Gary Handler,
AIF®, C(k)P®, MBA
Managing DirectorSenior Vice President, Investments
Senior Institutional Consultant
Gary Handler is the founder of the Handler Investment Consulting Group and co-founder of the DH Consulting Group. His specialized knowledge in this specific financial arena is duly impressive, and he has a distinctive background as a retirement plan consultant.
For more than 30 years, he has worked with plan sponsors across the country to ensure that their plans are running properly, are cost-efficient and are designed to enable their plan participants to make progress toward their retirement goals and aspirations.
As a member of the Raymond James Retirement Plan & Institutional Advisory Council2, Gary provides specialized experience and support for retirement plan sponsors, foundations, endowments and nonprofit institutions and assists with their challenges in managing obligations as plan fiduciaries.
Gary holds several credentials that help him serve the specific and complex needs of his clients. In 2004, he earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® professional designation from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate Center for Fiduciary Studies. In 2005, Gary earned the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation from the PLANSPONSOR Institute. In 2011, he earned the Certified 401(k) Professional® designation from The Retirement Advisor University at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Education.
Gary began his career in 1989 at Smith Barney. In 1991, he joined Oppenheimer & Company and specialized in retirement programs for major corporations around the country while also managing fixed income and equity portfolios for individual investors. In 2003, he joined RBC Dain Rauscher and formed the Handler Investment Consulting Team to facilitate the needs of corporate plan fiduciaries that have a direct responsibility for their company’s retirement programs. In 2007, Gary and his team joined UBS Financial Services in Encino, California. In 2014, he joined Raymond James. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA in entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California.
Gary is a Los Angeles native and today he and his wife, Cathleen, divide their time between Los Angeles and Chicago. They have three children, Alyson, Russell and Samantha, and two grandchildren, Olivia and Emma. When not busy serving his clients, Gary enjoys watching sports.
Insurance License Number: 0A63278
1Financial Times 401 Top Retirement Advisors, October 2020. The Financial Times 401 Top Retirement Advisors is an independent listing produced annually by the Financial Times (October 2020). The Financial Times FT 401 Top Retirement Advisers award had 401 of the 855 advisor applicants being recognized as a Top Retirement Adviser. The FT asked large U.S. brokerages, independent advisors, and other wealth managers to identify qualified Direct Contribution (DC) plan advisor applicants. They partnered in research with Broadridge Financial Solutions who provided unique data from their proprietary database to help identify qualifying candidates. Financial advisors were required to manage $75 million or more in DC plan assets and have DC assets account for at least 20% of their total AUM. Qualifying advisors filled out an online application and questionnaire that gave the FT more information about their practices. The FT 401 is based on data gathered from advisors, regulatory disclosures, and the FT’s research. The listing reflects each advisor’s status in six primary areas: DC plan assets under management (AUM), DC AUM growth rate, specialization in DC plans, years of experience, advanced industry credentials and compliance record. Roughly 80 to 85 percent of the final score is based on DC plan AUM and growth in the DC plan business (measured by plan numbers and plan assets). Additionally, to provide a diversity of advisors, the FT places a cap on the number of advisors from any one state that’s roughly correlated to the distribution of millionaires across the U.S. This honor is not indicative of the advisor’s future performance. Neither the advisors nor their parent firms pay a fee to the Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 401. Neither Raymond James nor any of its financial advisors or RIA firms pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. Raymond James is not affiliated with the Financial Times.
2Raymond James’ Retirement Plan & Institutional Advisory Council membership is based on assets under management, number of qualified group retirement plans, designations obtained, and compliance record. Membership is not an endorsement, is not representative of any one client’s experience and is not indicative of future performance. No fee is paid in exchange for this membership. Requalification is not required.