Dan Candura, CFP®, Candura Group, LLC.

Dan Candura provides financial advice and education to consumers and financial professionals. He is founder of his own education and consulting firm Candura Group, LLC. In that role he provides ethics training across the United States, Canada and Europe through in-person courses and webinars. As President of PennyTree Advisers. LLC, a Registered Investment Advisory firm in Massachusetts, Dan provides personal financial planning for consumers and litigation support for attorneys. Dan taught financial planning, insurance planning and retirement planning in the Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University in Boston and is also a FINRA arbitrator. Dan serves as the CFP® Ambassador for the Boston area. He writes a monthly column “Ask the Ethicist” for Investment News and appeared as a featured expert on the PBS documentary Retirement Revolution. He has been profiled in The Journal of Financial Planning, Investment News, and quoted in The NY Times and other publications. In 2015, Dan appeared on the cover of both the NAPFA Advisor and Investment News. Dan served on the Board of Directors of The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. from 2004 through 2008 and is a past Chair of the Board of Professional Review. He chaired the Task Force on CE & Competency for CFP Board. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association and a NAPFA registered financial planner. 

 

Abram Claude, Columbia Funds

 

Abraham Claude is vice president of the Learning Center, the value-add program for Columbia Threadneedle Investments.  Mr. Claude is a member of the national speaker bureau and has spoken extensively on retirement and education planning topics.  He joined on of the Columbia Threadneedle Investments legacy firms in 2002.  Prior to joining the financial services industry, Mr. Claude held several executive roles with nonprofit policy organizations, served on the staff of a U.S. congressman and was chief of staff for a Massachusetts state senator.  He began his career in financial services at Fidelity investments and held positions with responsibility for capacity forecasting, business analysis, public relations and product management and marketing for college savings and retirement plans.  Mr. Claude has been a member of the investment community since 1987.
 

John Davenport, Ph.D.

 

Dr. John Davenport is a twenty plus year veteran of the financial services industry. Most recently, he served as Regional Director for Invesco. Prior he served as Research Director for a large regional RIA in Virginia. Dr. Davenport also served as Senior Portfolio Strategist with Wachovia Securities managing Wachovia’s multi-billion dollar FundSource, DMA and Masters programs.  John is also active in academic research in the fields of leadership, team dynamics and investment management. He has published in numerous academic and industry journals. Dr. Davenport earned his PhD from Regent University. He also earned his MBA from Averett University and a Bachelor’s of Science from Appalachian State University. He is also a veteran of the United States Army.

 

John Diehl, Hartford Funds

 

John Diehl is senior vice president of Strategic Markets for Hartford Funds. He and his team are responsible for engaging and educating financial advisors and their clients about current and emerging opportunities in the financial-services marketplace. These opportunities range from tactical strategies in areas such as retirement-income planning, investment planning, and charitable planning, to anticipating and preparing for long-term demographic and lifestyle changes. John has been widely quoted in consumer and trade publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Planning, and On Wall Street. He has also appeared as a featured guest on CNBC and Bloomberg Television to discuss his views on retirement-related topics.

 

Linda Duessel, CFP®, Federated Investments

 

As Federated’s senior equity market strategist is part of the team responsible for formulating Federated’ s view about various equity market conditions and the firm’s positioning strategies.  She is also responsible for articulating the strategy, process, positional and performance of Federated’s equity portfolios. Linda has been a regular contributor to CNBS’ “Closing Bell” and other programs.  In addition, she has appeared on Fox News “Your World with Neil Cavuto” and Bloomberg Television.  Linda has also been extensively quoted by Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s and has been featured in the annual roundtable for USA Today and Smart Money Magazine.  Linda also discusses personal finance with investor groups across the country on topics of interest ranging from the impact of the alternative minimum tax to investing for retirement.  She has more than 30 years of investment experience. Linda earned her master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and bachelor’s degree from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  Linda is a CPA, CFA charter holder and a CFP professional.

 

Kristina Hooper, CFP®, CAIA, CIMA®, ChFC®, Invesco

 

Kristina Hooper is the Chief Global Market Strategist at Invesco. She entered the financial industry in 1995. Prior to joining Invesco, Ms. Hooper was the US investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors. Prior to Allianz, she held positions at PIMCO Funds, UBS (formerly PaineWebber) and MetLife. She has regularly been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times, Reuters and other financial news publications. She was featured on the cover of the January 2015 issue of Kiplinger’s magazine, and has appeared regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo Ms. Hooper holds the Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA) and Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC) designations. She serves on the board of trustees of Hour Children, and previously served on the board of Jefferson Insurance Company and on the board of the Foundation for Financial Planning, which is the pro bono arm of the financial planning industry.

 

Michael Kitces, MSFS, MTAX, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL, Pinnacle Advisory Group

 

Michael Kitces is a partner and the Director of Research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, a private wealth management firm located in Columbia, Maryland that oversees approximately $1.8 billion of client assets. In addition, he is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network, the former practitioner editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, and the publisher of the e-newsletter The Kitces Report and the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View through his website www.Kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning.

 

 

Chris Konstantinos, CFA, Riverfront

 

Chris Konstantinos serves at Riverfront Investment Group as Director of International Portfolio Management with more than 16 years’ experience as an equity sector analyst, portfolio manager, and portfolio risk manager across domestic and international markets. In addition, he serves on the firm’s Operating Committee. Chris has been with RiverFront since the company’s founding in 2008. Mr. Konstantinos earned his BS in Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Konstantinos received his CFA designation in 2013 and is a member of the CFA Virginia Society. He has successfully completed the FINRA Series 7, 66, 86 and 87 licensing exams. Mr. Konstantinos is also a regular guest on the financial news channels (CNBC, Bloomberg) and is frequently quoted in the financial press. “Fun Fact” about Chris, - he is an accomplished songwriter whose songs have been featured in television, movies and radio across the U.S. and internationally. 

 

Jonathan Lowe, Anthem

 

Jonathan Lowe is a leading Regional Sales Manager with Fortune 30 company, (second largest Health Insurer in the nation). Subject Matter Expert on Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, (ACA). Serve as a single point of contact for resolving complex and cross-divisional issues for over 3,000 Personal Producing Agents, (PPAs), and General Agencies for the States of Virginia and Maryland. Responsible for Agent recruitment, training, and compliance for the Medicare/Medicaid market segment. Primary duties are to develop and implement sales strategies for the external broker channel to increase market shares and product expansion. Provide comprehensive reporting to National Directors and Regional VP, concerning sales performance, competitive analysis, market expansion, growth and ROI. Conduct weekly Medicare webinars for external Brokers, Internal staff and General Agencies. Assist agents in the development of marketing plans and lead acquisition, including agent websites, quoting engines, co-op marketing and training of key Agents and/or staff. Conduct field inspections and routine audits to determine Medicare/CMS compliance, to include “secret shopping” agency community or sales events.

 

Kamila McDonnough, CFP®, CFP Board

 

Kamila McDonnoughm has nearly two decades of financial industry experience. Prior to joining Rutledge Financial Partners as a Wealth Manager, she worked at Dimensional Fund Advisors supporting financial advisors throughout the Southeast and Midwest regions in the US with messaging and building investment solutions for their clients. Kamila launched her career in the industry at Vanguard working in various relationship management and business development roles with endowments and foundations, advisory services and ultra-high net worth clients. Kamila is currently on the CFP Board of Directors, the policy-making and oversight body of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. with over 80,000 professionals in the US. She is also the Junior League of Charlotte Foundation Board President and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer. Kamila holds a B.A and MBA from The Pennsylvania State University. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and is FINRA series 7,24 and 63 registered through LPL Financial. Kamila resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband Steven and is an avid international traveler.

 

John Montoro, CPA, Realtime Accounting

 

John Montoro, CPA, is president of Realtime Accounting, a CPA firm dedicated to providing back office operations support to small business and nonprofit organizations. Previously, he was a partner with Cherry Bekaert and director of their government services group. He is a past chair of the VSCPA, and has served on various committees at the Society. He has been a frequent speaker on topics relevant to CPAs in public practice and in industry.

 

Christine Papa, Capital Group

 

Christine Papa is a Divisional Wholesaler at Capital Group, home of American Funds, covering the Mid-Atlantic region. She has 14 years of industry experience and has been with Capital Group for five years. Earlier in her career at Capital, Christine worked as a Sales Coach. Prior to joining Capital, she was a wholesaler at First Eagle Investment Management. She holds a bachelor's degree in finance and marketing from Northeastern University.  Christine resides in Alexandria, VA.

Sarah Pennington, ABLEnow

 

Sarah Pennington serves as Brand Manager for ABLEnow, the national ABLE savings program offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia. With accounts in all 50 states, ABLEnow is one of the fastest-growing ABLE programs in the country. Prior to joining ABLEnow in 2016, Sarah worked in a variety of communications roles in other government agencies and private-sector organizations. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a Master’s degree from West Virginia University. Sarah lives in Richmond, Va. and enjoys serving the community as a volunteer through the Junior League and as a volleyball coach with the Special Olympics of Virginia.

 

John Peterson, CPA, Kaufman & Canoles

 

John Peterson is of counsel and a member of the ESOPs & Employee Benefits, Business Taxation, Labor & Employment, and Healthcare Practice Groups at Kaufman & Canoles. John has 45 years of experience as both a practicing attorney and CPA in the areas of retirement plans, employee benefits and tax law. John has extensive teaching experience on ERISA matters, 25+ years as an adjunct professor at William and Mary Law School and 15+ years at Old Dominion University’s Professional Financial Planning program. John’s employee benefits practice focuses on creative retirement plan design, particularly 401(k) and cash balance pension plans, and all aspects of the Affordable Care Act, particularly planning for the employer mandate.

 

Brian Resnick, CFA,  AllianceBernstein

 

Brian Resnick, CFA,  is Director and Senior Investment Strategist for the Alternatives and Multi-Asset team. Prior to joining AB, he was a vice president and account manager at PIMCO, where he worked closely with financial intermediaries serving the private wealth marketplace. Previously, Resnick was a director of institutional services at Lord Abbett, working with institutional investment consultants, foundations and sub advised funds-of-funds. He has been an investment professional since 2004. Resnick holds a BS in economics from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in financial engineering from Baruch College, and is a CFA charter holder. Location: New York

Matt Sommer, CFA, CFP®, CPWA, Janus Henderson

 

Matt Sommer is Vice President, Retirement Strategy Group at Janus Henderson Investors. In this role, he leads the Defined Contribution and Wealth Advisor Services Team. His expertise covers a number of areas, including regulatory and legislative trends, practitioner best practices, and financial and retirement planning strategies for high-net-worth clients. Prior to joining Janus in 2010, Mr. Sommer spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and its predecessors, Citi Global Wealth Management and Smith Barney, during which time his roles included director of financial planning and director of retirement planning.

 

Michael Vayette, United HealthCare

 

Michael Vayette is a Sales Director for United HealthCare Medicare and Retirement, and is a seasoned health insurance professional with successful experience leading all aspects of the business. Accomplished career track known for delivering revenue and profit gains within the highly competitive Employee Benefits and Senior products market. Exceptional communicator with a consultative sales style, strong negotiation skills, problem solving abilities and a keen client needs assessment aptitude. Aggressively identify opportunities, develop focus and provide tactical business solutions.