Yearly Archives: 2014
Mid Atlantic Welcomes Turning Point Associates
Mid Atlantic is pleased to welcome Turning Point Associates, a TPA and recordkeeper based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, as our new business partner. We are honored to have been chosen as a custodial platform and look forward to collaborating with Turning Point to help them expand their practice.
Granite Group Advisors Makes Worth Magazine’s 2014 Leading Wealth Advisor List
Congratulations to Granite Group Advisors for recently being selected by Worth Magazine as a 2014 Leading Wealth Advisor. Granite Group partners with Mid Atlantic to utilize ModelxChange® for 401(k) plan management.
Below is a link to a published Worth article written by Granite Group’s Lyle B. Himebaugh III, Managing Partner, and Richard C. Zipkis, Chief Investment Officer and Partner:
Getting to Know Mid Atlantic – Meet John Wight!
Meet John Wight, Sales Executive for Mid Atlantic Capital Group, Inc. (Mid Atlantic). John works with financial advisors seeking to operate an independent practice on an open architecture platform. Through ongoing consultation and collaboration with the advisor, John coordinates with the Mid Atlantic team to offer tailored solutions for the advisor’s needs.
John was born and raised in Baltimore, MD, and later attended Denison University in Granville, OH. After graduation, he and his wife moved back to Baltimore where John embarked on his career working for T. Rowe Price and then Legg Mason Wood Walker.
As John’s wife over time yearned to be closer to her family, the couple packed up the car and moved to a suburb of Pittsburgh where they eventually started a family. John immediately went to work with Federated Investors where he specialized in helping advisors become experts in 401(k) planning and servicing. In addition, he presented Federated’s myriad of financial products to numerous broker-dealers and RIAs.
We recently caught up with John to gain some additional insight regarding his wealth of experience working with independent advisors:
What sparked your interest in finance and business?
It probably starts with my father who was a broker for an investment banking firm in Baltimore. I’ve always been interested in how the equity markets worked and how people accumulate wealth.
What do you like most about working for Mid Atlantic?
Without a doubt, the culture and our sandbox. Everyone is approachable and focused on delivering the best service for our customers and their clients. There is transparency and accountability at every level. Mid Atlantic takes the time to understand our customer’s business and is flexible in presenting customized solutions.
What makes for an effective transition from one brokerage firm to another?
Our transition team would suggest, first and foremost, that you know your clients. Know what products they have and where they are located, and be sure to prepare for their needs before you make the change.
Secondly, be methodical in your approach and be prepared to meet with each and every client to explain why you are moving from one broker-dealer to another. Most transitioning reps are afraid that change will impact their client relationship but in reality we see the opposite… Most clients are so supportive of their rep finding the best home that will serve that rep and their account the best.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Investing, golfing, skiing, mountain and road biking, and whatever activities my wife and our three children have going on at that time.
It goes without saying that the success of any business starts with qualified employees who care and want to help others be successful.
Are you a financial professional looking to become a part of something greater? Then come meet John and the entire Mid Atlantic family!
For more information, please contact John Wight at 1-800-693-7800, ext. 286 or by emailing him at jwight@macg.com.
Mid Atlantic Welcomes Financial Consulting Group
Mid Atlantic is pleased to announce its new business partnership with Financial Consulting Group. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Germantown, Tennessee, FCG serves professional practices, private businesses, individuals, and the banking community. Led by its co-founders and partners Dennis Plyler and Lloyd Crawford, FCG offers retirement planning and consulting, deferred compensation and executive benefits programs, investment fiduciary consulting services, community bank services, and individual financial planning.
“Our strength is the fact that our firm and personnel [all have] a lot of experience in the retirement plan area, from . . . a legal, accounting, and investment perspective,” says Plyler. “So we bring pretty much a turn-key approach to retirement plans.”
In addition to being staffed with seasoned financial professionals, Plyler credits FCG’s lower fee structure in helping attract and retain clients. “They know we’ll bring value at a good cost,” he says.
Due to the acquisition of its previous broker-dealer, FCG decided to seek out a new broker-dealer better able to understand and support its practice. It was quickly determined that Mid Atlantic’s expertise in the retirement planning field offered the most practical solutions and is what primarily led FCG to come aboard. FCG will function mainly as 401(k), ESOP, and KSOP consultants and conduct 3(21) consulting business through MAFM.
Mid Atlantic’s Erin Fischer Selected as 40 Under 40 Honoree
Mid Atlantic would like to heartily congratulate Erin Fischer, Vice President and General Counsel, for her outstanding achievement in being named as a 2014 40 Under 40 honoree by Pittsburgh Magazine and the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP). Since its inception 16 years ago, the 40 Under 40 program annually recognizes 40 individuals under the age of 40 who utilize their creativity, vision, and passion to enrich the Pittsburgh region.
“I am thrilled and humbled to be part of Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 Under 40″, said Ms. Fischer. “Since returning to Pittsburgh about ten years ago, I’ve seen a marked change in the vibrancy and development of the city. It has been and continues to be my goal to contribute to that.”
This year’s honorees were selected by an independent panel of judges from a nomination pool of more than 225 candidates comprised of former winners, business professionals, and civic leaders. Winners get chosen based on a demonstrated record of outstanding professional achievement, community impact, and volunteer leadership.
As a city resident, one of Ms. Fischer’s main passions is mentoring Pittsburgh youth. She has been involved in programs working with groups ranging from students at the downtown Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) School, to law students through the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, to young lawyers in practice. Ms. Fischer is also on the board of Our Clubhouse, an organization in Pittsburgh’s Strip District dedicated to providing support to families and friends of those affected by cancer.
Ms. Fischer came to Mid Atlantic this past August after 10 years with McGuireWoods LLP, a large regional law firm with an office in Pittsburgh. Though her career with Mid Atlantic is just getting started, she views the company as a great fit for her.
“I’m excited to have recently joined MACG”, said Ms. Fischer, “not only because of the career challenge, but also because it is a company dedicated to changing the community for the better.”
Group CEO Tim Friday Featured in CLS Investments’ Advisor Insight Series
Tim Friday, Group CEO and President of Mid Atlantic Trust Company, was recently featured in an Advisor Insight profile video produced by CLS Investments, an MATC money management business partner since 2010. During the video, Tim talks about how and why forging strong partnerships with firms like CLS have been central to Mid Atlantic’s success. Tim also shares three key pieces of helpful advice for any financial advisor looking to get into the retirement planning field.
To view this four minute video, please click the link below:
CLS Investments – Advisor Insight Interview with Tim Friday
Mid Atlantic Welcomes Two New ModelxChange® Managers
Mid Atlantic is pleased to announce two new full service ModelxChange® partners:
Fort Pitt Capital Group, an independent SEC-registered investment advisor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, provides trusted, strategic investment, and wealth management solutions to both individuals and institutions. Its Asset Allocation Strategy is a strategic risk-based investment management approach implemented through a multi-manager portfolio. Fort Pitt’s investment philosophy is based on the belief that risk premiums are the primary return drivers of diversified multi-asset portfolios. The investment process consists of a three level approach to portfolio construction: Asset Allocation, Investment Structure, and Investment Selection.
Hightower|Scottsdale, a registered investment advisor in Scottsdale Arizona, is the sub-advisor to the five LDintelligence™ (LDi) targeted return portfolios: LDi3™, LDi5™, LDi7™, LDi9™, and LDi11™. Its portfolio construction is augmented with a provocatively disruptive retirement readiness solution known as the LDintelligence Managed account Plan Participant system, LDi-MaPPs™. The Liability Derived intelligence™ portfolios consist of five asset/liability modeled, target return portfolios aimed to achieve each client’s growth and/or cash flow needs while proportionately reducing their downside risk exposure.
Please contact John Hufnagel at jhufnagel@macg.com or (412) 391-7077, ext. 390 with any additional questions.
New SEC Guidance on Disclosures
The SEC has issued updated guidance on the investment disclosures that must be made to retirement plan participants. You can view the SEC’s Guidance Update by clicking here. The fact sheets MATC has created as part of our full service ModelxChange offering assist you in meeting these standards, though we encourage you to review any disclosure text you have created with your compliance and legal team to ensure it follows SEC requirements.
If you have any questions or need help updating your fact sheets, please contact us at 800-693-7800.
Three New Strategists Join Mid Atlantic’s ModelxChange® Managers Program
Mid Atlantic is pleased to announce the recent addition of three model strategists available to the clients of Mid Atlantic Capital Corporation’s registered representatives via Mid Atlantic Financial Management’s ModelxChange® Managers Program.
Alpha Investment Management, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, offers investment strategies to conservative investors seeking positive returns year after year. The firm manages money using asset allocation strategies based on long-term seasonal factors that take into account the cause of certain structural recurring patterns that historically have had a strong influence on the stock market. (www.alphaim.net)
iSectors®, an SEC-registered investment adviser in Appleton, Wisconsin, provides a comprehensive suite of proprietary exchange traded fund (“ETF”)-based asset allocation models and services. The firm’s array of model strategies, services, and support empowers advisors with the ability to create and maintain unique investment solutions tailored to each client’s individual investment goals and risk tolerance. (www.isectors.com)
ITS Asset Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser in Washington, Pennsylvania, provides professional portfolio management services to investors seeking a disciplined and active approach for their investments through a network of independent financial professionals. ITS strives to help clients realize long-term compounding returns while also protecting against what firm considers to be the three greatest threats to client assets: inflation, cyclical losses, and emotions. (www.itsassetmanagement.com)
If you have any questions, please contact John Hufnagel at jhufnagel@macg.com or (412) 391-7077, ext. 390.
MA National Conference 2014
The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs Florida was a beautiful location for our 2014 National Conference. Matt Stover, former NFL place kicker and two-time Super Bowl Champion, “kicked off” the conference with his motivational presentation, “Success On & Off the Field”. In our second keynote, Dave Nelsen of Dialog Consulting, Vistage International’s #1 rated speaker, talked to us about transforming monologue into dialog through social media for business. Kudos to Matt, Dave, and all our other speakers and sponsors, and thanks to our attendees, as always, for making it a great event. See you next year!
