Standard Team (Internal for bio links)

Alexander Gonzalez, MBA

Operations Analyst

Alexander graduated from Thomas Jefferson University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance in May 2024.He gained early hands-on experience as a Finance and...

Benedetta Rienzo

Administrative Supervisor & New Account Specialist

Benedetta Rienzo has a diverse professional experience including a background in customer service, administrative management, Broker/Dealer relationship management, and Institutional Sales trading. She is skilled in office operations,...

Brian E. Patterson, RICP^®

Founder, CEO, Managing Partner, & Retirement Planning Specialist (CA License # 4313945)

Brian was born and raised in Newburgh, NY and graduated from Mt. St. Mary College with a degree in Accounting in 1997. His career began in New York in November 1998 as a Mutual Fund Analyst at Equitable Financial, which became AXA...

Christian Stine, CFS™

Director of Portfolio Management & Investments

(732) 451-3085

Christian Stine serves as the Director of Investments and Portfolio Management at Ascendancy Financial Group. He studied at The College of New Jersey, earning a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. After completing his degree, Christian...

Christopher Baker

Financial Advisor

(973) 714-1023

Cliff Schmardel, EA

Partner, Financial Advisor, Tax Professional

Elliot R. Benson, Sr.

Financial Professional

(732) 326-5232

Elliot graduated from Rider University with a BA in Communications in 1986, and quickly began his career in Finance as a Financial Professional at First Investors in 1987.He grew in this role consulting, creating business strategies...

Eric Saenz

Financial Advisor (CA License # 0L54711 / AR License # 16702613)

Eric graduated from Monmouth University in 2012 with a degree in Marketing. Eric joined Equitable in 2012 as a financial advisor. Eric’s areas of focus include helping individuals with asset allocation strategies, tax aware...

Gary Clancy, CFP^®, RCPS

Partner, Qualified Plan Specialist, Retirement Planning Specialist

I joined AXA Advisors, LLC in 1993 with a BS in Business Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. After embarking on a career in financial services, I met my friend and business partner Paul Donnelly, with whom I started Oracle...

George Osipovitch, EA

Partner, Financial Advisor, Tax Professional

As Managing Principal at Modern Planning Group, George brings over 20 years’ experience to the team. George's responsibilities include servicing his existing clients and talent acquisition. Outside of his professional life, George...

George Kachmar IV

Financial Advisor

Working with business owners and individual's. I help businesses implement, maintain and administer group benefit package including medical, dental, vision & retirement plans. I help individuals with personal financial and insurance...

Hugo Bartell

Financial Consultant

Jay Goldberg

Retirement Planning Specialist (CA License # 0D43075)

The Retirement Planning Specialist title is awarded by Equitable Advisors, based upon the Financial Professional’s (FP) receipt of a Certificate in Retirement Planning from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In a...

Jonathan Massey

President & Holistic Financial Coach (CA License # 0H12747)

Jonathan Massey from his earliest memory has always been passionate; About people and creative vision. This combination of entrepreneurial and artistic spirit has driven him to build a practice focused on advising super-successful...

Kevin Dolan

Financial Advisor, Tax Professional

732-820-9595

kevin.dolan@equitable.com

Kim Moore

Client Relationship Manager

Kristin E. Rients

Operations, Licensing, Marketing & Tech Manager

As an Operations Manager specializing in growth and recruiting talented professionals, my mission is to attract and place individuals based on their expertise. As such, Ascendancy Financial Group's partners, advisors and financial...

Margarita V. Mayor

Financial Consultant, Retirement Planning Specialist & Holistic Financial Coach

Margarita V. Mayor graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Marketing. Marge began her career in financial services while pursuing her undergraduate degree as an intern with...

Michael Maggiore

Managing Partner & Holistic Financial Coach (CA License # 0H23539)

Michael Maggiore graduated from the Leon Hess Business School at Monmouth University with an honors degree after completing a four-year long dissertation. Mike received the accolade of a Summa Cum Laude diploma while achieving the...

Paul Colte, CFP^® CFPA^® RCPS

Financial Consultant & CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional

(732) 326-5252

Paul Colte graduated from Queens College part of CUNY with a B.A. in economics and a minor in accounting. He went on to build numerous successful businesses starting from the ground up. Those experiences have given him an insight into...

Paul Donnelly, ChFC, CLU

Partner, Qualified Plan Specialist, Retirement Planning Specialist

My professional qualifications are: Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter Retirement Planning SpecialistQualified Plan SpecialistExecutive Benefits SpecialistLife & Health insurance in various statesFINRA...

Rich Callaghan, CEPA®, CFP®, MBA

Senior Partner, Certified Exit Planning Advisor, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Advisor

908-300-0347

Rich Callaghan CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner™ with an MBA in Finance Rich Callaghan's passion and specialization is to develop custom investment portfolios and financial planning solutions for his clients which are designed...

Robert Amato

Financial Advisor (CA License # 4150883)

(732) 326-5339

Robert Amato joined Equitable Advisors in 2021 following a successful career as a student athlete and graduating from CUNY Queens College in NYC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He currently holds FINRA Series 7, 63 and 66...

Ronald Kuperman

Senior Partner

609-728-0051

rkuperman@afgnj.com

Sandy Daus

Director of Operations & Planning