Nancy C. Hovanes, MBA, CFP®, QKA, SPHR – Founder and President
Nancy Hovanes is President and founder of Oak Creek Partners LLC. She has extensive experience in business, human resource and benefits consulting and has worked with a variety of organizations, public and private, entrepreneurial, and for- and not-for profit.
Ms. Hovanes is an instructor for the College for Financial Planning Certified Financial Planner™ Program. She teaches in private and public settings, as well as client sites.
Prior to founding Oak Creek Partners LLC, Nancy was Sr. Vice President and Managing Consultant of a national consulting firm which acquired the previous firm she founded, Marquette Group LLC. Previously, Nancy was Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development for Caribou Coffee. Earlier in her career, she served in a variety of human resource roles, primarily for professional services firms.
Nancy holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a BA, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Minnesota. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and is a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) through the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.
Ms. Hovanes has served as President of the Board of the NE Minneapolis Farmers Market, Vice Chair and Director of the Northeast Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of Marcy Holmes Neighborhood Association, Treasurer of the Board Member of the Winslow House Condominium Association, Vice President of the Board of the Arroyo Seco Community Association, and Vice Chair of the State Capital Credit Union board. While at the credit union, Nancy chaired the CEO Search and Policy Committees. The selected CEO recently received the “40 under 40” award, honoring the top 40 individuals under the age of 40 in Minneapolis/St. Paul Businesses.
Nancy is a frequent speaker on human capital strategies, employee incentives and qualified plans. She has chaired human resource conferences nationally and internationally and has experience in employee survey techniques and reward and recognition programs.
Experience and Successes
Examples of how we assist clients:
- A small business plan sponsor was not maximizing the amount of qualified contributions to his retirement plan. Oak Creek Partners redesigned the plan to maximize benefits and set a strategy for the upcoming year
- A plan sponsor had not filed the required Form 5500 for four years. His current retirement consultant had not brought it to their attention. We worked with them to file the delinquent forms and now work closely with them on plan requirements and deadlines
- Some plan sponsors consistently fail the 401(k) ADP test resulting in refunds to owners and key employees. We help design safe harbor plans which eliminate the 401(k) ADP test and now the owners are able to maximize their deferrals every year
- A law firm client wanted to provide retirement benefits commensurate with contributing to the success of the firm while still satisfying IRS rules. We designed a safe harbor 401(k) plan with new comparability features to help them achieve their goals
- A Fortune 500 financial services firm wanted to develop marketing material to launch a new retirement program in their mutual fund division and we worked with them to design the materials