Mark A. Cortazzo, CFP, Senior Partner, MACRO Consulting Group
Mark uses his extensive knowledge of the complex issues surrounding retirement distribution planning to build a future of wealth for his clients while sustaining their current lifestyle during retirement. Once the overall
financial plan has been designed, we meet with clients semi-annually to provide sound, professional
support at every stage. We are constantly considering the changing needs of our clients including their
financial status, attitude, risk tolerance, needs, goals, and priorities.
Mark offers expert financial advice as a CFP®, investment advisor, and retirement planning specialist. In
addition, Mark is a frequent speaker to local civic and professional groups, and often serves as a resource
for both local and national publications. Mark’s opinion is highly valued and frequently quoted within the
media as noted on the attached press page.
Outstanding service and a commitment to excellence have built Mark a solid client base, largely through
referrals from existing clients, as well as from other financial professionals.
Mark most recently was named to Barrons’ 2009 Top Advisor List and was seen in Fortune on a list
of the Top 50 Independent Advisors in the U.S. Other recent achievements include being named as a
top advisor by Research Magazine, Registered Rep, Worth, NJBiz and Bottom Line Retirement; and
the firm has been listed as a top wealth management firm by Wealth Manager for seven consecutive
years.
Paula Dorion-Gray, President, Dorion-Gray Retirement Planning, Inc.
Paula Dorion-Gray, a Certified Financial Planner, has 25 years experience. Since 1981, her client base has grown to include entrepreneurs, closely-held business owners, corporate executives, educators, managers, craft employees, entertainers and professionals. The variety of issues encountered servicing this diverse client base gives Paula the expertise to effectively counsel any situation. Paula holds a deep commitment to establishing a confidential and trusting relationship with every client. Her many long-term relationships are the result of a dedication to quality service. Her philosophy emphasizes the importance of understanding a client's entire financial profile. The success of this approach led her to develop The Total Vision Approach™ process. The Total Vision Approach™ helps clients to create the financial security they need to retire and do the things they want to do.
Since entering the industry, Paula has made the conscious decision to maintain an independent status. This allows her the freedom to utilize a variety of resources and services to achieve client goals. Paula was named as one of America's Top 100 Independent Advisors by Registered Rep. Magazine in August, 2007 (a national ranking based on assets under management for independent advisory firms). An honor she was proud to receive after 31 years in McHenry County.
In December of 2005, Paula was elected to Research Magazine’s Financial Advisor Hall of Fame. Since its inception 15 years ago, only 78 advisors have received this special honor, which considers not only years of experience (15 year minimum) and assets under management, but also superior service, prior industry recognition and active community service. In 2004, Paula also received the Athena Award. This award is given to women who demonstrate successful leadership in both business and the community. As a contributing columnist, Paula's columns on "Personal Financial Issues" appear regularly in the Northwest Herald. She is regularly interviewed and quoted on TV, radio, and in newspapers. Paula is a past President of The Rotary Club of Crystal Lake Dawnbreakers, former Chairperson for the Planned Giving Committee of the Centegra Foundation, and current President of Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake.
François Gadenne, Co-founder, Chairman and Executive Director, Retirement Income Industry Association, (RIIA)
François is co-founder, Chairman and Executive Director of the Retirement Income Industry Association, (RIIA). Based in Boston and drawing members from all segments of the financial services industry, RIIA (www.riia-usa.org) provides “the View Across the Silos”. The association serves both as a think tank to analyze retirement income issues and as an incubator to facilitate the exchange of new ideas, concepts and knowledge between institutions interested in building retirement income businesses.
For more than 20 years, François has led teams that build successful technology solutions for the financial industry. His background combines a history of entrepreneurship, line experience at financial service organizations, and corporate strategy consulting.
As an entrepreneur he co-founded Retirement Engineering, Inc. (REI), a Research & Development company with novel, protected designs for insurance and investment products that solve retirement income issues for the millions of “baby-boomers” now approaching retirement. REI’s financial engineering creates new structures for secure retirement incomes, with and without annuity features that improve the growth and profitability of its insurance and investment company partners. Francois is a co-inventor on patents issued and pending relating to this and earlier businesses.
He also co-founded Rational Investors, an independent provider of investment education and advice products for the Defined Contribution market. François grew the business to become one of the top three players in its niche. He then completed the successful sale of the company to Standard & Poor's.
In terms of working within the financial services sector, François served as general manager of S&P's Retirement Services group for two years. He also worked for nearly ten years at the Bank of Boston (now Bank of America), including The Private Bank. As a strategist, he provided CEOs and Boards with strategy consulting as an associate of Braxton, the strategy arm of Deloitte, and as a senior staff member at Arthur D. Little. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Institute and a Lecturer at Boston University’s School of Management, MS in Investment Management Program. He is a graduate of the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris and earned an MBA degree from J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jamie Green, Editor-in-Chief, Investment Advisor
Jamie Green is Group Editor-in-Chief of the Advisor Media Group at Summit Business Media, with overall editorial responsibility for Investment Advisor, Research, Boomer Market Advisor, and those magazines’ respective Web sites, and WealthManagerWeb.com.
He has more than 25 years experience in print and electronic journalism. In the 1980s he was editor of Tele/Scope, a pioneering electronic news service based in New York that covered telecommunications business and research, and was editor of Telecommunications Research, a monthly journal. In the 1990s he worked for nine years at The New York Times, where was editor of TimesFax, an electronic version of the newspaper of record now known as Times Digest, and edited The New York Times Large Type Weekly. While at The Times, he led the editorial team that expanded distribution of TimesFax to remote corners of every continent on Earth, to every ship in the U.S. Navy, to scores of cruise ships, and to the international space station.
He joined what was then Dow Jones Investment Advisor in 1999 as managing editor, was appointed executive editor of Investment Advisor magazine in 2000, editor in 2002, editor-in-chief in 2005, and editorial director of Investment Advisor and Wealth Manager in 2008 before assuming his current position in 2009.
He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Hyacinth College in Granby, Massachusetts, and studied theology on the graduate level at St. Anthony-on-the-Hudson, Rensselaer, New York.
Terry Herr, Managing Partner, Herr Capital Management
With over 15 years of investment and planning experience, Terry understands that every individual has their own definition of success and prosperity. Terry is registered principal of FSC Securities Corporation, a Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner and a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). He has over 13 years if broad-based financial planning, investment and insurance experience. Terry specializes in the retirement and investment needs of the baby boom generation. He is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of Herr Capital Management, LLC and its 6 independent financial professionals.
Terry graduated from Loyola University Chicago and has an advanced degree from the American College. He is a Certified Financial Planner™ practioner and a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), two of the most prestigious educational/professional designations in the financial services industry. As a CFP® exam instructor for both Northwestern University and DePaul University’s Certificate Program in Financial Planning, he assisted other financial industry professionals obtain the CFP® professional designation. He continues his financial educational and teaching with his clients and colleagues by serving as the Managing Partner of Herr Capital Management, LLC and by repeatedly presenting at the FSC Securities National Education and Business Conference.
David Macchia, Chief Executive Officer, Wealth2k®
Hailed as a "marketing guru" by Research Magazine, David Macchia is a leading mind in the use of web-based technology and digital media to improve education, productivity and compliance in the financial services industry.
Mr. Macchia is also a thought-leader on retirement income issues. He is Co-founder, Board member and Chair of the Member Resources Committee of the non-profit Retirement Income Industry Association. The association serves both as a think tank to analyze retirement income issues and as an incubator of cross-silo exploration of new ideas, concepts and knowledge between institutions interested in building retirement income businesses.
He regularly explores retirement security issues in his online magazine, DavidMacchiaBlog.com. He also writes a monthly column for Research Magazine featuring one-of-a-kind interviews with noted academics and executive leaders in financial services.
Safia Mehta, Investment Director Global Services, Alliance Capital
Ms Mehta is a Managing Director of SBM Investment Consulting Services, a firm that provides
independent services and solutions to investors including defined benefit and defined contribution plans,
endowments, asset managers and financial intermediaries.
To her clients she brings a wealth of investment experience in managing large pools of equity, fixed
income and alternative assets globally. Her track record specifically includes setting investment
objectives, conducting asset allocation, constructing multi-strategy and multi-manager portfolios and
client management. She has proven expertise in investment product strategy development, platform
restructuring and management, demand assessment and product positioning in key channels globally.
Throughout her career she has participated as a board and investment committee member of various
venture capital and private equity companies, charitable and professional organizations.
As the Investment Director, Global and Regional Services with AllianceBernstein L.P., Safia oversaw
their $6 billion global balanced and regional funds for Non-US institutional and retail investors;
conducted on-ground investor research and developed product strategy for Asian, European and Latin
American investors. She actively promoted thought leadership on “best investment principles” for both
institutional and individual investors globally. As the Head of Retirement Investments for Prudential
Financial, Safia led the $70 billion diversified investment platform including equity, fixed income,
alternative and asset allocation fund of funds (target date and guaranteed income) for public, private and
Taft Hartley pension plan sponsors and endowment clients. She also directed the asset allocation
committee and the manager due-diligence program.
Safia has also served as the Primary Investment Advisor for PepsiCo’s pension plans with over $4 billion
in assets under management and as a Managing Director, Fund Manager for Commonfund where she
managed the $3 billion international equity and fixed income portfolios for endowment and foundation
clients.
Safia is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and
Chartered Accountant (CA) designations. She also has Series 6, 26 & 23 Licenses. She is a member of
the New York Society of Security Analysts, CFA Institute and the Canadian Institute of Chartered
Accountants Program Director for the Stamford Society of Security Analysts.
Stephen Mitchell, Chief Operating Officer, Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA)
Steve Mitchell is Acting COO for the RIIA, focusing on the coordination of RIIA’s operations, including various committees, ranging from education, methodologies, communications, membership, etc.
Prior to joining RIIA, Steve was Director of Participant Communications, Investor Education, Planning and Advice Services for the Retirement Group at Merrill Lynch, including responsibility for the Merrill Lynch Advice Access and Merrill Lynch Retirement Income Services. Additionally, he led the development of The Merrill Lynch New Retirement Studies: The 2005 Study– A Perspective From The Baby Boomer Generation and The 2006 Study - A Perspective from Individuals and Employers. Merrill Lynch was a founding member of RIIA and Steve also served as the primary Merrill Lynch representative.
He has over 30 years of broad based experience in the retirement and investment field (retail and institutional), including client service management, benefits consulting, marketing and product development. Over the past several years he has focused extensively on investor education, developing investor education guides, seminars and planning tools for retirement, college and estate planning. A graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Mr. Mitchell is a frequent speaker at client and industry events and a regular media spokesperson on a wide range of retirement and investing topics.
Kerry H. Pechter, Editor and Publisher, Retirement Income Journal
Kerry H. Pechter, the editor and publisher of Retirement Income Journal, has been a financial journalist for over 20 years.
Since 1997, he has been involved in the retirement industry, first as a writer at the Vanguard Group and then as editor of Retirement Income Reporter, a SourceMedia publication. He is the author of Annuities for Dummies (Wiley, 2008). As a writer, his articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Across the Board, and many other national publications. More recently, he has contributed to Bank Investment Consultant magazine and writes a monthly column on
annuities for Boomer Market Advisor magazine.
A graduate of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, he lives in Emmaus, PA, with his wife, Lisa, and three daughters.
John Rekenthaler, VP of Research and New Product, Morningstar
John Rekenthaler is vice president of research and new product development. In this role, he oversees Morningstar’s research methodologies, and is involved a variety of new product development efforts.
Mr. Rekenthaler previously served as president of Morningstar Associates, LLC, a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. During his tenure, Rekenthaler led the company’s retirement advice business, building it from a start-up operation to one of the largest independent advice and guidance providers in the retirement industry. He joined Morningstar in 1988 and has served in several capacities. Prior to his position at Morningstar Associates, he was the firm’s director of research, where he helped to develop Morningstar’s quantitative methodologies, such as the Morningstar Rating™ for funds, the Morningstar Style Box™, and industry sector classifications. He also served as editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds™ and Morningstar FundInvestor™.
Mr. Rekenthaler holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in business administration with high honors from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and is a member of the Investment Analysts Society of Chicago.
Dr. Gregory Salsbury, PhD, Executive Vice President, Jackson National Life
Greg Salsbury is Executive Vice President of Jackson National Life Distributors (JNLD), and responsible for the oversight of a number of key areas: Marketing Communications & Strategy, The Retirement & Wealth Strategies Group, Market Research & Analysis, the Professional Development Unit, the Annuity Support Unit, National Accounts, the Seminar Systems Unit, the National Sales Desk, Jackson National Life Insurance Company® Corporate Communications and the Denver-based recruiting team. Dr. Salsbury is a much sought after industry speaker on the subjects of investor behavior, adviser best practices, and retirement.
Salsbury received a master's degree in communications from the University of Illinois, and a second master's degree in communication technologies from the Annenberg School of Communications. He received his doctorate in organizational communication from the University of Southern California and is widely published in the areas of sales, marketing, employee motivation, behavioral finance and retirement. From his work and experience as a long-standing executive in the financial services industry, Salsbury was uniquely positioned to craft a visionary view of retirement's future. He is author of the landmark book, But What if I Live?
Kevin Seibert, Managing Director, International Foundation for Retirement Education
Kevin Seibert joined the International Foundation for Retirement Education (InFRE) in 2003 and serves as Managing Director. He works closely with retirement plan sponsors, providers and advisors to offer a curriculum that will allow candidates to obtain an InFRE certification. He has more than 25 years of experience in retirement benefits, financial planning and financial education.
Kevin also continues to create and present customized financial planning and preretirement education programs. He talks extensively to audiences nationwide and is regarded as an informative and motivational speaker.
Prior to InFRE, Kevin was co-founder of Balance Financial Services, a Chicago area financial planning and consulting firm. Before founding Balance in 1988, he worked as a consultant for William M. Mercer, Inc. and was responsible for the implementation of compensation and employer provided benefit plans. Kevin was also Director of Marketing for a New Jersey based company specializing in the development and distribution of defined contribution and financial planning programs.
Kevin is recognized as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP?), a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) and a Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC?). Kevin earned his MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin and received his undergraduate degree in finance from Miami University of Ohio. Serving as Treasurer and Executive Board member for the Greater Chicago Chapter of the International Society of Retirement Planners, Kevin played an active role in providing on-going retirement planning education to professional and employer members of this organization.
Paul Siegert, President & CEO, Insurance Studies Institute
Paul A. Siegert has over 46 years experience in national and international business with focus on general business, financial and investment strategies, management practices, fiscal controls, profit incentives, systems and corporate structuring and governance. He has consulted to Fortune 500 corporations, regional firms, emerging businesses, government and education, and has served as director, general partner and advisor to partnerships and corporations, including restructuring of economically troubled businesses. Mr. Siegert has provided written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee regarding SEC practices and created two companies registered under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. He also helped form and guide the Colorado Institute for Artificial Intelligence at the University of Colorado.
Mr. Siegert’s education includes: studies toward a Master of Business Administration, University of Chicago; and Bachelor of Science and Industrial Management, Purdue University. Specific insurance-related experiences include: creation of one of the nation’s first employer self-funded life, medical and disability insurance programs; designing medical, life insurance and social security opt-out programs for educational institutions; incorporation of financial analysis disciplines in life insurance and estate planning; and strategizing of key-man insurance plans and life insurance in business continuation planning for corporations and senior executives.
From 1979 to 1986 Siegert was nationally recognized as a tax and estate planning expert. Mr. Siegert founded a major funder and provider in the life settlement business sector and currently serves as a Managing Director of this entity. In his capacities, he innovated an insurance policy valuation and pricing model, created life settlement documentation, undertook state licensing and compliance and developed operating and marketing systems.
John Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Boomer Market Advisor
John Sullivan, Group Editor-in-Chief of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, is an 18 years financial services industry veteran. Sullivan, the product of an insurance and advisory family business, has previously held positions in sales, marketing and accounting at Jackson National Life, OppenheimerFunds and ING Security Life.
Chris Vincent, CFA, Head of Fixed Income Group, William Blair & Company
Christopher Vincent, CFA, principal, is head of the Fixed Income Group within William Blair & Company's Investment Management division. He joined William Blair & Company in June 2002 as a fixed-income portfolio manager. Mr. Vincent began his institutional investment career in 1983, and was previously a managing director/senior fixed-income portfolio manager with Zurich Scudder Investments for 14 years. Before that he was with Ralston Purina Company for five years in the treasury department in the plan sponsor role, where he was responsible for fixedincome investments for the company's benefit plans. He has been affiliated with the Uhlich Children's Advantage Network in Chicago since 1991 as a trustee, treasurer, and advisory board member; and he serves on the board of the CFA Society of Chicago. Mr. Vincent was inducted into the prestigious Davenport Society at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2005.
Education: B.S.B.A., University of Missouri, M.B.A.; Saint Louis University.
Gil Weinreich, Editor-in-Chief, Research Magazine
Gil Weinreich has been the editor of Research for over 12 years, during which time he twice won the Excellence in Financial Journalism award from the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants for his path-breaking column, “The Ethical Advisor.” Gil also worked as a news reporter for three years at Voice of America, where he won a journalism award for his coverage of breaking events in the Middle East, and prior to that he worked at U.S. News and World Report for two years. He received his Master’s degree at American University in Washington, D.C., and his bachelor’s at U.C. Berkeley. Gil lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nedra, their son Ariel, 11, and daughter Leora, 8.
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