Financial advisors Gus Panos, Jason Firek and John Gaynor of Panos Firek Wealth Management have joined Raymond James & Associates, the firm’s traditional employee broker-dealer. Daniel Wisniewski will be their branch manager in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Panos, Firek and Gaynor were formerly with Merrill Lynch, where they managed more than $400 million in client assets and had over $4 million in annual production.
“We discovered as we did our due diligence that ‘client first’ was not just a slogan but [also] the essence of the firm,” Panos said in a press release. “Advisors are given tremendous support and flexibility, provided superior resources and technology tools, and allowed to put our clients’ interests above anything else.”
“We want the freedom to continue to grow business in the manner we desire and in service to our clients, not as dictated by someone else,” Firek said in the release..
Panos Firek Wealth Management serves the financial needs of automotive company executives, business owners, professionals and multigenerational families. The group provides clients with a broad spectrum of comprehensive financial planning and wealth management services, including individual portfolio design, retirement and estate planning, insurance and 401(k) corporate retirement plans.
Also joining the team at Raymond James are financial planning consultant Jennifer Pulcini, senior client service associate Nicole Yates and practice business manager Amanda Fredericks.
Panos, a graduate of Michigan State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in accounting, began his financial services career in 1991. In 2000, he joined Morgan Stanley, where he later met Firek, who joined the firm in 2002. In 2007, Panos and Firek moved to Merrill Lynch.
Firek is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Mich., where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. While at Hope, he spent a year in Chicago working for the Bank of New York on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Firek became a certified financial planner in 2007.
Gaynor, vice president and senior financial advisor for the firm, became a financial advisor in 2003 when he joined the Panos Firek team at Merrill Lynch. Gaynor received his bachelor's degree in economics from Wayne State University.
Founded in 1962, Raymond James & Associates is a multinational independent investment bank and financial services company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla.