Through a consultative approach with the client, Michael explores what is important to the client now and in the future. Having spent more than 20 years in advanced case consultation, analysis, and design, Michael has extensive experience building comprehensive financial plans designed to reach a client’s financial independence.

Michael is the past Chairman and President of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).

Bob is the Chief Operations Officer at Fusion Capital Management. He has been in the financial services industry for the last 19 years. He has been with Fusion since 2012 when it was still a startup working in various roles since, helping grow the company to over $2B in Assets Under Advisement. Operations, is about efficiency, accuracy, and getting things done, which is why he enjoys his current role as much as he does.

Bob, grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and currently lives in Mechanicsburg, PA, spending much of his free time with his family.

Jim has been an Information Technology (IT) Consultant for the last six years. During that time, he has built networks and servers that support virtualization using Citrix Hypervisor, Linux and Windows operating systems. While his focus is networking and servers, he also supports workstations and small business infrastructures. Jim is also a Financial Advisor for Aria Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor.

Before becoming a consultant (and working for Aria), Jim worked as a Financial Advisor for Concert Wealth Management where he helped the firm build out its technology platform while managing his clients. Prior to that he enjoyed a successful 20-year career in sales and marketing for many well-known international semiconductor companies. Jim’s investment philosophy is to keep it simple and easy for his clients to understand.

Jim completed a certificate program in Personal Financial Planning at UCSC Extension in 2005 and completed CFP certification in 2006. He is a graduate of California State University, Northridge with a B.S. in Engineering. Prior to attending college Jim was a member of the U.S. Navy where he was deployed supporting nuclear powered Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines in Holy Loch, Scotland. In the community Jim is a volunteer at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, he enjoys hunting, playing guitar and golf. Jim resides in Chowchilla, CA and has a daughter living in Fort Worth, Texas.

Luke Poggi serves as associate vice president of business development and has over a decade of experience in the financial services and asset management industry. He is a primary liaison between the firm, our clients, and our distribution partners, predominantly consulting with financial professionals and educating their clients on Cboe Vest’s investment strategies.

Prior to joining Cboe Vest, Mr. Poggi served as executive director for a globally- recognized systematic hedge fund, where he oversaw national distribution of the firm’s strategies into third-party asset management platforms and model portfolios.

Luke holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola University Maryland. He is currently an MBA Candidate at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Steve Rumsey is the Chief Investment Officer of Optimus Advisory Group. He specializes in designing and managing the firm’s tactical and alternative investment strategies.

Steve was a computer programmer and analyst for a Fortune 500 company before entering the financial services industry more than 20 years ago. He was a financial advisor with two national broker-dealers and founded Rumsey Asset Management. In 2008, after working with now business partner Paul Hewitt for many years, Steve merged his firm with Hewitt Investment Advisory to become Optimus Advisory Group.

Steve earned his BS in Business and Management from the University of Redlands and his MBA from Pepperdine University.

Kevin T Clark, RF is a closet ERISA Nerd and solely focused on helping as many of the 100,000,000 hard working Americans investing in their 401k/403b plans as possible. Kevin and a partner (software developer) have created the only financial technology (fintech) to allow an adviser to work with any participant at any employer. Kevin is a Dalbar certified registered fiduciary (RF). He enjoys boating in the Gulf of Mexico, working out and reading. He currently lives in Sarasota FL with his teenage daughter.  

Scott holds a Certified Fund Specialist™ (CFS™) designation with a Certification in Alternative Investments. As a third-generation financial professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Scott started as a wholesaler in Denver for one of the largest Insurance Marketing Organizations in the country. Later, he went on to help start and grow other financial firms, including a Broker-Dealer and a few Registered Investment Advisors. Rapid success came from working closely with financial advisers and intensely focusing on not just case design assistance, but from introducing a more business consultant, team-oriented, and adviser-centric service model approach…something nobody else in the industry offered at the time, that had advisers’ practices soaring. This philosophical approach remains the foundation of Optivise’s service model today.

Scott holds a Series 65 investment license and Life and Health Insurance licenses, also previously holding Series 7 and 63 FINRA licenses. Scott also holds a Certified Fund Specialist™ (CFS™) designation and a Bachelor’s degree in Corporate Communications from Texas A&M University, with a focus on Business and International Relations.

David Wagner is a member of the ACA Investment Committee and is responsible for equity research, selection, the evaluation of macro-level trends, and advising about the current market environment.

Prior to joining Aptus, David worked with both Opus Capital Management and Driehaus Capital Management where he was responsible for conducting research and analysis for various small and microcap equity strategies. David is a regular contributor on CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, and Barron’s.

David is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Cincinnati. He earned his BS in Accounting and BBA in Finance from the University of Kentucky. He also earned his MBA specialized in Finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH.

James Yahoudy’s primary focus is supporting advisors with all things to help them run a better business and enhance the client experience. Whether the support is directly from the Aptus suite of services or a technology change outside of what we do – he is ready to pull up his sleeves to support.

James has worked as an advisor and closely with advisors since 2010. He most recently came from TD Ameritrade Institutional working with RIAs in a variety of practice management areas and assisting breakaway brokers in the process of going independent.

James is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. He completed his certificate program in Financial Planning from Southern Methodist University.

Mike has worked in the investment business for over 15 years. He got his start as a trader in New York on the New York Mercantile Exchange trading Commodities.  As of April 2021, Mike is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor , or CRPC® .

Prior to joining ZEGA Financial, Mike worked for a Registered Investment Advisor where he built a wealth management and financial planning platform servicing over 200 high new worth clients. Mike was also a Vice President at JP Morgan Chase and Senior Financial Consultant with TD Ameritrade. Both organizations he achieved the award of Presidents Club. 

Mike has participated in multiple charitable foundations including the Humane Society and Habitat for Humanity. He is proud to have raised over $50,000 in one year for the Humane Society of Broward county.  

Mike and his wife Melissa reside in Miami where they enjoy scuba diving, paddle boarding and racing in triathlons.

Joining Jackson in 2014, Chris brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience gained in banking law and commercial litigation, which adds a unique dimension to his role of Assistant Vice President of Advanced Planning. Ready to assist you with your trust, estate-planning, and tax-related questions, Chris looks forward to applying his valuable perspective to help you analyze your most difficult and hard-to-close cases.

Chris earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami and is licensed to practice law in Colorado. He holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations and also has a Tennessee Life and Variable Products Insurance license. In his free time, he enjoys playing hockey, fly fishing, and Brazilian jiu jitsu.