Our Team

Ryan N. Shanks
Founder & CEO - Massachusetts
Direct: 413.754.3254
ryan@finetoothconsulting.com

Ryan is the firms Founder and CEO.  He started Finetooth Consulting in November 2006 as he recognized a need for advisors to have someone represent their interests in the market, much like the representation of an athlete by a sports agent. He has spent the past 11 years consulting with Financial Advisors, Registered Investment Advisors and Broker-Dealers.  Ryan is also the Co-founder of Join A Firm, an online recruiting service that helps financial advisors and firms connect, allowing advisors a turnkey transition to independence by joining existing firms.  Before Finetooth, he was VP of Business Development for Associated Securities Corp., an independent Broker-Dealer located in Los Angeles, CA. At Associated, he was responsible for national recruiting and branch office development.  As a member of the executive team, Ryan helped launch the merger and acquisition initiative, which allowed the firms advisors to purchase other books of business. Prior to Associated, Ryan was Director of Recruiting for First Financial Planners, an independent Broker-Dealer located in Chesterfield, MO. During his tenure, Ryan has worked hard to earn a reputation in the industry for his ethical approach to the business as well as his unique ability to provide win-win solutions for all parties. Ryan and his wife Lauren live in Longmeadow, MA, where Lauren grew up as a child. They are proud parents of two sons and a daughter.

Ned Van Riper
Managing Director - Ohio
Direct: 614.210.0237
nvanriper@finetoothconsulting.com

Ned brings over eleven years of industry experience to Finetooth.  He is also the Co-founder of Join A Firm, an online recruiting service that helps financial advisors and firms connect, allowing advisors a turnkey transition to independence by joining existing firms.  Previously he was Regional Director of Branch Development with LPL Financial and was directly responsible for transitioning dozens of advisors to their new firm.  Prior to that, he was a Financial Advisor with both Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley where he serviced the assets and relationships of private clients; he worked with high net worth families and business owners for 8 years.  Ned has gained tremendous industry perspective from working at the wirehouse and independent models and prides himself on using a consultative approach with his clients.  Ned is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and holds the series 7, 31, 63 and 65 securities licenses.  Ned, his wife Pam and four children live in Columbus, Ohio where they have resided for the past fifteen years.

Aaron D. Hasler
Managing Director - Minnesota
Direct: 612.208.0653
ahasler@finetoothconsulting.com

Aaron brings ten years of industry experience to Finetooth, most recently as a Regional Director of Branch Development with LPL Financial.  Prior to LPL, he was the Regional Vice President of USAdvisors Network, a professional supervisory marketing and practice development firm. A background in compliance and business process management, as well as developing small to mid-sized businesses allows him to understand the advisor experience.  Aaron and his wife Melissa live in Minneapolis, MN where they are enjoying parenthood with their son. 

John J. Van Ermen
Managing Director - Illinois
Direct: 708.383.0469
jvanermen@finetoothconsulting.com

John brings over 20 years of experience in financial services and working with individual investors. Prior to joining Finetooth, John was the Vice President of Practice Management for National Retirement Partners, the country’s premier Advisory Firm for Retirement Planners. Before NRP, John was the Eastern Region Sales Manager for ING Advisors Network. There he assisted Registered Investment Advisors in the Eastern half of the US with incorporating fee based investment solutions for their clients, and was instrumental in almost tripling their assets under management in 3 years. Prior to ING, he was the Director of Advisory Services for Envestnet, the largest independent investment advisory platform with over $45 billion in assets under management and administration. He also worked with Optimum Investment Advisors, a $3 billion dollar money management firm catering to high net worth individuals and families. Previously, Mr. Van Ermen has worked with high net worth investors at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and Strong Funds. John holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the Marquette University and is fully licensed with FINRA. John lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife Carrie and their three children.

Timothy Todd
Managing Director - Colorado
Direct: 303.601.4331
ttodd@finetoothconsulting.com

Timothy Todd, founder of Todd Valuation Group, LLC has agreed to merge his company’s services with Finetooth Consulting, LLC to lead and help launch the firm’s valuation advisory practice. Tim offers practical and in-depth experience gained through his role as principal of Todd Valuation Group, LLC, a valuation and financial services firm providing comprehensive asset and company valuation services for buy/sell agreements (death/disability), bench-marking (value creation), succession planning, internal equity sales, and M&A. Tim has an extensive background in financial markets and asset valuation gained through his broad experience as a Corporate Finance and Treasury professional.
Prior to founding Todd Valuation Group, Tim spent fifteen years in corporate finance, audit and treasury for major Fortune 500 corporations in both Europe and the US. Most recently, Tim led the treasury operations of a large corporation where he managed invested assets in excess of $90 million and played a key role in the company’s valuation and financing structure to obtain $665 million in debt and equity placements.
Tim is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and is on the Body of Knowledge review committee for the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). He received his BA in Economics from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota and his MBA from Schiller International University in Heidelberg, Germany. Tim has obtained certification on financial markets and investment management as a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and through the Swiss School of International Banking and Finance (Basel, Switzerland). He has also completed the requisite coursework as a certified financial planner through U.C. Berkeley in California in preparation for the CFP certification.
Tim is married and lives near Boulder, Colorado with his American-French wife and 3 children. Tim, along with his family enjoys hiking, skiing, and fly fishing in the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

Mike Knoebel
Managing Director - Florida
Direct: 407.996.4317
mknoebel@finetoothconsulting.com

Mike provides 12 years of financial services experience to Finetooth and will be focused on the firms Outsourced Recruiting service for retainer clients. He is the Co-Founder of MTG, which specialized in recruiting high net worth financial advisors to wire-house, regional and independent firms. Mike has been recruiting Financial Advisors for 8 years and was a producer with Morgan Stanley for 4 years. He has successfully recruited over $20 million in GDC and $5 billion in AUM, specifically within the regional & wire-house marketplace. He received his degree in Economics from the University of Florida. Mike lives in Orlando with his wife and their three children and enjoys golfing, fishing and spending quality time with family.

Oliver Friedberg
Analyst - California
Direct: 650.796.8025
ofriedberg@finetoothconsulting.com

Oliver joined Finetooth in June of 2011 as an Analyst to provide research and market analysis. Since his affiliation with the firm, his role has expanded to include technology implementation, operations optimization and targeted business strategy. He has played a significant role in the direction and development of some of our larger projects. Oliver is a junior majoring in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, where he ranks among the top of his class. Prior to joining Finetooth, Oliver was a project engineer with the Photon-Enhanced Thermionic Emission group at Stanford Materials Science and Engineering and, prior to that, conducted research for the Cytogenetics Department at Baystate Medical Center. Oliver grew up in Longmeadow and has long term ambitions in Finance.

John Blanton
Director - Texas
Direct: 281.804.5247
jblanton@finetoothconsulting.com

John brings almost twenty years of financial services industry experience to Finetooth. Prior to joining the firm he spent thirteen years with Invesco/Aim Distributors in senior sales and business development roles. Prior to his tenure with Invesco/Aim, he spent several years working with high net worth and institutional investors at Jefferson Brothers. John’s extensive background in helping members of the broker dealer and financial advisory communities build sales and market share will be an asset to Finetooth in his consultative role. Having built strong relationships and networks with firms such as Ameriprise, LPL, and Raymond James, Mr. Blanton has established a strong knowledge base of both the independent and wirehouse channels. John is a graduate of Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa and currently holds Series 7, 63, 65, as well as his CRPC designation through the College for Financial Planning. John is a native Texan and currently resides in his hometown of Houston with his wife Umo and their two children.

Advisory Board Members

Craig Katz - New Jersey
Craig has been working in the financial industry for twelve years, with the majority of his career focused on helping firms service the financial intermediary channels utilize information to maximize their distribution, marketing and recruiting efforts.  Craig is SVP, Institutional Sales for Meridian-IQ, a provider of the most up-to-date database of Registered Investment Advisors on the market.  Prior to Meridian-IQ, Craig spent over seven years with Discovery Database.  As their second employee, Craig was instrumental in growing the firm into the industry leading database provider.  Prior to joining Discovery Database, Craig spent four years as a national accounts manager and relationship manager for Farley Business Magazine Specialists.  He was responsible for national advertising sales for several publications, including the Journal of Financial Planning, the flagship publication of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). Within two years, he successfully expanded the advertising revenues of the Journal for Financial Planning over 450%. Craig's career began as an account manager with Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Craig holds a B.S. degree in Communications from Boston College.

Greg Milam - Georgia
Greg has spent the past 10 years with Manheim, the world’s largest provider of vehicle remarketing services. In his current role as Senior Project Manager, he has been responsible for installing the companies remarketing concept within the rapidly growing People’s Republic of China. Greg manages the construction, business development and operations in Beijing. Prior to Manheim, he was a Senior Associate with Porter Keadle Moore, LLP (PKM), a leading Atlanta accounting firm offering services in audit, tax, risk advisory, information technology infrastructure and management consulting. At PKM, he performed annual audits for clients in banking, financial services and residential construction. Before PKM, Greg was an Associate with Reznick Group, ranked among the top 20 public accounting firms in the United States. At Reznick Group, he performed the annual audit process to include preliminary tax work for clients from various industries. He also managed a team project for a large real estate investment portfolio. Greg received his BSBA from Auburn University. He served as President and Vice President of Beta Alpha Psi.

Jeana Garcia - California
Jeana Garcia currently serves as Assistant Vice President of Strategic Alliances with education marketing firm AcademixDirect (www.academixdirect.com). Garcia handles key account strategy, while also launching new company initiatives in domestic and international, emerging and growth education markets.
Previously, Garcia was with the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA), a non-profit college planning service that offers assistance to students, parents, high school counselors and teachers nationwide. At NRCCUA, Garcia was responsible for cultivating new business and worked collaboratively to build the organization’s online presence. Prior to NRCCUA, Garcia was Director of Sales and National Accounts, Education Marketing, at Monster Worldwide’s MediaWorks Division, where she led extraordinary growth for the education division. Before that, she worked at David Gomez & Associates, Inc., an executive search firm in Chicago, Illinois.

Kirstie Jeffries - California
Kirstie currently serves as Social Media Specialist for the digital marketing agency Supercool Creative. At Supercool, she oversees the social media presence for the firm and their clients. She also is involved in online marketing for UCLA's Campus Events Commission, BruinLife Yearbook, and Undergraduate Spanish & Portuguese Association. Kirstie graduates from UCLA in June with a Bachelor's in Communication Studies and plans to help drive the evolution of social media and online marketing.

Mark Penske - New York
Mark is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and founder of United Advisors. Mark began his investment career at Merrill Lynch in San Diego, working for a corporate client team. He was responsible for directing the team's marketing and business development efforts in both Private Client and Corporate Markets. He then moved to Columbus, Ohio and continued working with various financial consultants to develop their business and service their clients. His career path led him to New York City and Citigroup's Smith Barney. Over a three-year period, Mark built the Penske & Peter Team with his partner Damian Peter, a childhood friend for 25 years. The Penske & Peter Team was recognized among their peers as one of the top teams in the Northeast region. Eventually the draw to independence won out and Mark left Smith Barney to form in 2002 what is now known as United Advisors, LLC. Outside of the office, Mark is an avid skier who spends his free time in his favorite state, Utah, along with his four siblings, their children and his more than 25 cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents who reside in Salt Lake City. Mark is a graduate of Denison University and holds a 7, 63, 65, 24, and Life/Health Insurance licenses. Mark resides in New York City and is involved in a number of charitable pursuits in the Tri-State area.

Maureen Maloney - California
Maureen has more than 15 years experience in regulatory and compliance matters.  Currently, she is Chief Compliance Officer-Retail for Grubb & Ellis Securities, Inc.  Prior to joining Grubb & Ellis Securities, Inc., she was the President and Founder of Compliance Concierge where she provided consulting services to financial services firms.  Previously, she has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel for several independent broker-dealer firms, as well as serving a five year term as a regulator in the Los Angeles branch of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).  Maureen earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier College School of Law.  She is a Series 7, 24 and 63 and is a member in good standing with the State Bar of California. Additionally, Maureen serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Independent Broker Dealers (NAIBD).  She believes in a collaborative partnership with the regulators and seeks to build a strong rapport for the benefit of the financial services industry.

Sam Englebardt - California
Sam is Managing Director of Lambert Media Group (LMG), an investment and management company focused on strategic growth opportunities in entertainment, media and technology. At LMG, Sam is responsible for management and strategic oversight of current investments and development of new business opportunities. Before joining LMG, he was Vice President at Alliance Bernstein, one of the world's premiere investment research and asset management companies. Prior to Bernstein, Sam was Executive Vice President at Artfire Films and 7ate9 Entertainment, and a founding partner of Arrival Cinema, where he produced and financed several acclaimed independent films, including GEORGE A. ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD; PARIS, JE T'AIME and David Mamet's EDMOND. Sam is a licensed attorney in the state of California, having earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Before HLS, he studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Sam is a trustee of the Becker Family Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of Variety - The Children's Charity of Southern California.

William Firestone - Connecticut
Bill Firestone graduated with a bachelors of business degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1978. He has been a Professional in the Auction and Appraisal Industry since 1978. In 1998 he established Capital Recovery Group. He has been as expert witness in numerous Bankruptcy Cases and taught seminars for Financial Institutes. He was the first Industrial Auctioneer to broadcast a sale live over the Internet. He is a member of the IAA, MDNA, NAA, ABI, and TurnAround Management.