meet our team of experts
and advisors

We’re in the relationship business and our leadership team exemplifies the integrity and trustworthiness that we bring to every encounter. Explore our most important resource – the team that makes our success possible!

Jennifer Allen

Senior Compensation Analyst

Jennifer Allen Newcleus Compensation Advisors Sr Compensation Analyst

Jennifer Allen

Senior Compensation Analyst

In her role as Senior Compensation Analyst at Compensation Advisors, Jennifer’s responsibilities consist of compensation, financial and performance analytics associated with all areas of banking. She is active in project fulfillment and client interface to ensure timely and accurate project delivery.

Prior to joining Compensation Advisors, Jennifer’s work experience spans finance, government, and technology industries and includes analytics in the areas of risk, compliance, metric reporting, and cost analysis. Most recently, Jennifer was a Solution Specialist, managing the technical operations and licensing requirements for an OS deployment and automation startup in the software industry. Prior to working as a Solution Specialist, she held a civilian position with the Department of the Navy as a Logistics Manager where she controlled budgetary and technical requirements related to the pre and post installs of F/A-18 Training Simulators across the country. Jennifer began her career with Merrill Lynch as a Customer Compliance Specialist, specializing in risk analysis and domestic / international regulatory requirements for institutional trading.

Jennifer graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration with a major of Finance and holds a Master of Science in Operations Management with a concentration in Business Administration.

Flynt Gallagher

SVP, Managing Director of Compensation Solutions

Flynt Gallagher, President Newcleus Compensation Advisors and LINQS+ Lifetime Income Non-Qualified Solution expert

Flynt Gallagher

SVP, Managing Director of Compensation Solutions

Flynt Gallagher heads Compensation Advisors in its mission of assisting clients in attracting, motivating and retaining personnel critical to achieving success. Mr. Gallagher brings considerable experience and expertise to his role of providing CA’s clients with comprehensive and effective support. He combines extensive knowledge of accounting and income tax matters related to community banks with years of experience within the financial services industry.

Mr. Gallagher has a strong history of assisting financial institutions. His career began in the field of Public Accounting and continued for ten years while moving into manager and ultimately partner positions with a Regional firm before accepting the Tax Manager positions with Florida National Bank and its successor First Union National Bank. In this capacity, he reviewed and developed compensation plans focused on retaining current and future wealth for executives of both large banks and community banks. Mr. Gallagher also worked with key clients of these banks on compensation, wealth management, income tax and related IRS issues. Subsequently, Mr. Gallagher established his own consulting firm and began offering these services to the banking community for the past twenty years.

Patrick Turnipseed

Compensation Analyst

Patrick Turnipseed Compensation Analyst at Newcleus

Patrick Turnipseed

Compensation Analyst

Patrick Turnipseed joins Newcleus Compensation Advisors as an Analyst after two years in public accounting as a staff auditor. He received his Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of West Florida, and is currently enrolled in Graduate School at UWF in pursuit of a Master’s in accountancy and is studying for his CPA license. He also holds a CAM (Community Association Manager) License.

Patrick was a previous president of the UWF Argonaut Investment Fund and a member of Beta Alpha Psi Accounting and Finance honors society. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach, reading, playing pickup basketball and camping.

Our executive team

Daniel L. Barbaree

President and CEO

Daniel Barbaree President and CEO of Newcleus

Daniel L. Barbaree

President and CEO

Dan Barbaree serves as President of Newcleus, the preferred national provider of benefit and insurance administration formed from the combination of Bank Financial Services Group and Meyer-Chatfield Group. Dan leads the development of the organization by ensuring foundational philosophies and first-class servicing standards remain upheld. His supervision ensures all departments meet their goals in alignment with Newcleus’ vision and the needs of the ever-evolving marketplace.

Dan’s career began as a consultant working with various financial and technology companies in the Tri-State area. He began working at JPMorgan Chase in 2002 and was later appointed as the Senior Financial Manager for the Home Equity and Capital Markets IT businesses, overseeing $150 million in expenses and $350 million in resources. In February of 2008, Dan joined BFS Group as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer where his role played an integral part in the development and growth of BFS Group’s national sales team and back office support in Newtown. In 2013, he was named President of BFS Group.

Dan is licensed for life and health insurance in over 40 States and also holds his Series 6 and Series 63 securities licenses.

Steve McMaster

EVP, Chief Financial Officer

Steve McMaster, EVP CFO at Newcleus

Steve McMaster

EVP, Chief Financial Officer

Steve serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Newcleus.

McMaster is a business executive with 15+ years of experience in corporate finance, operations, human resources, and financial reporting. In addition to his role with Newcleus, he currently serves as an Innovation Advisor at Princeton University, where he advises campus-based startups through the Keller Center for Innovation and Engineering Education. 

 

He is a multiple-discipline executive leader and advisor with a concentration in corporate finance, employment law, executive strategy, risk management, and enterprise IT systems. He holds his MBA and Juris Doctor from Temple University and is both a CPA and an Attorney. McMaster’s success in advising firms in a wide range of fields has given him the ability to understand strategic shifts and help guide companies to grow tremendously. 

Richard Pearson

EVP, Chief Operating Officer

Richard Pearson, EVP, Chief Operating Officer at Newcleus

Richard Pearson

EVP, Chief Operating Officer

Rich is a graduate of Lehigh University, class of 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Information Systems. He went on to hold positions with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals as the Client Services Support Leader and with The Vanguard Group as a Web Support Specialist.

Rich joined BFS Group in 2006, and has worked in various departments including roles within Design & Analysis, Client Service and Information Technology. In October of 2014, Rich was appointed Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of BFS Group, a role he continued to serve under Newcleus.

Currently, as Chief Operating Officer, Rich oversees all enterprise resource management systems, which include Newcleus MINTS, processes related to compliance, new business and benefit plan servicing.

Christopher J. Pezalla

EVP, Chief Actuary

Christopher J Pezalla

Christopher J. Pezalla

EVP, Chief Actuary

Chris Pezalla serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary of Newcleus, a national executive benefits and BOLI/COLI consulting firm.

With his extensive background in life, annuity and investment products, taxation, regulatory compliance, accounting methodologies and actuarial modeling, Chris works with Newcleus’ clients to design, implement, and administer executive benefit plans and financing strategies. He also manages insurance carrier relationships and works to design new products and strategies. For example, our proprietary LINQS+ strategy provides lifetime retirement benefits for a fixed expense, and the Titanium plan transfers the plan liability off the sponsor’s balance sheet and provides the executive more control of their benefits. Being an industry thought leader, recently he has been called upon by the FFIEC to participate in the Emerging Issues Conferences and assist in educating the national banking regulators on bank and credit union-owned life insurance.

Prior to working in the executive benefits and BOLI/COLI space, Chris has worked for three insurance carriers in a variety of actuarial roles including financial reporting, asset liability modeling, product development, marketing, underwriting, and administration.

Having graduated from the University of Minnesota at Morris with a BA degree in Statistics and Economics, Chris received his master’s degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Iowa. He also is a fellow in the Society of Actuaries (FSA), and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). He has his FINRA series 7 and 63, and life insurance licenses.

Debra Porter

SVP, Business Development

Debra Porter Corporate Affairs

Debra Porter

SVP, Business Development

Debra earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Bridgeport where she graduated summa cum laude. She is a recipient of the Royal Medallion of Arts and Sciences in recognition of “superior academic achievement and demonstrated leadership” and oversaw the cause marketing-based Grey Goose Vodka launch voted “Best New Product Launch for 1998” by Marketwatch.

Debra has pioneered product launch campaigns in the financial service space and several other industries. She has negotiated partnerships with premier banks and FINTECH corporations, securing significant investments (over $20 million) through angel and venture capital for corporate and nonprofit sectors.

She is also recognized for her philanthropic endeavors orchestrating fundraising events for the American Cancer Society, Dress for Success, Volunteers of America and many community-based organizations.

Our core staff

Jonathan Barnes, Vice President of Business Development at Newcleus

Jonathan Barnes

VP, Non-Qualified Benefits

Bill Barr, Network Administrator at Newcleus

Bill Barr

Network Administrator

Shera Brady, Director of System Operations

Shera Brady

AVP, Dir, of System Ops and Project Management

Mike Bruschini, VP, Account Executive at Newcleus

Mike Bruschini

VP, Account Executive

Kevin Burns, SVP, Director of IT at Newcleus

Kevin Burns

SVP, Director of IT

Tara Canniff, Sr. Policy Serving Specialist at Newcleus

Tara Canniff

AVP, Director of Policy Services

Donielle Carman

Donielle Carman

Policy Services/Finance Operations Specialist

Michael Carman Headshot

Michael Carman

Account Executive

Headshot of Melissa D'Amico

Melissa D’Amico

Director of Compliance and Agent Operations

Amy Feminella, Director of Marketing at Newcleus

Amy Feminella

Director of Engagement

Mark Grant , VP, Non-Qualified at Newcleus

Mark Grant

SVP, Non-Qualified

Sarah Grutka, Executive Assistant at Newcleus

Sarah Grutka

Manager of Marketing Ops, Events and Hospitality

Yul Hawkins, Account Executive at Newcleus

Yul Hawkins

Account Executive

Headshot of Amanda Hoffman, VP Account Executive at Newcleus

Amanda Hoffman

VP, Account Executive

Steve Kezel, Jr. Software Developer at Newcleus

Steve Kezel

Jr. Software Developer

Judy Magee

Director of Human Resources

Judy Magee

Director of Human Resources

Judy Magee’s career has spanned many different industries and environments – small start-up to large employers, and these experiences have been key to me being adaptable and ready to help change your organizational culture.

I’ve worked in all different kinds of HR environments – departments of 1 to departments of over 100. I’ve established brand new HR departments, changed departments from transactional to strategic and partnered with leaders to do the hard work of changing a culture and improving employee relations and DEI. I love starting and developing HR teams – I put together great ones!

One topic I am super passionate about – explaining how DEI and HR intersect and the changes every organization can make to reduce bias and develop an inclusive culture by making the systemic changes necessary to bring lasting change.

Dolores Marinucci, Accounting Support Associate at Newcleus

Dolores Marinucci

Accounting Support Associate

Brian McCracken, VP, Account Executive Director at Newcleus

Brian McCracken

SVP, Director of Administration

Karen Reed, Sr. Accounting Specialist at Newcleus

Karen Reed

Sr. Accounting Specialist

Jill Ricci, Executive Assistant at Newcleus Credit Union Advisors

Jill Ricci

Business Development Manager

Andrea Sandlin Account Executive at Newcleus

Andrea Sandlin

Account Executive

David Schwartz VP, Account Executive at Newcleus

Dave Schwartz

VP, Account Executive

Yeol Seong Senior Quantitave Developer

Yeol Seong

Senior Quantitative Developer

Adrianna Stefani

Adrianna Stefani

Policy Servicing Associate

Joe Verrecchio Newcleus Systems Coordinator

Joe Verrecchio

Benefit Design Specialist

Curtis Viggers

VP, Account Executive

Curtis Viggers, VP Account Executive at Newcleus

Curtis Viggers

VP, Account Executive

Curtis brings over 30 years of insurance and benefit knowledge to our firm working with both corporate and non-profit clients. Possessing extensive experience in design management, implementation, and administration of individual and group insurance plans and alternative risk funding strategies, he advises clients ranging from individual! participants, to high profile clients, and C-Suite executives. As VP – Account Executive with Newcleus, Curtis’ primarily focuses on facilitating all activities of the Credit Union Division including helping clients integrate with our MINTS reporting system.

Jared Watson, Account Executive at Newcleus

Jared Watson

Account Executive

Headshot of Rachel Wentz, VP Account Executive at Newcleus, LLC

Rachel Wentz

VP, Account Executive