Experience

Barry Haffner has been a Financial Advisor for over 35 years and leads a team with more than a half-century of collective financial services experience. But those aren't the numbers by which Barry measures his success. Instead, he counts the number of client weddings he’s attended; the number of photographs he has, sharing in clients’ joy over a new vacation house or a college graduation; the number of clients who’ve placed their trust in his team for decades.

That’s not to say that numbers driven by experience and insights aren't important to Barry and to the comprehensive financial advice his team provides, but that the friends, families and memories behind those numbers matter far more. Thus, it’s no surprise that his wife, Dani, and children, Alex and Ilyssa, are top priorities for Barry—along with the relentless drive to be successful for them.

In the nearly four decades since Barry graduated from the University of Maryland and was hired by Paine Webber, UBS's predecessor firm, Barry has, indeed, succeeded. He works alongside a great team, which includes his son. And he recently celebrated more than 30 years of marriage by taking a tour of Europe and buying a vacation home overlooking Casco Bay in Maine.

Like many people, Alex Haffner spent his youth surrounded by family. And though he fondly recounts cheering alongside his dad at game seven of the 2009 Stanley Cup, his first memories are of his grandparents managing the family's Coca-Cola bottling plant. Later, Alex recalls spending hours with his father, discussing the workings of the stock market and closely following its ups and downs. These experiences not only instilled in him an entrepreneurial spirit, but also taught him the importance of hard work and the value of family traditions.

But tradition is not solely what drives Alex’s love of finance and the markets. While many his age would have filled their childhood portfolios with Disney, or MTV or the like, Alex explored newly-minted cloud computing and biotech companies. Perhaps it is this dichotomy—appreciating tradition while welcoming progress—that makes him particularly well-suited to provide financial guidance to the rising generations of wealthy families.

After earning a degree in finance from the University of Pittsburgh and acquiring an arguably unhealthy obsession with the Steelers and the Penguins, Alex landed in Washington, DC—just a few miles away from his family home in Potomac, Maryland. In his spare time, Alex enjoys working out and exploring new bourbon and beer spots throughout the city.