WESTCHESTER BENEFIT GROUP - Key Persons
Alan J. Schantz has thirty years of experience assisting his clients to navigate through the challenges of changing economic times. Alan's experience and independence provide his clients with access and freedom to select from a wide range of financial products that are well matched with their personal objectives. Alan believes that it is important to spend time establishing an advisor-client relationship that is built upon a foundation of trust and integrity.
He understands that every client has their own set of circumstances that need to be discussed in an honest and open atmosphere before any financial decisions are made. Many of his clients are socially and environmentally conscious and plan to invest wisely with their values to help create a sustainable world of peace and compassion.
Alan graduated from CUNY Queens College with a BA in both Economics and Accounting. He earned his Certified Fund Specialist CFS designation from the Institute of Business and Finance. The CFS designation identities professionals who have completed an advanced educational program and passed a comprehensive exam. He must adhere to a strict professional code of ethics and meet annual continuing education requirements.
Alan and his wife Jill live in Northern Westchester with their two sons Hudson and Jadon. In his spare time, Alan enjoys spending time outdoors in nature with his family. Alan is a competitive tennis player and is proud of completing two marathons while raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Barbara is our group case manager, customer service specialist, and John and Bob's right hand woman. She assists with account clean up and various tasks around the firm and has been in the group benefits industry for almost over 30 years. One of the reasons why Barbara loves her position at the firm is because she is able to look out for those who need protection (much like her hero, Dare Devil!).
Job Titles:
- Director of Wealth Management
Jen Paterson has enjoyed nearly 25 years in the institutional financial business across investment banking, institutional research sales, management and financial advisory. In her most recent role at Greenwich Associates, she led the business development effort around data and analytics for US banks, and was a senior business development associate specializing in market structure and financial technology.
In the wake of personal family changes, followed by increased geopolitical turmoil, market volatility and tax changes, Jen felt a pressing need to better understand how to protect her estate and her children's financial future. Through this process, she learned of the many complex challenges and opportunities facing families today, and felt a calling to leverage her unique and deep expertise in the institutional financial world, to help individuals navigate the ever-changing financial landscape. Jen's passion is in helping families to find the most effective, efficient, lucrative and affordable financial strategies, to last for generations.
Jen lives in New Canaan, CT with her husband and her two school-aged children. After decades of riding competitively, she continues to enjoy all-things-equestrian, and teaches at New Canaan Mounted Troop in her spare time. Jen also enjoys music, playing poker and being outdoors with her family. She graduated from Colgate University with an Economics major in 1995. Jen has a current Insurance Producer license (#2687223), and is updating her previously held licenses as a Registered Investment Advisor (Series 65), Securities Agent (Series 63), Securities Representative (Series 7) and Commodity/Futures (Series 3) licenses (CRD# 3117004).
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Group Division
John has been with the Westchester Benefit Group for over 20 years and controls our new and renewal business. He is a coach at heart and enjoys being able to meet with clients and educate them on their financial needs. He is always educating himself on the industry and holds his Life and Health insurance licenses.
Outside of the office, John enjoys spending time with his son and daughter, including coaching their baseball and basketball teams. He also enjoys playing golf, watching football, and traveling with his son's baseball team.
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Office Manager
Louise is our office manager, executive assistant, and go-to resource for all things client service. She wears many hats at the firm and got her work ethic and drive from her mother. She has been in the financial services industry for over 20 years and enjoys everything about what she does. Her favorite thing is accomplishing large or difficult projects and determining out-of-the-box strategies. She has always been interested in this industry and can't imagine doing anything else.
Outside of work, Louise's second passion is cooking and having family and friends over for a big, Italian dinner.
Marina has joined the WBG team in early 2018. Marina has been in the insurance industry for over 16 years working for various insurance carriers such as Oxford, Guardian, and others. Marina is now utilizing her broad knowledge and experience to manage and provide unparalleled service to our small group accounts. Outside of work Marina loves spending time with her family and playing with her dogs.
Max joined WBG in 2015. Today, as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, he proudly serves as the hands-on advisor for clients providing financial planning, wealth management, and insurance planning solutions.
Max constantly stays up to date and educated on the market, the global economy and products to assure he has the tools and knowledge to meet our client's unique financial situations. One of the things he loves most about this industry is working with so many different types of people and collaborating to help them accomplish their unique goals. In doing so, he recommends investments, insurance solutions, portfolio allocations and puts together comprehensive financial plans.
Max graduated from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina and holds various securities and insurance licenses. He is actively involved with Young Advisor Group, a group for young professionals that meets twice a year to hear from some of the industry leaders and collaborate to help expand their knowledge and best practices of the business. Max is a Registered Representative with Kestra Investment Services, LLC and an Investment Advisor Representative with Kestra Advisory Services, LLC.
In addition to his formal education and experience, Max has a passion for traveling the world and learning from the different cultures he experiences. He strongly believes that exploring and learning about different people and cultures is a valuable and humbling experience. Max has taught English at a bilingual school in Thailand and has volunteered in Ghana and Myanmar aiding local schools.
Max likes to tell his clients and those around him that he got his big heart and drive from his father, Bob, who always led by example and put others before himself. Max learned at an early age to treat others the way you would like to be treated and tries to live up to this standard every day.
Outside of work, Max would quickly say that his passion is soccer, having grown up playing it. He even wakes up early to watch European soccer games and says that if he weren't a financial planner, he would like to be a soccer manager. He is fascinated by the way the most successful managers understand the human mind and use these tactics to their advantage. In addition to watching and playing soccer, Max enjoys golfing, fishing, traveling and hanging out with family, friends and his dog.
"I learned all about life with a ball at my feet." Immediately upon graduating college, Paxton booked a one-way ticket to England to pursue his dream of playing soccer professionally. Persistently knocking on the doors of many teams, Paxton successfully signed his first contract with Hereford United FC and began his journey within a month of arrival. Over the following decade, Paxton went on to sign for a myriad of clubs throughout Europe and America.
As Paxton maneuvered the stringent, disciplined, political, deceptive, triumphant, sometimes heartbreaking, and business-first culture of a professional athlete - he quickly realized that his experiences can be translated and broken down into any sphere of life.
Having worked within multiple cultures with diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, Paxton's innate ability to break down walls and deliver on a common goal is unparalleled. As an Insurance Specialist at Westchester Benefit Group, Paxton will continue to use his experience to assist and guide clients with insurance planning solutions.
Paxton holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Finance from the College of Saint Rose and obtained his Executive Coaching certification from The UC Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.
Job Titles:
- Financial Advisor
- Founding Partner
- President
- Independent Financial Planner and President
As an independent financial planner and President of Westchester Benefit Group, Bob Loeb helps individuals and business owners understand their current situations, define future goals and develop flexible strategies that will help them to reach their objectives. Bob provides clients with meaningful solutions to a wide range of financial matters, including investments, risk management, tax planning and business continuation planning, as well as qualified and non-qualified retirement and benefit plans.
In addition to over 31 years of experience in the financial services industry, Bob holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, which is recognized as the standard of excellence for competent and ethical financial planning. He also attended Mercy College. Bob is a member of the National Association of Life Underwriters, the Financial Planning Association and the National Federation of Independent Business. He is also a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table and Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.
A big part of Bob's life outside of the office involves volunteer and charity work. He serves on the advisory council of VISIONS, an organization co-founded by his grandmother that develops and implements programs to assist people who are visually impaired. In addition, Bob served on the board of the Vincent G. Halloran Foundation, a charity set up in memory of a fallen firefighter and father who was killed on September 11. The charity benefits the well-being, recreation and education of children. Bob also supports Cooley's Anemia Foundation and the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer.
Bob lives in North Salem, New York, with his family. He serves as President of the Lions Club of North Salem.
Susanne has been with the company for over 25 years. She handles the accounting, licensing & registrations.