Lewis Altfest is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and member of the Financial Planning Association. Serving clients at Altfest Personal Wealth Management in New York, NY and the surrounding communities.
Lewis J. Altfest, Ph.D., is CEO, Chief Investment Officer, and a Principal Advisor for Altfest Personal Wealth Management. Prior to founding the firm in 1983, he was a General Partner and Director of Research for Lord Abbett & Co., a large mutual fund and investment management company that manages more than $100 billion in assets. Lew began his investment career as a research analyst at Wertheim & Co.
Lew was the sole recipient of the 2007 Charles R. Schwab IMPACT Award® – arguably the highest distinction in the profession – for his sustained vision, outstanding leadership and client commitment. He was named one of the “Best Financial Advisers” in the country by Barron’s, as well as by Money, Worth, Mutual Funds, Medical Economics, and Dental Practice Report magazines. In 2013, Financial Planning magazine honored Lew in a cover story with the Lifetime Achievement Influencer Award, as an advisor who over the course of his career, has changed financial planning for the better and pushed the industry to higher levels. In 2012, and again in 2013, he was named to Financial Advisor magazine’s Due Diligence/Research Manager All-Star Team. His academic textbook, Personal Financial Planning, was published by McGraw Hill and is currently used at leading universities around the country. Lew is co-author of Lew Altfest Answers Almost All Your Questions About Money, which was named one of the best financial planning books by Money magazine, and co-author of An Introduction to Business.
Lew is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University, where he teaches financial planning and investments. Previously, he was co-director of the Investment Program at the New School. In addition to the books listed above, Lew is the author of many scholarly articles on financial planning and investments.
Lew lectures frequently to investors, pre-retirees and retirees as well as to other financial professionals. He is often interviewed by the media and currently writes a monthly investment column for Medical Economics. Lew is listed in Who's Who in Finance and Who's Who in America and is the recipient of the 2006 Career Achievement Award from The City College of New York for his “integral role in the development of the financial planning profession.”
A founding member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), Lew has served on its Board of Directors. He was selected as one of NAPFA’s 30 Most Influential in 2013. He also is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Academy of Financial Services, Financial Management Association, American Finance Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New York Society of Security Analysts.
Lew received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has an MBA from New York University and a B.B.A from Baruch College. He also holds the CFA, CFP®, CPA, and PFS designations.
Recognition of Our Principals
America’s Top Next-Generation Wealth Advisors
Forbes – Andrew Altfest, 2017
America’s Top 200 Women Advisors
Forbes – Karen Altfest, 2017
Top 1,200 Financial Advisors in the Country
Barron’s – Lew Altfest, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in the Nation
Barron’s – Lew Altfest, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
New York SmartCEO Family Business Award
SmartCEO - Karen Altfest, 2016
Top 20 Most Influential Women to Watch
InvestmentNews - Karen Altfest, 2015
Top 100 Women Financial Advisors
Financial Times – Karen Altfest, 2014
Advisor Hall of Fame Inductee Research Magazine - Lew Altfest, 2014
The Influencers - Lifetime Achievement Award Financial Planning magazine - Lew and Karen Altfest, 2013
NAPFA's 30 Most Influential NAPFA (The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) Lew Altfest, 2013
InvestmentNews and Invest in Others Charitable Foundation Community Leadership Award - Karen Altfest, 2012
Best Financial Advisors for Dentists
Dental Practice Report – Lew Altfest, 2011, 2012, 2013
150 Best Financial Advisors for Doctors
Medical Economics – Lew Altfest, 1998-2013
One of the “financial planning profession’s most respected veterans.”
Money magazine – Lew Altfest, 2009
The 50 Distinguished Women in Wealth Management
"One of the most prominent female wealth managers in the business"
Wealth Manager* magazine – Karen C. Altfest, 2008-2009
Recognition for Altfest Personal Wealth ManagementSM
300 Top Registered Investment Advisors in the Nation
Financial Times, 2014, 2015, 2017
Top 10 Rated Wealth Advisors in New York, NY
AdvisoryHQ, 2016, 2017
Leading Registered Investment Advisors in the US
Financial Advisor magazine 2006-2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Best Practices Award
InvestmentNews, 2014
Due Diligence/Research Manager All-Star Team Award
Financial Advisor magazine 2012, 2013
Top 150 Wealth Managers in the Nation
AdvisorOne* magazine 2011, 2012
Bloomberg's Top 300 Wealth Managers in the Country
Bloomberg Wealth Manager* 2003-2008, 2010
The Altfest Approach
At Altfest Personal Wealth Management, we want to help you meet your goals. We understand that each person’s lifestyle is unique and requires distinct consideration and planning. That’s why we provide services with a personal touch, whether it’s investing client money or providing advanced financial planning guidance. Clients benefit from our expertise, objectivity and genuine service, which have been a hallmark at our firm since 1983.
Objective Advice
Our fee-only approach is simple and straightforward: we work strictly for our clients and receive only your fees as compensation. We neither sell products nor accept commissions – whether for investments that we purchase for client accounts, or insurance that we recommend. We have a fiduciary responsibility to put our clients’ interests ahead of our own, and we embrace that. We have a genuine concern for our clients and are very sensitive to real or perceived conflicts of interest.
Investment Management Approach
We actively manage diversified, customized portfolios on our clients’ behalf. Having invested client money since 1983, we’ve lived through many economic cycles, and bull and bear markets, from the crash of ’87 to the roaring market of the 90’s.
TPM™
TPM™ stands for Total Portfolio Management, a proprietary investment and financial planning tool that reflects the holistic approach we apply to our clients’ financial lives and the rigor of our analysis. It is an innovative advancement in the field of portfolio construction, grown out of our commitment to move the profession forward and our ties to academia. Rather than designing a portfolio in isolation, we use TPM™ to take into account all your assets and liabilities, including future earnings and spending requirements. We believe this method can help reduce risk and optimize investment returns for you.
Financial Planning
Our financial planning analyses, and in particular our retirement planning analyses, are highly sophisticated. Many members of the firm hold CFP® certificates – the leading designation in the field.
In addition to our depth of general planning knowledge, we have specialists in a number of targeted areas who can help answer your specific questions. We provide information in a straightforward manner and pride ourselves on our ability to listen, to understand your needs and then develop solutions that make financial sense in addition to providing personal comfort and satisfaction to you.
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