Tony and his two siblings were raised by a single mother in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He got his first “paying” summer job at age 13 working for Bristol County picking up garbage and cleaning ditches during the summers. After he received his first paycheck, he was “confident” that he could now take care of himself and help his mother. He assisted his mother with doing her taxes and remembers her small annual wages of roughly $4,000. She stretched those dollars as best she could to support her family, and that made a strong impression on him.

He started playing football his sophomore year at the public New Bedford High School, and that became his passion. Following his junior and senior football seasons, Tony worked full time after school until midnight at two local factories, US Ring Binder and Acushnet Rubber, to help at home and save for college. This experience taught him some valuable lessons about what he wanted for his future. He was instilled with the value of higher education at an early age, and after graduating with academic honors from high school, his coaches steered him toward college opportunities.

Tony served in the U.S. Army Reserves for six years while pursuing his undergraduate and graduate education. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts: Amherst with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance. He then worked with IBM before receiving a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas in Austin, where he graduated with the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence. He is also fluent in four languages.

After graduate school, Tony went to work as an executive with such well-known companies as Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana. He managed large brands, including Gatorade and Tropicana, which had sales well in excess of $1 billion each, and his leadership was instrumental in growing those businesses at large double-digit growth rates. Both Gatorade and Tropicana were then acquired by PepsiCo.

After his corporate executive positions, Tony went on to pursue his passion for assisting small businesses and affluent families. He worked in venture capital, providing strategic guidance to early-stage companies and entrepreneurs and assisting them with exit strategies to prepare for retirement. Tony then worked with several well-known broker-dealers, including Raymond James Financial Services and firms affiliated with Fidelity NFS. After a decade of working with these broker-dealers, his entrepreneurial calling led him to establish Advanced Wealth Management in affiliation with Charles Schwab, where he restructured his firm as an independent investment adviser with the goal of ensuring his clients’ interests would always come first. Advanced Wealth Management operates under the fiduciary standard of care.

Tony is an Investment Adviser Representative who has passed the Series 63 and 66 securities exams, and he is licensed to sell life insurance. True to his original vision, he remains hands-on in all facets of the Advanced Wealth Management business. In addition to his executive management duties, he serves as senior wealth manager to several of the firm’s top clients. He takes a lead role in bringing new clients to the firm. He also helps hand-select his team members.

Tony contributes his energy and talents to the community, too. He volunteers on local boards and mentors students. He was a founder and corporate sponsor of the Take-Stock-In-Children program while at Tropicana. Tony also assisted other programs, including United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters, All Children’s Hospital, Hurricane Katrina Relief, Humane Society and many others.

Tony has three adult children and two grandchildren, all living locally. One of Tony’s joys was being able to coach his kids’ sports teams and nurturing a close relationship with his children.

Email: tony@awmfl.com

Phone: 941.451.8512