Five Star award winners Weiss Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Contact Us

Weiss Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors

697 Pomfret St

Pomfret Center, CT 06259

Office: 860-928-2341

www.whzwealth.com

Professional Approach

Our strategic process: Plan Well. Invest Well. Live Well.™

We guide you toward achieving your financial life goals using our strategic process, removing the guesswork, wishful thinking, and potential worries from investing.

Plan Well. Invest Well. Live Well.™ is a consistent process, based on extensive research, the most up-to-date tools available, and a disciplined partnership approach, so you can confidently and efficiently move forward toward your goals. Our strategic process, brings together the experience and attention of our entire team to listen to your needs, build and execute a plan to meet your goals, and partner with you to build upon and adjust that plan through every stage of life.

Our Mission & Values

It has always been our goal to deliver the best wealth management experience for every client, every time, at every touchpoint. We fulfill that mission by embracing the six core values that set us apart – we are unique, strategic, consistent, principled, academic and approachable. We also maintain a strong commitment to bettering the lives of others through a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and meaningful community involvement.

Our Team

Our award-winning, financial advisors offer more than 50 years of combined experience in the financial industry. As a partner of Commonwealth Financial Network®, the largest privately-owned independent Registered Investment Adviser broker-dealer, we partner with clients in 37 states from our home base in Pomfret, Connecticut.

Laurence Hale, AAMA, CRPS®

Principal/Managing Partner

Phone: 860-928-2341

Laurence is a principal and founding partner of Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors. He is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), leading portfolio management efforts and chairing the firm’s Investment Committee. In addition to developing goal-driven financial plans for clients, Laurence has extensive investment experience with estate planning and charitable strategies.

Laurence brings many years of institutional investment experience, having started his career in the institutional defined contribution business for Putnam Investments. In addition to more than 20 years of investment management for our clients, Laurence has volunteered his professional talents on behalf of many non-profit and public institutions. He formerly served as an appointed member of Connecticut's Investment Advisory Council (IAC), an advisory body to the Connecticut State Treasurer, overseeing the approximately $29 billion in the State of Connecticut's retirement plans and trust funds, on behalf of more than 200,000 beneficiaries.

Laurence graduated from Hobart College in Geneva, New York, with a degree in economics and holds the designations of Accredited Asset Management Specialist (AAMS) and Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist® (CRPS®) from the College for Financial Planning.

Leisl L. Cording, CFP®

Vice President, Associate Financial Advisor

Phone: 860-928-2341

Leisl brings over 13 years of experience working with high-net-worth individuals in multiple areas of retirement, financial, and estate planning. She enhanced her financial planning knowledge for individuals by obtaining the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification in December, 2016.

Leisl started her career in the trust and investment services department at U.S. Trust in October, 2008. While at U.S. Trust, she developed a passion for delivering superior client service and gained a broad knowledge of all aspects of wealth management while administering individual, retirement, and various types of trust accounts. She was responsible for managing client relationships ranging from $1 million up to $1 billion. Subsequently, she joined People’s United Bank in the wealth management department in June, 2014. She was an integral team member that helped to establish a wealth management presence in the Hartford, CT area. She assisted clients with navigating their complex financial situations and providing simple solutions to help reach their goals. Her responsibilities ranged from individual financial planning, trust and fiduciary administration, estate settlement, and investment management.

James Zahansky, AWMA®

Principal & Managing Partner

Phone: 860-928-2341

James Zahansky is Principal/Managing Partner at Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors, leading practice strategy, business development initiatives, and team leadership for the firm. Additionally, as our chief goals strategist and investment advisor, Jim leads clients through our Plan Well, Invest Well, Live Well™ process to help them reach their financial life goals.

Jim transitioned to these pivotal roles in the practice in 2014 after 17 years as a senior executive in the pharmaceutical industry, where he developed and implemented strategies and initiatives for major US pharmaceutical brands. At his previous company, Jim was Vice President, Respiratory Division at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for all US business and marketing strategies and initiatives for the company’s respiratory product portfolio which included 8 brands, a team of 300 people and $600 million in revenue. Since this transition to Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors, Jim has taken his years of strategic training and financial acumen to assist clients in building strategies that align to their individual or organization’s goals.

Throughout his career, Jim developed strong skill sets in strategy, leadership, fundamental finance, and interpersonal dynamics and regards one’s character as their defining quality.

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 11/1/21 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 2/15/21 through 09/10/21. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 3191 Connecticut-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 272 (9% of candidates) were named 2021 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2020: 3048, 285, 9%, 11/2/20, 2/17/20 - 9/18/20; 2019: 3147, 289, 9%, 11/1/19, 2/18/19 - 9/27/19; 2018: 3178, 293, 9%, 11/1/18, 2/15/18 - 9/21/18; 2017: 2218, 283, 13%, 11/1/17, 2/15/17 - 9/11/17; 2016: 1985, 417, 21%, 10/1/16, 3/25/16 - 9/28/16; 2015: 2398, 468, 20%, 11/1/15, 3/16/15 - 9/10/15; 2014: 3926, 515, 13%, 11/1/14, 3/16/13 - 9/10/13; 2013: 2263, 531, 23%, 11/1/13, 3/16/12 - 9/10/12; 2012: 2204, 503, 23%, 11/1/12, 3/16/11 - 9/10/11.

Click to access BrokerCheck

We offer custom managed investment programs best suited for portfolios over $500,000. Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. | © Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors 2021.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria-required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria-considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance . Wealth Managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.