Planning Department
ROBERT A. STUDIN, J.D.*, CPA*, CFP®, CLU®, CRPC, ChFC®
Executive Director, Financial Advisory Services
Named in Worth magazine’s Top Financial Advisors in 1996-2002, Medical Economics’ 120 Best Advisors for Doctors in 1998, 2000 and 2002, the Birmingham Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, and received the Leadership Award from the MS Foundation in 1997.
Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alabama, and J.D. from Cumberland School of Law, Member of the Alabama Society of Financial Planning Association and the AIPA.
NASSER ALI, CFA, CFP®, AAMS, CMFC, CRPC
Director of Financial Advisory Services
Prior experience as a portfolio manager responsible for managing customized investment portfolios totaling close to $400 million. Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Maryland.
Member of the Association of Investment Management and Research and the Baltimore Security Analysts Society. Published an article in the Encyclopedia of World Terrorism entitled, “The Impact of 9/11 on the Global Economy.”
RICH E. AUSTIN, J.D.*, LLM, CRPC
Director of Financial Advisory Services
Primary area of expertise: Advising high net worth clients, with an average net worth over $10 million dollars, on investment, estate, charitable, and business owner planning alternatives.
Has conducted seminars for financial professionals; served on advisory boards, created computer models to calculate tax implications, and authored articles on tax strategies.
GREGORY W. BUTLER, ChFC®, CFP®, CLU®
Director of Financial Advisory Services
Areas of expertise include comprehensive financial, estate and business owner planning, and employee benefits.
Graduated from Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. Served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Financial Planners and the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Financial Planning Association.
FRED FEDEROWICH, CFP®, CRPC
Director of Planning, Advisory Specialist
Fred serves as an Advisory Specialist for the Sagemark Consulting Private Wealth Services Group and is a Director of Planning for the National Planning Team.
In addition to being a Certified Financial Planner™ certificant and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor SM designee, Fred also holds the NASD Series 6, 7 and 65.
Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors/Sagemark Consulting in the fall of 2002 Fred worked with Merrill Lynch as a Trust and Estate Settlement Administrator.
CHRISTOPHER FROMM, ChFC®, CFP®
Director of Planning
Chris specializes in comprehensive financial planning for high net worth individuals with expertise in estate planning. He currently holds the CFP® certification and ChFC designation.
He currently serves on several National Teams, including the Estate and Business Planning Committee, FCM Testing Committee, Private Wealth Services Group, and also serves on the Lincoln Financial Network Team.
Chris is a graduate of the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Prior to that, he was a financial analyst at Merrill Lynch.
JOSEPH FLYNN, J.D.*
Design Attorney
Primary area of expertise: Advising Lincoln financial planners and their clients on a wide variety of estate planning and business succession issues with a particular emphasis on the family owned business.
Graduate of Yale University and The University of Connecticut School of Law.
BEN T. HUDDLE, CFP®, MBA, CRPC
Director of Financial Advisory Services
Areas of expertise: the development, training, and implementation of fee-based financial planning within the firm including the integration of the investment and comprehensive financial planning processes.
Masters in Business Administration for The University of Houston and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University. National speaker/trainer for Lincoln Financial Advisors.
AARON HUNTOON
Director of Planning
Aaron consults on comprehensive financial plan design and technical topics to Lincoln Financial Advisors and Sagemark Consulting. He provides customized solutions for highly affluent clients. He serves as an advisor for Business Intelligence Institute Specialists.
Additionally, he conducts several presentations annually on estate, charitable and business planning topics company-wide. He co-leads the Estate and Business Planning sub-committee in the National Planning Department and has presented at the LFN Fall Focus and Planning Forum conferences.
Aaron has a Master’s in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting and a Bachelors of Science in Marketing and International Business. In addition, he holds a Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant designation through the College for Financial Planning in Colorado.
TIMOTHY S. JOHNSON, J.D.*, CRPC
Chief Investment Strategist
Areas of expertise include fixed-income, equity allocations, alternative investments and affluent wealth management.
BA in Political Science from Lipscomb University in 1981 and graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Holds a Series 7 license.
JOHN M. KOVEL, CFP ®
Sr. Consultant – Advisory Technical Services
Joined Lincoln Financial Advisors in July of 1999 as a Case Manager. He has fine-tuned his skills in the wealth accumulator, estate and business owner planning disciplines.
In 2004, John obtained his CFP® certification and in 2010 was promoted to Sr. Consultant – Advisory Technical Services.
Excels in his ability to assist with financial planner and staff needs across a broad range of topics, such as administering training and instruction in the use of proprietary software including Design-IT tool, Planning Advisor, Financial Condition Model, Retirement Income Illustrator (RII), Stock Options Insights©, and Lincoln/Sagemark Planning Tool for Investment Planning (e-LSPT).
Served as the Committee Chair for Lincoln Financial Network’s Qualified Plan Committee since its inception in 2009 and is a specialist for Lincoln’s Business Intelligence Institute (BII) program.
JAMES LANDRY
National Financial Planning Team
James has worked in the securities and financial planning business since 1996. As a member of the National Financial Planning team, James provides Investment and Insurance product knowledge, and Estate Planning Support and training to representatives of the LFA/Sagemark Investment Advisor and broker/dealer.
He provides multi-generational estate and investment planning, qualified and non-qualified retirement planning services for affluent business owners, executives, professionals, and retirees.
LAUREN A. OLSEN, CFP®, CLU, ChFC®, FLMIN
Director of Planning
Lauren Olsen has worked in the areas of comprehensive financial planning, underwriting, investments, and office management with a focus on advanced underwriting.
DIANNA PARKER, CFP®
Director of Planning
Primary area of expertise: Broad knowledge of complex estate planning, business succession planning and retirement planning concepts. Frequently hosts a variety of nationally disseminated educational sessions focused on current tax law and planning strategies.
Summa cum laude, Master’s degree graduate from Southern Methodist University.
BARBARA A. PATTON, JD*, CRPC
Director of Planning
As an attorney in the National Planning Department of Lincoln Financial Advisors, Barb is responsible for developing, designing and implementing financial planning on a national level.
She is a Private Wealth Services Coach, mentoring other advisors on the holistic approach to financial planning; the “Serve First” philosophy.
Barbara is a graduate of the University of Delaware (BA), Wilmington University (MS) and Duquesne University School of Law. Barbara holds the NASD Series 7, 24 and 66 registrations and is licensed for Life, Health and Variable Annuities.
STEPHEN M. SMITH, JD*
Director of Planning
Stephen is the Director of Planning within Lincoln Financial Advisors. Stephen’s primary planning emphasis and expertise is estate and business succession planning. His mission is to help simplify the complexities of planning and provide effective solutions for clients. Based in the Atlanta region, Stephen also serves as a national estate and business planning resource for Lincoln Financial planners throughout the country.
Stephen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont and a Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School.
MARY T. YOUNG, ChFC®, CRPC, CFP®
Director of Financial Advisory Services
Areas of expertise: Helping to evolve Lincoln’s national planning process; helping to enhance the proprietary financial software as well as the national plan template and sales themes; and managing the third-party relationships as they relate to the national planning team.
Bachelor’s degree from The University of Connecticut, with a major in Finance and a minor in Accounting.