About CFG

CFG Administrative Staff

Gaetan Scalzo, CFP and Nick Scalzo, CLU, ChFC are President and CEO of CFG, Inc. respectively. They have 25 years of cumulative experience as independent financial consultants. Their firm, Claremont Financial Group, Inc., manages over $225,000,000 in assets for hundreds of clients.

Gaetan holds the series 6, 7, 63, 65 and life and health insurance licenses, while Nick holds 7, 24, 63, 65 and life and health insurance licenses.

Their client list includes CEOs of publicly traded companies, doctors, lawyers, educators, and former financial services professionals, to list a few.

J. Michael Fay, PhD, CFP has been involved in the financial services industry since 1982. He was President and founder of Claremont Financial Group, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory that specialized in pre-retirement financial planning and investment management. He personally managed assets using Modern Portfolio Theory prior to transitioning his practice to institutional asset managers. He now serves as Chairman of the Board and Consultant to current management.

Mr. Fay has served on numerous public and private boards of directors, including Associated Services Corp. where he was Chair of the Audit Committee, elected three terms to the Claremont Unified School District Board of Education, and currently serves on several not-for-profit boards. He is also founder and President of the Institute for Training Leaders Foundation, Inc.

W. Dennis Renter, CFP has been involved in the financial services and investment advisory business for more than 35 years. His focus has been on retirement and investment planning, pension and estate planning, and portfolio management. His clientele consists of high-net-worth individuals who prefer a personal relationship with their advisor. Mr. Renter has conducted numerous retirement planning seminars for executives at companies such as: Lockheed Martin, Hughes, Raytheon, Loral Aerospace, UNYSIS, and Steelcase.

In addition to being a contributing author to Love, Money, and Control and Strictly Business, he has authored numerous articles on charitable trusts, retirement planning and institutional asset management. He is a member of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners and the Financial Planning Association.

CFG Administrative Staff

Matt Turnbull has been a Para-Planner for Claremont Financial Group since February of 2006. Securities licensed (series 6) (series 63) and California Insurance Licensed in 1998. He is responsible for preparing client proposals, data research, servicing client accounts and overall operations for the Costa Mesa branch. Matt was a Registered Representative for Centaurus Financial and later Royal Alliance before coming to Claremont Financial Group.

Laura Lyon has been the Operations Manager and Client Service Specialist for Claremont Financial Group since January of 2004 and is a Registered General Securities Representative (Series 7) and an Investment Advisor Representative (Series 66). She is responsible for servicing all client accounts and managing overall Operations for the Claremont branch. Before moving to California from the Mid-West Laura was a Registered Representative with Charles Schwab and specialized in trading and servicing "Active Trader" accounts. She contributes over 7 years of financial experience and client servicing to Claremont Financial Group.

Bruce Davidson is an operations specialist in the Costa Mesa branch of CFG, Inc. He began in the industry in 1998 as a client services specialist for Royal Alliance, one of the largest independent financial services firms in the industry. Bruce is responsible for transaction processing, income distribution, and insurance underwriting. Those of you who have met Bruce know he is an extremely valuable member of the CFG team who is exceptional at client care. He is married to his wife Suzan of 25 years and lives happily with his four children in Irvine, California.

Do you ever wonder who that friendly voice is that answers the phone at our Claremont office? Well, it's Valeen Gonzales and she is always happy to answer your questions and direct your calls. She is the Receptionist/Administrative Assistant and newest member of the Claremont office. Valeen Gonzales was born and raised in Alhambra, California. After graduating from Ramona Convent Secondary School, she attended Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Most recently she worked in Post Production at G4TV in Los Angeles, California. She brings 5 years of customer service experience from both T.G.I. Fridays in Miami, Florida and Ontario, California and Allstate Insurance in Upland, California where she was a licensed sales and service representative and earned the Certified Professional Representative designation.