April 2025 Education Meeting
FREE TO FPA MEMBERS ($65 for non-members)
TOPIC #1: Why Consider Alternative Investments?
SPEAKER: Jared Abert, CFA®, CAIA®, CFP®
About the presentation: We will explore the value and versatility of alternative investments, and examine how they can help in achieving client goals and objectives, including enhanced returns, increased income, diversification and inflation hedging.
About the speaker: Jared serves as Director of Alternative Investments at Franklin Templeton. He leads the alternative fundraising efforts for RIAs, MFOs & Bank Trusts in the Midwest, supporting strategies at Franklin Templeton’s wholly owned subsidiaries: Benefit Street Partners (private debt & credit), Clarion Partners (private real estate), Lexington Partners (secondary PE and co-investing) and K2 (hedged strategies & FOFs). Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Jared he was with Goldman Sachs where he most recently worked in business development for Goldman Sachs RIA Custody. He started with Goldman Sachs in Asset Management focused on Alternative Investments before becoming an Equity Derivatives and Structured Products specialist in Global Markets. Prior to that, he worked with Apex Oil Company as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and started his career on the trading floor at BP. Jared earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois where he was also accepted into the Hoeft Technology and Management Engineering program. Jared currently resides in Chicago with his wife and daughter. He spends his free time getting tackled by his daughter, working in the yard and reading historical non-fiction. Jared also enjoys playing golf, soccer, tennis, softball and pickleball.
TOPIC #2: High Net Worth Client Acquisition and Retention: Executing on a Growth Mindset and a Referable Client Experience
SPEAKER: Mike Biondo
About the presentation: This program’s goal is to help financial professionals expand their business by creating an elevated experience for current clients as well as prospective clients. This program focuses on ideas on how teams are bringing on and retaining high net worth clients, cultivating a prospective client pipeline tailored to your ideal client profile, rolling out the red carpet to provide an exceptional client experience, and leveraging digital resources to enhance your brand. (Please note, this session will not qualify for CE.)
About the speaker: Mike Biondo is a Senior Vice President for First Eagle and has managed the state of Ohio since 2012. He works with financial advisors at all firms across the state. He joined First Eagle in 2010 and managed the Pacific Northwest for the firm. Mike started his career in 2004 at Lord Abbett and managed Oregon and Alaska for them. Mike lives in Cincinnati with his wife and three children.
Continuing Education: FPA NEO will request credit for the first program, which will total one hour of CE from the CFP® Board of Standards for CFP® designation holders. A general certificate of completion and one for CPA designees who feel the program satisfies their continuing education requirements will also be available.
Reservation Policy: All attendees are encouraged to register in advance before noon 04/16/25 and walk-in reservations will be accepted on a space-available basis only. In person meeting cost is free for FPA members and $65 for non-members. If you reserve and are unable to attend, please call the office or email admin@fpa-neo.org to cancel by noon 04/16/25 to avoid a no-show reservation billing of $10.00.
About the presentation: A look at how registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) with an income rider that can help fund future medical costs in a modernized asset and cost-efficient strategy. This presentation will focus on clients who currently have a high probability of success. By utilizing a RILA within a comprehensive financial plan, we will show how this structured annuity can help manage the downside risk of our client’s overall portfolio, increase drawdown efficiency, and add a level of protection from uncertain future medical costs in a tax-effective manner.
About the presentation: Chris will discuss impacts from the dominance of a few names on the market index as well as discuss opportunity beyond the narrow market. While First Trust believes the market will widen in ’25, there is still likely to be wide divergence within many asset classes. In his view, there are superior ways to invest than blindly buying an equal-weight or small-cap index
About the presentation: This program will focus on the various planning opportunities available to elderly clients and their loved ones. However, in order to better grasp such planning, it is first important to understand the various benefit programs that may be accessed to assist your clients. This program will the various benefit programs available (Medicaid, VA, Medicare, SSI and SSFI), the rules related to each benefit program, and the planning opportunities that may be available. 
About the presentation: The California wildfires have shown the world that no two homeowner’s insurance policies are the same. This session will take an in-depth exploration of important coverages, key trends and challenges shaping the property and casualty insurance landscape in 2025. Michelle will review recent client case studies and provide actionable insights to help navigate the evolving insurance market.
About the presentation: Although the pandemic has grown increasingly distant in the rearview mirror, many of its economic ramifications have lasted well into 2024. As we look ahead toward 2025, we expect the US economy to shake off the lingering effects of the pandemic and officially start a new chapter. This chapter will notably include lower rates and a new president in the White House. However, with change typically comes a degree of discomfort and uncertainty. Fortunately, a strong foundation has afforded the Fed time and flexibility to ease the US economy into a soft landing.
Dan Candura, CFP BOARD EMERITUS™ is the founder of Candura Group, LLC and provides ethics training across the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia through in-person courses and webinars. As President of PennyTree Advisers LLC, until September 2019, Dan provided financial planning for consumers and litigation support for attorneys. Dan taught financial planning, insurance planning and retirement planning in the Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University in Boston and was CFP® Ambassador for the Boston area. He now lives on Cape Cod.
Katie Collin returned to the Cleveland Foundation at the end of July 2024 as the Director, Philanthropic Strategy. In this role she will guide the team that introduces donors, families and organizations to the multitude of philanthropic tools the Foundation has to offer, and partner with the team that works with donors and organizational fund partners to help them achieve their philanthropic objectives. She first served with the Cleveland Foundation from 2016-2019 as a Gift Planning Advisor. Since graduating from law school, Katie has gained extensive experience at the intersection of the legal, financial and charitable sectors through gift planning, non-cash assets, alternative investments and estate planning roles at Ren, American Endowment Foundation, Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell, LLP, and The Cleveland Clinic Katie is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, the Northern Ohio Charitable Gift Planners, and the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland, where she serves on the membership committee. She is a dedicated community member, currently serving her second term on the board of the Cleveland Public Library Foundation, co-chairing the development committee, and as a member of LakewoodAlive’s development committee in her hometown of Lakewood. Katie earned her Bachelor of Arts in art history, with minors in economics and Italian language & literature from Smith College, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law. She completed training through the 21/64 Program to provide multigenerational advising, facilitation and engagement, so that multiple generations can work, give and serve together more effectively. Katie received her Certificate for the Fundamentals of Alternative Investments from CAIA in 2023. 
Ginger Mlakar serves as in-house legal counsel and manages the Foundation’s legal affairs. Additionally, she oversees the teams that works with current donors, individuals, business owners, and their professional advisors to identify their charitable objectives and implement simple to complex strategies to accomplish their philanthropic goals. At the same time, Ginger connects non-profits to partnership opportunities with the Foundation. She came to the Cleveland Foundation in July 2009 after 16 years practicing law in estate, trust and charitable gift planning and administration. Her previous positions include partner in the personal succession and planning practice group at Thompson Hine LLP and of counsel in the estate planning and probate practice group at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP. She is also a certified public accountant. Ginger has served on the boards of several area organizations and is currently on the board for the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils and is an AEP® Accredited Estate Planner. Ginger has been named among the Best Lawyers in America and the Top 50 Female Ohio Super Lawyers List by Law and Politics magazine. She was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2014. Ginger has received the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Women in Law Making a Difference and President’s Awards, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Leadership Award, the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland’s 2019 Distinguished Estate Planner Award, and the 2022 Women of Professional Excellence from the YWCA of Greater Cleveland. She graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and earned her juris doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
