Who We Are

Wes is the founder and Managing Partner of Guidance Point Advisors. He has devoted his 20+ year career in the financial services industry to providing comprehensive wealth management and financial planning services to select individuals and organizations. Prior to founding Guidance Point Advisors, he was Senior Vice President at Retirement System Group, with responsibility for developing the company’s discretionary investment management business and designing individual investment strategies. He specialized in portfolio management and retirement planning services for his clients. Before that, he was a sales associate in the Private Client Service group at Lehman Brothers. At Lehman, Wes was a member of a five-person team responsible for managing several hundred high net worth client relationships exceeding $800 million in total assets. Wes lives in Wellesley, MA with his wife Caroline, and three children.

Experience

Guidance Point Advisors
Retirement System Group
Lehman Brothers

Education & Designations

Certified Financial Planner® designation
Rhodes College, B.A. ‘96
Boston College Carroll School of Management, M.B.A. ‘03
FINRA Series 65 License

Ben's focus with our clients is to direct the investments of their investable portfolios. In teaming with Curtis Worcester, Ben combines his investment expertise from attaining the CFA Charter with Curtis’ financial planning expertise to provide clients with the tools, confidence, and education to make informed decisions about their retirement. As Ben and Curtis have clients who are current or former Northern Light Health employees, they've developed a specialty in serving clients in the healthcare field. You can read their "Employee Guide to the Northern Light Health Retirement Plans" here.

He has spent his entire career devoted to serving individual clients and institutions by developing and implementing investment strategies, setting portfolio structure, and providing the highest level of client service. He's passionate about helping clients maximize their savings and retirement income using the many financial planning and portfolio management tools available to Guidance Point consultants. Prior to working for Guidance Point Advisors, Ben worked for Acadia Trust, N.A., a subsidiary of Camden National Corporation, as Vice President, Portfolio Manager based in Bangor, Maine. Ben assumed responsibility for and oversight of over $300 million in client portfolios, including individuals, families, retirement plans, endowments, foundations, businesses, and trusts; and he served on the Company’s Investment Committee.

Experience

Guidance Point Advisors, LLC.
Guidance Point Retirement Services, LLC.
Acadia Trust, N.A. / Camden National Corporation
Merrill Merchants Bank

Memberships

CFA Society of Maine

Education & Designations

University of Maine, B.S. ‘03
University of Maine, M.B.A. ‘04
Chartered Financial Analyst Designation

Chris is an investment consultant with Guidance Point Advisors. Over his 27 years in the financial service industry, he provided capital markets expertise to some of the world's largest money management institutions. Prior to Guidance Point Advisors, he began his career at Goldman Sachs initially as a fixed income research liaison analyzing portfolios, optimizing security selection, calculating option valuations and constructing relative value trading strategies. He advanced to become a Vice President as a securitized products salesman covering large institutions with assets under management up to $2 trillion. His clients comprised of mutual fund managers, separate account managers, insurance companies, hedge funds, banks, sovereign wealth funds, REITs and pension funds. Over the course of his career, he transacted in multiple types of fixed income securities; securitized, U.S. treasuries, agencies, corporates and municipals. He spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs, 6 years as a Director at Deutsche Bank and 6 years as a Managing Director at Nomura Securities. Chris lives in Wellesley, MA with his wife Leslie and three children.

Experience

Guidance Point Advisors
Nomura Securities
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs

Board Memberships

Codman Academy Foundation Board
Brae Burn Country Club

Education & Designations

Bates College, B.A. in Mathematics '88
FINRA Series 65 License

Curtis works primarily with individuals and families on everything from wealth building, estate planning, building investment allocations to meet financial goals, and personalized retirement plans. Curtis attended Husson University and received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In teaming with Ben Smith, Curtis provides clients with the tools, confidence, and education to make informed decisions about their retirement. As Curtis and Ben have clients who are current or former Northern Light Health employees, you can read their "Employee Guide to the Northern Light Health Retirement Plans" here.

Experience

Guidance Point Advisors, LLC.
Guidance Point Retirement Services, LLC.
The Advertising Specialists of Maine
Northern Light Health

Education & Designations

Husson University, Bachelor of Business Administration, BBA - Field Of Study: Finance and Financial Management Services. ‘16

FINRA Series 65

Larry serves as an Investment Consultant with vast expertise that includes assisting multigenerational asset transfers, financial planning for retirement and college savings, and investment recommendations for accomplishing client goals. Larry is passionate about helping people improve their lives whether it be in the form of feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, or assisting clients/friends with their goals/dreams.

Prior to Guidance Point Advisors, Larry was a Vice President for Key Trust Company of Maine where he served as a Relationship Manager for personal relationships and focused on business development. After Key Bank, Larry served as a Senior Vice President for TD Bank (formerly People's Heritage Bank) in similar roles and additionally was the team leader for Northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont). His most recent role was with Bigelow Investment Advisors as Senior Vice President where he served as Relationship Manager with portfolio management responsibilities and performed business development for the firm including personal relationships, non-profits, and 401(k) retirement plans.

Memberships / Volunteer / Board Memberships

Penobscot Valley United Way
American institute of Banking
Androscoggin United Way
Rural Community Action Committee
Good Shepherd Food Bank

Experience

Bigelow Investment Advisors
TD Banknorth
Key Trust Company of Maine

Education & Designations

Certified Financial Planner (CFP®)
College of Financial Planning
Gordon College

A.J. has over 30 years of experience in the investment and retirement services industries. In his role as an Investment Consultant, he focuses on providing financial counseling services to individuals. A.J. is also the founder of Guidance Point Retirement Services, LLC. providing independent and objective fiduciary consulting for plan sponsors and investment fiduciaries. A.J. has worked in nearly all aspects of the retirement services industry and has consulted on a wide range of retirement plan and investment topics across a number of industry sectors. A.J. concentrates on business development and client consulting to provide comprehensive and integrated trustee, investment, actuarial, defined benefit, defined contribution, and non-qualified retirement plan solutions.

Experience

Guidance Point Advisors, LLC
Guidance Point Retirement Services, LLC.
Acacia Associates, Inc.
Retirement System Group, Inc.
Invesmart
Walker Associates, Inc.

Education & Designations

University of Maine, B.S. ‘83
Accredited Investment Fiduciary® designation
FINRA Series 65 License