Our firm is located in Savannah, Georgia. My two sons and I, along with a dedicated staff, offer life insurance, investments, qualified plans and group benefits to high net worth and business owner clients.  We joined ValMark in 2008 after an extended time with another broker dealer. The invitation to join ValMark signified a very important turning point for our firm.  In the two years since we joined ValMark, we have had back-to-back record years, in spite of a difficult economy. We can say, with certainty, that the internal team at ValMark made the difference on several large cases. Everyone has the same products, but the ValMark team gives us an edge in case design, and their in-house underwriting team leverages the ValMark Underwriting Advocacy Program™ to get offers that make the difference. I already feel at home in this wonderful and entrepreneurial culture and it is comforting to know, for certain, that I now have clarity about being able to pass on the value of my firm to my sons."

Gean W. Martin, CLU, AEP

Martin Financial Group, LLC

Savannah, Georgia

My firm joined ValMark six years ago after having been a consistent investment sales leader at New England Securities. I soon discovered that ValMark is more than a firm that delivers best in class products and services. Starting with the CEO, Lawrence J. Rybka, and permeating through the rest of the organization, there is a level of ethics, caring, and professionalism not found in the rest of the financial services industry. The level of trust between ValMark and our firm, which has developed over the years, has increased our confidence in providing a total wealth management solution to our clients, allowing us to significantly grow our revenues over the last five years. After looking a long time, I feel our firm has found a home at ValMark."

David McKechnie, CLU

Beauport Financial

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Our firm, Pelagos Advisors, moved to ValMark from M Financial two years ago and we have been very pleased with the support we have received from ValMark in building and running our practice. Pelagos Advisors, LLC is a national, fiduciary-based life insurance advisory firm. In pioneering the fiduciary-based approach, it was critical that we had a BD that excelled in three areas:

• An understanding of our commitment to the UPIA as a standard for best practices when representing the ultra affluent
• Innovation and leadership in the development of disciplined documentation and systems for every step of the process, from analysis to acquisition to performance reporting and management, an area especially critical for trustee support
• Back office support including expertise in concept design, large case underwriting and regulatory and compliance issues   

ValMark has exceeded our expectations in each of these areas. The truly collaborative support throughout their organization has enabled us to leverage both our time and resources, allowing us to focus on interacting with prospects, advisors and clients and building our business. In ValMark we have a proactive, forward-looking business partner as committed to excellence and market leadership as we are."

Michael Brink, CLU, AEP

Pelagos Advisors

Atlanta, Georgia

Our firm, Sequoia Financial, is partially owned by one of Ohio’s largest CPA firms. We have a high degree of complexity with a staff of 30 financial professionals. We had long been aligned with LINSCO Private Ledger, but they did not understand what was needed to build a practice inside a CPA firm. They also were not able to provide much expertise in the insurance area of our practice. By contrast, we have been able to leverage the excellent staff at ValMark and enjoy the increased flexibility and partnership they provide. We have seen our revenue increase significantly since joining ValMark, and view our relationship with them as critical to our success."

Tom Haught, CFP®, ChFC

Sequoia Financial

Cleveland, Ohio

Our firm, Clifton Gunderson, is one of the largest independent CPA firms in the U.S with 1800 professionals in 40 offices. We made the decision to partner with ValMark Securities after leaving Cap Pro brokerage services in 2005. Since working with ValMark, our firm has been able to substantially reduce direct expenses through ValMark’s innovative corporate structure for large CPA firms. After partnering with ValMark, our insurance practice has significantly less exposure to regulatory risk and our firm is now protected by highly customized E&O coverage. ValMark has offered numerous programs and processes to help us understand the unique aspects of risk management and has, in turn, increased our referrals and production from CPAs throughout the firm."

Brad Mueller, CLU, FLMI

Clifton Gunderson

Madison, Wisconsin