Westfair Communications honors 2019 Top Wealth Advisors

Westfair Comnmunications’ 2019 Top Wealth Advisors Awards event took place on May 16 at Greystone on Hudson in Tarrytown. The reception and ceremony were held in a $13 million mansion at 6 Carriage Trail, across from Lyndhurst, in a gated community being developed by The Greystone Mansion Group (GMG). Andy Todd, president of GMG, welcomed the guests to the private setting just off Route 9.

Andrew Maloney, a senior vice president of PIMCO, the Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, gave introductory remarks. PIMCO was founded in Newport Beach, California, in 1971 and has about 2,500 employees in offices around the world. As of Dec. 31, 2018, it was managing $1.66 trillion in assets.

About a month ago, PIMCO reported on the results of its Defined Contribution Consulting Study, which gathered data, trends and opinions from 238 consulting and advisory firms, as well as individual investment plan advisors, who serve more than 109,000 clients. Nearly two-thirds of the largest and midsize 401(k) consultants and advisers believe plan sponsors want to retain and continue to serve individual savers once they retire, the study found. That represents a 14% increase from the previous study. The study found key strategies employed by consultants and advisors to retain participants in defined contribution plans include adding distribution flexibility, providing access to education and tools and adding retiree-focused investment options.

Just a week before the awards event, on May 9, PIMCO announced that it had hired Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2017 to help the firm better understand human behavior and how it impacts decision-making, including how individuals make decisions in saving for retirement and spending during retirement.

Peter Prinstein, a senior vice president and account manager at PIMCO, presented the awards, assisted by Maloney.

The award recipients included: Donald Amoruso, Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.; Dan Anderson, Merrill Lynch; Scott Blair, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Mark Brookfield, The Erdmann Group; Barrett Butlien; Westchester Financial Advisors; Wenton Camporin, Morgan Stanley; Joseph Chu, RBS; Dennis Devane, Wells Fargo Advisors; Sean Dowling, The Dowling Group; Kevin Eisenberg, J.P. Morgan Securities; Christopher Errico, UBS Financial Services; Vincent Fiorentino, UBS Financial Services, Inc.; Angela L. FitzGibbon, Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.;
Russell Glickstern, Westchester Financial Planning; Michael Gorman, Merrill Lynch; Joan Gregor, Ameriprise Financial; Bill Grous; Alex Brown / Raymond James; Thomas Huvane, UBS; Vincent A. Iannucci, Wells Fargo Advisors; Teresa Jacobsen, UBS Financial Services; Marcia Kaplan, Ameriprise Financial Services; Peter Lang, HighTower Westchester; Anthony Lesica, Ameriprise Financial; Lawrence Liebers, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; Sarah Man, Wells Fargo Advisors; Michael Paul Mazzilli; Amerirpise Financial Services, Inc.; Barry Mitchell Jr., UBS Financial Services; Michael Moskowitz, Merrill Lynch; Richard Neuman, Merrill Lynch;
Howard Perkins, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; Larry Rollins, Brenton Point Wealth Advisors; Robert Rosenberg, Morgan Stanley; John Ross, Strategies for Wealth; Lisa Rossi, Stratos Wealth Advisory Group; Frank Sabia, UBS Financial Services Inc.; Stefano Safaei, Wedbush; Alan Schantz, Schantz Wealth Services; Byrke Sestok, Retirement Wealth Partners; Hiral Shah, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.; Thomas Sherman, Strategies for Wealth; Steven Sherman, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; and Bryan Stepanian, Alex Brown / Raymond James.

The event was presented by Westfair Communications, publisher of the Westchester County Business Journal, Fairfield County Business Journal and WAG magazine. Sponsors included: Greystone on Hudson; PIMCO; Pepe Auto Group; Shreve, Crump & Low; Dr. George C. Shapiro; Val”™s Putnam Wines & Liquors; J. Hilburn; New York Hair Group; and Blossom Flower.