Inside the Fort: Growing our team from within
Although this year has been challenging, our staff continues to challenge themselves in new and valuable ways. It’s important that we foster an environment of development and we’re dedicated to cultivating a space of continual growth. Below are highlights of our team hitting new milestones in their careers, we’re happy to see what everyone accomplishes in their new roles.
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Emily Franco
Emily Franco started at Fort Pitt in July 2012 as a CRS and has been promoted to financial advisor. She’s currently working towards her CFP designation and will take the exam this fall. As a valued member of the team over the past eight years, she discovered her passion for helping people find financial security. Becoming an advisor wasn’t part of her original career plan but through her extensive experience working with a book of business, the promotion is a natural progression for Emily’s career. Working closely with the lead financial advisor, Emily will help manage the lifecycle of clients and focus on meeting clients’ needs.
“I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to grow and continue to share the knowledge and experience I have acquired with our clients. As many of our clients know, I have been working with Mike for over eight years and am so grateful for the relationships I have built with both clients and coworkers. I look forward to many more years of working at Fort Pitt and continuing to help our clients achieve their goals,” Emily says.
Kaitlyn Haney
Kaitlyn Haney has been promoted to lead CRS after being a CRS with the Fort Pitt team since July 2018. Kaitlyn plans to take the CFP exam this fall with the goal of becoming a financial advisor as well. In her first 2 years with Fort Pitt, Kaitlyn leveraged her college education and the Certificate in Financial Planning she achieved while studying at Penn State Behrend, to master the CRS role and responsibilities. In addition to helping clients, Kaitlyn has begun providing mentorship to other Fort Pitt Capital Group CRSs. Her dedication to both clients and coworkers made it an easy decision to promote Kaitlyn. With Fort Pitt’s significant growth in the past several years, we needed to redistribute our talent among several client service teams.
“I’m very happy to take on the new responsibility of being the lead CRS for my team and to be working with Beth Lynch and her clients. This move will allow me to learn even more from her and develop my skills towards becoming a trusted advisor. I’m most looking forward to getting to know a new group of clients and build new relationships with them all. The best part of my job is helping our clients and providing them with information they can trust,” Kaitlyn says.
Aileen Rohrig
Aileen Rohrig is also moving up the ranks to a lead CRS from a CRS after two years with Fort Pitt. After starting with our team in July 2018, she has demonstrated a commitment to working hard and smart to deliver significant value to our clients and firm. Aileen was ready and willing to accept this next step in her career. With Cassie’s promotion, Aileen will be able to step up, and flawlessly continue to support our clients. Aileen’s tenure will ensure the clients won’t notice any break in service as a new CRS, Rico Roberto, joins the team and learns the books of business through Aileen’s mentorship.
Aileen explained, “I am happy to have been able to pick up the more complex tasks for our clients. I am looking forward to getting my hands on more of this type of work! It is an honor to be given this promotion two years into my career at Fort Pitt and I’m eager to start working closely with Rico who has proven to be a reliable and knowledgeable coworker.”
Erica Patti
Erica Patti has been an integral part of the Fort Pitt team since September 2017 as a CRS and is now stepping into the role of a primary CRS. This will allow her to continue to develop her CRS skillset. To maintain our great client service as the firm grows, we need to redistribute our talent among several client service teams. This reorganization will allow Erica to focus solely on a specific set of clients and is the natural and well-earned next step in her career with Fort Pitt Capital Group.
Erica shares, “I’m looking forward to working with Santo and gaining valuable insight from his many years of experience in the financial services industry. Santo is known to have strong and personal relationships with his clients and I’m excited to start working with them.”
Rico Roberto
Rico Roberto joined the Fort Pitt team last August as a CRS and has earned more responsibility in the CRS role supporting additional teams. Rico passed his CFP Certification Examination on March 17, 2020, and is currently working towards completing the experience requirement after which he can use the CFP marks. Now that he has completed Fort Pitt’s in-depth CRS training program, he is ready to join a client service team. Rico is the consummate team player who is willing to do what it takes to ensure success. His dedication and commitment to Fort Pitt will ensure a seamless transition as he learns the new books of business.
“I’m looking forward to working with and getting to know more Fort Pitt clients. I’m eager to learn from my new teammates in order to provide the best client service experience possible,” says Rico.
Cassie Kelly
Cassie (Denger) Kelly has been a client relationship specialist (CRS) with us since June 2016 and has transitioned to a financial advisor on the team. Cassie is working towards her CFP and plans to sit for the CFP exam in the Fall of 2020. Over the past four years, Cassie has become an indispensable member of the client service team. After honing her CRS skills, she assisted the firm with recruitment, selection, and training of new CRS team members. In the last few months, she has begun to build her own book of business and is the primary advisor for 5 client relationships. Cassie’s dedication to client service and Fort Pitt made it an easy choice to promote her to an advisor role. In this new role, Cassie will work directly with the lead financial advisor to manage clients’ life cycle by assisting in the execution of steps in the client service process. Cassie’s focus will be on communicating with clients and responding to their needs to elevate the already outstanding service Fort Pitt provides.
Cassie explains, “I am thrilled to transition to the advisor role and continue deepening my knowledge of financial planning. Since working with clients has always been one of my favorite things, I’m thrilled that I will have the opportunity to build and foster new relationships on Team Chaney.”
