Ramapo Wealth Advisors of Ramsey has joined Steward Partners Global Advisory, which is affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services.
The five-person team from Wells Fargo works with $600 million in client assets and includes advisors James Sahagian, Peter Gordinier and David Puccia.
“My partners and I decided to form an independent firm because this business model allows us to do so much more for our clients. We spent a couple of years on our due diligence before we chose to join Steward Partners,” explained James Sahagian, managing director and wealth adviser, Ramapo Wealth Advisors. “By partnering with Steward, we are aligning ourselves with a forward-thinking independent firm that offers superior technology, a multicustodial platform and the potential to offer different solutions that were not previously available to us.”
Sahagian began his financial services career in 1999 as a financial adviser with Smith Barney, which later merged with Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group. He joined Wells Fargo in 2009, where he served as managing director, senior vice president and financial adviser. In addition to earning the Certified Financial Planner designation, he holds an MBA in finance and a B.S. in accounting from Rutgers University.
“We found that Steward’s entrepreneurial spirit dovetailed with our approach and how we envisioned our practice going forward,” echoed Gordinier, director and wealth manager, Ramapo Wealth Advisors. “We also felt that their multicustodial approach to the business would allow us to better serve our clients in the manner which they deserve.”
Gordinier has worked in financial services for over 35 years and has been a financial adviser for more than 25 years. He worked for Morgan Guarantee Trust Co. in New York City, where his last position was assistant treasurer in the firm’s Institutional Securities Lending Department before being accepted into Smith Barney’s brokerage training program, where he became securities and insurance licensed as a financial adviser, working in the firm’s Paramus office. After growing his practice for almost 13 years with Smith Barney, Peter accepted the position of vice president with Wells Fargo Advisors in 2009.
Puccia brings over 40 years of experience in financial services, having worked for Wells Fargo and its legacy banks since 1979. He is a graduate of Lafayette College with a degree in economics and earned his MBA from Seton Hall University with a concentration in finance.
“I spent my entire career with Wells Fargo and was very happy there, but found that teaming with Jim and Pete and affiliating with Steward Partners was really the best thing I could do for my clients at this point in time,” added Puccia.
