The Walker/Gaffney Group at Morgan Stanley

James has always believed in trust, fairness and creating opportunities for success. Growing up, he worked diligently to help turn his family’s awning company into what would eventually become a million-dollar business. Attracted to financial services because of its emphasis on being a trusted advisor, he chose Business as a major during his freshman year in college. He started his career in Goldman Sachs’ fixed income division in 1982.

The metaphor of an awning providing protection was not lost on James. The following year, he joined Merrill Lynch. Over the course of his 26-year career with Merrill Lynch, he held a variety of mid- and senior-level positions – including helping to structure the firm’s first loan to a Chinese company. In his role as a financial advisor, he focused on helping his clients preserve their hard-earned income and better manage the debt on their balance sheets. In 2000, James was promoted to Sales Manager for the Poughkeepsie Complex, with oversight responsibility for more than 300 financial advisors. Today, James is a Global Sports & Entertainment Director, Senior Portfolio Management Director, Senior Investment Management Consultant, and an NFLPA Registered Institutional Financial Advisor.

An ardent believer in continual learning, James has shared his knowledge by mentoring Merrill Lynch trainees and providing TED-like talks on motivation and best practices (e.g., in disciplines such as portfolio management, business development and investment management). From 2000-2010, he conducted guest lectures to upperclassmen in the University of Notre Dame’s School of Engineering. In 2008, James was honored with the Merrill Lynch Diversity Award for outstanding stewardship in the community and financial industry.

In 2000, James combined forces with Rita Gaffney, who was also a highly experienced and credentialed Merrill Lynch financial advisor. Seeking a firm with world-class resources and a commitment to recognizing the changing face of affluence, they joined Morgan Stanley in 2009. The Walker/Gaffney Group now provides comprehensive care to a select client base. Their clients benefit from the Firm’s global resources, extensive capabilities ̶ and equally important ̶ its vision of how diversity and inclusion can benefit everyone.

Through his work on Morgan Stanley’s National Diversity Council, James helps create and execute initiatives that are virtuous circles: opportunities for clients, Financial Advisors and the Firm to succeed. James has been honored with awards for his work on the Council, and holds numerous industry licenses. In recognition of his financial experience, he has received the Firm’s Portfolio Management Director and Senior Investment Management Counselor designations. He is a guest speaker for the Firm’s National Financial Advisor Training Program. In 2018, James was promoted to Resident Manager of the Firm’s office in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Over the last three decades, James has received many accolades for community involvement. He is a strong believer in volunteering with impactful organizations such as the United Way of Dutchess County, Vassar Brothers Medical Center board of trustees, Catherine Street Community Center, the Poughkeepsie Journal, the City of Poughkeepsie Schools Youth Outreach, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center, and Project Thunder, which provides disadvantaged youth with support systems and life skills that foster academic excellence.

When not volunteering or working to safeguard his clients’ financial futures, he enjoys spending time with his wife Christina and their adult children. James is a wine connoisseur with an extensive collection of vintages, and a member of the Society of Fellows for the Culinary Institute of America. An auto enthusiast and classic car collector as well, James has always appreciated the safety afforded by smart design and precision engineering, much like a well-built awning, or a well-constructed financial plan.

For Rita, family has always been most important. Growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, she learned early on the importance of family, integrity, and hard work. When it was time to attend college, she stayed close to her roots, attending Shippensburg State University. After graduating with a B.S. in Finance, she began her Wall Street career with Merrill Lynch. It wasn’t long before she realized that she wanted to have a more direct impact in aiding the firm’s clients. She joined Merrill Lynch’s Poughkeepsie office as a financial advisor, with a strong interest in advising clients with financial analysis, retirement planning and intergenerational wealth transfer.

In 2000, while still at Merrill Lynch, Rita combined forces with an equally accomplished financial advisor: James Walker, Jr. The team joined Morgan Stanley in 2009. The Walker/Gaffney Group at Morgan Stanley now provides select clients and their families with comprehensive care and a full spectrum of solutions. The team was awarded The Forbes Best in State Wealth Management Team for the 2025 year. More than 30% of their clients are women, such as dynamic matriarchs, c-suite executives, and licensed professionals as of January 2026.

Her Designations as a Morgan Stanley Senior Investment Management Consultant, Senior Portfolio Management Director and Family Wealth Advisor, leverage her depth of knowledge in providing families with risk management strategies, asset allocation guidance, and cash flow and liability management solutions.

Rita was Named to Forbes Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State 2022-2025, she is also a Five-Star Wealth Manager Award Winner in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, & 2020-2025.

In her spare time, Rita is a strong advocate of women and children’s causes. Since 2014, Rita has been involved with the Hudson Valley Magazine “Accomplished Women in Business” Award, which annually highlights the most enterprising and successful businesswomen in the Hudson Valley. She was awarded with this distinction in 2016 for charitable work. She firmly believes in giving back to her community and supports the Grace Smith House (a non-profit domestic violence agency serving residents of Dutchess County) and the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie (a venerable non-profit institution dedicated to providing a safe and nurturing environment to improve the lives of at-risk children and families). Rita has educated women’s groups on personal finance through her involvement in the local Women’s Enterprise Development Center, which empowers women entrepreneurs to build successful small businesses. She has partnered with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association to promote financial education and capital markets literacy in classrooms. Her classroom activities extend to the University of Notre Dame’s School of Engineering, where she has guest lectured on investment basics and financial planning to her local church acting as a substitute teacher for religious education to first and second graders.

Fittingly, Rita recently received the Morgan Stanley designation of Family Wealth Advisor, in recognition of her skill in helping families to set priorities, hold meaningful conversations about wealth, protect the family enterprise, practice impactful philanthropy, establish estate plans, and educate the next generation of family members about the tenets and responsibilities of affluence.

Rita maintains residences in Dutchess County, New York, and Naples, Florida. During her free time, she enjoys reading and golfing with family, friends, and her clients.

As a testament to the type of bonds she forges with her clients, they often invite her to college graduations, retirement celebrations and weddings. The values Rita learned in her hometown are the ones that continue to endear her to clients today: integrity, hard work, and the importance of family.

Forbes America's Top Women Wealth Advisors & Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State Source: Forbes.com (February 2025) 2024 and 2023 Forbes America's Top Women Wealth Advisors & Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State rankings awarded in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This ranking was determined based on an evaluation process conducted by SHOOK Research LLC (the research company) in partnership with Forbes (the publisher) based on 12-month time period concluding in Sept of year prior to the issuance of the award. Neither Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC nor its Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors paid a fee to SHOOK Research LLC to obtain or use the ranking. This ranking is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations, and quantitative criteria, including assets undermanagement and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research LLC and thinking may not be representative of any one client’s experience. This ranking not indicative of the Financial Advisor’s future performance. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC is not affiliated with SHOOK Research LLC or Forbes. For more information, see www.SHOOKresearch.com. ©2025MorganStanleySmith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

Five Star Wealth Manager Award

This award was issued in [2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, & 2020-2025] based on an evaluation process as described below. This evaluation was based on the time periods indicated below and was conducted by Five Star Professional (FSP) that considered, among other factors, the following:

Favorable regulatory and complaint history review. As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not: 1.) Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; 2.) Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed, or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process.

• Personal bankruptcy filing within the past 11 years.
• Termination from a financial services firm within the past 11 years.
• Conviction of a felony.
• One-year client retention rate.
• Five-year client retention rate.

2012 - 09/09/2011 through 03/16/2012
2014 - 09/09/2013 through 03/16/2014
2016 - 09/09/2015 through 03/16/2016
2017 - 08/24/2016 through 02/28/2017
2020 - 08/01/2019 through 03/13/2020
2021 - 08/03/2020 through 02/26/2021
2022 - 08/16/2021 through 02/11/2022
2023 - 08/29/2022 through 03/03/2023
2024 - 08/29/2023 through 02/29/2024
2025 - 08/29/2024 through 02/29/2025

Five Star Professional, as a third-party research firm, identified pre-qualified award candidates based on industry data and contacted all identified broker dealers, Registered Investment Advisor firms and FINRA-registered representatives to gather wealth manager nominations. Self-nominations are not accepted. Wealth managers and/or their firms do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers.

Randy Gerardes joins The Walker Gaffney Group at Morgan Stanley with over 20 years of investment experience. Randy was a Managing Director and Head of Business Origination - Public Finance at Assured Guaranty. Prior to joining Assured, Randy was Head of Municipal Strategy at Wells Fargo Securities where managed a team of analysts responsible for publishing market commentary and investment recommendations to the firm’s institutional investor clients. In addition to “sell side” experience Randy was also a Senior Research Analyst at AIG Asset Management where he provided research and trade recommendations for a $40 billion portfolio.

He focuses on the energy, transportation, and specialty infrastructure financings including airports, toll roads and sports stadiums.

He is a Board of Governor of The Municipal Forum of New York and is a member of the Advisory Council for Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, and the National Inroads Alumni Association. Randy has an MBA in finance from Fordham Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in business economics from Syracuse University.

Jessica brings a strong background in finance and client service to the Walker/Gaffney Group. She earned both her Bachelor of the Arts degree in Communications and her Master of Business Administration from SUNY New Paltz, equipping her with the experience to help clients navigate their financial journeys with confidence.

Jessica spent several years working for Bank of America, where she worked closely with clients to manage their life priorities and conduct new account openings. Her commitment to building lasting relationships and delivering personalized financial solutions makes her a valued member of our team.

Outside of work, Jessica enjoys spending time outdoors. You can often find her riding her horse, Danny, or going to the park with her two dogs, Bailey and Kate.