The Milton Stern Scholarship Workshop

On Monday, March 18th, students and guests attended 'The Milton Stern Workshop: Pathways to Careers in Financial Advising,' organized by Professor Joan Robinson and supported by The Milton Stern (1957) Scholarship, Bridgewater Advisors, and The Foundation for City College. The event showcased pathways to careers in financial advising and provided guidance to City College of New York students on accessing scholarship and internship support. Guest speakers included Dr. Karen Altfest and Dr. Lewis Altfest.

 

About the Speakers

Karen Altfest

Karen Caplan Altfest, Ph.D., CFP®, is a Principal Advisor at Altfest Personal Wealth Management. She helps many of the firm’s clients on a variety of investment and financial planning issues and specializes in helping women clients and widows. Karen’s Financially Savvy Woman® programs, including the Women’s Financial $pa®, are popular with clients. Her focus is to educate and empower women.

Karen is frequently a speaker on the subject of women and money and conducts educational seminars for recent widows and people looking to retire. In 2017, Karen’s article, “Life After Loss: 6 Smart Steps for Coping with Widowhood,” was published by the American Association of Individual Investors Journal. Karen was also featured in “Say What? A Dying Man Says ‘Don’t Worry’ About His Wife” on WSJ.com in 2016. She is a frequent contributor to Rethinking65.com.

Karen is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, holds BA and MA degrees from Hunter College, and holds the CFP® designation. Karen received her Ph.D. in history from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY).

She was the Co-Director of the Financial Planning and Investments Program at The New School in New York City and the Coordinator of the Financial Planning program, a professional program for financial planners, which she originated at Pace University in White Plains, N.Y.
 

Awards and Recognition

• Recognized as a “Top Women Wealth Advisor” by Forbes, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Named to Crain’s New York Business’ list of “Notable Women in Finance”, 2018, 2019
• Selected as a “Best-In-State Wealth Advisor” by Forbes, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Selected as one of the “120 Best Financial Advisers” by Medical Economics
• Author of Keeping Clients for Life (John Wiley & Sons)
• Co-Author of Lew Altfest Answers Almost All Your Questions about Money (McGraw-Hill), named one of the best financial planning books by Money magazine

Lewis Altfest

Lewis J. Altfest, Ph.D., is CEO, Chief Investment Officer and a Principal Advisor for Altfest Personal Wealth Management®. He directs the firm’s Investment and Leadership Committees, and leads the Portfolio Action Group, which sets investment strategy for client portfolios.

Prior to founding the firm in 1983, he was a General Partner and Director of Research for Lord Abbett & Co., a large mutual fund and investment management company that manages more than $100 billion in assets. Lew began his investment career as a research analyst at Wertheim & Co.

Lew was the sole recipient of the 2007 Charles R. Schwab IMPACT Award® – the highest distinction in the profession – for his sustained vision, outstanding leadership and client commitment.

His academic textbook, Personal Financial Planning, was published by McGraw-Hill and is currently used at universities around the country. Lew is also co-author of Lew Altfest Answers Almost All Your Questions About Money, named one of the best financial planning books by Money magazine, and co-author of An Introduction to Business.

Lew is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University, where he teaches financial planning and investments. In addition to the books listed above, Lew is the author of many scholarly articles on financial planning and investments.

Lew is listed in Who’s Who in Finance and Who’s Who in America.

Lew received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He has an MBA from New York University and a BBA from Baruch College. He also holds the CFA, CFP®, CPA and PFS designations.
 

Awards and Recognition

• Barron’s Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in the Nation, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Barron’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors in the Country, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Career Achievement Award from CUNY for his “integral role in the development of the financial planning profession,” 2006