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Joseph H. Miller III (Joel), CLU, ChFC
Managing Partner & Financial Advisor
We are a group of leading financial professionals who provide tailored recommendations for our clients’ unique intentions. Our team-based approach allows us to bring in knowledgeable professionals to meet our clients’ needs while ensuring a consistent and ongoing relationship.
We are dedicated to educating and informing the families and individuals we work with – whether they are utilizing our concierge wealth management services or are participating in an employer retirement plan with us.
Our commitment to constant learning and development is evidenced by the numerous credentials our financial advisors hold, including CFP, CFA, CDFA, ChFC and CLU. In addition to our team of financial advisors, we have a strong support staff across 3 offices to help attend to our clients’ complex situations.
Managing Partner & Financial Advisor
Partner & Financial Advisor
Partner & Financial Advisor
Partner & Financial Advisor
Managing Partner & Financial Advisor
Joseph (Joel) H. Miller III co-founded New Canaan Group, LLC in 1990 and is the Managing Partner of the firm. He represents the second generation of leadership for New Canaan Group and has been instrumental in leading the team to where it is today.
Joel holds the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) professional designations. With that he brings 30 years of experience in the wealth management business, taking care of his clients and their businesses overall planning and protection needs.
Joel has served on the board of several local charitable organizations and is currently on the Board of Directors for The Inner-City Foundation for Charity & Education.
Joel and his wife, Judy, live in New Canaan, CT and are the proud parents of Jake, Cassie, Elizabeth and Zachary.
Partner & Financial Advisor
Frank DeFrancesco is a Partner and Financial Advisor at New Canaan Group. He has over 20 years of financial experience. With a focus on retirement benefits and financial literacy, his experience is in helping his clients prepare for their financial future. This is done through customized financial plans using investment & risk management, wealth preservation, and wealth distribution strategies.
Educational Approach: His passion is helping people by taking an educational approach to financial planning. This is evident whether he is meeting one-on-one with an individual or presenting to large group audiences. He has been invited by many school districts and organizations throughout the state to present educational and financial literacy workshops specifically designed to help Connecticut educators understand some of the most critical details on their pension and personal assets. It’s one of his favorite things to do and he is actively working to expand the availability of these workshops.
Investment Focus: Frank focuses on helping educators translate their lifetime of income into a legacy for themselves and their family. “As my client’s needs have matured, so has my business” says Frank “From their first year of teaching to their retirement, I pride myself on experienced guidance in retirement funding and accumulation strategies during the greatest earning phase of their career.” Frank’s knowledge and access to numerous financial products, as well as various investments and insurance companies, allows him to provide unbiased guidance and appropriate investment vehicles to help meet his client’s changing needs for themselves and their family.
Customer Service Excellence: Frank is committed to his clients. He is accessible via on-site school visits, virtual or in-person office meetings, as well as offering in-home consultations upon request. He has an experienced support team that is dedicated to providing first class service to his clients.
Honors: Over the years he has earned numerous company and industry awards and was inducted into the Equitable Advisors Hall of Fame in 2013. In addition, he is a member of the Elite Advisor Group (EAG) which is an internal recognition program of Equitable Advisors and is recognized as a Paramount Planning Group member based on achieving a certain sales production level among all financial professionals within our organization
His Beginnings: Frank began his career in 2000 as a Financial Professional with the Retirement Benefits Group, a specialized division of Equitable Advisors, LLC. In 2005, he was promoted to Divisional Vice President of the Northeast Region where he oversaw the building and development of a team of financial professionals that now works with over 25,000 active and retired educators in Connecticut.
Personal: Frank has a B.S. and MBA in Finance from Quinnipiac University and holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, 66 registrations and CT Life and Health licenses. He resides in Fairfield, CT with his wife Deborah, and 2 children. He is a member of the Stamford Exchange Club and offers scholarship funds in many public schools to further educational benefits to their students.
Partner & Financial Advisor
Bennett Pardue is a Partner and Financial Advisor at New Canaan Group. For the last 16 years, he has committed himself to helping his clients work toward the financial goals they set for themselves, their families and their businesses. Bennett is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA®) practitioner and enjoys working with clients through the transitional periods of their lives by counseling them in all areas of financial planning and wealth management.
He began his career with the Retirement Benefits Group, a specialized division of Equitable Advisors, LLC in 2007. This is when he first started working with individuals in public schools, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations to help them make informed financial decisions, particularly regarding retirement planning. In 2013, he was promoted to Divisional Vice President of the Northeast Region where he oversaw the building of a team administered the retirement plans for 25,000 active and retired educators in Connecticut. He has since expanded his focus and the individuals he serves while continuing to be a valued resource in those sectors.
Bennett has a B.S. in Finance from Quinnipiac University and holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 66 registrations and CT Life and Health licenses. Bennett lives in Easton, CT with his wife Arianne and their three sons – Maverick, Leo and Tucker.
Partner & Financial Advisor
Joseph Scappatura is a Partner at New Canaan Group. Since starting as a Financial Consultant in 2011, he has been consistently recognized as a nationwide leader within the Retirement Benefits Group, a specialized division of Equitable Advisors, LLC.
Joe is passionate about providing a personalized approach to each individual or business he sits down with. His commitment to understanding their unique situation so that he can provide a tailored and holistic approach is what his clients value most about him. Joe strives to provide sound investment strategies designed to be obtainable while providing clients with a clear path to monitor their progress. Over his career, he has helped hundreds of families prepare for their financial future and is enthusiastic about impacting as many lives as possible.
Joe is a proud graduate of Quinnipiac University, where he majored in Finance. He holds the FINRA Series 7, 63, 65 registrations and CT Life & Health insurance licenses. Additionally Joe obtained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional designation, illustrating his commitment to his clients and their financial well-being.
Joe enjoys playing golf, traveling, skiing, and spending quality time with family and friends. He lives in Trumbull, CT with his wife Erin, son Hudson, and their dog Risotto.
CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM are certification marks owned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. These marks are awarded to individuals who successfully complete the CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.
Director of Portfolio Strategy
Director of Operations
Director of Portfolio Strategy
Bradley Thompson is the Director of Portfolio Strategy for New Canaan Group. In this role Bradley develops and implements investment portfolios to meet a variety of client needs. He has been managing wealth for individual, institutional, high and ultra-high net-worth clients for over 14 years.
Philosophy
Bradley believes that a well-constructed, high-conviction portfolio should be focused on rewarded factors and aligned closely with client goals and beliefs. This can lead to success over sufficiently long time horizons.
Client Focus: A better more lasting portfolio can be built by truly understanding what drives each investor. This emphasis on client understanding through increased engagement helps reduce the risk of decision reversal (selling at the worst possible time). Also, by tailoring portfolios to reflect their beliefs, clients gain confidence from knowing their assets reflect their world view.
Rewarded Factors: History has shown that certain factors typically drive higher expected returns over multiple market cycles. Investing with exposure to these factors could potentially increase returns and decrease risk over time.
High Conviction: Over-diversification by holding too many managers or too many positions can decrease portfolio returns and create expensive index investments. A properly constructed portfolio should be designed to have fewer, higher conviction holdings with proper diversification and minimization of investment overlap.
Experience
Prior to joining New Canaan Group Bradley was a Senior Investment Strategist for Wells Fargo Private Bank in New York City where he managed wealth for high net-worth individuals and non-profit foundations over the last 8 years. Bradley was responsible for crafting client Investment Policy Statements, portfolio development, and reporting. He also frequently provided timely market ideas and commentary to a wide range of audiences. He began his career as part of a Barron’s Top 1,000 financial advisor team based out of Jackson, MS that offered investment management and planning services to affluent and high net-worth individuals.
Credentials
Bradley earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation, which is awarded after completing 3 rigorous exams and covers topics from company analysis to financial planning and portfolio implementation. He has a depth of experience across all asset classes including traditional equity markets, fixed income, and alternative investments. Bradley holds the Series 7 and 66 registrations as well as New York and Connecticut insurance licenses.
Personal
Bradley received an undergraduate degree and MBA from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS. He resides in Stamford, CT with his wife Lauren, their son Wesley, and dog Romeo. He is a member of the CFA Society of New York and enjoys volunteering at Year Up which teaches financial literacy and professional skills to young adults transitioning into the workforce
Director of Operations
Kristen Burke is the Director of Operations for New Canaan Group and is directly responsible for ensuring all areas of the business run efficiently. She manages the day-to-day operations while building and implementing strategies that will help the team continue to grow and serve clients effectively.
Kristen is passionate about helping people. She believes in building relationships, earning trust, and making the group a valuable resource not only to their clients, but their families and friends as well.
She began her career in 2014 as a Financial Consultant with her current broker-dealer, now Equitable Advisors. While she thoroughly enjoyed this time in her life, she realized this opportunity with New Canaan Group would allow her to work with a great team and impact even more lives.
Kristen has a BSBA from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island and an MBA from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. She currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 66 registrations, and CT Life & Health licenses. She lives in Norwalk, CT.
Kristen Burke is registered with Equitable Advisors, LLC (NY, NY (212) 314-4600), Member FINRA, SIPC, and provides administrative support services only.
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
Michelle started her practice in 2004. She engages in active listening with her clients as she believes a financial plan is an evolving document and key to understanding a household’s changing wants and needs. This often means working with other strategic advisors and bringing a team approach to planning.
This philosophy drives her vision, that the value of a wealth manager is putting together a strategy, implementing and reviewing that strategy regularly and being mindful of where there is flexibility. This strategy allows the client to take the scenic route and seek out opportunities that come along, knowing that their advisory team is on standby, like a GPS, to help recalculate the route.
Michelle believes that collaborating with your professional advisory team of attorneys, accountants, bankers and partners can create a more meaningful plan that includes consideration of your investment, insurance, tax and estate goals.
She frequently consults on the Connecticut Teachers Pension, its impact on Social Security and spousal considerations. Michelle offers professional continuing education (CE) credits, employee benefits workshops, small business planning, and consulting with employers or brokers on the latest benefit concerns and solutions.
As an ex-pat herself, she enjoys the complexity of working with families and their professional team of accountants and attorneys with international estate tax planning challenges. When addressing this and other unique planning scenarios, such as small business continuation or planning for a disabled family member, she believes it is important to pull in the appropriate resources and specialists.
Michelle currently splits her time living in Cross River, NY with her husband Denis and daughters AND in Denmark with her family, where she values travel and teaching her daughters about the cultures of the world. When home, she likes being on the hiking trails with her dog, biking and playing tennis, kitchen experimentation and enjoying New York City.
Retirement Planning Specialist title awarded by Equitable Advisors, based upon receipt of a Certificate in Retirement Planning from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Financial Advisor
Emmanuel (Manny) Kouzelis has spent the past 10 years curating a background in financial strategies and management support. He began his career as a Financial Advisor with the Retirement Benefits Group, a specialized division of Equitable Advisors, LLC.
Manny is dedicated to helping school districts, municipalities and businesses simplify complex information to make informed decisions for the future. He is passionate about helping his clients develop a plan tailored to their needs. He does this by assisting with a wide range of services including retirement, investment and insurance planning, as well as group benefit plans.
He is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance. He holds the FINRA Series 7, 66 securities registrations and a CT Life, Health and Disability income insurance licenses. He is a Certified Retirement Education Specialist (CRES), a designation offered by the National Tax-Deferred Savings Association (NTSA).
Manny resides with his wife and daughter in Meriden, CT. They are committed to serving their community and are actively involved with the Greek Orthodox Church in New Britain. In his leisure time he enjoys working out, traveling with his family and loves getting to be a life coach to his daughter.
Financial Advisor
Vince McClean was brought into New Canaan Group, LLC having begun his career as a Financial Consultant in 2012.
Vince’s broad knowledge base has allowed him to assist his clients focusing on a variety of areas including individual wealth accumulation and risk management as well as employer sponsored markets.
Vince is very active with local charitable organizations and currently serves as President of the Stamford Exchange Club, President of the Board of Stamford Exchange Club Parenting Skills Center and is District President Elect for the Connecticut Region of the National Exchange Club. In addition he volunteers for the Bridgeport Public Schools Read Out Loud program.
Vince and his wife Carol Ann live in Stamford, CT with their sons Brandon and Devan.
Financial Advisor
Todd Murphy has over a decade of personal financial advising experience. Todd is a serial entrepreneur, having started his first business at age 12. He grew up on a 5th generation Connecticut farm. His business and farming background provided him with real world, diverse experiences that inform his advising approach.
Todd is education focused, empowering clients to understand their options and the impact of their choices. This education focus is part of who he is, from earning a Masters in Education as a college student, to working as a course facilitator at the Yale School of Management, education is Todd’s approach to life.
Todd focuses on helping professionals, medical, legal and education professionals translate their lifetime of income into a legacy for themselves and their family. Todd’s knowledge and access to numerous financial products, as well as various investments and insurance companies, allows him to provide unbiased guidance and appropriate investment advice to help meet his client’s changing needs for themselves and their family.
Personal: Todd holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, 66 registrations and CT Life and Health licenses, as well as licenses in California, New York, Rhode Island and numerous other states. He lives and teaches in New Haven, CT.
Client Success Specialist
Client Success Specialist
Client Success Specialist
Implementation Specialist
Communications Specialist
ImplementationAssistant
Communication & Implementation Assistant
Co-Founder (1938-2011)
Client Success Specialist
Ellen has been a passionately dedicated member of the company since 1997, striving to provide clients and the team with premier service and support. When Frank and Bennett stepped out of management and joined New Canaan Group, she was right alongside them and instrumental to the success of that transition.
Ellen brings years of experienced customer service to her role as Client Success Specialist and is responsible for: taking care of our clients, processing service requests in a timely and professional manner, as well as maintaining client databases and files.
She is the right-hand to Frank DeFrancesco.
Ellen Brockett provides administrative support services only.
Client Success Specialist
Heather started with the company in 2002 before joining New Canaan Group in 2008. She is responsible for client services, sales support and policy administration.
Heather graduated from the University of New Haven and resides in Norwalk, CT.
Heather Callahan provides administrative support services only.
Client Success Specialist
Brittney Bottino has been with New Canaan Group since 2021.
In her role as Client Success Specialist, Brittney is responsible for ensuring our client’s service needs are met in a timely manner as effortlessly as possible. She is dedicated to interacting with clients in a way that helps build our relationships and grow our understanding of their needs and the ways we can help. She is a true team player and is always willing to go above and beyond whenever needed.
Brittney is the right-hand to Joseph Scappatura and Bennett Pardue.
Brittney Bottino provides administrative support services only.
Implementation Specialist
Christopher Brockett has been a valuable part of the team since the beginning of 2019. He started part-time as an Administrative Assistant for Frank DeFrancesco while pursuing his MBA from the University of New Haven. Upon successful completion of the program, he started working full-time and was promoted to Implementation Specialist of New Canaan Group.
Chris is a hardworking, dedicated member of the team and is directly responsible for ensuring the Financial Advisors of the group have everything they need in preparation of a meeting, gathering and completing the paperwork involved in new business, and overseeing/tracking the entire new business process.
Chris lives in North Haven, CT and enjoys fishing, softball, and all kinds of food.
Communications Specialist
Julie Estep joined New Canaan Group as our Communication Specialist in 2022. Having a background in the journalism industry for the past five years, she is bringing a variety of writing, editing and content creating experience to the team.
Julie is primarily responsible for client communications and engagement programs. She helps the financial advisors in the firm coordinate client meetings and reviews on a regular basis. She plays an instrumental role in the preparing and implementing of our educational seminars.
Growing up in a family of teachers taught her the value of hard work and having pride in her career. She enjoys the opportunities to work directly helping teachers prepare for their future.
Though born and raised in North Carolina, Julie now resides in Norwalk, CT. She enjoys reading, hiking in Vermont and New Hampshire, playing golf and her new proximity to the Yankees and Giants games.
Julie Estep provides administrative support services only.
ImplementationAssistant
Madhu Bajaj joined New Canaan Group in 2019. She brings years of experience in customer service to this role and has a passion for helping people. Her enthusiasm for our mission and overall positivity is simply contagious.
We work with thousands of educators throughout the state and Madhu’s primary responsibility is to help ensure that their retirement savings are started or adjusted as quickly as possible once a request is submitted. She tracks this process until completion and ensures proper records and copies are maintained for our client files.
Madhu lives in Bridgeport, CT and most values time with her family. In particular, she enjoys getting to spend her days off with her two grandchildren.
Madhu Bajaj provides administrative support services only.
Communication & Implementation Assistant
Janis Rossman joined New Canaan Group in 2016 after retiring as a principal from the Stamford Board of Education. Having been a client herself before joining, she brings a unique understanding and appreciation of what we aim to be for our clients.
Her background in education and wide variety of skills has been a valuable asset to the team as her role has developed and changed over the years. Most recently, she primarily assists in scheduling client reviews and preparing the information needed for these review meetings.
Jan lives in Wallingford, CT.
Janis Rossman provides administrative support services only.
Co-Founder (1938-2011)
Joe started his professional career with Equitable in 1960. In the early 1990’s he retired from Equitable’s management force to focus on Insurance Planning and Wealth Management for families and business professionals through New Canaan Group which he started with his son, Joseph H. Miller III (Joel).
Joe was an avid golfer and loved spending time with his family. Joe is survived by his wife, Barbara, their 5 children and 19 grandchildren. Barbara resides in New Canaan, CT and Naples, Florida
If you are in need of professional wealth management services, we would be honored to assist in helping you and your family reach your goals. With deep investment, risk management and retirement planning experience, we can help you and your loved ones plan for the future, just as we have for thousands of clients.
1266 East Main Street, 6th Floor
Stamford, CT 06902
(P) 203-358-0779
3 Corporate Drive, Suite 212
Shelton, CT 06484
(P) 203-937-2444
304 Federal Road, Suite 303
Brookfield, CT 06804
(P) 203-616-5396
