Benefiq - Smart Benefits

Jim Prendergast
Chief Executive Officer

Prior to launching Benefiq, Jim was a founder of Personniq, Mortgage Alliance and a number of other real estate and finance companies. He was also a Sales manager for Household finance for 4 years and has been a licensed registered representative with the NASD since 1991. He has a passion for speaking, teaching and coaching individuals and groups, both large and small, on the fundamentals of money management as it pertains to real estate finance, retirement planning and asset protection. Jim focuses on dispelling money myths to enlighten and inspire consumers to take control of their financial future.

Jim has a strong desire to continually develop himself and those around him. He is very active with sports, exercise and his daughter, 2 year old Bella. He is also a strong supporter of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. As a Midwestern boy, Jim grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and graduated from Iowa State University. He is an owner of the Arena Sports Grill, the largest Nebraska Cornhusker Bar in the Valley and lives by the strong principals of hard work, honesty and integrity that were instilled in him growing up in the Midwest.

Tom Marreel
President

Tom Marreel currently holds the position of President of Benefiq LLC, a supplemental insurance and lifestyle benefit company. In addition, he is founder and president of T. Marreel & Associates, a health care consulting and benefit brokerage company in Phoenix, Arizona.

Prior to Benefiq and T. Marreel & Associates, Tom worked for Schaller Anderson, Inc., a health management and consulting company based in Phoenix, Arizona. Tom became senior vice president of Schaller Anderson in 2000, assuming development and oversight of the commercial self-funded business sector. The commercial operation performs all aspects of managed health care for employer self-funded plans, including medical management, finance and underwriting, claims and member services, provider networks, reinsurance, pharmacy, behavioral health, and client management. He also developed performance-based management for their commercial clients. Tom was also a member of the Schaller Anderson Board of Directors from 2000 to 2003. In 2003, Tom became responsible for business development activities for all product lines nationally. Tom recently left Schaller Anderson after the acquisition by Aetna Insurance Company to start his own company.

From 1994 to 2000, Tom was a principal at Mercer, a prominent human capital consulting firm and part of the Marsh and McLennan family of companies. Tom held the positions of office head, office health care practice leader, and national government sector business leader. He was a member of Mercer’s national health care practice group and was responsible for all government health care consulting activities throughout the United States. He also led many of Mercer’s employee development programs, including its employee orientation program, Mercer 101.

During his tenure and leadership at Mercer, the Phoenix office grew from 8 employees to more than 100 employees, and revenue grew from $3 million to $20 million annually. Tom and the Phoenix office consulted to many large fortune-500 employer groups, and more than 50 state government agencies. Services to these clients included strategy, actuarial, financial performance, clinical, benefit design, pharmacy, behavioral health, information systems, and human resources.

Prior to 1994, Tom was a senior health care consultant for The Segal Company in Phoenix, Arizona. He spent more than eight years consulting to key large public and private sector employer groups. He was instrumental in the growth of The Segal Company in Phoenix and in securing its position as a market leader for health care consulting services.

Tom began his career more than 25 years ago as a sales and service representative for John Hancock Mutual Insurance Company. He was responsible for servicing and selling John Hancock insurance services to large employer groups in the Los Angeles area. Tom was recognized in 1984 and 1985 as a President Group Production Leader.

Tom is actively involved in numerous charities. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) Foundation East Valley, which supports philanthropic fundraising for Chandler Regional Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. He chaired several fundraising events, including the golf tournament in 2008. He also co-chaired the Gala in 2006 with his wife, Julia, and is co-chairing the Gala again in 2008. Tom is also a member of the CHW East Valley Founders Circle. He is a former Board of Governors member for the Samaritan Foundation which ran the LPGA golf tournament in Phoenix, benefiting the local Samaritan hospitals.

In 2005, Tom was recognized with the Spirit of Philanthropy award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Also, in 2008 Tom was named CHW Foundation East Valley Board of Directors Member of the Year, in recognition of his outstanding contribution of time and talent. Tom has also appeared as a speaker to numerous health care seminars and meetings over the past twenty years. In 1999, Tom was appointed to the Medicare Commission for competitive pricing of Medicare managed care products.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Scott graduated with a degree in marketing and sociology from the University of Nebraska in 1997, and moved to Scottsdale in 1998. An entrepreneur at heart, Scott is founder of Sanford Properties Inc, a real estate sales, development and refurbishing company he formed in 2001, which handles projects in Scottsdale, The Big Island of Hawaii and throughout the Midwest. He also has a passion for cutting edge technologies and is an investor with a leading developer of fuel cell technology. Scott is also a director for Paradise Valley Bank (proposed), a local community bank with an emphasis on helping local business' grow. In addition, Scott has been the Executive Director for Sanford Global Health Solutions since 1997 which is a distributorship for Mannatech Inc., a research and development company with breakthrough technology in the wellness industry.

With a passion for helping children, he is a contributor to Mannarelief, a non-profit organization affiliated with Mannatech Inc. which provides state-of-the-art nutritional supplementation to children in need throughout the world. Scott lives in Scottsdale with his wife, Cassandra, and their 2 daughters.

Sergio is a seasoned technology entrepreneur with particular interest in helping new companies launch into the marketplace. He was the founder of Instinct, a consulting firm in Rome, Italy and a winner of "Best European High Tech Company" by IDG. He has also founded E Corp, a software development firm involved in email and message management. Sergio was the founder and CEO of FastForward Inc, a marketing services provider that has grown from an idea to more than $20M in revenues while under his tenure and was selected as the Fastest Growth Company in 2001 with 14,387% audited growth.

Over his 15 years in the tech business, Sergio has been involved with more than a dozen startups in the technology, marketing and financial services space.

Sergio is a also an avid scuba diver and holds an enviable IDC Staff Instructor rating with PADI. He likes to sail, windsurf, skydive and is an active participant in the marine conservation efforts through his board position at Seaid, a 501(c) organization dedicated to ocean preservation. Furthermore, Sergio is an active triathlete, marathon and ultra marathon competitor, participating in numerous events throughout the year ranging from 5K to Ironman distances.

Lisa Rehurek
Executive Vice President

Lisa Rehurek is Executive Vice President of Benefiq LLC, supplemental insurance and lifestyle benefit company. She also holds the position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at T. Marreel & Associates, a health care consulting and benefit brokerage company in Phoenix, Arizona.

Prior to joining Benefiq and T. Marreel & Associates, Lisa spent over ten years at Mercer, a prominent human capital consulting firm and part of the Marsh and McLennan family of companies. Most recently, Lisa was regional Marketing leader, responsible for implementing global marketing strategies in the West across all lines of business.

Lisa also spent several years as a consultant with the government human services consulting group of Mercer. As a member of the executive leadership team, Lisa developed and led all business development and marketing strategies, supporting double-digit revenue growth over her five year tenure.

As a consultant, Lisa also led numerous client engagements for public sector clients. She managed multi sector projects for large state clients, developing project and team communication plans and managing timelines. She led the process to evaluate and select new Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), including the development of the Request for Proposal and scoring tool. She also worked closely with her client to develop and implement an effective member transition plan. Lisa has created numerous client communications for presentation to state legislatures and other key government staff. Additionally, she developed and executed survey tools, provided recommendations based on stakeholder interviews, and analyzed uninsured concerns.

Over the past several years, Lisa has also worked as an organizing consultant, helping businesses increase their productivity through improved processes and streamlined operations. In addition, Lisa was a manager in the hospitality industry for over ten years, where she held positions in sales, marketing, project management, and operations.

Lisa is an active volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix. Since 2002, she has managed the silent auction logistics for the charity’s largest annual fundraising event. As chairperson of the silent auction logistics committee, she partners with key board members and staff to set a strategy for increased fundraising. She manages and coordinates over 1,000 volunteer hours and a volunteer team of over 40 for one of the largest silent auctions in the State. Since Lisa became committee chairperson, silent auction revenues have increased more than 200 percent.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.