CHARLESTON – Fifty West Virginia investment professionals have been named to the 2009 SMART529 Honor Roll for their roles in encouraging families to save for college, State Treasurer John Perdue announced today.
“West Virginia’s financial advisors play a valuable role to many families trying to prepare for future college costs,” Perdue said. “Our SMART529 Honor Roll recognizes those individuals who have excelled in spreading the word on the advantages of the state’s SMART529 college savings plan.”
Financial advisors named to the 2009 SMART529 Honor Roll were rated on both the number of new accounts opened and total dollars invested in the SMART529 program from May 2008 through April 2009. Investment professionals receiving the 2009 Honor Roll award were:
City Advisor Name Firm Name
Beaver Charles Wilkerson Chase Investment Services Corp
Bluefield Ronald Campbell Investment Planning Consultants
Bridgeport Eddie Aman Edward Jones
Buckhannon Andrew Call Chase Investment Services Corp
Charleston Shari Akhtar BB&T Investment Services Inc
Charleston John Bennett BB&T Investment Services Inc
Charleston Matthew Carr Chase Investment Services Corp
Charleston Lahnna Stalneker Chase Investment Services Corp
Charleston Joel McDavid Merrill Lynch
Charleston Jack Burke Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Kelly Castleberry Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston John Dawson Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Michael Goodwin Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Donald Lucci Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Casey Robinson Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Jason Thompson Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
Charleston Ed Stike RBC Wealth Management
Charleston David Kirby Scott & Stringfellow LLC
Charleston Kathryn Lester Scott & Stringfellow LLC
Charleston Joe Lerose United Brokerage Services Inc
Charleston James Johnson Wells Fargo Advisors
Charleston William Painter Wells Fargo Advisors
Fairmont Brian Kerekes Edward Jones
Fayetteville Walter Noyes United Brokerage Services Inc
Huntington Robert Menear BB&T Investment Services Inc
Huntiington Steve Burchem Burchem Certified CPA
Huntington Joseph Lambert Chase Investment Services Corp
Huntington Anna Macri Huntington Investment Company
Huntington Brian Massey Merrill Lynch
Martinsburg Reggie Turner BB&T Investment Services Inc
Martinsburg Joanne Wadsworth Centra Bank
Milton Christopher Childress Chase Investment Services Corp
Moorefield Yvonne Taylor Rowland Edward Jones
Morgantown Erik Huffman BB&T Investment Services Inc
Morgantown Joyce Lowdermilk Centra Bank
Morgantown Barbara Roberts Centra Bank
Morgantown Jason Walls United Brokerage Services Inc
Morgantown Joseph Lemine Wachovia Securities, LLC-PCG
Parkersburg Scott Davis BB&T Investment Services Inc
Parkersburg Christopher Hall Hall Financial Advisors LLC
Parkersburg Jason Boley United Brokerage Services Inc
Princeton Jeff Keczan BB&T Financial Services Inc.
Saint Albans Drema Weaver BB&T Investment Services Inc
Shepherdstown George Alwin Edward Jones
South Charleston John Burdette Fourth Avenue Advisors
Spencer John Nichols Poca Valley Financial
Weirton Robert Capito Royal Alliance Associates Inc
Wheeling Doug Schmidt BB&T Investment Services Inc
Wheeling David Glatz Glatz and Obecny, PLLC
Wheeling Chris Freeman Raymond James Financial
Wheeling Tammy Poppe Raymond James Financial
State residents have the option of opening SMART529 college savings accounts either directly with the program or through investment professionals located in banks, investment firms and other financial services businesses throughout West Virginia. Perdue said many people prefer to have the assistance of an investment professional when planning savings strategies and selecting investments for their SMART529 accounts, even though the plan management costs are somewhat higher than in the direct-marketed versions. He said that the state’s investment professionals are responsible for getting many more West Virginia families saving for college than would otherwise have been the case.
SMART529 is a program of the West Virginia College Prepaid Tuition and Savings Program Board of Trustees, of which State Treasurer John Perdue is chairman. At the end of June, the SMART529 college savings plans had more than 100,240 accounts with investments totaling over $97.9 million on June 30, 2009. West Virginia’s SMART529 program is open to investors nationwide.