Edward Maher is a financial advisor at Merit Financial Advisors with two years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has previously worked at Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, LPL Financial, and Ceponis Financial Group. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved with Blast Media Group LLC, a business entity used for tax and investment purposes. Merit Financial Group, LLC is an SEC-registered advisory firm managing approximately $10.6 billion and serving a diverse client base including individuals, corporate clients, retirement plan sponsors, and charitable organizations. The firm employs a long-term, diversified investment strategy using tailored model portfolios and offers a range of services such as asset management, financial planning, and employee financial wellness programs.

Benjamin Lake is a CFP® and CFA® with seven years of industry experience. He is currently with Composition Wealth, LLC, where he has worked since 2022, following four years at Altfest Personal Wealth Management and six years at Lake Partners, Inc. Composition Wealth, LLC serves a diverse client base including individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, businesses, and charitable organizations. The firm offers investment management, financial planning, and retirement plan advisory services, utilizing a primarily long-term investment approach centered on low-cost, diversified mutual funds and ETFs, supplemented by other instruments and both fundamental and technical analysis.

Frank Vallorosi is a financial advisor at OSAIC with 25 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has been with OSAIC since 2007, including a role at Focus Financial since 2021. Vallorosi also performs compliance-related activities as a Compliance Specialist. OSAIC is an SEC-registered investment adviser and FINRA member broker-dealer serving a diverse client base, including individuals, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers a range of advisory and brokerage services through a large network of financial advisers, utilizing advanced portfolio management tools and providing access to multiple custodial platforms and third-party managers.

Nicholas Friedman is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license, with 15 years of industry experience. He has been with Ritholtz Wealth Management since 2025 and previously worked at Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C., Edelman Financial Services, LLC, and EF Legacy Securities, LLC. Ritholtz Wealth Management serves individual and institutional clients, including high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, and trusts, offering portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm uses a goal-based investment process with an emphasis on asset allocation and behavioral finance, employing diversified low-cost ETFs alongside tactical overlays and alternative investments.

Fernando Ascenso is a financial advisor with OSAIC Institutions, Inc. and holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. He has 24 years of industry experience, including positions at HSBC Securities and RBC Capital Markets. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as a general partner and vice president in a real estate rental business with family members. OSAIC Institutions, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, ERISA retirement plans, trusts, estates, and corporate clients through a large network of investment adviser representatives. The firm offers customized advisory services, financial planning, ERISA plan services, and access to alternative investments, operating with a hybrid adviser/broker-dealer structure and a focus on both discretionary and non-discretionary assets.

Ricardo Balmaseda is a CFP® professional with 44 years of industry experience. He has been with Benjamin F. Edwards & Company, Inc. since 2011. The firm serves a broad client base including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, corporations, and other institutions. Benjamin F. Edwards provides a range of investment advisory and financial planning services through consolidated discretionary and non-discretionary wrap programs that utilize both in-house and third-party managed strategies.

Raffaele Prospero is a financial advisor at Citigroup Global Markets with 24 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has worked at Citigroup since 2021. His prior experience includes seven years at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Citigroup Global Markets serves individual and institutional clients across various wealth segments, offering a range of investment advisory programs and broker-dealer execution and custody services. The firm employs multi-asset, multi-manager strategies with internal oversight and provides solutions for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Carl Bailey Jr. is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network, holding a Series 63 designation and more than 47 years of industry experience. He has been with Commonwealth since 2002 and also co-owns Bailey and Beatty Financial Services, which he has been involved with since 1982. Outside of his advisory roles, Bailey serves as a co-trustee for client trusts and acts as an executor for client estates. Commonwealth Financial Network is a dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,900 affiliated advisors and managing about $212.7 billion in client assets. The firm provides a wide range of advisory support services, including managed account programs, access to third-party asset managers, and comprehensive back-office functions.

Christopher Perry is a CFP® professional with 28 years of experience in financial advising. He is currently with Perry Financial Strategies and has prior experience at Webster Wealth Advisors and Commonwealth Equity Services, Inc. He serves as co-trustee for a non-client trust. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser supporting a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors. The firm provides a range of advisory programs and back-office services, including investment management, compliance, and technology support, allowing advisors discretion in portfolio construction alongside managed model portfolios.

John Valiska Jr. is a financial advisor with Money Concepts Capital Corp in Danbury, CT, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 40 years of industry experience. He has worked at Money Concepts since 1995 and concurrently holds long-term roles at Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG, Oesterreichische Landerbank, and Altschuler Tellkamp Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as a board member and director for Musicals At Richter, a nonprofit organization. Money Concepts Advisory Service provides portfolio management, financial planning, and consulting to individuals, pension plans, trusts, charitable organizations, and corporations. The firm manages approximately $3.33 billion across multiple managed programs using a combination of model portfolios, adviser-designed portfolios, and third-party sub-advisers.

Mark Rader is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network in Danbury, CT, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 27 years of industry experience. He has worked at Bailey & Beatty Financial Services and Commonwealth Financial Network since 2005. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in selling fixed insurance products. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients. The firm offers a range of advisory programs and services, including wealth management and retirement plan consulting, and provides operational, trading, technology, compliance, and practice-management support to affiliated advisors.

Marc Ferraiola is a financial advisor at Citigroup Global Markets with five years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked previously at Morgan Stanley, E*TRADE Capital Management LLC, Worden Capital Management LLC, and the University of Buffalo. Citigroup Global Markets serves individual and institutional clients across various wealth segments, offering multi-asset, multi-manager investment strategies through discretionary and non-discretionary programs. The firm combines large institutional scale with unique market roles and provides advisory, execution, custody, and specialized lending services.

Ryan Hayes is a financial advisor with Stratos Wealth Partners, Ltd. He holds a Series 66 designation and has one year of industry experience. Prior to joining Stratos, he worked at Rockefeller Financial LLC and LPL Financial. Stratos Wealth Partners provides advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, trusts, charitable organizations, corporations, and retirement plans. The firm offers an open-architecture Strategic Wealth Management platform that supports both advisor-managed and model-based portfolios, emphasizing active monitoring and asset allocation across multiple custodians.

Ralph Sessa is a financial advisor with Guardian Life and holds a Series 63 designation. He has 33 years of industry experience, including multiple tenures at Park Avenue Securities and Guardian Life Insurance Company. Outside of his advisory role, he serves as a trustee for a family trust. Guardian Life’s subsidiary, Park Avenue® Wealth Management, serves individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charitable organizations, and corporate clients with brokerage services, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and a variety of investment advisory programs.

Jack Woods is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network, holding a Series 66 designation and two years of industry experience. Prior to joining Commonwealth and Bailey & Beatty Financial Services, LLC in 2024, he studied at the University of Maryland and Bryant University. Commonwealth Financial Network is a dual-registered broker/dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,900 affiliated advisors and managing around $212.7 billion in client assets. The firm offers a broad adviser-support platform, including managed-account programs, access to third-party asset managers, and custody services.

Laurie Ham is a CFP® professional with 20 years of industry experience, currently affiliated with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC. Her career includes roles at LPL Financial, Triad Advisors Inc, and Reby Advisors, LLC. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC is an SEC-registered enterprise advisory firm serving a diverse client base that includes individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, corporations, and retirement plans. The firm employs a strategic investment process combining passive and active management, supported by an internal Investment Committee and quantitative and fundamental research.

Jeffrey Mctiernan is a financial advisor with Valic Financial Advisors, holding Series 63, Series 65, and Series 66 credentials and 25 years of industry experience. He has worked at Valic Financial Advisors since 2011 and is also an agent for Agia, offering non-securities insurance products. Valic Financial Advisors primarily serves U.S.-domiciled individual investors, including high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, as well as corporate and retirement-plan participants. The firm offers discretionary managed-account programs, wrap programs, financial planning, and brokerage services, utilizing Envestnet UMA models for portfolio construction and management.

Justin King is a financial advisor at Oppenheimer with 18 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has been with Oppenheimer since 2007. Oppenheimer serves a diverse client base including individuals, corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, and charitable organizations. The firm provides advisory and brokerage services with an emphasis on strategic asset allocation, manager selection, and a range of investment products, managing accounts both on discretionary and non-discretionary bases.

Jason Alicea is a financial advisor with Kestra Advisory, holding Series 65 and Series 63 credentials and 28 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Farther Finance Advisors, Bank of America, Merrill, 13D Asset Management, Hycroft Advisors, Infinity Q Management, and Tocqueville Asset Management. Kestra Advisory Services provides investment advisory and retirement plan consulting to a range of institutional and individual clients, offering fiduciary consulting, plan design, and investment management services supported by due diligence across multiple management platforms.

Kristin Hall is a financial advisor with Principal Financial Services, holding a Series 66 credential and bringing 24 years of industry experience. She has been with Principal Financial Services since 2005 and Principal Life Insurance Company since 2004. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as a bank officer at Principal Bank and Principal Trust Company to support retirement plan account relationships. Principal Securities provides brokerage and registered investment advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, retirement plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm offers direct advisory programs, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and access to third-party money manager solutions through various advisory and promoter arrangements.