Professional Advisor Council
PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
The Professional Advisor Council is a collection of expert Central New York professional advisors who are partnering with us to provide insight and advice on advisor engagement. The Council’s volunteer members work throughout the year to disseminate information that will assist their peers in effectively identifying and carrying out their clients’ charitable planning needs.
(as of April 1, 2024)
Bradford A. Adams
Brad has 30+ years of experience in banking, finance and investments. He is a graduate of Williams College and earned an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Brad is certified by the New York Bankers Association’s Trust Investment, Trust Administration and Estate Administration Schools. He graduated with honors from the Cannon Financial Institute and holds the Accredited Fiduciary Investment Manager (AFIM) designation.
Cameron T. Bernard
Cameron Bernard is a Member at Bousquet Holstein, PLLC in the firm’s Syracuse office and concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, and employee benefits. He endeavors to learn about his client’s values and goals to develop an estate plan that suits their needs. Cameron also advises trustees in their administration of trusts and prepares fiduciary income tax returns for estates and trusts.
In addition to his legal practice, he currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Hiscock Legal Aid Society and was named an Upstate New York Super Lawyer’s Rising Star in 2023. Cameron received his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law and is admitted to practice law in New York and Florida.
Thomas Bezigian, Jr., Esq.
Tom Bezigian is an attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King, where he is chair of the firm’s trust and estate practice. He concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning and taxation, corporate and business succession, probate, trust and estate administration, and elder law. Additionally, Tom has lectured as an adjunct professor at the Yerevan State Linguistic University in Yerevan, Armenia, and at Bryant and Stratton College in Liverpool.
William P. Davies, J.D., LL.M.
Ryan T. Emery
Ryan is experienced in the preparation of Florida and New York wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies (Florida designations of health care surrogate), and living wills. He is also experienced in assisting fiduciaries with simple to complex taxable estates and trusts. Ryan is also knowledgeable in the field of trust and estate litigation.
Joe Hatfield, AIF®
Since 2004 Joe has specialized in providing proactive guidance to private clients, investment committees, small-mid-sized businesses and non-profit organizations.
Joe is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, AIF® and Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor, CPFA®. Joe earned his B.S. and M.S. from the State University of New York at Oneonta. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 with LPL Financial and the New York State Life and Health License. He has been an expert panelist at a number of national conferences speaking on both wealth management and employer sponsored retirement plans.
When not at work his energy is focused on his wife Amanda, daughter Lilah and son Levi. He’s also an accomplished IronMan triathlete having competed in the IronMan World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Scott M. Heyman, CPA, CFP®
Scott is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner who offers his clients a proactive approach that integrates tax considerations seamlessly into their broader financial plans. Through year-round planning, he helps clients maximize their opportunities to achieve their current and long-term financial goals.
Richard P Jenkins
Richard provides personal financial planning and advisory services in the areas of retirement and retirement income planning, investments and portfolio management strategies using asset allocation, tax management strategies, estate preservation, and small business financial issues.
Nick Kagey
Susan King
Susan L. King is a partner in the Firm’s Tax and Trusts & Estates Practices. She is Chair of the Firm’s Trusts & Estates Department. Ms. King has extensive experience advising clients with estate and wealth transfer planning, estate administration and taxation, corporate formation and business succession planning, elder law and special needs planning. She regularly counsels individuals and families on the various tax and legal aspects of charitable giving to help her clients achieve their goals.
Ms. King takes a hands-on approach with estate administration clients in order to guide them through the sometimes cumbersome process with ease, often assisting clients with resolving valuation and other estates, gifts and generation-skipping transfer tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service. She provides preparation of fiduciary accountings for estates as well as inter-vivos trusts, and the preparation of estate, fiduciary and gift tax returns. Ms. King also represents various small businesses, nonprofits and corporate entities in complex tax matters including tax planning, tax-exempt status, state and local tax issues, structuring and drafting tax transactions and assisting with recordkeeping and notification burdens to comply with state and federal laws.
Carolyn Lawless, CPA
Carolyn joined Dermody, Burke & Brown in 2020. As a Tax Principal at the firm, she specializes in tax advisory services including tax planning and preparation for various entities including corporations, partnerships, trusts, estates and individuals. Carolyn has over thirty five years of experience in the public accounting industry.
Sonnet Loftus, CFP®
Sonnet is a partner and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with Michael Roberts Associates. She has been working with individuals and business owners located all over the country since 2005, providing sound advice and service for all their financial planning needs. Sonnet is Vice President of the Financial Planning Association of Central New York.
R.J. Nicolli, Jr.
RJ is responsible for providing comprehensive wealth management advice to high-net-worth individuals and families, entrepreneurs, business owners, and foundations and endowments throughout the Central New York and Southern Tier regions. He works closely with clients and their advisors to develop financial strategies to help clients meet their current needs and plan for their long-term objectives. RJ also coordinates the various services his clients require based on their unique needs, including investment management, planning, trust, private banking, and family office services.
Marie Norkett, CFP®
Marie works with individuals and their families to determine financial priorities and implement comprehensive investment and financial planning strategies to advance and realize their goals. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM, member of the Financial Planning Association of CNY, chairperson of the Professional Advisor Council of the Central New York Community Foundation, and longtime member of the Junior League of Syracuse.
Eric Petranchuk
Rob Scolaro
Rob has over twenty-four years’ experience helping families and family-owned businesses meet their estate, trust, business succession and tax planning needs. He counsels clients on all aspects of estate, retirement, business succession and tax planning, asset preservation, probate and trust administration, family-owned businesses, real estate, private foundations, charitable organizations and elder law matters. Rob also frequently speaks/presents on these topics for the New York State Bar Association, Financial Planning Association of Central New York, the Estate Planning Council of Central New York and the National Business Institute.
Rob is a cum laude graduate of both Ohio Wesleyan University and Suffolk University Law School and is admitted to practice law in the states of New York, Florida and Massachusetts. He is a member of the bar associations of the states of New York, Florida and Massachusetts as well as a member of the Financial Planning Associates of Central New York. Rob is a member of Board of Directors and a Past President of the Estate Planning Council of Central New York and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Central New York Community Foundation, Tully Hill Corporation and Tully Hill Foundation.
Kevin Visconti, CFP
Kevin is a Registered Principal associated with Cadaret Grant & Co., Inc., a FINRA member firm. Prior to joining Diversified Capital Management, LLC, Kevin worked as a licensed representative for 9 years in the local bank channel. Kevin graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a major in marketing. Kevin has built his practice using a holistic approach to planning including: retirement planning, insurance planning, educational planning and estate planning. He excels at understanding his client’s goals and positioning their assets to achieve their goals.
Kevin is a current member of the Financial Planning Association of Central New York.
Gregory F. Wilt, CPA, CFP®
Greg’s areas of expertise are small business accounting and taxation, personal financial planning, and wealth management. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Greg is a Certified Financial Planner and holds the New York State CPA license as well as the FINRA Series 7 and 66. He resides in Cazenovia, New York.