*Too often investors rely on fund managers to pick individual securities and time markets. Invest Differently means focusing on an asset allocation strategy and implementing it inexpensively, precisely, and in as diversified a manner possible.

**Retention rate represents the average from 2006-2019 of the annual number of institutional portfolio management clients lost divided by the total number of RIA clients as of each year end.

Leadership & Staff

Principals

Raffa Investment Advisers is owned by three principals, each of whom is an original founder: Tom Raffa, Dennis Gogarty, and Steven K. Heger.

Neither Mr. Raffa or Mr. Heger are involved in RIA’s daily operations or investment advisory considerations.

Professionals

External Investment Committee

RIA’s strategic investment decisions are informed by an External Investment Committee. This committee includes six members, representing industry professionals and collegiate academics.

  • Alexandre M. Baptista, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance, Dean’s Research Scholar, at The George Washington University School of Business
  • Robert J. Willen, CFA, Portfolio Manager at WBH Advisory Inc.
  • Andrew Kline, CPA, CFP®, Managing Member of ARK Financial Services
  • Joe Del Guercio, MBA., Managing Director of CNF Investments, LLC
  • Gergana Jostova, Ph.D., CFA, Associate Professor of Finance at The George Washington University School of Business

The strategic recommendations made by the Raffa Investment Advisers External Investment Committee are not client specific but relate broadly to the firms overall investment strategy. This enables the committee to focus on generalized and impersonal investment decisions. It is each committee members responsibility to share their best judgment about a particular meeting topic which will inform the final decision made exclusively and entirely by Raffa Investment Advisers.  Committee members not affiliated with Raffa Investment Advisers do not receive specific client information unless the client has authorized Raffa Investment Advisers to share the client’s information with the committee. The Committee meets on an “as-needed” basis typically once per year or every other year.  Individual committee members may be consultant more frequently based on their specific area of expertice.  Committee members not affiliated with Raffa Investment Advisers may or may not be affiliated with other investment advisory firms, but they are not investment advisory representatives of Raffa Investment Advisers. Committee members are compensated by Raffa Investment Advisers and therefore indirectly compensated by client fees paid to Raffa Wealth Management. However, Raffa Investment Advisers’ use of an investment committee does not increase the overall fees charged to clients.  A written summary of each investment committee meeting is available upon request.  Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

    Affiliations

    RIA has ongoing service agreements in place for Marcum to support our HR and Accounting, but there is no longer any common ownership.  Steven K. Heger is also the CEO of Raffa Financial Services, Inc., which is affiliated with RIA.  Please find more information about each company below:

    • Raffa Financial Services, Inc. (est. 1999), provides employee benefit administration and brokerage services for nonprofit organizations and for-profit corporations in the Washington D.C. area.
    • Raffa – Marum’s Nonprofit & Social Sector Group (est. 1984), provides audit & tax services primarily for nonprofit organizations across the nation.  The Group also provides specialized managed services including accounting, HR, IT, project consulting and staffing solutions, executive search, transition, and planning, operational improvement, and mergers & acquisitions.