Hollywood hits Park Avenue: InvestmentNews Award winners celebrate big night in NYC

And the glowing reviews keep rolling in.

Hollywood was on display at the inaugural InvestmentNews Awards in New York City Thursday night. The red-carpeted event, which sported an Academy Awards theme, shone a spotlight on wealth management’s brightest stars and acknowledged the efforts of many of the industry’s long-time supporters.

“What a wonderful event we've had tonight. It's been fun and exciting and its really great to recognize all of the wonderful people in our industry,” said Marianne Caswell, CEO of Park Avenue Securities and winner of the CEO of the Year award.

“What we’ve done is focus on what’s important for our advisors and for our clients. It’s all about making a difference for them so that our advisors can go out and inspire wellbeing with their clients, and that our clients can live out their financial dreams,” said Caswell.

Stephanie Tsang of the North Star Resource Group not only took home the trophy for the Advisor of the Year for the Southwest region, but was able to catch up and share ideas with fellow advisors and nominees.

“It's really nice to see so many other professionals in our industry that are doing well and succeeding here,” said Tsang.

As to what helped her nab the hardware at the first-ever gala, Tsang said her “tax background and having my CPA” certainly helped, along with taking a managerial role in her firm and mentoring younger advisors.

IntegriVest Wealth Advisors’ Sibyl Slade called her victory in the Commonwealth Financial Network Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service category “amazing and rewarding.”

“It's amazing after nine years of sweat and tears in this industry being recognized tonight by InvestmentNews,” said Slade.

“One of the things that set me apart I believe is really helping the small businesses in our community make sure that they have all the resources that are available to the larger companies,” said Slade.

Chris Vizzi of South Coast Investment Advisors hoisted the statue for the Advisors of the Year in the Alternative Investments category. The California-based advisor said he was thrilled to win the award, as well as celebrate the victory in New York City.

“To be honest, I'm shocked,” said Vizzi. “It's really exciting. It's fun coming out to New York from California, and there's a lot of incredible people in the room. And so I'm just happy to be here.”

In terms of what helped him take the top spot, he said it was a multitude of things, but particularly “advanced estate tax planning, income tax planning and situational investments.”

“There's not a lot of other advisors out there that know how to do the kind of stuff that we've had to do, and we do it every day,” said Vizzi.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Ola Akande from Stifel Financial acknowledged the efforts of his entire firm for his victory in the DEI Trailblazer of the Year division. He also admitted that the victory came as a total – and welcome - surprise to him.

“I wasn't expecting this award at all,” said Ola Akande. “In fact, I had actually discouraged my family members from coming with me. I was just honored to be a finalist and said ‘let's keep it quiet.’ And then we go there and then having my name called as the Trailblazer of the Year. Wow! I'm elated!”

Peter Krull, founder and partner at Earth Equity Advisors, won the ESG/Responsible Investing award and was quick to highlight the importance of sustainable investing.

“We really do a good job of educating and communicating and making sure people understand the importance of investing with your values. We’re really proud of what we do,” Krull said.

Finally, Julie Penwell, assistant vice-president at Wealthspire Advisors, saw her victory in the NextGen Advisor of the Year category as confirmation that she indeed made the correct career decision. To help earn the award, Penwell launched an Instagram page, as well as a podcast focusing on basic financial education.

“I feel so incredibly grateful,” said Penwell. “I wanted to be a financial advisor since I was 15, and I just feel like this is a sign that it's the right path.”

Added Penwell: “I always knew I wanted to help people, and so for a long time, I thought I would go to social work or counseling, and then I took a business algebra class and just fell in love with the idea that I can help people through my love for finance.”