Gregory Merkle

Nicholas Dirienzo is a CFA® charterholder with six years of industry experience. He is currently with Nottingham Advisors Inc. and previously worked at Manulife Asset Management, State Street, and Putnam Investments. Nottingham Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, trusts, pension plans, foundations, and corporations. The firm employs a core/satellite investment approach primarily using ETFs and mutual funds, supplemented by tactical satellite positions selected by an internal Investment Policy Committee.

Cutler Greene is the sole advisor at Spaulding Greene Wealth Management, LLC in Buffalo, NY, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with four years of industry experience. He has been with Spaulding Greene Wealth Management since 2007. Outside of advisory services, he is a member of two LLCs that own small rental properties, which are unrelated to his investment work. Spaulding Greene Wealth Management provides discretionary investment management to a small client base of individual investors, trusts, and estates, focusing on conservative, tax-aware portfolio management using individual equities, mutual funds, and ETFs. The firm operates as a single-advisor practice with tailored portfolios and a preference for low turnover.

Matthew Makowski is a financial advisor at Ibis Capital Management, LLC with 11 years at the firm and 14 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and is also an attorney, managing his own law firm, Matthew J. Makowski, PLLC, where he practices law part-time. Ibis Capital Management primarily serves individual and trust clients, as well as some pension and profit-sharing plan accounts, offering discretionary portfolio management and financial planning. The firm uses fundamental research with some quantitative inputs to tailor investment strategies based on client risk tolerance, diversification, income needs, and age.

I'm a retirement focused advisor with over 10 years of experience. I specialize in tax-efficient retirement planning and investment management for those that are retired or within a few years of retiring, all for a flat annual fee. I launched Free Time Financial in March 2025 after spending 10 years working for a Registered Investment Advisor firm who provided tax-efficient retirement planning, but charged for the service based on how large your investment accounts were. That model never made sense to me, and I finally left to build a firm on my own terms, where I could take wonderful care of a smaller number of families and charge them based on the complexity of the service and not on how wealthy they are.

Gordon Stockman is a financial advisor at EWM Advisory with over a decade of experience in the industry. He holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at EWM Advisory since 2014, alongside his roles at Efficient Wealth Management Inc. He is also involved with Nextgen Financial Planning Inc., a registered portfolio manager in Ontario, and Sharp Accounting Professional Corp, a CPA firm in Ontario. EWM Advisory serves individual clients, including some high-net-worth individuals, by providing customized investment management, comprehensive financial planning, and project-based consulting. The firm emphasizes passive, index- and ETF-based portfolios with a focus on asset allocation, low costs, and tax-aware strategies, offering personalized service to a small client base.

Connor Rosenecker is a CFP® professional with four years of industry experience, currently serving at Sterling Investment Counsel, LLC. His prior experience includes roles at Hightower Advisors and Linwood Investment Advisors Inc. Outside of his advisory work, he is involved as a cantor for the Diocese of Buffalo. Sterling Investment Counsel provides portfolio management and financial planning services to a diverse client base, including individuals, high-net-worth investors, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and retirement plans. The firm customizes portfolios based on client goals and risk tolerance, using a combination of analytical methods and both long- and short-term trading strategies.