Catherine Guidera, CEPA®
First Vice President, Wealth Management,
Financial Advisor
Direct:
(212) 503-1124(212) 503-1124
My Mission Statement
Experience, intellectual capital and dedicated personal service to help you meet your life goals
My Story and Services
Catherine brings more than 36 years of financial services experience to every client she advises. Those clients include high net worth individuals concerned about preserving their wealth and passing it on to the next generation without excessive taxation and family conflict. As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®), she has also helped numerous business owners analyze their prospects for selling their companies at favorable terms and determine how much they will really need from a sale to support their desired lifestyle.
Catherine grew up in the New York metropolitan area and remembers how fascinated she was by the ticker tape at the brokerage office where her aunt took her on a frequent basis. Her fascination compelled her to earn a degree in corporate finance and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and pursue a financial services career at Lehman Brothers. There, she learned the business from the ground up, starting as an assistant to an experienced Financial Advisor and eventually becoming a full partner in his practice. “The firm was transactional in its approach,” she explains, “and I spent much of my time constructing client portfolios with stocks, bonds and options that I had researched thoroughly. I find it especially gratifying that many of the clients I advised back then are still with me today and have passed me on like a legacy to their children and grandchildren.”
Subsequently, Catherine transitioned her practice to a Morgan Stanley predecessor firm and UBS before returning to Morgan Stanley in 2022. “The support we offer our clients here helps us stand out,” she says. “Technology is cutting edge and our planning platform enables me to provide clients with guidance that goes far beyond their portfolios to encompass other dimensions of their financial lives.”
Catherine is an active member of her community, volunteering with Muddy Paws Rescue, an organization committed to saving dogs from unnecessary euthanasia by finding them homes, educating owners and altering objectionable behavior through training. She is a physical fitness enthusiast and greatly enjoys spending time with her two grown daughters and traveling, especially to Italy where she tries out the conversational Italian she has learned at the classes she takes regularly. An aficionado of Italian food and wines, Catherine is an active member of the exclusive Knights of the Truffle and Wines of Alba.
Catherine grew up in the New York metropolitan area and remembers how fascinated she was by the ticker tape at the brokerage office where her aunt took her on a frequent basis. Her fascination compelled her to earn a degree in corporate finance and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and pursue a financial services career at Lehman Brothers. There, she learned the business from the ground up, starting as an assistant to an experienced Financial Advisor and eventually becoming a full partner in his practice. “The firm was transactional in its approach,” she explains, “and I spent much of my time constructing client portfolios with stocks, bonds and options that I had researched thoroughly. I find it especially gratifying that many of the clients I advised back then are still with me today and have passed me on like a legacy to their children and grandchildren.”
Subsequently, Catherine transitioned her practice to a Morgan Stanley predecessor firm and UBS before returning to Morgan Stanley in 2022. “The support we offer our clients here helps us stand out,” she says. “Technology is cutting edge and our planning platform enables me to provide clients with guidance that goes far beyond their portfolios to encompass other dimensions of their financial lives.”
Catherine is an active member of her community, volunteering with Muddy Paws Rescue, an organization committed to saving dogs from unnecessary euthanasia by finding them homes, educating owners and altering objectionable behavior through training. She is a physical fitness enthusiast and greatly enjoys spending time with her two grown daughters and traveling, especially to Italy where she tries out the conversational Italian she has learned at the classes she takes regularly. An aficionado of Italian food and wines, Catherine is an active member of the exclusive Knights of the Truffle and Wines of Alba.
Securities Agent: MD, FL, VA, WV, NJ, CT, NY, NV, LA, CO, OR, RI, PA, MA, CA, NC, TX; General Securities Representative; Investment Advisor Representative
NMLS#: 2439619
NMLS#: 2439619
Check the background of Our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck.*
What to Expect From Me
Clients come for different reasons. Some are wondering how they are going to retire and pay for their daughter’s law school tuition. Others are concerned about caring for an aging parent. Still others are trying to figure out the best possible way to exit their business without triggering excessive taxes or damaging family relationships.
For all these clients, I go the extra mile in trying to understand who they are, what they hope to achieve and what they feel might be standing in their way. I take inventory of their finances, of course, but I go beyond their personal balance sheets to determine who they are as people, not just investors.
During our initial meetings, I’ll ask you questions about such issues as:
• Your retirement plans – what does retirement look like to you and when do you hope to begin that next phase of your life?
• Family aspirations – Are your kids nearing college age or do they have families of their own whom you’d like to be able to help financially?
• Material goals – Do you envision staying in your home, downsizing, or perhaps buying a vacation property? Are there other acquisitions you’re thinking about and wondering whether you can afford them?
• Charitable commitments – What organizations are important to you and how do you hope to support them?
• Special circumstances: Are you adapting financially to the loss of a spouse or perhaps concerned about providing ongoing care for a special needs child? Are you a caregiver for a parent or other relative?
• Business issues – Do you own your own business? Are you grappling with such issues as managing cash efficiently, offering meaningful benefits like a 401(k) or other retirement plan, contemplating an exit strategy?
My approach to advising clients is comprehensive and deeply personal. What’s more, as Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, I offer access to extensive resources and experienced professionals who can collaborate with me to help you meet the specific challenges you face.
For all these clients, I go the extra mile in trying to understand who they are, what they hope to achieve and what they feel might be standing in their way. I take inventory of their finances, of course, but I go beyond their personal balance sheets to determine who they are as people, not just investors.
During our initial meetings, I’ll ask you questions about such issues as:
• Your retirement plans – what does retirement look like to you and when do you hope to begin that next phase of your life?
• Family aspirations – Are your kids nearing college age or do they have families of their own whom you’d like to be able to help financially?
• Material goals – Do you envision staying in your home, downsizing, or perhaps buying a vacation property? Are there other acquisitions you’re thinking about and wondering whether you can afford them?
• Charitable commitments – What organizations are important to you and how do you hope to support them?
• Special circumstances: Are you adapting financially to the loss of a spouse or perhaps concerned about providing ongoing care for a special needs child? Are you a caregiver for a parent or other relative?
• Business issues – Do you own your own business? Are you grappling with such issues as managing cash efficiently, offering meaningful benefits like a 401(k) or other retirement plan, contemplating an exit strategy?
My approach to advising clients is comprehensive and deeply personal. What’s more, as Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, I offer access to extensive resources and experienced professionals who can collaborate with me to help you meet the specific challenges you face.
It Starts With a Plan
Once I understand your goals, I work with you to quantify how much they will cost. As a Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor, I have access to the firm's sophisticated financial planning platform that enables me to help determine whether you have a gap or a surplus between the projected cost of your goals and your overall resources. In addition, your plan will provide you with specific recommendations for potentially achieving your goals in not only your investment activities, but such diverse disciplines as retirement planning, estate planning strategies, risk management and strategic use of debt.
Implementing Your Plan
After presenting your plan to you, I work closely with you to bring it to life. That may entail additional consultation with Morgan Stanley professionals who specialize in estate planning, lending strategies and other disciplines relevant to your situation. It will also involve the development of an investment strategy to help meet the challenges we identified in our plan development process. I work closely with Morgan Stanley's Global Investment Committee to create a customized asset allocation that reflects your goals, timeframe and risk tolerance. I also collaborate with the firm's Consulting Group to evaluate third party investment managers for performance, the level of risk assumed in an effort to achieve that performance, and organizational excellence.
Evaluating Your Progress
Are you proceeding as anticipated toward your financial destination or is an adjustment required? I monitor your performance on an ongoing basis and may alter our strategies when necessary to accommodate changing circumstances in your life or trends in the financial markets.
Business Owner Advisory
You understand risk because you deal with it on a daily basis. From expanding your operations to penetrating new markets, you take risks when necessary and mitigate them when possible. But what about the risks of owning your business beyond day-to-day activities? What happens to your business if anything should happen to you or perhaps a partner or key associate? Have you taken steps to fulfill your vision for your business after you retire? Do you have a vision or are you not yet sure what you really want?
At The Guidera Dufeu Group, we understand the risks that business owners face. And we also understand that those risks involve not only the future of your business but the financial well-being of you and your family. Our comprehensive planning process can help you identify your most pressing challenges and address them with customized strategies that consider both your personal financial objectives and business ambitions. Moreover, we have helped numerous business owners:
- Manage cash flow more effectively to improve cash flow for day-to-day expenses without invading capital earmarked for growth
- Establish cost-effective 401(k) or other retirement plans to help you and your employees save for retirement
- Formulate viable succession strategies
Planning Your Exit: Whether you're contemplating transferring your business interest to family members, liquidating assets or selling your shares to current management or an outside party, you have decisions to make and complex issues to address. Common considerations include:
- What do you really want for yourself, your family members, your employees and the business itself?
- Which transaction structures are relevant to your specific circumstances and goals?
- What are the tax implications of the various alternatives available to you?
- How much is your business actually worth, what can you do to increase its transaction value and liquidity?
- How much will you require from the sale of your business to fulfill the financial aspirations of you and your family?
As a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®), Catherine Guidera has helped numerous business owners analyze their prospects for selling their companies at favorable terms and determine how much they will really need from a sale to support their desired lifestyle. Our team has worked with a number of successful business owners and their attorneys, accountants and other advisors to integrate their succession plan with their overall finances and help them understand the many alternatives available to them.
Using Equity Compensation To Help You Meet Your Goals
As a successful corporate executive, you face challenges that other people don't. Your personal wealth is linked inextricably to the fortunes of your company. Your investment portfolio may consist largely of employer stock and stock options that are subject to a myriad of rules of which you may only be vaguely aware. At The Guidera Dufeu Group, we are committed to helping you manage your wealth and make more informed choices. Specifically, we can help you address such issues as:
Executive benefits like deferred compensation, restricted stock plans and incentive stock options can contribute greatly to your family's wealth. The problem is accessing that wealth when you need it. We've worked with numerous executives to help unlock liquidity for current expenses, while retaining employer stock.
Avoiding Over-Concentration
Most corporate executives share an optimistic view of their company's future and consider employer stock to be a sound investment. Perhaps it is, but would you concentrate such a substantial portion of your assets in any other stock? Our team offers objective guidance to diversify your portfolio without necessarily liquidating part of your employer stock position and incurring capital gains tax. Should you choose to sell shares and reinvest the proceeds in other securities, you can be certain that we will help you comply with any applicable regulations.
Understanding Your Options
What happens to your stock options if you decide to retire or leave your job for another employer? Do you own incentive stock options or non-qualified stock options, and do you understand how they differ? Should you consider exercising options now or wait until retirement? At The Guidera Dufeu Group, we can help you answer these questions and equally important, ask the right questions before making any decisions that might be irrevocable
Separating from Service
Different companies have different policies about stock options and other equity compensation programs once you retire or leave the company. Before you make any decisions that might prove irrevocable, we'll help you determine how those choices might affect the benefits you've accumulated. With the help of Morgan Stanley professionals who focus on these areas, we've provided numerous executives with the guidance they needed in an effort to maximize the options and shares that were available to them. We can also help you determine the most tax-efficient way to handle the retirement plan assets you've accumulated throughout your career.
Client Service Team
Peyton Maple - Client Service Associate
Phone:
(212) 503-2495(212) 503-2495
Email:Peyton.Maple@morganstanley.com
Being the newest member of our team, Peyton helps ensure that every client is attended to equally and our services are delivered with exceptional quality and in a timely manner. Recently he graduated from Monmouth with honors and played baseball at the Division 1 level.
Location
55 East 52nd Street 10th
Fl
New York, NY 10055
US
Direct:
(212) 503-1124(212) 503-1124
Wealth Management
Global Investment Office
Portfolio Insights
Retirement
Working with you to understand your life goals and develop a personalized wealth strategy. Today and for the years to come.
- 401(k) Rollovers
- IRA Plans
- Retirement income strategies
- Retirement plan participants
- Annuities
Investing
Working closely with you to guide your wealth and investments through the most challenging market cycles.
- Asset Management
- Wealth Planning
- Traditional Investments
- Alternative Investments
- Impact Investing
Family
Creating customized financial strategies for the challenges that today’s families face.
- Estate Planning Strategies
- 529 Plans / Education Savings Planning
- Long Term Care Insurance
- Special Needs Planning
- Trust Services
Business Planning
Helping you on key aspects of your business such as ownership, liquidity and developing opportunities.
- Succession Planning
- Business Planning
- Qualified Retirement Plans
Financial Planning for Life After Selling a Business
Article Image
Philanthropy
Making sure your philanthropic dollars are managed with the same high quality service as the rest of your wealth.
- Endowments
- Foundations
- Donor Advised Funds
- Impact Investing
Donor Advised Funds: A Smart Way to Manage Your Giving
Article Image
Ready to start a conversation? Contact Catherine Guidera today.
Check the background of our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck*.
The information, products and services described here are intended only for individuals residing in states where this Financial Advisor is properly registered as described in this site.
Morgan Stanley reserves the right, to the extent permitted under applicable law, to retain and monitor all electronic communications. Morgan Stanley will not accept purchase or sale orders via any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. Morgan Stanley does not endorse and is not responsible and assumes no liability for content, products or services posted by third-parties on any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. All electronic communications are subject to terms available at the following link:
https://www.morganstanley.com/disclaimers/mswm-email.html. Any profiles and associated content are for U.S. residents only.
The securities/instruments, services, investments and investment strategies discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors. The appropriateness of a particular investment, investment strategy or service will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments, strategies and services, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor or Private Wealth Advisor. This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) is not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement with/of the third party or that any monitoring is being done by Morgan Stanley of any information contained within the website. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information contained on the third-party website or the use of or inability to use such site. Nor do we guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
The views, opinions or advice contained within third party websites or materials are solely those of the author, who is not a Morgan Stanley employee, and do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, or its affiliates. The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be appropriate for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives.
*References to length of service at Morgan Stanley include years at Morgan Stanley and predecessor firms.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
The use of the CDFA designation does not permit the rendering of legal advice by Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors which may only be done by a licensed attorney. The CDFA designation is not intended to imply that either Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors are acting as experts in this field.
Awards Disclosures
The information, products and services described here are intended only for individuals residing in states where this Financial Advisor is properly registered as described in this site.
Morgan Stanley reserves the right, to the extent permitted under applicable law, to retain and monitor all electronic communications. Morgan Stanley will not accept purchase or sale orders via any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. Morgan Stanley does not endorse and is not responsible and assumes no liability for content, products or services posted by third-parties on any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. All electronic communications are subject to terms available at the following link:
https://www.morganstanley.com/disclaimers/mswm-email.html. Any profiles and associated content are for U.S. residents only.
The securities/instruments, services, investments and investment strategies discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors. The appropriateness of a particular investment, investment strategy or service will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments, strategies and services, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor or Private Wealth Advisor. This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) is not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement with/of the third party or that any monitoring is being done by Morgan Stanley of any information contained within the website. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information contained on the third-party website or the use of or inability to use such site. Nor do we guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
The views, opinions or advice contained within third party websites or materials are solely those of the author, who is not a Morgan Stanley employee, and do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, or its affiliates. The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be appropriate for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives.
*References to length of service at Morgan Stanley include years at Morgan Stanley and predecessor firms.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
The use of the CDFA designation does not permit the rendering of legal advice by Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors which may only be done by a licensed attorney. The CDFA designation is not intended to imply that either Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors are acting as experts in this field.
Awards Disclosures
CRC 6491812 (04/2024)
