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’s coal mining region, she learned early on the importance of family, integrity and hard work.

When it was time to attend college, Rita stayed close to her roots, attending Shippensburg State University. After graduating with a B.S. in Finance in 1989, 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. In 1994, she joined Merrill Lynch’s Poughkeepsie office with a strong interest in aiding clients plan for their retirement, financial analysis and intergenerational wealth transfer.

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

In 2007, she earned the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor^® designation. The disciplined training for the designation concentrates on synthesizing complex principles and applying them to real-life situations, such as pre-and post-retirement needs, asset management, estate planning strategies and comprehensive retirement planning.

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 now provides select clients and their families with comprehensive care and a full spectrum of solutions. Since 2014, Rita and Jim have sponsored the Hudson Valley Magazine “Accomplished Women in Business” Award, which annually highlights the most enterprising and successful businesswomen in the Hudson Valley.

In her spare time, Rita is a strong advocate of women and children’s causes. She firmly believes in giving back to the local 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 educates 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 collaborated 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.

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, review 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, fellow members of the Executive Women’s Golf Association, and her clients. As a testament to the type of bonds she forges with her clients, they often invite her to college graduation fêtes, retirement celebrations and weddings. The values Rita learned in her home town have clearly served her clients well.

Randy Gerardes 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.
Randy focuses on the energy, transportation, and specialty infrastructure financings including airports, toll roads and sports stadiums. He was named a municipal all-star by Smith’s Research and Gradings each year since 2014. Randy is also frequently quoted in the media and received the Bloomberg New Voices award in 2020.
He is a member Council of Urban Professionals and is also a member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, National Black MBA Association, 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.

Drawing on 3 years of financial services industry experience, Thomas Stritt currently serves as a Client Service Associate for the Walker/Gaffney Group at Morgan Stanley. In his current role, Thomas supports the team’s clients and advisors in the development of highly customized financial plans, investment diligence, and assisting with administrative and operational functions. Thomas brings a sense or urgency, energy, and efficiency in all aspects of his work with a focus on high-touch client service.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Thomas served as a Financial Services Representative at Hudson Valley Credit Union where he gained experience in account opening and maintenance, lending solutions, and insurance. He was the “go-to guy” for many of the firm’s premier clients, providing recommendations on a variety of life events and personal needs.

Thomas graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a full double major in Math and Secondary Education and obtained his Series 7 and 66 securities licenses in 2022. In his free time, Thomas enjoys reading, running, and fishing in the Hudson Valley community.

Jessica attended SUNY New Paltz where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in communications in 2019 with a concentration in public relations, and her MBA as well in 2024. Previously Jessica worked for Bank of America for just under 5 years helping clients with their financial needs and account opening. In her spare time Jessica goes horseback riding 5 days a week with her horse Danny and competes several times throughout the year in hunter / jumper events. Jessica was on the SUNY New Paltz Equestrian team during her time at New Paltz. She lives in Montgomery, NY and in her spare time she likes to volunteer at a rehabilitation horse farm in the area, she has two dogs, Bailey, age 9, and Kate, age 13.