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Management Team

Mark W. Hoffman

LinkedInMark W. Hoffman

Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder

Mark’s career as a financial software engineer, innovator and industry leader is defined by these principles: Automation to deliver financial advice at scale, and better investing practices with secure retirement income for investors of all income levels.

From his start in the asset management industry, Mark co-founded Lattice Trading, an automated trading platform acquired by State Street Global.

His next venture with LifeYield co-founder Paul Samuelson was Upstream Technologies, where they created the first scalable, tax-smart unified managed account (UMA) platform. It was acquired by CheckFree Investment Services, now InvestCloud.

A native Wisconsinite and graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mark is a loyal Green Bay Packers fan. He traded the Great Lakes for the Atlantic Ocean, where he loves to be on the water and enjoy the knowledge learned by earning a USCG navigation license.

Paul R. Samuelson

LinkedInPaul R. Samuelson

Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder

Paul comes from an extended family of prominent economists and advisors to presidents. He carries on the Samuelson tradition, writing the complex algorithms at the core of LifeYield technology that empowers financial advisors and firms to minimize clients’ taxes and maximize their retirement income.

Paul’s career includes roles as chief investment officer at PanAgora Investment Management and before that as a leader, consultant and partner at investment companies including Hagler, Mastrovita and Hewitt; Colonial Management Associates; and Acadian Financial Management.

With LifeYield co-founder Mark Hoffman, he started Upstream Technologies, where he was the architect of the investment processes and algorithms for the firm’s pioneering unified managed account (UMA) technology.

Paul is a Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude graduate of Williams College and holds a Ph.D. in finance and M.S.M. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Paul loves to sail, golf, run, swim and row. He gets around town (always wearing a helmet) on Boston’s Bluebike shared bikes.

Michael Benedek

LinkedInMichael Benedek

President, CFO and Co-Founder

Michael co-founded LifeYield with longtime collaborators Mark Hoffman and Paul R. Samuelson out of a belief that the future of financial advice needed a comprehensive, tax-smart, automated and scalable approach to wealth accumulation and retirement income.

Michael began his career in investment banking before moving onto CFO and other leadership roles at Collectsafe, a developer of web-based, anti-fraud technology; Upstream Technologies, creator of the first tax-smart separately managed account (SMA) platform; and CheckFree Investment Services, now InvestCloud, after it acquired Upstream.

A graduate of Vassar College and the Boston College School of Law, Michael is a member of the New York and Massachusetts bar associations. He’s hiked the Alps and other challenging terrains in the United States and Europe. He’s also an avid (albeit average!) golfer and one of only two of the office’s Yankees fans.

Enis Simsek

LinkedInEnis Simsek

Chief Technology Officer

Enis has over 25 years of experience in software engineering, architecture, and technology management. Prior to LifeYield, Enis spent eight years at AIR Worldwide where he was AVP and Software Engineering Director responsible for leading the development of the company’s flagship natural and man-made catastrophe risk analysis software for insurers, reinsurers and financial markets. In 2003 Enis and partners formed Pagos Inc. to produce rating and quoting software for leading U.S. group healthcare insurance providers. Prior to 2000, Enis was a technical manager at Farmakom A.S. where he was responsible for building that company’s proprietary network connecting pharmaceutical warehouses and pharmacies, as well as the software that facilitates transactions on the network. Enis holds a B.S. in Physics from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.

Jack Sharry

LinkedInJack Sharry

EVP, Chief Growth Officer

Jack creates connections daily among financial services and technology leaders who share his passion for combining human and digital advice, so investors achieve financial independence, advisors become more productive, and firms thrive.

Jack joined LifeYield following leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, Putnam, and Virtus. He contributes to numerous industry boards, publications, and organizations. He advocates for practices and technological advances supporting tax-smart asset management and optimizing Social Security benefits for millions of Americans.

Jack hosts a weekly podcast, WealthTech on Deck, and writes regularly for Financial Advisor and Investment News. Committed to giving back, Jack is an active volunteer and board member, serving as president of the board of Hale Education in suburban Boston and a guest lecturer at Babson College.

Follow Jack on LinkedIn.

Martin Cowley

LinkedInMartin Cowley

EVP, Product Development

Martin’s game master of the team responsible for LifeYield technology that produces better outcomes for clients and higher revenue for enterprises through household-level tax-efficient wealth management and retirement income sourcing.

Formerly, Martin was chief technology officer of Upstream Technologies, an early leader in unified managed account (UMA) technology. After the firm was sold to CheckFree Investment Services (now InvestCloud), Martin was closely involved in product direction and technology development.

In earlier roles, Martin was the lead technical architect for AIT Group (now Portrait Software), where he developed software solutions for Barclays and Key Bank, among others.

He holds a B.Sc. in computer systems engineering and an M.Sc. in computing science, both from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. Martin’s interests astound his LifeYield colleagues and include marathon running, playing classical guitar, choral singing (he once performed with a choir for Queen Elizabeth II), and karate (he’s a black belt).

Thomas Prior

LinkedInThomas Prior

EVP, Advisor Support

Tom has over 25 years of experience in technology, with particular focus on financial technology. Tom was Head of Sales at Upstream Technologies from 2002 until it was acquired by CheckFree, now Fiserv, in 2007. Before Upstream, Tom held a number of senior sales positions, including Director of Sales at Zantaz, a provider of compliance technology to the financial services industry; Vice President of Sales for Quote.com, a financial applications and tools provider later acquired by Lycos; and Director of Sales at Information Access Company, a Thomson Corporation company. Tom holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts.

Harry Bartle

LinkedInHarry Bartle

EVP, Enterprise Sales

Harry’s a fierce hockey player and coach, so he knows where the puck is headed – straight toward automated, scalable tax-efficient financial planning, asset management, and maximizing retirement income.

Harry began his career in wholesaling for John Hancock before pivoting to financial technology. At Linedata, he ran business development efforts for its fund services team. Earlier roles included leadership positions at Infinata and Financial Engines, where he helped pioneer robo-advisor sales.

Harry played hockey at SUNY Cortland while earning a bachelor’s degree in economics. Today he’s a dedicated coach of his two sons’ hockey teams. A Bostonian through and through, he rides a scooter to work at LifeYield’s downtown office.

Denis O'Connell

LinkedInDenis O’Connell

SVP, Product Delivery and Integrations

Denis has over eighteen years of experience in financial services, advisor and information technology. Formerly, Denis was Global Head of Support and Operations at Fidessa, where he was responsible for working with the Rockland Trust technology department, outside vendors and the investment management team with respect to technology issues and demands. From 2009 until July 2015, Denis worked at LifeYield as Director of Operations to provide Investment Management and Market Data expertise to operations, development and sales groups within LifeYield. Before LifeYield, Denis worked as Vice President of Investment Management Group at Rockland Trust Company. Denis holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from College of the Holy Cross.

jeff quigley

LinkedInJeff Quigley

VP, Enterprise Sales & Relationships

Jeff is a road warrior thrilled to return to in-person meetings with the firms and advisors with whom he’s developed trusting and productive relationships.

Jeff helped launch LifeYield’s direct-to-advisor business, which includes Social Security+, the LifeYield API-based tool for optimizing Social Security benefits, and now he also demonstrates the benefits of our other solutions for tax efficiency and retirement income maximization.

Before LifeYield, Jeff worked at MoneyGuidePro and Advizr, helping firms understand the benefits of technology and financial planning. His experience includes leadership and development positions at The Hartford, ING, MetLife, and AIG.

A runner and Yankees fan (we don’t hold that against him), Jeff is also the avid sports dad of two teenage children.

Matt Nollman

LinkedInMatt Nollman

VP, Marketing

A digital marketing native, Matt relentlessly uses marketing strategy, content creation, and social media to build relationships and create growth opportunities for LifeYield and its customers.

Matt joined LifeYield from prior digital marketing roles at Putnam Investments, Salary.com, CA Technologies, and other prominent tech companies. He holds a BBA in marketing from UMass Amherst, where he graduated cum laude.

Matt is engaged to a nurse and true hero, a proud Boston sports fan, an avid soccer player and coach, and a dog dad to an adorable puppy named Maui.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn for his perspective on digital marketing, fintech, wealth creation for millennials, and more.

Savitha Vaddireddy (Gopu)

LinkedInSavitha Vaddireddy

VP, Product Development

Savitha brings innovative thinking and deep knowledge of LifeYield’s products and software development methodologies to her role. Driven by challenge and learning, Savitha has an outstanding ability to lead, mentor, coach, and contribute to multicultural teams.

Savitha began her work at LifeYield as a senior quality assurance engineer over 14 years ago as one of LifeYield’s first hires. She led testing for many years before her promotion to vice president of product development.

Before joining LifeYield, Savitha consulted as an SQA engineer at American Student Assistance, where she worked on software automation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer applications and an M.Sc. in information systems from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.

She likes organizing seasonal office events (her all-time favorite activity is engaging colleagues in an annual “Yankee swap” in December). In her free time, she enjoys cooking Indian food for her family, volunteering, and watching basketball games and movies with her son.

Walt Butler

LinkedInWalt Butler

VP, Product Development

Walt began his career as a software engineer and has over 25 years of experience designing and building software applications, mainly in the investment management technology industry.

At LifeYield, Walt’s extensive background in fintech and software engineering helps to take complex client ideas and turn them into product innovations, ultimately translating them into technical designs for LifeYield’s engineering teams.

Formerly, Walt was director of software development at Upstream Technologies, an early leader in unified managed account (UMA) technology. After the firm was sold to CheckFree Investment Services (now InvestCloud), Walt managed a large, multi-location organization of software development teams.

Walt holds a B.S. in computer science from Kent State University. In his free time, a husband of 30 years and father of two in Ohio, Walt enjoys golfing, following Cleveland sports, chasing rare bourbon, and spending time with family and friends.

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