Chairman

John Mullis has been in the financial services industry for over 35 years. John has had vast experience working with employer groups of all sizes to create retirement planning solutions for their organizations. His background is very diverse, ranging from being a Vice President in a large regional bank’s Trust Department, to Senior Vice President of Operations for the US and Caribbean of a major insurance company. He has worked with pre-retirees and retirees all over the US to develop retirement plans that fit their goals for today and evolve into efficient distribution plans to meet their future needs.

CFP®, CEO and Managing Partner

Angela M. Bender has been in the financial services industry since 1997. She strives to educate her clients on how to invest wisely and avoid financial loss by providing conservative options. She is dedicated to helping her clients reap the rewards of a well-planned retirement. Angela is a Certified Long Term Care Specialist (CLTC), and is a well-established speaker in the Washington area. Angela is committed to educating the community with her workshops on topics relating to sound investment strategies. She works with her clients to improve the overall efficiency of their investments, and help to increase investment returns through proper asset allocation. Angela is dedicated to the continuance of her education and embarked upon the rigorous task in 2010 of completing her CFP certification. She is now one of the few planners that can add CFP® to her list of accomplishments.

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CPA, Chief Operating Officer

Brett Bender has been the CFO or Controller of small to medium sized businesses for the last 15 years. In that time he managed the rapid growth of Technology, Services, Telecom and Government Contracting companies. His background is focused on financial and administrative management for high-growth organizations with awards including leading Companies listed on the INC 500|5000 fastest growing private companies, Washington Fast 50, and has twice been nominated for the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Emerging Growth Companies CFO of the Year award. Brett specializes in helping start up, small and medium sized businesses with their financial and strategic plans. Areas of focus include: preparing and analyzing financial statements, business and cash flow forecasting, evaluating and implementing accounting software, preparing business plans, tax management, and business insurance. Brett is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance from Radford University.

Director of Operations

Robin Benjamin has been with AMJ Financial since 2008 and is currently our Director of Operations. She came to AMJ Financial with over 20 years of sales and marketing experience of which 13 years were spent in media advertising. Robin’s responsibilities include managing our support staff in the following areas: new client development; scheduling/confirmation of client appointments; new account opening and processing; client account maintenance; coordinating educational seminars and client appreciation events; new and existing client correspondence to include weekly and quarterly newsletters. Robin communicates with our clients regularly to ensure that our clients’ service requirements are met on an ongoing basis.

CFP®, Manager of Financial Planning

Fridtjov Markussen joined AMJ Financial Wealth Management in 2015. He began his financial services career in 2000 after a career in the IT consulting industry. His prior financial services roles include serving in the Private Client Group of Legg Mason Wood Walker, as an Investment Consultant for TD Ameritrade, and most recently, as an independent financial planner with Waddell & Reed. He has broad experience serving clients’ investment, retirement, education funding, and risk-management needs. He is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner™ with a special focus on strategic asset allocation and retirement income planning strategies. He is committed to helping clients achieve greater long-term financial security by providing the highest level of professional guidance.

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CFP®, Assistant Portfolio Manager

Laken Barber joined the AMJ Financial team in 2016. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2016 with a degree in Applied Economic Management with a focus in Financial Planning. During her time at Virginia Tech, she was involved in the Virginia Tech Financial Planning Association student chapter. She chose the Financial Planning focus because of the opportunity to help people achieve their financial goals. Laken’s responsibilities include daily portfolio check-ins, assist with trading and research, lead components of client Funding meetings and other client services as needed. She has obtained her Series 65 securities license, and in 2018 earned her designation as a Certified Financial Planner™.

Associate Wealth Advisor, CFP®

Megan Hill joined the AMJ Financial Wealth Management team in 2018. As associate wealth advisor, she will focus her service on creating strategies to help clients achieve their financial goals ahead of schedule, as well as directly assist clients with a myriad of needs. Megan comes to the firm after graduating from Virginia Tech’s CFP Certification Education Program with a degree in Applied Economic Management in 2018. At Virginia Tech, Megan enjoyed taking classes about how to manage relationships with clients and the impact that income tax planning has on a financial plan. She is motivated by creating meaningful relationships with people and seeing the success a financial planner can help clients achieve.  Megan earned her designation as a Certified Financial Planner™ in 2019.

Wealth Advisor, CFP®

Tucker Holt joined AMJ in 2019. As wealth advisor, Holt will focus his service on creating strategies to help clients achieve their financial goals ahead of schedule. He has worked in the financial services industry for more than four years, most recently as a Financial Consultant with Middleburg Investment Services. Prior to that, he worked in investment consultant positions with Scottrade and ICS Financial. Holt graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Hospitality Management and earned his MBA from the University of Mary Washington. He is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner™ and he has also obtained his Series 7 and 66 securities licenses.

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CFP®, Associate Wealth Advisor

Bianca San joined the AMJ Financial Wealth Management team in June 2019 as assistant paraplanner after an in-depth internship with the company in 2018. She was promoted to senior paraplanner, and now, after earning her designation as a Certified Financial Planner,™ in 2021, is an associate wealth advisor. As associate wealth advisor, she will focus her service on creating strategies to help clients achieve their financial goals ahead of schedule, as well as directly assist clients with a myriad of needs. Bianca graduated from Virginia Tech in 2019 with a degree in Finance and a concentration in Financial Planning. She was involved in the Virginia Tech Financial Planning Association student chapter and enjoyed learning about managing client relationships and the many components of financial planning, especially retirement and tax.

Client Service Associate

Chris Breighner joined AMJ Financial Wealth Management in 2016 as front desk receptionist and administrative assistant. She is the primary point of contact for scheduling all appointments and works alongside the AMJ Team to meet ever-changing client needs with a smile. Chris has 10 years of teaching experience, four with Loudoun County Public Schools. Prior to that, she served in the U.S. Air Force as a public affairs officer with assignments in Texas and Missouri and participated in Operation Allied Force (Kosovo) and operations in the Persian Gulf.

ChFC®, Senior Paraplanner

Dave Weiss joined the AMJ team as Paraplanner in June of 2021 after having spent the previous year and a half working as a paraplanner at a registered investment advisor in Reston, VA. Prior to that, he spent 16 years on various assignments in the military and intelligence community. Dave works closely with AMJ’s Planning Team to develop and update tailored financial plans for clients. Dave holds the Series 65 Securities license, a Chartered Financial Consultant® designation, and is working towards the Certified Financial Planner® certification.

Portfolio Analyst

A native of Palm City, Florida, Quintin Burkhamer joined the AMJ Financial Team in 2021 as a paraplanner, assisting financial planners with the design and modification of portfolio plans tailored toward each individual client. In 2022, he was promoted to portfolio analyst, now providing key support to the AMJ investments team. Quintin graduated with magna cum laude honors from Stetson University with a degree in Finance. While studying at Stetson University, Quintin graduated amongst the top 10% of all business students and was awarded beta gamma sigma honors. He also participated in Stetson University’s Roland George Investments Program in which he researched global investment landscapes, evaluated company-specific growth and risk factors to determine buy recommendations for the portfolio. Quintin previously worked for Vanguard where he obtained his Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.

Paraplanner

James Ventrelli joined the AMJ Financial Wealth Management team as a paraplanner in January of 2022, after graduating from Virginia Tech in December of 2021. James graduated with a degree in Finance and a concentration in Financial Planning under the CFP® certification education program. He was involved with the Virginia Tech Financial Planning Association during his time at school, serving as the Community Outreach officer and the Secretary for the organization, where he learned more about how advisors in the profession help clients reach their goals. As a paraplanner at AMJ, James is a key conduit between clients and the wealth advisory team, keeping financial plans up-to-date and on track.