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History

ARLPG

1979

Firm is founded by Alan R. Leist Jr. The Alan R. Leist Planning Group, Inc. is launched from a one room office in the old Mayro Building in downtown Utica, N.Y.

2631 SP

1986-1988

Firm expands and moves into a new office on Genesee Street. Judy Sweet joins the firm in 1988 to help launch and lead an investment management division to complement the planning group.

1998 SIA AD

1998

The name Strategic Portfolios is changed to “Strategic Investment Advisors” to more clearly reflect the company’s services.

 

1999 SRP

1999

As the landscape of the retirement plan universe was changing, Strategic saw an opportunity to bring a new service, offering 401(k) plan design, oversight and employee education services to clients’ businesses. In 1999, Strategic Retirement Plans, Inc. was formally launched. Strategic Investment Advisors, Alan R. Leist Planning Group and Strategic Retirement Plans consolidated to operate under umbrella “Strategic Financial Services”

114_BPD

2002

Strategic begins renovation of a 10,000 sq ft building in the Utica, N.Y. Business Park. The new layout consists of 13 individual offices, 18 work stations and 3 large conference rooms.

SFS New Office

2005

Firm moves into their current headquarters located at 114 Business Park Drive, Utica, N.Y.

Alan R. Leist, III, CFA joins Strategic after a 10-year career on Wall Street.

Barrons

2007

Alan R. Leist Jr. and Strategic is ranked #15 in Barron’s “Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors1 in the nation. Strategic has appeared in Barron’s annual rankings a total of six times.

Insights Launch

2012

On March 16, 2012 Strategic released Volume 1, Edition 1 of Strategic Insights. This weekly commentary is the original work of the Strategic investment team and intended to keep our clients up-to-date on important developments shaping the economy and markets. Volume 5, Edition 1 sent in 2016 marketed the 185th week of distribution.

2013 Schwab

2013

Strategic selects Schwab Advisor Services, a division of Charles Schwab & Co., as the firm’s new custodian for client assets. Schwab is the leading custodian for independent investment advisors like Strategic.

JVS

2014

Judy Sweet named as a Top 25 Women Registered Investment Advisors2 by WealthManagement.com. She was also listed again in 2015.

Rebrand

2016

The Firm launches new website and fresh new brand. Strategic’s assets under management and advisement surpass $1.1 billion3 for the first time.

ft_300

2018

Strategic named to the 2018 edition of the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers.

40th_HISTORY

2019

Strategic celebrates 40th Anniversary.

BPTW_HISTORY2

2020 & 2021

Strategic recognized by InvestmentNews as Best Place to Work for Financial Advisors

1The formula Barron’s uses to rank advisors is proprietary.  It has three major components: assets managed, revenue produced and quality of practice.  Investment returns are not a component of the rankings because an advisor’s returns are dictated largely by the risk tolerance of clients.  The quality-of-practice component includes an evaluation of each advisor’s regulatory record.
 2Top 25 Women-Owned RIAs list was assembled using data from SEC filings and Meridian-IQ (in which Penton Media has a stake). Advisors are ranked by their firm’s total assets under management. To land on the list, female advisors were required to directly own at least 25 percent of the firm. Additionally, these women have at least some individual clients for whom they do financial planning and have no more than 50 percent institutional clients. Third party rankings and recognition from ratings services are no guarantee of future investment success. Working with a highly rated adviser does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results.
 3The assets included in this calculation includes assets of advisory client accounts, retail client accounts, and monitored client accounts. Advisory client accounts are accounts that Strategic provide continuous and ongoing management services. Retail accounts are accounts where an advisory representative serves as registered rep on the account and provides advice on an intermittent basis. Monitored client accounts are accounts that Strategic monitors and may provide investment and planning recommendations, but does not have trading authority over.