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Meet the Team


Hello, there.

We are a dedicated team of financial services professionals. We take pride in our work and we do that work with passion on behalf of our clients. That is, after all, what it means to be a fiduciary.

fi·du·ci·ar·y

/fəˈdo͞oSHēˌerē/


We take that word and the responsibility inherent in it very seriously.  To us, it also means that you matter. That your financial health matters. That your goals matter. 

And it means that we put you first.


John Beirne, Jr., CIMA® Photo John Beirne, Jr., CIMA® Hover Photo
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John Beirne, Jr., CIMA®

Founding Partner & Chief Investment Officer

John Beirne, Jr., CIMA®

Founding Partner

Chief Investment Officer

JBeirne@BeirneWealth.com 

John Beirne established Beirne Wealth Consulting Services, LLC (BWC) in 2012 based on his philosophy that doing what is in the best interests of clients is always mutually-beneficial over the long-run. While this might sound like common sense, back when he had first started his career, it made him a true pioneer and thought leader. He was the first broker in the country to convince a public pension fund to use independent money managers in 1978, a gutsy recommendation that proved highly successful for both the client and his firm.

For most of John’s 50-year career in financial services, he has specialized in public pension fund management. His vast institutional expertise also includes private pension plans, endowments, hospitals, foundations and 401(k) plans. He founded BWC after 46 years at Merrill Lynch, where he served as head of Beirne Wealth Management Group. 

John holds a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) designation from the Wharton School of Business. He is a 1965 graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics. He also attended the business graduate school at the University of Bridgeport, where he studied corporate finance. He is a certificate recipient of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania for pension fund and wealth management. 

John studied abroad at the INSEAD School in Fontainebleau, France, where he specialized in global corporate finance. Additionally, he has completed courses at Stanford and Harvard Universities. John has been a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) since 1987. In 2019, John was named a Barron’s Top 1200 Financial Advisor, Ranking 6th in CT. He received the Milford Chamber of Commerce's Business Person of the Year Award in 1986. Additionally, John is a former trustee at the Hamden Hall Country Day School, as well as a former a First Tee of Connecticut board member, and a former Connecticut Yankee Council Boy Scouts of America board member.

An avid golfer, John loves traveling, reading, biking, doing Bikram yoga and spending time with his family. He spends his time between Connecticut and Florida.



About Barron’s Top 1200 Financial Advisor Ranking
The rankings are based on data provided by over 4,000 of the nation’s most productive advisors. Factors included in the rankings: assets under management, revenue produced for the firm, regulatory record, quality of practice and philanthropic work. Investment performance isn’t an explicit component because not all advisors have audited results and because performance figures often are influenced more by clients’ risk tolerance than by an advisor’s investment-picking abilities.  The number of ranking spots are distributed in proportion to state population and wealth. There were 36 ranking spots in Connecticut.
About Milford Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year
The Business Person of the Year is awarded by the Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce, Milford, CT. The community and Chamber of Commerce members are invited to submit nominations, which are reviewed by the appointed selection/nominating committee. The Business Person(s) of the Year is presented to an individual who has undertaken a successful business venture which has directly had a positive influence on some segment of Milford’s business community.


John-Oliver Beirne, CRPC® Photo John-Oliver Beirne, CRPC® Hover Photo
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John-Oliver Beirne, CRPC®

Partner & President

John-Oliver Beirne, CRPC®

Partner

President

JOBeirne@BeirneWealth.com 

John-Oliver Beirne, as partner and president of BWC, is responsible for leading the team in the right direction, determining a strategy for its investment process, ensuring that the firm's investment philosophy permeates throughout all institutional portfolios and providing oversight of institutional portfolios and investment strategies.

John-Oliver joined Merrill Lynch in 2009. Prior to joining BWC, he worked as an investment analyst at Bowen Capital Management — a hedge fund in Hong Kong — where he covered the Asian markets (Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand) and analyzed the viability of investing in various companies. In his previous positions, John-Oliver worked at Merrill Lynch and WP Stewart and Co. in New York.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University — where he studied finance and Chinese — and an M.B.A. from the Yale University School of Management.


Richard (JR) DeFrancesco Photo Richard (JR) DeFrancesco Hover Photo
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Richard (JR) DeFrancesco

Partner & Chief Operating Officer

Richard (JR) DeFrancesco

Partner

Chief Operating Officer

RDeFrancesco@BeirneWealth.com 

JR is responsible for BWC’s day-to-day operation strategies and business growth, including accounting, human resources and IT. He develops, refines and implements comprehensive and efficient business approaches to ensure the firm delivers an outstanding client experience at all times. He also played an integral role in making BWC completely independent and 100 percent employee-owned.

JR’s passion for leading a team to achieve the highest possible purpose is rooted in his extensive business, financial and operations experience and focus on relationships and collaboration. He particularly enjoys the challenge of working to improve efficiencies within the BWC team's processes.

JR’s previous roles were focused around client servicing and performance reporting for large institutional relationships. Prior to joining BWC, he spent eight years with Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc., where he led the Connecticut office's performance reporting team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance with a double minor in economics and computer information systems from Quinnipiac University. Most recently, JR graduated from the General Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. In his leisure time, JR enjoys sports and relaxing with his family and friends. He and his wife, Bryana, and their two kids live in North Haven, Connecticut.


Lindsey Allard, MBA, AWMA® Photo Lindsey Allard, MBA, AWMA® Hover Photo
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Lindsey Allard, MBA, AWMA®

Partner, Senior Advisor

Lindsey Allard, MBA, AWMA®

Partner, Senior Advisor

LAllard@BeirneWealth.com 

Lindsey proactively delivers BWC’s client service model as well as provides oversight of the operations and client servicing teams to ensure fluid daily workflow while developing and attaining long-term company objectives.  Lindsey has been strategically working alongside the firm’s Founding Partner, John Beirne, and BWC’s President, John Oliver Beirne, for many years fulfilling a multitude of roles and responsibilities throughout her tenure.  Lindsey’s main focus is to provide both meaningful solutions and service to BWC clients and as a result, building lifelong relationships.

Lindsey has performed admirably in her academic pursuits and as an investment advisor. Understanding the nuances of the markets and client needs requires hard work and dedication to a higher degree, which Lindsey has committed to performing at the highest level. Her ability to understand client investment needs can result in a relationship with a person who they can have and build trust with on a long-term basis.

Lindsey has been an invaluable member of BWC since its inception in January 2012. Upon the team departing Merrill Lynch Bank of America (“MLBOA”), Lindsey took on the role of Director of Institutional Relations and was instrumental in the transition of the municipal and corporate pension fund clients from MLBOA to Beirne Wealth Consulting. After several years in that capacity, Lindsey joined the advisory team at the request of the BWC partners.  She received the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) professional designation from the College for Financial Planning in 2016.  Lindsey graduated from Boston University’s Financial Planning Program in 2017. As an Accredited Wealth Management Advisor®, Lindsey provides financial planning solutions and investment strategies to individuals and their families, as well as defined contribution and pension plans. Lindsey also leads the Alternative Investments implementation team. She is an advocate for female empowerment within the financial industry and has created the platform, Women on Wealth. Its mission is to serve as an infrastructure for women to excel both financially and personally. 

Prior to the establishment of BWC, Lindsey joined The Beirne Wealth Management Group of Merrill Lynch team in 2005. During her tenure at Merrill Lynch, as a Client Associate, she provided operational and sales support for both the team’s high net worth client base, as well as the municipal and private institutional client base. In 2007, she obtained a master of business administration degree from Quinnipiac University. After obtaining her Series 7 and Series 66 registrations, she became a Senior Registered Client Associate where she led the institutional operations team until the team’s departure in 2012.

In her leisure time, she enjoys exercising, travelling and most importantly spending her time with her family and friends. She resides in North Haven with her husband and two sons. 


Meaghan Morelli Photo Meaghan Morelli Hover Photo
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Meaghan Morelli

Partner, Chief Marketing Officer

Meaghan Morelli

PARTNER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

MMorelli@beirnewealth.com

Storytelling has been a lifelong passion for Meaghan. It is the bedrock of human communication. It moves audiences to feel and to act. And it’s a passion she’s turned into an award-winning marketing career.

She joined Beirne Wealth Consulting in 2022 as Partner and Chief Marketing Officer. As such, her singular focus is to responsibly grow the firm at scale by augmenting and enhancing the firm’s external communications in strategic ways that will reach new qualified audiences.

Meaghan came to BWC from Goldman Sachs, where she served as a Senior VP of Global Marketing. During her tenure at the legendary Wall Street firm, she built out a robust and diverse team, and led the social media strategies of multiple global campaigns as well as for the some of the firm's senior-most leadership.

Prior to her time in the Financial Services industry, she led multiple digital and social marketing creative strategies and teams on both the agency and the client side on a variety of international brands, including Subway Restaurants, Arm & Hammer, and Trojan.

Meaghan graduated from the University of Toledo with a degree in Theater Performance. And though she's no longer pursuing a career wherein Shakespeare figures prominently, she does try to bring a theatrical flourish to her work and life.

She is an avid outdoor runner, an aspiring author, an advocate for women and children affected by domestic violence, and mom to a fantastic daughter. (She's also a huge fan of bubblegum and grapefruit seltzer.)

If she had to do it all over again, she wouldn't change a thing. 





Dennis Grubelic Photo Dennis Grubelic Hover Photo
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Dennis Grubelic

Chief Compliance Officer

Dennis Grubelic

cheif compliance officer

DGrubelic@beirnewealth.com

Dennis joined BWC in 2022 as Chief Compliance Officer. He brings a wealth of experience to the firm, having spent more than 30 years in the Financial Services Industry. His time before BWC includes in part, having served with NYSE Member firm, Investec Ernst & Company, as well as a member of LPL’s Compliance Legal and Risk Group, one of the nation's leading independent broker-dealers. He’s also served as head of Compliance and Operations at a multiple of regional firms over the years, during that time was selected by RBC Capital Markets, to provide guidance to its initiative of mentorship and compliance support to its corresponding firm(s) throughout the Northeast region.

When Dennis isn’t busy running a tight Compliance ship at BWC, he can be found running the kitchen in his Connecticut home, cooking up gourmet meals for his lovely wife and their ambitious and athletic teenage son. 

His colleagues at BWC appreciate his relentless dedication to his craft and his readiness to share an insightful and encouraging story throughout the day.            

 
Taylor Garguilo Photo Taylor Garguilo Hover Photo
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Taylor Garguilo

Manager


Taylor Garguilo

MANAGER

TGarguilo@BeirneWealth.com

Taylor is a BWC veteran, having spent nearly a decade at the firm. As a Manager, Taylor wears many hats in her role, including operational and back-office support. As such, she’s developed long-standing relationships with many of the firm’s clients which she values deeply. Taylor goes the extra mile to ensure that BWC clients are able to seamlessly transition to the firm and that they know they have a dedicated point of contact for all of their questions and support needs.

As a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in Business Administration, Finance, and English, Taylor brings dedication and passion to her work at BWC, that she readily shares with her colleagues and the firm's clients. She’s also an enthusiastic coordinator of the firm’s internship program, sharing her insights and knowledge with the students and young people pursuing the start of their professional careers at BWC.

Taylor also offers her energy and skills to the New Haven County Credit Union, for which she serves as the Committee Chair for their Supervisory Board.

Her abundance of energy also means she likes to spend time with family and friends (and her Golden Retriever!) adventuring outdoors, hiking, wandering the Connecticut beaches, and traveling broadly.

When you call the BWC offices, there’s a good chance you’ll hear Taylor’s welcoming voice on the other end of the line.





Morgan Sullivan Photo Morgan Sullivan Hover Photo
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Morgan Sullivan

Junior Associate

Morgan Sullivan

JUNIOR Associate

MSullivan@beirnewealth.com

As a Junior Analyst at BWC, Morgan gets to explore all aspects of what boutique financial services has to offer. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies in 2022 and afterwards, threw herself into the day-to-day operations and support systems at the firm almost immediately.

Morgan’s energy and excitement touches her colleagues and firm clients alike; she’s part of the engine that keeps the firm running. Hers is the warm smile many clients see when they first walk through the BWC doors and she’s always willing to take on a new project.

Her ambitions also drove her to pursue her new role as Secretary on the New Haven County Credit Union Supervisory Board, to which she happily lends her skills and time. Morgan’s ultimate goal is to become an Advisor, which BWC enthusiastically supports.

 When she’s not hard at work, Morgan is centered on spending time with family – including her avid support for her little brother’s hockey and lacrosse ventures. She also loves to share travel tips and destinations, especially if they include her beloved Rhode Island beaches. And she enjoys her role at Beirne Wealth so much, she may just have named her newly adopted cat—Bernard—after us.





Phil Sloan Photo
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Phil Sloan

Institutional Consultant

Phil Sloan

Institutional Consultant

PSloan@BeirneWealth.com 

An industry expert with more than 40 years of experience, Phil Sloan has shared his principles with institutions and high-net-worth clients throughout the United States. Prior to joining BWC, he was a managing director and director of marketing at Fox Asset Management, where he developed relationships with major institutional consultants and brokerage firms and served as an active member of the management and strategy committees. 

Previously in his career, he led institutional consulting organizations as the vice president of institutional sales for MBIA, vice president of managed accounts at Paine Webber, and vice president and manager of consulting services at Merrill Lynch.


Reilly Photo Reilly Hover Photo
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Reilly

Mascot


Reilly

Mascot


Reilly joined BWC in 2012. He is a Chihuahua who relocated from his native Nebraska to Connecticut in 2012 to pursue his role with the firm. Reilly's affable nature makes him a welcome addition to the team and he happily engages with his toys and his colleagues alike. 

When he's not occupied in our offices, you can generally find Reilly exploring on long walks or enjoying a well-earned nap.