Our Story
Our two leading principals, Alan Stiffelman and Mike Mariani, both have sports and fitness coaching in their backgrounds, along with vast financial and investing experience. So it is understandable that they bring their coaching disciplines and compassion to their business — helping their clients excel in financial fitness — especially in times of transition like divorce, inheritance and retirement.
Alan’s passion, aside from work, is water polo. A player himself since high school, Alan coached the team at Clayton High gratis for more than 20 years. Alan remains very active in the water polo community today.
Mike simply enjoys helping people improve themselves, whether it is physically or fiscally. As a husband and a father of two young daughters, he is particularly aware of the gap that exists between how differently the genders are treated in many aspects of their lives, but particularly in the financial arena.
After a combined 50 years in the business, Alan and Mike have observed that the people who are most vulnerable to predatory financial practices are those in the throes of major life transitions. They have also learned that most clients, regardless of gender, really want their advisor or money manager to do more than just “their job.” They want partners in their financial success. They want a one-on-one relationship where decisions are made for their specific benefit, not a “cookie-cutter” solution dictated by someone who doesn’t even know them.
The Consolidated story is one of coaching, compassion and personal respect and support for every client we serve.
Our History
Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. (CFII) is a privately owned discount brokerage firm located in Clayton, Missouri.
Alan Stiffelman and Norm Tice established CFII in 1988 with the goal of offering individual investors high quality customer service while providing low cost access to the financial markets.
Alan Stiffelman, president of CFII, has been in the securities business for over 35 years. He was previously associated with Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber and Blunt Ellis & Loewi, prior to founding CFII.
Norm Tice was involved in the banking and financial services industry for over 50 years where he served and has served as an officer of and currently serves on the board of directors of several public agencies, private corporations and charitable organizations.
CFII provides the tools for individuals who are comfortable making their own investment decisions. As a discount broker, CFII does not give advice or stock recommendations. Rather, we make available a variety of financial products and services to meet your investment needs.
Since 1988, many of our clients’ portfolios have increased to the place where they needed and expressed interest in wealth management services. In addition, a growing number of them experienced life transitions such as divorce, death of a spouse or retirement, which caused them to seek our counsel and advice regarding their investments. So in 2010, Alan Stiffelman partnered with an independent Registered Investment Advisor financial planning and wealth management firm named Asset Planners, Inc. to make these services available to CFII clients. In 2016, the founder of Asset Planners retired and transitioned the firm to Alan.
Mike Mariani joined Asset Planners, which has since been re-branded as Consolidated Wealth Management, in November 2016 to serve as a financial advisor and to help operate and grow the wealth management firm. Mike has more than ten years of experience in the wealth management industry and worked at Buckingham Strategic Wealth, a major nationally recognized firm, prior to joining Consolidated.
Our Wealth Management Philosopy
Our passion
is to educate
and to empower.
Our commitment
is to create an open and collaborative environment as we uncover the answers to your financial questions.
Our promise
as legal fiduciaries is to always be on your side as we craft your plan together.
Our desire
is to remain your
trusted advisor for life.
At Consolidated, we share an entrepreneurial spirit, which we leverage for our clients by finding creative and unique solutions for whatever financial challenge or opportunity they face.
Our Consolidated Philosopy
At Consolidated, we believe that Warren Buffet spoke words of wisdom when he said, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
We bring value to our clients because we implement an investment philosophy centered around low costs — seeking the after-tax, risk-adjusted market returns needed to achieve each client’s unique financial goals.
Real results from real people who really care.
Our Team
Alan Stiffelman
President and Barista
Alan Stiffelman is President of Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc., and Consolidated Wealth Management. His duties include oversight of business development and general compliance with the regulations of the securities industry. Alan and Norm Tice established Consolidated Financial in 1988 with the goal of offering individual investors high quality customer services while charging commissions that were well below those rates charged by traditional brokers. Nearly thirty years later Consolidated continues to provide brokerage services to thousands of clients.
Alan is St. Louis native, a graduate of American University in Washington D.C., with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and currently resides in University City. He has two grown sons. Alan has been in the investments and securities industry since 1979. Previously he worked in department stores and imported and exported oriental carpets. Alan’s passions outside of work include cooking and eating and collecting and enjoying fine wines. As part of his passion, Alan grinds and brews coffee daily for the office. His other activities include travel, gardening, and water polo. Alan has competed and coached at all levels of the sport and currently organizes Clayton Water Polo, one of the oldest water polo clubs in the United States, with over 250 members.
LinkedIn: Alan Stiffelman
Mike Mariani
Principal and Wealth Advisor
Mike joined Consolidated Wealth Management as a Principal & Wealth Advisor in 2016, bringing with him over ten years of experience in the investment and wealth management industries. He is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) and associate member of the Collaborative Family Law Association and has helped hundreds of clients plan through various life transitions, especially divorce, retirement and inheritance.
He met Alan by way of one of their shared interests — wine. After a couple of conversations, it became clear that in addition to good food, wine, and coffee, they also both had a passion for helping individuals and families navigate the complex and emotionally charged world of financial planning.
As a husband and father of two daughters (three, if you include his dog Vivian), Mike is particularly aware of the gap that exists between how differently the genders are treated in many aspects of their lives, particularly in finance. Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that the people who are most vulnerable to predatory financial practices are in the throes of major life transitions. It gives Mike a sense of peace to know that he is helping create a firm that would be ready to help his own family should the unthinkable happen. Mike knows it’s not just enough to ensure that one has the proper assets; they must have the appropriate advice, and work with an advisor that is emotionally vested in their success.
Prior to joining Consolidated, Mike was an advisor and Relationship Director at Buckingham Strategic Wealth. Mike grew up in St. Louis, but has lived across the country, including Chicago, Boulder, Los Angeles and Santa Rosa, before returning to St. Louis for the birth of his second child. Among his many interests are any type of physical activity, especially snowboarding, cycling, and running “obstacle courses” with his oldest daughter, Sloane, in their backyard.
LinkedIn: Mike Mariani
Todd Almli
Compliance and Operations
Todd Almli is Corporate Secretary of Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. His duties include oversight of compliance and the back office of Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. He joined Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. in 1998.
Todd is a native of Ohio, but has lived in St. Louis since 1981. He is a graduate of Michigan State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology. Todd’s hobbies include golf, travel, going to music concerts, and fine dining. He enjoys farm-to-table cooking at home on the weekends, which usually start with homemade cocktails.
LinkedIn: Todd Almli
Carl Bardenheier
Vice President
Carl Bardenheier is Vice-President and a Principal of Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. His responsibilities include primarily customer service and trading. He has been in the securities industry since 1981 and joined Consolidated Financial in 1991.
Carl is from St. Louis and is a graduate of St. Louis University with a BA in Economics, a minor in Business Administration and a BA in Psychology. His interests include collecting and playing guitars, bike riding and riding motorcycles.
LinkedIn: Carl Bardenheier
Liz Keister
Office Manager
Elizabeth Keister is Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc, Office Manager. She keeps the books, oversees accounts receivable and accounts payable and prepares all financial statements for CFI. She works directly with our auditors and FINOP to assure timely and accurate reporting of all required financial documents. In Addition, Elizabeth oversees all customer new account paperwork recordkeeping. She joined Consolidated Financial full time in 1996.
Elizabeth is from Mexico, but has lived in the US (St Louis) for well over 20 years. She graduated from UANE (Universidad Autónoma del Noreste) with an Accounting degree. She is fluent in both Spanish and English and has taken Italian classes, she likes street photography, craft beer, travel and bike riding. Elizabeth has been doing volunteer work for TAP (Tax Assistant Program) and for Circle of Concern for 10 years.
LinkedIn: Liz Keister
Our Legalese
CFII utilizes RBC Clearing & Custody, herein termed RBC C&C, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, as our Clearing Firm.
Securities in customer accounts carried by CFII are well protected. Account assets will be protected by the Securities Investors Protection Corporation, herein termed SIPC, and an additional policy purchased from Lloyd’s of London. The policy provides an additional $99.5 million per client of coverage for securities above that provided by SIPC, subject to a $400 million aggregate limit. This includes protection for cash of up to $900,000 over the $250,000 provided by SIPC. A document made available by RBC C&C that discusses their protection of client assets is available here. If the SIPC Fund proves insufficient to satisfy customers' claims, SIPC can draw upon a $1 billion line of credit that it has with the SEC, which, in turn borrows from the US Treasury. Neither SIPC protection, nor the protection in excess of that provided by SIPC, covers a decline in the value of a customer’s assets due to market loss. For further information about SIPC, please view the organizations website: www.sipc.org.
We are also members of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII). AAII is a comprehensive on-line guide to investing, developed to assist individuals in becoming effective managers of their own assets.
Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. is registered in seventeen (17) states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. and its registered representatives may only transact business in a state if first registered, excluded or exempted from registration requirements of that particular state. Individualized responses to emails received by CFII and its registered reps from this website will not be made unless and until applicable registration requirements have been met.
Consolidated Financial Investments, Inc. is a member of the FINRA, SIPC and MSRB.
For more complete details, email us at info@consolidatedstl.com
Our Alliances
RBC Clearing & Custody specializes in providing comprehensive clearing, custody and execution services to varying types of broker dealers, from full service wealth management firms to traditional retail brokerages, from institutional and FinTech to dually registered firms. They provide the products and services necessary to support our firm, allowing us to focus on our most important asset, our clients.
CircleBlack provides a complete financial overview of your portfolio in one, simple-to-access location. We aggregate feeds from your custodians, company retirement plans, personal banking accounts (if desired) and any other direct holdings, such as mutual funds and annuities. This allows you to see your complete financial picture in real time on your computer or smartphone.
