Top financial advisors working with clients approaching retirement in Madison, WI

Sandeep Brion is a financial advisor at Creative Planning with a Series 65 designation and four years of industry experience. He previously worked at Wealthspire Advisors and Morgan Dempsey Capital Management. Creative Planning provides investment advisory and financial planning services to a diverse client base, including individuals, corporations, foundations, trusts, and retirement plans. The firm employs a financial planning–led investment process emphasizing low-cost indexing and buy-and-hold strategies, supported by a large advisory team and centralized investment infrastructure.

Brennan Gott is a financial advisor with Fidelity who holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has seven years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at LPL Financial and Wells Fargo Bank and Clearing. He is based in Sussex, Wisconsin. Fidelity’s Strategic Advisers LLC provides investment management and advisory services to retail and institutional investors, including registered investment companies and charitable funds. The firm combines fundamental research, quantitative analysis, and algorithmic portfolio construction to manage discretionary and non-discretionary portfolios and delivers model portfolios through systematic methodologies and long-term asset allocation benchmarks.

Oak Wealth Advisors was founded to provide families with special needs members with experienced and objective financial advice and investment management services that have traditionally been available only to very wealthy families and institutions. I first met Oak Wealth Advisors founder, Mike Walther, when Mike guest lectured about special needs financial planning in one of my classes at the University of Wisconsin. In the decade that has followed, I have taught courses at the University of Wisconsin while deepening my knowledge and experience in financial planning and wealth management. I am a CFP® practitioner. I also obtained the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designation issued by the Investments & Wealth Institute after completing the course work at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In addition to my personal experiences living with a sister with special needs, I have increased my technical knowledge of special needs financial planning. I earned the Chartered Special Needs Consultant®(ChSNC®) designation from the American College in 2018, and in 2020, was admitted as a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners. I served on the Board of Directors of Wispact, Inc., an organization that manages pooled Special Needs Trusts for over 3,000 individuals in Wisconsin. At the appointment of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, I serve on the Wisconsin Board for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and the state College Savings Board. At Oak Wealth Advisors, in addition to advising clients, I lead the innovation efforts to ensure that new opportunities for client service are implemented seamlessly to support the delivery of the best possible client experience with the firm.

John Handy Jr. is a financial advisor at Farther with Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and 38 years of industry experience. He has worked at SignalPoint Asset Management since 2013 and joined Farther Finance Advisors in 2024. Outside of finance, he serves as a strategic advisor and board member for CodaWorx, a company focused on tools for managing applications for commissioned art projects, and owns Jay Handy Ink, LLC, which sells his personally created artwork. Farther serves individual investors, trusts, and estates through a technology-driven advisory platform that offers discretionary investment management, retirement plan consulting, and non-discretionary recommendations for private investment funds. The firm’s investment approach uses Modern Portfolio Theory applied through bespoke allocations and proprietary algorithmic model portfolios with automatic rebalancing.

Zachary Pearsall is a financial advisor at Choreo, LLC with three years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at BDO Wealth Advisors, LLC and Taiber Kosmala & Associates. Choreo provides investment and advisory services to a diverse client base, including individual investors, family offices, endowments, and corporate clients. The firm’s investment approach emphasizes strategic asset allocation and diversified model portfolios managed by a centralized team and overseen by an Investment Committee.

Willie Myles is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Cary, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Equitable Advisors since 2016 and previously at AXA Advisors, LLC. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as co-chairman of a fundraising campaign for the nonprofit Alpha Light Fund Inc., focused on renovating the House of Alpha. Equitable Advisors serves a diverse client base including individual, high-net-worth, retirement plan, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients, offering financial planning, broker-dealer services, insurance distribution, and access to third-party asset management programs. The firm operates as both an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, leveraging LPL-sponsored programs and endorsed TAMPs to deliver advisory and brokerage solutions.

Stavroula Koutsfetsoulis is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Ameriprise and its affiliated entities since 2011. In addition to her advisory role, she is involved in fiduciary activities as an attorney-in-fact (power of attorney). Ameriprise is a large institutional firm that provides retirement-income planning services primarily to individuals with substantial investable assets. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to deliver written recommendation reports through a centralized consulting team, focusing on tailored retirement income strategies.

Barbara Brewer is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 20 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with RBC Capital Markets Corporation since 2008. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers various advisory programs with discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services, tailoring strategies to clients’ Advisory Risk Profiles through a mix of in-house and third-party providers.

Richard Martin is a financial advisor at Cetera with 29 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has a background that includes nearly three decades at Avantax Advisory Services and eight years at Avantax Insurance Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he is the owner and sole proprietor of Martin & Pellegrin, CPAs, a tax preparation and accounting firm. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered firm that serves a broad client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporate and charitable clients, and institutional accounts. The firm provides a multi-manager platform offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and access to various program structures and third-party money managers.

Lee Chen is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services in Pasadena, California, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. He has been with UBS since 2009. Outside of his advisory role, Chen serves on the board of directors for the San Gabriel Country Club. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory offerings, combining proprietary capital market research with a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management solutions.