Partners
John Phoenix – Partner & Founder
Prior to founding WAGN, John was the National Sales Manager for the Institutional Business Development team at Envestnet. He was responsible for leading the new business efforts around large enterprise firms looking to deploy the Envestnet suite of services. John supported the firm’s efforts in the Bank, Independent Broker Dealer, Regional Broker Dealer and Registered Investment Advisor channels.
Most recently, John lead the High Net Worth Sales division at Envestnet working with RIAs, hybrid RIAs and Independent Advisor Networks that deployed Envestnet. John was CEO and Founder of Metamorphosis Money Management an RIA in Denver, Colorado a company that he eventually sold to Envestnet. Prior to M3, John worked for 6 years as a Managing Director for Alexander Capital Management Group, where he was head of sales and marketing. Prior to that, John was a Regional Director for Putnam Investments also served as a Regional Director for Kemper Financial Services in Atlanta, Georgia.
John earned his undergraduate degree in History from Washington and Lee University and holds a FINRA Series 65 security license. John lives in Denver with his wife and two children.
Jay Hummel – Partner & Founder
Prior to founding WAGN, Jay was a Senior Vice President and Head of American Century Investment’s Personal Financial Solutions Business. Jay was responsible for the strategic and executional oversight of teams serving 600,000 individual and small retirement clients with $40B in assets under management.
He is a former Managing Director of Envestnet where he served as the Head of Strategic Initiatives and Thought Leadership. Jay is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Lenox Wealth Management, a Cincinnati based multi-family office and started his career in accounting and consulting at Deloitte.
Jay is a frequent industry speaker and writer. Wiley has published two of his books: Success and Succession and The Essential Advisor.
Jay lives in Kansas City with his wife, Valerie. When he’s not traveling he and Valerie stay very busy with their 7 and 5 year old sons and their 3 year old daughter.
Bill Schiffman – Director of Advisor Training
Bill is the consummate problem solver for his clients, his friends and clients. Bill is joining the WAGN team to support the company’s work in the advisor training area, specifically around deepening their financial planning approach. He grew up in an entrepreneurial family, it was inevitable that he would start his own business, Schiffman Grow & Co. (now W3 Global Accounting).
Bill often says (tongue in cheek) that “he has more licenses than sense”. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant, he holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 qualifications, and has life, health, and annuity insurance licenses that allow him to perform services in a number of states throughout the country. This combination of achieved standards allows Bill to provide a complete array of experienced consulting acumen to his clients.
Bill is married to Lynne Aronson, and they have multiple four-legged children. In what little free time he has (he is also the host of “In The Know” on WOSU-TV), Bill enjoys travel, cooking, reading, charitable work, and almost all sports. His greatest passion outside of family and business is thoroughbred horse racing, and he is involved in several racing/breeding ownership ventures.
Advisory Board
Julie Cooling – Founder & CEO of RIA Channel, LLC and RIA Database
Julie has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. She started her career at SEI Investments in Philadelphia and has worked in product development, marketing and sales roles for Montgomery Asset Management and Forward Funds in San Francisco. Julie graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in Economics and a minor in Finance.
Antonio DeRosa – CEO Qualis Capital
Antonio DeRosa is the CEO & Global Head of Qualis Capital. Prior to Qualis Capital, Antonio was a Managing Director – Global Head of Advisory at Jefferies. within Wealth Management responsible for all Advisory fee-based businesses globally, including all UMA, SMA, Rep as Advisor, Mutual Fund, ROBO, Hedge Fund, Private Equity and all other alternative businesses. He was also the Business Head & National Sales Director with Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for the day-to-day management of several key businesses within The Consulting Group and Capital Markets Division. Antonio’s background also includes a Fellowship in Mathematics affiliated with Columbia University, The City University of New York/City College – CCNY and Mott Hall teaching mathematics along with finance, business, and economics. Antonio has 25 plus years of experience in the financial services industry. His other prior affiliations include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Company, Prudential Securities, Inc., and Clemente Capital Asset Management to name a few.
