Founder & CEO
I was born and raised in Colden, New York, population 3,300. With my father working the line at General Motors and my mother working as an accountant, they helped to instill in me the core values of hard work, honesty, and integrity. I learned early in life the value of hard work and that nothing comes for free. Two weeks after graduating from high school, I joined the U.S. Army Reserves and spent the first summer of my adult life in basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I earned my degree at the University at Buffalo (UB) and was awarded the prestigious NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Geophysics scholarship.
I began my wealth management career in 2002 with A.G. Edwards, a premier money management firm and a legacy firm of Wells Fargo Advisors. Our firm was ultimately acquired by a much larger national firm in 2008 and I made the decision to create Beck Financial Group in 2009. As our firm and staff continued to grow, I subsequently founded Buffalo Financial in 2021.
When not at the office, I enjoy time with Heather, my beautiful wife of over 20 years, and our three wonderful boys: Gavin (18), Noah (17), and Sawyer (14). All three of our boys have a love for hockey, each starting at 4 years old at local traveling leagues taking us all over WNY, as well as out of state, until transitioning to JV & Varsity teams. As the boys have grown older, they have also chosen a plethora of sports – Noah enjoys playing football, Sawyer – lacrosse, and Gavin –fishing. Gavin, my oldest is a natural entrepreneur, at 18 he has already stared two businesses using his passion of fishing to create and design lures and fishing apparel. All three boys, as well as Heather & I also have a love for golf, and we play as much as possible in the few warm months we’re given in this area. Time spent with all of us together as a family grows more important each year as our children grow older, so we love to travel together as a family and also participate in family golf tournaments when we can find them.
Our family is very active in the community, helping others who are in need. I have served on multiple boards, from the Clarence Rotary, West Seneca Youth Hockey, Clarence Rotary Foundation and others. I have also coached many baseball teams in Lancaster and Elma, as well as various ice hockey teams in Western NY. In the spring of 2021, I was proud to be nominated for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society “Man of the Year”, a title I was honored to receive when our team raised $142,000.00 for the LLS in our ten-week campaign. I continued my support of LLS as the Leadership Committee Chair & President, ushering in the next set of candidates to sign up to save lives. Additionally, my family, including our Buffalo Financial Family, have continued hosting and organizing events to benefit LLS, as well as O’Shei Childrens Hospital through a multitude of events we hold each year.
As an advisor, my investment process is simple: I work extremely hard for my clients’ success, and I do this with honesty and integrity. That may sound simple, but it’s something many advisors seem to have forgotten. By working hard each day, Buffalo Financial now manages more than $130,000,000 million in client assets, a responsibility not taken lightly.
2021 LLS Western New York Man of the Year, created by Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This award is based on dollars raised for the charity in a 10-week period and is not specific to financial services and does not imply an endorsement, recommendation, or otherwise reflect the performance of the advisor. For more information go to https://www.lls.org/news/man-woman-year-more-title-its-all-about-curing-cancer
