The CWS Group

Drawing on 28 years of investment management and wealth planning experience, Ted Waters provides comprehensive wealth management solutions to a select group of highly affluent families and individuals. As a Certified Investment Management Analyst^®, Ted also focuses on the creation of highly customized equity and fixed income portfolios for the team’s clients.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2014, Ted spent 20 years working with high net worth clients as a director at Deutsche Bank Securities. He began his career at T. Rowe Price in 1991.

Ted is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and is actively involved in the community. He has served on both the board of trustees of the Gilman School in Baltimore and the board of governors of the Elkridge Club, where he is a member. Ted is also on the finance and investment committee of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Garrison. Ted spends his free time playing golf and watching the Baltimore Ravens. He enjoys traveling with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children, Hudson and Ashby.

With three decades of wealth management experience, Ted Smith works with a select clientele of highly affluent individuals, families and their family offices. Ted focuses on simplifying the lives of the functionally retired, and those approaching that transition. His goal is to help them create and implement strategies across every aspect of their financial lives, that can help clients spend their time however they wish.

Thanks to the faith his clients have placed in him, Ted was named to the inaugural Financial Times 400 list of Financial Advisors in 2013, 2016, and 2018. He was also a Barron's Top 1200 advisor in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023 and a Forbes Best in State Financial Advisor in 2021 and 2023. Over the years, he has also been quoted in numerous publications, including Dow Jones Newswires, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the Baltimore Business Journal and he has appeared on local Baltimore news media.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2021, Ted served as a director at UBS, and earlier as an advisor at Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown and its predecessors. He holds a Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist℠ designation from the College for Financial Planning and served on Deutsche Bank’s inaugural DBAB Retirement Plan Advisory Council.

Originally from southern Pennsylvania, Ted has lived in Baltimore City since 1984. When not in the office, he spends quality family time with his children, Jake and Kathleen. He enjoys swimming, playing guitar and piano, writing songs, and attempting to surf.

2013, 2016, 2018 Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors
Source: ft.com. Data compiled by the Financial Times based the following time periods: Awarded 2018; data 6/30/15 - 6/30/17, Awarded 2016; data 9/30/13 - 9/30/15, Awarded 2013; data as of 12/31/12

2021 & 2023 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2021 & 2023). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.

2019-2021 & 2023 Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State (formerly referred to as Barron's Top 1,000 Financial Advisors: State-by-State)
Source: Barrons.com (Awarded 2019-2021 & 2023). Data compiled by Barron's based on 12-month period concluding in Sept of the year prior to the issuance of the award.

Tim has over 22 years of experience and training as a Chartered Financial Analyst^®, Tim Schere provides customized advice and investment services to private clients, retirement plans and corporate plans. Prior to teaming up with his current partners, Tim led the asset allocation and quantitative analysis group for Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, where he provided advice and analysis on asset allocation and portfolio structure to the firm’s clients around the country.

Tim graduated from The University of Chicago and currently serves as President of St. Elizabeth’s School Foundation. An avid baseball fan, he lives in Baltimore City with his wife, Val Perez-Schere, and their three children.

Sean is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with the CWS Group and aims to simplify clients financial lives through tailored financial plans and investment strategies. Prior to joining the CWS Group, Sean began his career at UBS where he held roles in their highly competitive Analyst training program and Tailored Lending teams in New York City and most recently as a Senior Wealth Strategy Associate in Baltimore.

Sean holds the FINRA Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. Originally from Allentown, PA Sean graduated from the University of Richmond cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a concentration in Finance where he was also a member of their Division 1 men’s soccer team.

Sean’s hobbies include Philadelphia sports, spending time at the beach with family and playing golf.

Securities Agent: OH, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY; General Securities Representative; Investment Advisor Representative

Drawing on six years of financial service industry experience, Lindsey Rickards supports the team’s clients and advisors in the development of highly customized financial plans. Her responsibilities include using the firm’s advanced platforms to perform client cash flow analyses and risk evaluations, evaluating investment managers, researching companies, portfolio reporting and a variety of other activities.

Lindsey joined Morgan Stanley in 2019 and became a member of The CWS Group in 2021. She had previously served as a PWM Business Service Manager and PWM Registered Associate in Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management’s Washington D.C. office.

Lindsey received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from UNC Wilmington, and went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from American University with a Master’s of Science degree in International Relations and Business. She is currently working toward her CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys playing golf, working out and taking her French bulldogs, Ellie and Olive, to the park.

Janet Chenoweth joined Morgan Stanley in 2019 after having worked with Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown as a trader and underwriter and with Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Inc. as a fixed income institutional sales liaison and as a municipal bond credit analyst. In addition to her Series 7, 63, 55, and 52 licenses attained during her time with Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, she acquired her Series 65 license in 2019. With 41 years of industry experience, Janet now supports The Clifford/Waters Group. Janet lives in Baltimore County with her husband and enjoys spending time with their son and daughter as well as their extended family and friends.

Kristin Carter joined Morgan Stanley in November 2020 as a Senior Registered Associate. Kristin assists with operational and administrative functions for clients and team members. She addresses a wide range of concierge elements, including partnering with vendors, client events, maintaining accounts, and day to day operations.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Kristin worked for UBS for 6 years as a Client Associate, Branch Administrator, and Executive Team Assistant. She worked for Johns Hopkins Health System for 3 years where she increased the internal staffing revenue for temporary administrative professionals. She was integral in converting temporary staff to permanent staff by coaching, training, and monitoring over 400 employees.

Kristin is a former actress, has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since 2001, has a background in restaurant management, sales, and holds a BS from Towson University with a degree in Theatre Arts and Mass Communications. In her spare time Kristin is a member of the Board of Directors for Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland. She lives in Lutherville with her Goldendoodle, Wyatt.

Joshua joined Morgan Stanley in December 2024 as a Registered Associate to assist the CWS Group with administrative tasks and continued deliverance of exceptional client service. Prior to joining the firm, Joshua worked for one of the founding partners at a private advisory firm where he gained a wide range of industry knowledge and experience.

Joshua is originally from Frederick, Maryland and attended Towson University, where he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration with a Concentration in Financial Planning. He currently lives in Baltimore and in his free time enjoys going to sporting events, golfing, and spending time with friends and family out in the city.

Joshua is Series 7 and Series 66 registered.