Michael Colannino is the Managing Partner at Black Brook Wealth Advisors and has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Throughout his career Michael has worked with large institutional clients as well as high net worth individuals. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional, Michael helps analyze every aspect of his clients’ financial lives. This includes assets, liabilities and cash flow, life insurance, investment and tax strategies – and executes approved plans designed to help achieve well-defined objectives. This also includes meeting to review your portfolio and progress as needed to make necessary adjustments.
To meet the rigorous pre- and post-certification requirements to attain the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, he had to complete approved educational programs, pass exacting exams, and meet stringent experience requirements. Michael earned the "Certified Investment Management Analyst®" designation through IMCA and The Wharton School of Business.
He holds a B.S. in Marketing from the Rutgers School of Business. Michael has been recognized as a Five Star Wealth Manager in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022. He lives in Chester, New Jersey with his wife Christine and their three children.
The Five Star Wealth Manager award, administered by Crescendo Business Services, LLC (dba Five Star Professional), is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through Five Star Professional’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. Once awarded, wealth managers may purchase additional profile ad space or promotional products. The Five Star award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their client’s assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by Five Star Professional or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future. For more information on the Five Star award and the research/selection methodology, go to fivestarprofessional.com. 6,380 New Jersey-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 431 (7% of candidates) were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2021: 6,123 considered, 459 winners; 2020: 6,210 considered, 480 winners; 2019: 6,097 considered, 477 winners; 2018: 4,383 considered, 415 winners; 2017: 3,868 considered, 664 winners; 2016: 4,143 considered, 626 winners; 2015: 5,063 considered, 672 winners; 2014: 3,315 considered, 646 winners; 2013: 4,049 considered, 733 winners; 2012: 1,312 considered, 400 winners.
