The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley

John A. Mele, CFP^®, a founding partner of The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, began his career in 2002 as an unpaid intern and in 2021 became one of the youngest Financial Advisors to earn the prestigious Managing Director title at Morgan Stanley.

Upon completion of his unpaid internship, John was selected by two highly respected industry veterans to serve as the succession plan for their wealth management practice. John was mentored extensively and integrated into their practices to provide continuity for the clients they served and cared for. John brings to clients the comprehensive perspective of a Financial Advisor with more than 20 years of his own experience combined with the wisdom of his mentors spanning more than 75 years.

John’s mentors taught him more than investing and financial advice; they imparted the values and skills that truly differentiate elite Financial Advisors. Above all, they believed putting client interests first is paramount. They also recognized that the best Financial Advisors are excellent listeners, seeking to fully understand clients’ unique goals and concerns in order to provide sound advice. John’s mentors approached their work with clients as an ongoing teaching-learning relationship; believing if we invest the time to explain concepts in ways that resonate, our clients will be more likely to succeed in accomplishing their goals. These are just a few of the principles that were instilled in John that continue to guide The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley to this day.

Throughout John’s career, he has advised a wide range of clients including entrepreneurs, successful young professionals, c-suite executives, retirees, sports and entertainment professionals, and in many cases the fourth and fifth generations of families entrusted to him by his mentors.

At Morgan Stanley, John is part of an exclusive group of Financial Advisors who have earned the Family Wealth Director designation. This designation signifies that he has extensive experience working with ultra-high net worth families and has direct access to broad range of Morgan Stanley resources needed to help highly affluent families navigate the complex, multigenerational challenges of managing significant wealth. He has also earned the designation of Global Sports and Entertainment Director at Morgan Stanley having advised a wide range of uniquely successful clients from the sports and entertainment world, including Super Bowl Champions as well as GRAMMY and Academy Award Winners.

John’s exceptional skillset, resources, and experience allows him to understand a wide spectrum of client situations as varied as young fast-rising sports and entertainment professionals whose life, family dynamics, and financial situations can shift seemingly overnight, to established ultra-high net worth families who strive to grow, preserve, protect, and perpetuate their wealth in the most tax-efficient way. The diverse clientele he has guided through the years allows John to understand various situations clients face and deliver relevant advice.

John has been consistently recognized as a Top Advisor by Forbes, most recently earning a Top-10 Best-In-State Wealth Advisor ranking (2025).

John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Washington & Lee University and a graduate degree in Financial Planning from Georgetown University. John has held the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation since 2008.

2017-2020 Forbes America’s Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors & Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-in-State (formerly referred to as Forbes America's Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors, Forbes Top 1,000 Next-Gen Wealth Advisors, Forbes Top 500 Next Generation Wealth Advisors)
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2017-2020). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on 12-month period concluding in Mar of the year the award was issued.

2018-2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2018-2025). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.

2023-2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded Jan 2023 - 2025) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in March of year prior to the issuance of the award.

Jeremy J. Schwendeman, CFP^® is a Financial Advisor with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and joined The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group in 2013. In 2024, Jeremy was promoted to Managing Director by Morgan Stanley. From 2022-2025, Forbes Magazine has recognized him as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor and from 2023-2025 Forbes Magazine has recognized The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group as a Best in State Wealth Management Team.

Jeremy specializes in developing wealth management strategies for professional coaches and their families. A member of the football coaching staff at the University of Akron from 1997-2001, he draws from his experience in order to provide the most sound, tailored and consistent financial advice to the families of professional coaches across the country. Jeremy is a Director of Morgan Stanley Global Sports and Entertainment, which was earned based on his experience and knowledge working with coaches and sports executives. This designation provides him with access to world-class resources needed to navigate the complexities and pressures facing high-achieving professionals in the sports and entertainment industries, to help them make smart choices about how they save, spend, invest, borrow, protect, and give. Jeremy also focuses on working with corporate executives to provide financial planning and advice around their corporate stock plan options and awards.

Jeremy takes the lead on portfolio management and economic analysis for the team. He is focused on portfolio construction, development, and monitoring of our client investments within the firm. He is passionate about financial literacy has been asked to speak at various colleges, universities and NCAA events on financial planning and the unique financial needs of coaches and their families.

Jeremy graduated from the University of Akron in 2000. He earned his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation in 2011 and is a Senior Portfolio Management Director with Morgan Stanley. Given his extensive experience working with clients in the NFL, he was selected as an NFLPA Registered Institutional Player Financial Advisor.

He and his wife Jessica live in Howard County with their 3 children, Jack, Olivia and Alec. Jeremy is actively involved in coaching and cheering on his children’s sports teams and especially enjoys coaching baseball. He loves spending time in South Carolina and cheering on the Cleveland Browns.

​2022-2025 Forbes Best-In- State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2022, 2025). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.

2023 - 2025 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded Jan 2023 - 2025) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in March of year prior to the issuance of the award.

Steven “Steve” P. Jakubowski, CFP^®, CIMA^®, is a Financial Advisor with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.  He joined the Mount Clare Wealth Management Group in 2022 as a partner, to collaborate and guide clients on a full spectrum of their wealth management needs including asset allocation, retirement income strategies, multigenerational planning, and risk management.    

Steve has a passion for financial education and building upon his clients’ financial literacy. He spent the last 10 years at TIAA as a Wealth Management Advisor to high-net-worth families and foundations within the non-profit, research, and academic communities to help them toward achieving their short and long-term goals using sound financial planning.  His mission is to help his clients achieve the best possible outcomes through deep discovery and truly understanding their financial story, breaking down the complexities and explaining things clearly and transparently. Prior to joining TIAA, Steve was a Financial Advisor with Legg Mason and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Steve graduated from the College of Charleston in 2002 with a concentration in Finance.  He holds the designations of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™ and CERTIFIED INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT ANALYST^®.

Steve and his wife Abigail live in Lutherville, MD with their two daughters, Liv and Mira and boxer Hugo.  In his free time, he enjoys traveling, golfing and mountain biking.  

Michelle is a financial advisor on the team with a focus on financial planning. She works closely with clients in all stages of life to develop a customized plan and strategy, specifically tailored to each individual. Michelle believes in a holistic wealth management approach, identifying each client’s entire financial picture to best align their resources with their goals. Michelle graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Towson University and received her MBA from Loyola University Maryland. She joined The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group in 2020.

Native to Baltimore City, Michelle resides in Canton and enjoys spending time outdoors, travelling and family time.

Michelle is Series 7 and Series 66 Licensed and holds her Life and Health Insurance License.

Kreg Keeney joined the Mount Clare Wealth Management group in April 2022. With over 30 years of financial services experience, Kreg provides superior client service with quick and accurate results. Kreg assists our team and its clients with many projects and complex situations as well as day-to-day client operational needs.

Kreg spent over 30 years with what was once the Baltimore-based Alex. Brown & Sons, Inc. – the nation’s first investment bank originally founded in 1800. Through acquisition and take over, the company eventually evolved into a local retail brokerage branch of Alex. Brown, a division of Raymond James. For the last 11 years, Kreg was on a large wealth management team servicing high-net worth retail clients as well as large institutional clients.

Holding series 63, 66, 7, 9 & 10 FINRA licenses, Kreg has experience in operations, corporate client services (including brokerage clearing and stock plan services), branch supervision and client facing wealth management.

Kreg is a graduate of Towson University with a degree in Sports Management. A lifelong resident of the Baltimore region – GO Ravens, Orioles, Terps!!...and Tigers – Kreg currently lives in Harford County with his wife and 2 college age “children”. On the weekends and after hours, you can find Kreg playing golf, watching his daughter’s college lacrosse games, completing projects around the house, gathering with friends and traveling whenever possible.

In her role as a Senior Client Service Associate, Emily Benton strives to deliver superior client service, as well as assisting The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group Financial Advisors with daily operations. Her primary responsibility on the team is to welcome new clients and help facilitate their account opening and transfer needs.

Emily began her career working for an independent wealth management firm based out of Annapolis, MD and brings over ten years of experience to The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group.

Emily holds a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. She currently resides in Baltimore, MD and is working to renovate her 130 year-old row home, one room at a time.

In his role as a Client Service Associate, Christian Schwartz helps our clients with their day-to-day financials needs, as well as assisting the Mount Clare Wealth Management Financial Advisors with administrative and transactional functions.

Christian graduated from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in the spring of 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in finance with a co-major in business analytics. He was a member of the Indiana Football Recruiting staff from 2021 to 2023 and is an advocate for Juvenile Diabetes Research. As a new resident to Baltimore, Maryland, Christian enjoys attending Orioles games at Camden Yards and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.

Christian is Series 7 and Series 66 Licensed.

In her role as Registered Client Service Associate, Kate strives to provide exceptional client service and advisor support. She is instrumental in preparing for client meetings with the financial advisors and engages with clients on various items on a daily basis.

In 2020, Kate graduated cum laude from The Catholic University of America with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She went on to earn her Master of Science in Business degree from CUA’s Busch School of Business in 2021. Prior to joining The Mount Clare Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, Kate had three years of industry experience. She currently holds her Series 7, 66, and Maryland Health and Life Insurance licenses.

Kate is native to Baltimore County and currently lives in Lutherville with her two German shepherd dogs, Loki and Gunnar. In her free time Kate enjoys metal detecting with the Maryland Free-State Treasure Club and hiking on local trails.

Sarah Ferguson began her career at Morgan Stanley in 2015 and joined the Mount Clare Wealth Management Group in 2025. Her background includes working closely with individual investors, plan administrators, and trustees to help ensure a high level of service. In her role as Wealth Management Associate, Sarah focuses on business development and strives to ensure the continued growth of the team. She holds the Series 7 and Series 66 licenses.

Sarah and her husband Matt live in Reisterstown with their son Miller, their daughter Isla, and cat Yzma. In her free time, she enjoys cooking for friends and family.