-- Advisor Assaf Pinchas Elected as Strategic Advisory Council Chair; Brian Bennett Chosen as Vice Chair --
ATLANTA, GA – December 22, 2016 – The Strategic Financial Alliance (SFA), a leading, privately owned independent broker-dealer and Registered Investment Advisor, today announced that Assaf Pinchas of Allegiance Financial Group, LLC, of Vienna, VA, has been elected to serve as 2017 Chair of SFA’s six-person Strategic Advisory Council (Council), which assists the firm in developing and implementing key strategic initiatives and serves as a representative voice on behalf of SFA advisors. The firm also announced that Brian Bennett of Bennco Advisors in Colorado Springs, CO, has been chosen as Vice Chair.
In addition, financial advisors Leslie Beck of Compass Wealth Management in Wood-Ridge, NJ, and Andrew Crane of Capital Insight Group of Norcross, GA, have been elected as SAC members for three-year terms beginning January 1, 2017. Beck joins the Council as a new member, whereas Crane had previously served a one-year term replacing an advisor who left the Council before his term was completed. They join existing members Floyd Green of Cornerstone Wealth Management Team in Raleigh, NC, and Gene Dickison of MTM Financial Group, LLC in Bethlehem, PA.
Clive Slovin, CEO of SFA, said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Leslie Beck onto the Strategic Advisory Council and to extend a full three-year term to Andrew Crane. We are also delighted that Assaf Pinchas will assume the role of Chairman and that Brian Bennett will serve as Vice Chair. These exceptional individuals are all successful independent advisors and highly respected members of the SFA community. I am confident that their thoughtful insights and well-informed contributions will continue the Council’s invaluable tradition of helping our firm respond effectively to the evolving needs of our advisors and their clients. I look forward to the benefits that their dedication and experience will bring to the Council and to the SFA community at large.”
The Strategic Advisory Council is a group of six successful advisors drawn from across the SFA network. Advisors typically serve three-year staggered terms, with one new member elected each year by the broader SFA advisor community and a second new member chosen annually by the existing members of the Council. A new Council Chair is also appointed annually to serve a one-year term with the approval of the other Council members. Chairs serve as Vice Chair during the year preceding their appointment.
In recent years, the Council has led or helped to advance several worthwhile initiatives geared to assist advisors, including the Coaching Program Research Report, which researched and published advisor-specific coaching programs that were leveraged by SFA advisors and shared with the SFA advisor community on the SFA website, and the Advisor Connect program, which provides outreach to advisors by Council members in order to ensure responsiveness to advisor needs. The Council also regularly provides critical feedback to SFA’s management on key industry trends and on advisors’ evolving needs.
Mr. Pinchas said, “The relationship my firm has with SFA and the SFA community has been very important in helping us continue to serve our clients well and grow our business. It has been very rewarding to give back and dedicate my efforts to helping SFA remain at the forefront of our industry, in terms of its fine reputation and its unwavering commitment to advisor support. I believe all SFA advisors, independent though they may be, have a vested interest in seeing fellow advisors, as well as SFA, be successful. I have really enjoyed working with my fellow advisors on the Council, as well as with SFA management and home office staff, and I look forward to continuing to serve in my new capacity as Council Chair to advance our common endeavor.”
Outgoing Chair Cheri Knight of Knight Asset Management in Ladera Ranch, CA, said, “I am very pleased that Assaf Pinchas will serve in the capacity of Chair of the Council, and valued his insights as Vice Chair during 2016. I believe that he will continue to pursue matters with focused determination, thereby supporting the mission of the Strategic Advisory Council. It has been a privilege to work with Assaf and the rest of the Council members during the past year and I look forward to receiving updates with regard to further contributions in the year to come. I am confident the Council will assist SFA in advancing initiatives that will enable the firm to remain one of the most attentive, responsive broker-dealers in assisting independent financial advisors to excel in business and help their clients meet their financial goals.”
About The Strategic Financial Alliance
The Strategic Financial Alliance (“SFA”) is a privately owned independent broker-dealer and Registered Investment Advisor focused on delivering support that goes above and beyond the norm within the independent financial advice industry. Based in Atlanta, GA, the firm is an empowering partner to independent fee and commission-based financial advisors across the country, acting as a powerful and expert platform in helping them grow their practices and build more efficient, better run businesses. For more information, please visit www.thesfa.net/.
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