John Ryan
Ryan Insurance Strategy Consultants (RISC)
An independent insurance broker since 1978, John is a Certified Financial Planner, NAPFA Resource Partner, Financial Planning Association (FPA) member, and the owner of the Colorado-based insurance firm of Ryan Insurance Strategy Consultants (RISC). John focuses primarily on life, disability, and long-term care insurance planning for highly compensated professionals and executives. John consults with financial advisors, attorneys, CPA's and their clients in addition to managing his own private insurance practice in Colorado.
Education
John holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and has conducted extensive insurance training classes through the Life and Disability Insurance Training Councils at the University of Notre Dame, University of New Hampshire, and the University of New Orleans.
Publications
John’s insurance experience has led to a variety of speaking and teaching engagements throughout the country. He also has authored and participated in numerous industry-related articles for professional publications such as Kiplinger’s, Forbes, Broker World, NAPFA Advisor, Dow Jones Investment Advisor, The Physicians Personal Advisory, Northwest Physicians Magazine, Financial Planning Magazine, Money Magazine, Modern Maturity, Medical Economics, The Washington Post, AARP Magazine, Time Magazine, Consumer Reports, AICPA Journal, National Public Radio (NPR), and CNBC T.V.
Lectures
John’s lecture series include: Recent Developments in the Disability Insurance Marketplace; Long-Term Care Insurance – Disability Insurance for Retirees; Life Insurance in the Estate Planning Process; Long-Term Care Insurance Plan Design Considerations; Choosing the Right Life, Disability, or Long-Term Care Insurance Policy for Your Clients; The Ten Most Common Mistakes in Life, Disability, Long-Term Care Insurance Planning; and How to Evaluate an Existing Cash Value Life Insurance Policy.
Ted Sarenski, CPA/PFS, CFP, AEP, CGMA, CFP®
Blue Ocean Strategic Capital
Ted is recognized locally and nationally as an expert providing financial planning advice. He currently appears on WSTM-3, Syracuse’s NBC affiliate, taking viewers’ calls and offering planning concepts to viewers. Ted appeared on the PBS affiliate in Syracuse as a permanent guest host of the program “Financial Fitness” which aired live for one-half hour every Thursday at 8 PM EST. Ted received the 2013 Distinguished Service Award by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Personal Financial Planning Division for contributions to further financial planning within the CPA community, industry-related publications and speaking engagements across the country.
In 2016, he was selected to be on the Wolters Kluwer Financial and Estate Planning Advisory Board. Ted has presented to regional Estate Planning Councils from Seattle to Syracuse on financial planning topics and Social Security. He has been interviewed by hundreds of radio stations across the U.S. on tax and financial planning topics since 2005.
Ted also speaks on financial planning topics at major professional national conferences for organizations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Financial Planning Association, and for private groups.
Ted authored articles on financial planning that have appeared in The Journal of Accountancy, The CPA Journal, The Journal of Taxation and the AICPA Wealth Management Insider. He authored a CPAs Guide to Social Security for the American Institute of CPAs in 2011, and is responsible for its update annually.
He has been interviewed and quoted in many publications including: USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, The Christian Science Monitor, Investment News, Kiplinger Personal Finance Report, Financial Planning Magazine (cover photo February 2013), Accounting Today and The Practical Accountant.
John Sheehan
Osterweis Capital Management
John Sheehan graduated from Georgetown University (B.A. Economics). Mr. Sheehan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Prior to joining Osterweis Capital Management in 2018, Mr. Sheehan spent more than 20 years working at Citigroup, first as Managing Director responsible for Investment Grade Syndicate in New York City, where he advised issuers on accessing funding in the corporate bond market. Later at Citigroup, he was Managing Director in charge of West Coast Investment Grade Sales in San Francisco, where he covered several of the largest U.S. investment grade credit investors.
Mr. Sheehan’s experience integrates perspective on the mindset of large institutional bond issuers with perspective on the goals of institutional investors.
Mr. Sheehan is a Portfolio Manager for the total return fixed income strategy. He is also a Portfolio Manager for the flexible balanced strategy.
Robert Sofia
Snappy Kraken
Robert Sofia is the CEO of Snappy Kraken, a marketing technology platform exclusively serving the financial industry. During the past decade, Robert has supported thousands of companies across the spectrum of financial services including solo advisers, ensembles, family offices, broker dealers, custodians, investment companies, insurance companies, and more.
Robert has received countless accolades for his work including winning fintech competitions, Wealth Management Industry Awards, and being honored on the INC 500, INC 5,000, Agency 100, and Best Places to Work In Financial Technology lists. He has authored two best-selling books and been published hundreds of times in publications including Forbes, INC Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, FOX Business, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Investment News, Financial Planning, Wealth Management, Journal of Financial Planning, ThinkAdvisor, and others.
Robert is an award-winning speaker who has delivered actionable keynotes for worldrenowned companies including Ford Motor, Adobe, TD Ameritrade, and Prudential.
Eric Sontag, CFA®
Eric joined Sontag Advisory in November 2009 and has been its Chief Operating Officer since 2011. Eric manages the general business practices and processes of the firm, including internal and client reporting, operations, client administration, and investment processes. Eric is also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Sontag Advisory, Eric worked at BlackRock in two different roles. He spent the latter years as a member of the Transition Management team in London, where he devised implementation and hedging strategies for institutional clients seeking a re-allocation of their investment strategies and/or fund managers. He began his career in the Portfolio Analytics Group in New York, focusing on fixed income risk analytics and reporting.
Eric received his BA from Cornell University, with Distinction, in Economics and Sociology. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst® designation from the CFA Institute.
Jason Stuck, CFA®
Northern Capital
Jason is a Managing Director and a Senior Portfolio Manager with the firm. He advises investment advisers, money managers and other wealth management organizations on portfolio construction, portfolio rebalancing, security selection and risk management strategies. Jason advises clients on both taxable and tax‐exempt strategies including the corporate, government, mortgage‐backed and municipal market sectors.
Prior to joining Northern Capital, Jason was a Director at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago. He was instrumental in developing the Performance Trust Analytics Group, a group focused on providing institutional level bond portfolios for investment advisors. Before joining Performance Trust, he worked as a Director in the Institutional Fixed Income group at BMO Capital Markets where he focused on advising investment advisers, money managers and depository institutions. Jason began his career as a multi‐sector equity analyst with Driehaus Capital Management, LLC where he was responsible for advising the firm's senior portfolio managers on funds totaling over $6 billion.
Jason received his Bachelors degree in Business & Economics from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and an MBA in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. He became a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder in 2003.
Warren Thomas, CPA
ExchangeRight
Warren is the co-founder of JRW Investments, Inc. and a managing member of ExchangeRight Real Estate, LLC. Prior to forming the firm in 2003, Warren developed an extensive tax practice including estate planning, financial planning and real estate advisory services. Warren has over 30 years of experience as a CPA and has been an active commercial real estate investor for the past 20 years.
He graduated in 1978 from Biola University with a B.S. in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting. He also earned a master’s degree in Taxation from Golden Gate University in 1993. Additionally, he maintains Series 6, 7, 22, 24, 39, 63, 66 and 79 Securities Licenses through Lighthouse Capital Group, LLC. Member FINRA/SiPC. Warren also maintains a California insurance, real estate, and CPA license.
Brent Weiss, CFP®, ChFC®
Brent serves as head of planning for Facet. He brings more than a decade of experience to the team as an investment advisor and financial planner for high net worth individuals and families. Prior to Facet, Brent was a principal at an independent wealth management firm where he served as a lead advisor and chaired the investment committee. Brent is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional and a Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®). He also holds a life and health insurance license in the state of Maryland.
Education: Notre Dame (BA)
Alex Wingert
Alex Wingert was appointed VP Product and Culture in June 2016, then President in June 2018 after several years of being the Customer Success Manager at Advisor Websites. As VP Product and Culture, he is not only responsible for all aspects of product development, he also paints the picture for the type of Culture that is unique to Advisor Websites.
As a graduate of SFU in 2010, Alex is now entering his 9th year in the software industry.