:
- He's got a bachelor's degree in accounting from The Ohio State University
- And he's got a master's degree in taxation from the University of Akron
- He has more than 30 years of accounting industry experience
- 2020 Spotlight Awards Recipient, Richard Rea Award for Client Service
Furthering his professional development, Paul is involved with:
- The American Institute of CPAs
- The Ohio Society of CPAs
- Society for Human Resource Management (Tuscora Chapter; president, 2013)
- United Way of Tuscarawas County (board president and 2013 co-campaign chairperson)
- New Philadelphia Lions Club (past president and treasurer)
- New Philadelphia Youth Soccer Association (board member)
- New Philadelphia City Schools (community financial advisory committee)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Ohio (past board president)
When he's not in the office, you can find him:
- Volunteering his time with many community organizations.
- Biking the back roads of Tuscarawas County early in the morning.
- Spending time with his family.
How he's helped clients meet their business needs:
- Paul helped another client with a plan vendor search, which resulted in hiring a registered investment advisory firm to mitigate fiduciary risk and dramatically improve the quality of the plan's fund line-up.
- He also assisted a plan administration client with a conversion to an independent record-keeping platform resulting in a savings of about 1 percent of plan assets annually. The change also improved the quality of the fund selection and monitoring process mitigating overall fiduciary risk significantly.
- Assisted many plan investment advisors to win new clients and protect their existing relationships through plan design expertise and fee analysis.
Inside The Mind Of...
- What does "A Brighter Way" mean to you? "A Brighter Way" means that we listen intently to understand what our clients seek to achieve and then we are proactive with creative solutions.
- What's your favorite aspect of your job? No two days are alike and I get to follow my passion. I have the opportunity to make a difference with our clients and their investment advisors.
- Describe your work style. I take my work personally. Quality counts.
- What line(s) of The Rea Way describes you the best? Be a good steward. Take ownership. Respect growth and profitability.
Just For Fun:
- What profession would you choose if you didn't go into accounting? An investment advisor
- What makes you get out of bed every day? Unfinished business.
- What is your most prized possession? The relationships I have with my wife and kids.
I'm a Rea Ambassador. I passionately serve retirement plan sponsors and the investment advisory community that serves them. I'm devoted to my family, friends, clients and Rea.