About Us
Forum was founded in Greenville, SC in 1999 as Palmetto Benefit Management, an independently owned insurance agency specializing in employee benefit planning and administration. In January of 2017, Forum joined 23 other entrepreneurial insurance and financial services companies across the United States to form Alera Group, an employee benefits, property/casualty, risk management and wealth management firm with approximately $1.3 Billion in annual revenue. Alera Group has grown to over 5,000 employees in over 220 local offices and is now one of top 10 independent brokerage firm in the US.
As a local office partner for Alera Group, we bring national resources such as Legal & Compliance, Actuarial & Reinsurance, Captives, Data Analytics & Benchmarking, HR Administration & Technology, and Wellness & Total Health Management to our local clients. In January 2024, Forum rebranded to Alera Group to capitalize on our commitment to Collaboration.
Meet Our Team
Laurie Winston
Firm Leader
Firm leader
Christianna Cato
Account Executive
Account Executive
Heather Edwards
Consultant / Account Executive
Consultant / Account Executive
Stephanie Farmer
Benefits Technology Consultant
Benefits Technology Consultant
Resources
Employee Navigator (Benefit Administration System) access link.
Contact your Client Service Advocate (CSA) access link
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
2025 Healthcare and Employee Benefits Benchmarking Report: How Does Your Benefits Program Stack Up?
In this session, our experts will dive into the results of our annual, market-leading benchmarking survey.
June 26, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Sign Up
Employee Benefits
Dynamic Data: Strategies for Success
Join us for this session, as our experts will share how to utilize your organization’s data to create advanced and innovative strategies for success.
July 17, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Sign Up
Employee Benefits
Preparing for Open Enrollment: How to Engage and Educate Your Employees on Their Total Benefits Package
In this session, our experts will share guidance on setting yourself up for success during Open Enrollment.
August 21, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
Sign Up
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
Reminder: PCORI Fees Due By July 31, 2025
Employers that sponsor self-insured group health plans, including health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) should keep in mind the upcoming July 31, 2025 deadline for paying fees that fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) via Form 720, which was recently updated and released by the IRS.
June 3, 2025
Find out more
Employee Benefits
Benefits Captives: Your Business and What Your Competitors Are Doing
In one form or another, Captive Insurance has existed as a risk management solution for many decades — originally for property and casualty coverage and primarily for large employers. But its viability as a solution for employee benefits and for midsized businesses has increased dramatically in recent years, fueled by volatility in the insurance market in general and by the skyrocketing cost of health insurance in particular.
May 29, 2025
Find out more Employee Benefits
Agencies Push Pause Button on Enforcement of MHPAEA 2024 Final Rule
On May 15, 2025, the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Department (collectively, the “Agencies”) released a statement regarding the Agencies’ recent request for abeyance of a lawsuit filed by the ERISA Industry Committee (“ERIC”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that challenged certain aspects of Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Final Rule (“2024 Final Rule”) relating to nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses (“NQTL analyses”).
May 16, 2025
Find out more Employee Benefits
IRS Releases 2026 HSA Contribution Limits and HDHP Deductible and Out-of-Pocket Limits
In Rev. Proc. 2025-19, the IRS released the inflation adjusted amounts for 2026 relevant to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). The table below summarizes those adjustments and other applicable limits.
May 5, 2025
Find out more