Strategic Alliances

LaSalle Financial Group, LLC.
Englewood, Colorado
Raymond W. Shaffer is the President and founder of LaSalle Financial Group. For almost 30 years, Mr. Shaffer has advised senior corporate executives, family businesses and entrepreneurs on corporate and personal strategic planning, investment portfolio allocation and implementation, business and succession planning, business valuations, income and estate tax planning and maximization of corporate benefit and compensation packages.
Ray regularly conducts classes through Colorado State University's “Passport to Retirement” series, a public program that provides attendees a very in depth retirement/financial planning course that he has co-authored with CSU's William M. Sheets. Through the extension service at the university, students and companies are reached in all 64 counties here in Colorado.
Originally from Colorado, Ray graduated from Colorado State University with degrees in Journalism and Communications as well as studies in Business Finance and Administration. Before starting his career on Wall Street in the mid 1980's, Mr. Shaffer served as an assistant Public Relations Director for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association and as a sports director for various television and radio stations across the western United States. After a few years in New York City, he moved from Wall Street to LaSalle Street in Chicago as a top producer for Dean Witter Reynolds in their flagship office.
It was then that Ray founded his first independent advisory firm in 1991 to focus solely on his client's needs and objectives. Always keyed into the markets, Ray has created three successful financial planning and wealth managent firms over the past 25years.
The Shaffer family returned to Colorado in the mid 1990's where in addition to being an avid tennis player, Ray and his wife Felicia enjoy a variety of personal interests, including his guitar, classic car collection, the Colorado outdoors, local sporting events, various philanthropic interests and most importantly, the latest accomplishments registered by his two daughters, Kacie and Allie.
President, Founder
William "Bill" Sheets
Colorado State University, Office of Gift Planning
One of the best minds in the world of Legacy Planning, Bill has transacted nearly 3 billion dollars of tax advantaged charitable gifts to organizations worldwide. Currently, Bill holds a position as the Senior Director of Development for the Office of Gift Planning in the Division of Advancement at Colorado State University. Bill received his B.S. in agricultural sciences in 1974 and an M.S. in agricultural economics in 1977 from Purdue University. Bill has been involved in the creation of three companies, and has worked as a farm manager, real estate appraiser and broker, and consultant to private industry and city and state governments concerning resource management. Bill held advancement positions with Purdue University, Winrock International, and the University of Kentucky prior to joining the advancement staff at Colorado State University in 2005. He is past president of the National Agricultural Alumni Development Association, an association of 46 land grant universities, 3 state universities, and 6 not-for-profit organizations associated with agriculture and natural resources Bill has headed charitable operations both at his Alma-Mater, Purdue, as well as at the University of Kentucky. Mentor of many university development staff members at Purdue, Cal Poly, University of Kentucky and Colorado State University including staff from Colleges of Medicine, Business and Economics, Pharmacy, Engineering, Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Arts and Sciences, and Education.
Colorado State University, Office of Gift Planning
Mitchell "Mitch" Wood
President, Liberty Advisor Managed Assets, Inc., Chief Operating Officer, Counsel Wealth Management Inc.
Since 2004, Mitch has worked with investment advisors nationwide,developing over a thousand investment advisory's and their staffs implementing best practices of portfolio construction and risk management.
Mitchell founded Liberty Advisor Managed Assets in 2015 to provide actively managed investment management services to investment advisors nationwide.
In collaboration, Mitchell and Ray Shaffer analyze the latest movements of the markets to provide intelligently designed, risk managed strategies for the changing market landscape. Mitch provides compliance oversight, portfolio construction, and supervises trading operations for our firm.
President, Liberty Advisor Managed Assets, Inc., Chief Operating Officer, Counsel Wealth Management Inc.