Team

Advisory Team

Operations Team


Sheila Eivazi

Operations Lead

Sheila Eivazi

Operations Lead

For 13 plus years, Sheila has hired/managed CFG’s operational teams and been instrumental in leading our organization through transformational projects that resulted in automating every aspect of our client service/fulfillment. Additionally, she has worked with Cetera Advisors to develop a comprehensive compliance program that oversees our Investment and Retirement Planning process. Prior to joining CFG, Sheila worked in Project Management within the Marketing and Non-Profit sectors. She graduated from University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.


Alison Regan

Para-Planner

Alison Regan

Para-Planner

In 9 plus years, Alison has built our client service process that is centered around the firm’s Investment and Retirement planning activities. Her continued efforts in this role have engineered a robust client review process that engages clients in a transformative effort around Investment and Retirement Planning. Prior to joining CFG, Alison worked in the Legal and Design sectors. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Textile Merchandise and Design.


Maritza Prom

Para-Planner

Maritza Prom

Para-Planner

For over 6 years, Maritza has been working with CFG to further its client service advocate process that engages 1600 plus households, which are served through multiple channels of communication. Additionally, she manages our physical/virtual offices, procurement programs and will be moving into a para-planner role that will enhance her strengths as a client service advocate. Prior to joining CFG, Maritza worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Financial Services Industry and a Paraprofessional in the Special Education industry. She graduated from Saint Cloud State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography.


Kelly Martinez

Client Service Advocate

Kelly Martinez

Client Service Advocate

Over the past 5 years, Kelly has been working with our clients, Cetera Advisors, and various Institutions to facilitate the movement of assets across our investment platforms. As part of this role, she serves as a quality control coordinator to ensure any actions taken are in line with client objectives/instructions. Prior to joining CFG, Kelly worked on the administrative side of the Commercial Lending and Private Banking industry. She graduated from Saddleback Community College with an associate in arts degree in General Studies.


Nancy Madjercic

Client Service Advocate

Nancy Madjercic

Client Service Advocate

For the past 30 years, Nancy has been working with our clients across all disciplines related to client service. She was instrumental in the firm’s efforts to build out a robust education platform, automating our communication procedures and has maintained a consistent voice for client service over the years.


Catherine Ballas

Client Service Advocate

Catherine Ballas

Client Service Advocate

Over the past 5 years, Cathy has been working with our clients to fulfill service requests on our legacy investment platforms. Additionally, Cathy assisted our firms’ charter to execute a pilot for a new enterprise service technology, AdviceWorks, and she will continue to assist clients as they adopt this important tool for planning/service over the next few years.



Judy Roell

Para-Planner

Registered Representative

Judy Roell

Para-Planner

Registered Representative

In the past year, Judy has become an integral part of the review preparation and client service team. She will be leading efforts to adopt new Investment and Retirement Planning documentation standards and how those updates will correlate with evolving compliance standards in the industry. Prior to joining CFG, Judy worked on the administrative and operational side of the Financial and Tax industry. She obtained her bachelor’s degree at Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington.


Elizabeth Costanzo

Creative Consultant

Elizabeth Costanzo

Creative Consultant

Elizabeth serves as a consultant to CFG in the ongoing development of the firms’ brand and education platform. As an educator for over 20 years, Elizabeth brings a unique perspective on how to deliver quality messaging that is targeted to our clients’ efforts in building long term Investment and Retirement Plans. Prior to joining CFG, Elizabeth enjoyed a successful career in Visual Arts Education. In transitioning to a consultant for our firm, Elizabeth pursued a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Duquesne University.


Nicole Riiff

Client Service Advocate

Nicole Riiff

Client Service Advocate

Nicole is primarily responsible for technical support to the Advisor and Operation teams. She has been instrumental in helping fulfill client service activities related to required minimum distribution, fixed annuities, and processing death claims. Prior to joining CFG, Nicole worked on the administrative and operational side of the Financial Services industry. Her experience also includes helping veterans apply for financial benefits through the Veterans Administration. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Finance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, IL.

Investment Team


Gene Goldman, CFA

Chief Investment Officer

Gene Goldman, CFA

Chief Investment Officer

Gene Goldman is responsible for the strategic direction and continued growth of the firm’s research offerings. His role includes setting the vision for superior capabilities and enabling the delivery of objective investment advice. He provides day-to-day oversight of Cetera Investment Management, with a focus on providing unbiased research about the economy and financial markets, asset allocation strategies, mutual funds and other investment related topics. He also leads the investment committee and their commitment to delivering superior investment oversight.

Gene has more than 26 years of experience in the development of investment strategies, money manager research and overseeing investment analysts. Prior to joining Cetera, he served in a variety of roles at LPL Financial including market strategist and lead strategist of the manager strategy group. Earlier in his career, has was a mutual fund product analyst at Liberty Financial.

Gene is frequently cited in a range of national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, Forbes, and Reuters and he is a regular guest on high-profile news networks including CNBC and Fox Business News. He has been a featured or keynote speaker at dozens of industry events.

Gene earned his Bachelor of Science in engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Northeastern University. He also holds Series 7 and 63 securities registrations and is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA).


Brian Klimke, CFA

Chief Market Strategist

Brian Klimke, CFA

Chief Market Strategist

Brian Klimke is primarily responsible for managing Cetera Investment Management’s Investor Strategy Group, producing timely, rigorous analysis of key economic and financial market events and portfolio construction guidance. He publishes market commentaries and communications for advisors, investors and the media.

Brian has more than 15 years of experience in investment oversight, monitoring and investment platform positioning. Before joining Cetera Investment Management, he served as director of investment research at Transamerica, where he played an integral role in the development of the Transamerica Financial Advisors’ asset allocation models and proprietary ETF portfolios. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1999.

Brian earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration, majoring in finance, investment and banking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a specialization in international business. He holds the Series 7, 24, 27, 63 and 87 securities registrations and is a CFA® charterholder.


Hristo Stefanov, CFA, CAIA

Director of Research

Hristo Stefanov, CFA, CAIA

Director of Research

Hristo Stefanov is primarily responsible for managing Cetera Investment Management’s Manager Research Group, which is focused on delivering specific investment strategy recommendations. In this role, he is responsible for coordinating the efforts of the three-member Manager Research Team to deliver actionable and timely recommendations across a variety of asset categories, which can be used as ideas in portfolio implementation. Investment recommendations made by the team are represented in Cetera Investment Management’s Research Select List, and also form the basis of other investment programs offered by the firm. A major part of the team’s duties also involves maintaining ongoing monitoring of current recommendations.

Hristo has more than 20 years of experience in investment oversight, manager selection and monitoring. Prior to his current role he was responsible for overseeing Cetera Investment Management’s Portfolio Strategy Group, where he was responsible for market insight and portfolio construction guidance. In this role he generated ideas to be used in Cetera Investment Management’s strategic and tactical asset allocation strategies and incorporated the Research team’s overall market outlook into portfolio construction and risk mitigation.

Hristo earned his Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from the University of California, Riverside. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst®, Chartered Alternative Investment AnalystSM, and Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement™ designations as well as the Series 7 securities registration.


Shannon Otterbeck

Director, Research Strategy and Development

Shannon Otterbeck

Director, Research Strategy and Development

Shannon Otterbeck is primarily responsible for managing the day-to-day business functions of the Research department, implementing business initiatives, plans and procedures. She oversees the publishing of hundreds of financial market commentaries and communications per year for advisors and investors.

Shannon has more than 15 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Cetera Investment Management, she served as the vice president and senior product manager for First Allied Asset Management where she played a vital role facilitating growth in sales through the coordination of various aspects of marketing, advisor and wholesaler support, and advisory operations.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and holds Series 7 and 65 securities registrations.


Richard Anderson

Investment Director

Richard Anderson

Investment Director

Richard Anderson is primarily responsible for market insights, publishing hundreds of commentaries a year. He leverages his background in both trading and research to produce actionable insights for advisors and investors. He also manages Cetera’s subscription-based third-party equity and ETF research platforms.

Prior to his current role, he was equity research director at PrimeVest Financial Services (now Cetera Investment Services), founding the department in 1998. Richard has more than 15 years of equity research experience and more than 20 years of Wall Street trading experience.


Collin Martin, CFA

Investment Director

Collin Martin, CFA

Investment Director

Collin Martin is primarily responsible for providing portfolio construction guidance for Cetera Investment Management’s asset allocation models. Additional responsibilities include generating research and quantitative analysis on the economy and global capital markets that contribute to the team’s market outlook, publications, and tactical positioning within the firm’s asset allocation solutions.

Prior to his current role, Collin worked in portfolio management for First Allied Asset Management, where he created and managed customized portfolios for the Private Client Services advisory program. He also worked in Quality Assurance, focusing on operational analysis and developing profitability models for First Allied Securities. He has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Collin graduated cum laude from the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst®. He also holds the Series 65 securities registration


Milton Hadinoto, CFA

Senior Investment Analyst

Milton Hadinoto, CFA

Senior Investment Analyst

Milton Hadinoto is a Senior Investment Analyst for Cetera Investment Management. In this role, he reviews Cetera publications, leverages his quantitative and engineering background to analyze investment processes, and analyzes the performance of recommended funds and investment portfolios. Milton’s primary coverage is the oversight of international equity, emerging markets, and domestic small and mid-cap equity funds.

Milton has more than 10 years of industry experience. Before his current role, he worked as a Quantitative Analyst for Standard & Poor’s Global (S&P Global), where he guided and supported portfolio managers to implement their quantitative investment models using S&P Global’s quantitative equity investment management platform. Milton also managed client relationships, focusing on helping portfolio managers leverage the platform and S&P Global’s proprietary data to improve their portfolio performance.

Milton Hadinoto holds a Master’s degree in Finance as well as a Master’s degree in Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is a holder of the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designation.


Vaishali Kothari

Senior Investment Analyst

Vaishali Kothari

Senior Investment Analyst

Vaishali Kothari is a senior investment analyst for Cetera Investment Management. In this role, she is primarily responsible for the research, selection and ongoing oversight of domestic large cap and alternative mutual funds. She also leverages her compliance background to drive efficiencies within investment processes, analyzes the performance of recommended funds and investment portfolios, and contributes to Cetera publications.

Vaishali has more than a decade of industry experience. Prior to joining Cetera Investment Management, she worked for Cetera Financial Group as a director of due diligence. In this role, she performed due diligence on mutual funds and worked collaboratively with fund sponsors, broker-dealers, and Pershing LLC. Vaishali was also a member of the firm’s Advisory Services department, where she validated data integrity and provided reconciliation methodologies. Before her tenure at Cetera Financial Group, she spent four years at National Planning Corporation (NPC)/National Planning Holdings (NPH). There, she held varied positions within Advertising Review, providing compliance with policies and procedures, and within Advisory Services to deliver value-added marketing and research services for their separately managed account program.

Vaishali earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds Series 7, 24, and 66 securities registrations.


Neel Hasan, CFA

Senior Investment Analyst

Neel Hasan, CFA

Senior Investment Analyst

Neel Hasan is a senior investment analyst for Cetera Investment Management. In this role, he reviews Cetera publications, leverages his account management and advisory services background to evaluate investment processes, and analyzes the performance of recommended funds and investment portfolios. Additionally, he oversees global allocation, municipals, and short duration bond funds.

Neel has more than five years of industry experience. Prior to joining Cetera Investment Management, he worked as an account executive in the short duration and money market fund business, working with Fortune 500 and multinational corporations to assist institutional treasury teams with their short-term investment needs. Neel began his career with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. There, he held several positions within investment services, their elevated trade desk, and finally as a financial solutions advisor.

Neel graduated from the University of Arizona with degrees in finance and business economics and holds Series 7 and 63 securities registrations. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst®.


Jacob Merritt

Investment Associate

Jacob Merritt

Investment Associate

Jacob is primarily responsible for publishing our communications to our financial professionals, including market commentaries, investment perspectives, and changes to our investment fund line-up. In addition, he supports the manager research team with quantitative reports, database maintenance, and analysis.

Prior to joining Cetera Investment Management, Jacob attended Louisiana State University where he obtained his MBA in data analytics.


Ross Kronholm, CFA, CAIA, CIMA, CFP

Senior Research Manager

Ross Kronholm, CFA, CAIA, CIMA, CFP

Senior Research Manager

Ross is Senior Investment Analyst for Cetera Investment Management. In his role Ross reviews Cetera publications, leverages his investment and quantitative background to analyze investment processes, and reviews the performance of recommended funds and investment portfolios.

Ross has more that 18 years of industry experience. Before his current role, he worked as an Investment Services Senior Consultant for Securian Financial Services, where he performed manager due diligence on mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs, and private funds. Ross also created and maintained recommended portfolios for ESG, Goals Based, and Retirement Income investing. Additionally, he provided advisors with portfolio analysis for current and prospective clients.

Ross Kronholm holds an MBA in Finance. He is also a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, Certified Financial Planner, and Certified Investment Management Analyst designations. Ross also holds the Certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute.


Brian Klukas, CFA, CAIA

Senior Research Manager

Brian Klukas, CFA, CAIA

Senior Research Manager

Brian is a Senior Research Manager for Cetera Investment Management. In this role, Brian reviews Cetera publications, leverages his investment and quantitative background to analyze investment processes, and review the performance of recommended funds and investment portfolios.

Brian has more than 20 years of industry experience. Before his current role, he worked as a Senior Investment Consultant at Securian Financial, where he conducted manager research, selection, and monitoring of mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs and other investment vehicles. Prior to joining Securian, Brian led a team of Investment Performance Analysts at Ameriprise Financial; plus served as a Quantitative Equity Analyst at Thrivent Financial.

Brian holds a BS degree in Finance from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations.


Tyler Akerlind, CFA

Senior Research Manager

Tyler Akerlind, CFA

Senior Research Manager

Tyler is responsible for providing portfolio construction guidance for Cetera Investment Management’s asset allocation models, including their tactical positioning. Additional responsibilities include calculating and maintain composite performance for the firm’s wide ranging investment portfolios.

He has more than 10 years of industry experience. Before his current role, he worked as an Investment Services Senior Consultant at Securian Financial, where he was the lead analyst for asset allocation, sector, single state tax exempt and TAMP strategies. He also managed high net worth client portfolios for Securian Trust Company and served as a member of the model portfolio management team.

Tyler received his Bachelor of Science degree in applied economics from the University of Minnesota. He holds the Series 7, 24, and 63 securities registrations and is a CFA® charterholder.


Ben Huhner

Investment Research Analyst

Ben Huhner

Investment Research Analyst

Ben Huhner is responsible for maintaining and developing market and investment resources for Cetera Investment Management. Additionally, he educates new investment professionals on CIM resources to increase their practices’ efficiency. Ben incorporates his passion for investor psychology in his holistic approach to helping investment professionals educate their clients.

Before his current role, he worked as an Investment Services Analyst for Securian Financial, maintaining and developing resources. Prior to joining the industry, Ben taught high school math in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ben has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He holds the Series 7, 24, and 63 securities registrations.