Ms. Schaus is an executive vice president, account manager and DC specialist in the Newport Beach office, working primarily with plan sponsors and consultants. She has written extensively on defined contribution issues, including a 2017 book, "Successful Defined Contribution Design," which builds upon her 2010 volume, "Designing Successful Target-Date Strategies for Defined Contribution Plans". Prior to joining PIMCO in 2006, she was a founder and president of Hewitt Financial Services, which includes DC investment consulting and research as well as brokerage and personal finance. She is the founding chair for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association, serves as the chair of the Employee Benefit Research Institute and served as a Financial Planning Association board member. She has 37 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.