SUMMIT FINANCIAL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Legal Officer Read More
- LLC As the Chief Legal Officer
Barbara Hawkesworth joined Summit Financial LLC as the Chief Legal Officer in April 2019. Most recently, Barbara had been consulting with her private practice. Prior to that, she was Managing Counsel at BNY Mellon/Pershing, Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, and EVP-Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Rochdale Investment Management. While at Rochdale, she was responsible for overseeing all legal and compliance matters related to the firm's SEC registered investment companies, investment advisors, and affiliated registered FINRA broker dealers. She also worked with the CEO and the senior leadership team on new business strategies and initiatives. Barbara attended New York Law School where she earned her J.D.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- Director of Integrated Planning Group Read More
- Director of Integrated Planning Group Years of Experience
Brandon Smith joined Summit Financial as the Director of Integrated Planning Group. He leads the Integrated Planning Group and develops strategies and expertise for our Financial Advisors. Brandon served as an Executive Officer for Grayhill LLC for over 18 years cumulatively which allowed him to partner with established Financial Advisors to develop advanced wealth transfer plans and perform comprehensive financial planning for clients. Prior to Grayhill, he was at Financial Designs Ltd for several years. Brandon earned a B.A. from Emory University, his J.D. from Washburn University of Law and his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Denver College of Law. He has just moved to New Jersey after living in Denver, CO for over 25 years.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Compliance Officer at Summit Financial LLC
- Chief Compliance Officer Read More
- Chief Compliance Officer Years of Experience
Craig Weiss is the Chief Compliance Officer at Summit Financial LLC. He joined Summit's predecessor firm in this role in 2017. Craig is responsible for the overall development and implementation of Summit's compliance program. He is also the Chief Compliance Officer of an affiliated limited purpose broker-dealer, LS Securities LLC. With over three decades of industry experience, Craig's areas of specialization include compliance and supervision. Prior to joining Summit, he was the chief compliance officer for other investment advisory firms and broker dealers including R. Seelaus & Co. and Belle Haven Investments. Craig earned his Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University. He lives in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey with his wife and their dog Rambo.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- CLU®, ChFC® Director of Insurance
- Director of Insurance Years of Experience
David is the Director of Insurance and has been with Summit Financial LLC for 14 Years. David specializes in the design and implementation of insurance strategies to enhance the overall protection within a client's financial plan by working closely with the Summit team of attorneys, CPAs, and Financial Planners. He has extensive knowledge of Life, Disability and Long-Term Care insurance in today's world and how it can be leveraged to cover many of the unforeseen changes that may occur in the future. He earned a B.S. from Boston University. Outside of work, David likes to stay active by running, playing tennis, and riding his vintage motorcycle.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Director of Business Development and Growth at Summit Financial LLC
- Director of Growth and Business Development
- Director of Growth and Business Development Read More
Ed Friedman is the Director of Business Development and Growth at Summit Financial LLC. Ed is a financial services industry veteran with decades of experience in advancing advisor's practices and supporting their growth. He works closely with the executive management team and reports to the CEO of Summit Financial, Stan Gregor. Prior to Summit, Ed Friedman ran his own consulting business, providing consulting services including operational, business, growth and technology strategies to Independent Wealth Management firms and the strategic vendors that support them. At Dynasty Financial Partners, Ed was the National Director of Practice Management and former Director of the Enterprise Group with a focus on wealth management firms in excess of $1 Billion in assets. Ed was also part of the founding management team at HighTower Advisors heading up business development and advisor development. Before the launch of HighTower, Ed had a 22-year career at Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firm with roles as a financial Advisor, branch manager and senior executive management. Ed is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BA in Business and Finance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- Financial Planner
- Financial Planner Read More
- Senior Member
Frank is a senior member of the financial planning department and has been part of the Integrated Planning Group for over nineteen years, where his primary focus is to design and model advanced wealth transfer strategies and perform comprehensive financial plans for the wealth advisors.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- Senior Tax Specialist
- Senior Tax Specialist Read More
James Rabasca is a Senior Tax Specialist in the Integrated Planning Group of Summit Financial LLC. Jim provides guidance on estate, tax, retirement, charitable, and business planning. Prior to joining Summit, he was a Vice President/Account Manager at Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company, where he provided comprehensive financial and tax counseling to corporate executives and high net worth individuals. Before Ayco, Jim worked as an attorney, and focused his practice on taxation, business planning, and estate planning. He graduated from Rider University with a B.S. in Business Administration and earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Director of Marketing and Advisor Development Read More
- Director of Marketing and Advisor Development Years of Experience
Jenna Bloomgarden joined Summit Financial as a Director of Marketing and Advisor Development. She was with Dynasty Financial Partners most recently as a Vice President of Relationship Management, supporting multiple independent advisory firm clients. Prior to Dynasty, Jenna worked at Morgan Stanley's Graystone Consulting in client service for their institutional business. Jenna has spent most of her career working with advisors on marketing initiatives to create effective messaging and brand positioning for current and prospective clients as well as the broader marketplace. Jenna also has extensive experience with practice development and business planning, helping advisors to enhance team processes and increase effectiveness. Jenna has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration with a dual major in Finance and Strategic Management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Director of Wealth Management, President, Summit Risk Management
- Director of Wealth Management, President, Summit Risk Management Read More
Keith is registered to sell securities in CA, CT, FL, NJ & NY and Insurance in: NJ,NY,PA, and FL.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Financial Officer Read More
- LLC in 2015 As Chief Financial Officer and Vice President
Mara Stempler joined Summit Financial LLC in 2015 as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President. She is also the Chief Financial Officer of an affiliated limited purpose broker-dealer, LS Securities LLC. Mara has spent her entire career working in the financial services industry and managing the financial operations of independent Investment Advisors and Broker Dealers. Prior to joining Summit, Mara served as CFO for Auerbach Grayson and prior to that, Burnham Financial Group.
Mara earned a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University. She holds the FINRA Series 27 & 7 licenses and has served as the Financial Operations Principal for the three broker dealers she has worked for. Mara also holds a Certified Public Accountant license.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operations Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Operations Officer Read More
- LLC in 2007 As Chief Operating Officer and Vice President
Michael Bremer joined Summit Financial LLC in 2007 as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President, and is responsible for providing the leadership, management, and vision necessary to ensure that the company has the proper operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems in place to effectively grow the organization and ensure operating efficiency. He is a 30-year veteran in the insurance and financial services industry with experience in various executive and management roles. Prior to joining Summit, Michael spent 18 years at MetLife working across multiple disciplines such as running sales offices, annuity departments and marketing.
Michael is a Rutgers graduate and holds 9 FINRA licenses, including the Series 7, 24 and 4. He lives in Hillsborough, NJ with his wife and dog while his younger son attends college in South Carolina. Michael's older son is a resident of Charlotte, NC.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Summit Financial LLC
- Deputy Chief Investment Officer Read More
- Deputy Chief Investment Officer Years of Experience
Noreen Brown is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Summit Financial LLC. She is responsible for the development and ongoing oversight of Summit's investment offerings. Noreen also works with the investment team to create newsletters, whitepapers, and portfolio updates and is a resource for advisors on client portfolio design and investment strategies.
With more than two decades of investment advisory and asset management experience, Noreen's areas of specialization include alternative investments, investment research, asset allocation, portfolio construction, and manager due diligence. Prior to Summit, she focused on economic and capital market research for an independent wealth management firm. She was also responsible for business strategy and product management at two rapidly growing alternative investment businesses at Citigroup and AllianceBernstein. Previously, Noreen was an investment consultant to employee benefit plans and endowments/foundations at Mercer Investment Consulting, where she provided advice on asset allocation, portfolio construction and investment policy.
Noreen has a B.A. in Mathematics from Amherst College, an M.B.A. in Economics and Operations Management from the Stern School of Business at New York University, and is a CFA® Charter holder. She lives in Chatham, New Jersey with her three children.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Administrative Officer at Summit Financial LLC
- Chief Administrative Officer Read More
Sarah Rich is the Chief Administrative Officer at Summit Financial LLC. Sarah is responsible for the oversight of Human Resources and acts as a key advisor to Senior Leadership and other valued stakeholders. She guides management and employee actions by communicating and enforcing organizational values while working closely with business heads and advisors to hire and develop talent and consults in areas of training, employee relations and career coaching. Sarah has over 15 years of experience in Human Resources with most of her career spent in financial services. She specializes in employee relations and talent recruitment.
Prior to Summit, Sarah worked as a consultant for Société Générale, a business partner for Mylan Pharmaceuticals, and a business partner and generalist for Soros Fund Management LLC. At Mylan, she concentrated her expertise in employee relations, onboarding, talent recruitment, and benefits consultation. While at Soros, Sarah concentrated her expertise in recruiting, benefits platform development, and employee relations. She also acted as the Administrative Manager for all Executive Assistants and the Reception department including recruiting/terminations, daily oversight, and employee relations. Sarah has a B.S in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. She lives in Cedar Knolls with her husband and three daughters.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- CEO of Summit Financial LLC
- CEO Read More
- CEO Years of Experience
Stan Gregor is the CEO of Summit Financial LLC. As a senior executive with over 30 years of experience, Stan has operated in banking, private wealth management, investment management, fiduciary trust services, fixed income trading, investment banking, retirement services, insurance, financial planning, and public finance. He has also been involved in acquiring and integrating some of the largest and most complicated banking, wealth management, insurance, and capital markets businesses and cultures with a demonstrated track record of increasing productivity, profitability and shareholder value.
Most recently, Stan was the founder and co-CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald Wealth Partners (CFWP). Under his leadership, CFWP grew to over $5 billion in assets in less than two years through several strategic acquisitions of RIA's, independent advisors, and wire house teams.
Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald, Stan was the Head of Wells Fargo Wealth Management -Eastern US Markets and President of Wachovia Wealth Markets. He provided executive leadership to the Eastern U.S. Markets and headed up the Wealth Insurance Division overseeing: the private bank, wealth brokerage, investment management, fiduciary trust services, financial planning, and insurance. Stan was responsible for leading nearly 5,000 team members generating revenues of $2.5 billion with $69 billion of investment fee-based AUM, $19 billion of deposit balances, and $16 billion of loans.
Prior to Wachovia, Stan was CEO of Commerce Capital Markets, where he directed private wealth management, brokerage, asset management, fixed income trading, derivatives, investment banking, retirement services, insurance, and public finance.
Subsequently, Stan was CEO of Quick and Reilly (Q&R) as one of the visionaries that transformed Q&R from a transactional discount broker to a full-service advisory company. When Q&R was acquired by Bank of America, Stan stayed on as co-CEO of Bank of America Investment Services until 2005.
Over nearly a decade at Citigroup, Stan had several senior executive level roles leading different divisions including consumer banking, private wealth management, and Citigroup as Northeast Group Executive Vice President.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Chief Technology Officer at Summit Financial LLC
- Chief Technology Officer Read More
- Chief Technology Officer Years of Experience
Steve Pfundstein is the Chief Technology Officer at Summit Financial LLC. He joined Summit's predecessor firm in 2010 and is responsible for oversight of the technology department. With over 19 years of experience in managing teams of IT professionals in the implementation and management of enterprise networks, large scale migrations, and system implementations, Steve and his team have built a robust technology platform consisting of some of the industry's best systems with a focus on a simple yet powerful user experience. Steve earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Science with a minor in Marketing from Franciscan University. He lives in Rockaway Township with his wife and six children.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- Director of Investment Management Read More
- Director of Investment Management Years of Experience
Steve Melnick has close to 10 years of investment experience within the RIA space, most recently from Brown Advisory. At Brown Advisory, he was a Senior Research and Portfolio Analyst and worked on several investment related activities at the firm. Prior to Brown, Steven was at Dyson Capital Advisors and Cambridge Associates. Steven assists the Investment team with due diligence, newsletter writing, and serves as a resource to Advisors looking to grow their business as well as learning the Risk Monitor system. Steven holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from George Washington University and is also a CFA Charter holder.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Member of the Professional Strategy Team
- President
- President, Director of Investments Read More
- President, Director of Investments Years of Experience
Steven Weinman is the President of Summit Financial. He has been affiliated with Summit's predecessor and affiliated entities (Summit Equities, Inc. ("SE"), Summit Financial Resources, Inc., Summit Risk Management, Inc., and their affiliates) since 1982. Steven has general management oversight for the company.
He serves as the CEO of Summit Risk Management, LLC ("SRM"), an affiliated company licensed to sell various insurance products and operates as the insurance vehicle for Summit. Steven is also the CEO of a limited purpose broker-dealer, LS Securities LLC ("LSS"). He received his BS from Fairleigh Dickinson University and his MBA from NYU. Steven is also a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) in the state of New Jersey.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Team
- Senior Director of Operations at Summit Financial LLC
- Senior Director of Operations Read More
Tara Pizzutillo is the Senior Director of Operations at Summit Financial LLC. She is responsible for leading the strategic development and operational oversight of the Investment Operations teams and functions. Tara provides guidance and structure to ensure consistent and superior execution while maintaining an environment of continuous optimization of team performance, systems, and processes.
Tara is seasoned in a variety of Investment Operations roles with over 25 years in Finance and Banking. She has been awarded with recognition for excellence from Summit's predecessor, Summit Equities. Tara has a B.S. in Business Administration with a focus in Management from Centenary College. She holds her FINRA Series 7, 24, 55, and 63 licenses. Tara has two sons and lives in Long Valley, NJ.